Milwaukie NDA Friday Update – April 17, 2020

The Ardenwald-Johnson Creek Neighborhood Association will be relaying the City of Milwaukie NDA Friday Update on Ardenwald.org during the COVID-19 coranavirus pandemic.

From City of Milwaukie:

Hello neighborhood leaders and friends,

Please be sure to read #1 below. It includes information about May NDA meetings, including my request that NDA elections be postponed until the Fall.

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend!

What is the NDA Friday Update? This update is meant to provide timely information one time per week to community leaders like you who can then share this information with fellow board members and neighbors. The updates are also a good place to share information with other NDA leaders, so please feel free to submit information to include on future Friday Updates. 

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  1. NDA Meetings Using Zoom Being Considered for May Meetings – May Elections Postponed Until the Fall – Learn more below! 
  2. Milwaukie Farmers Market Update – Market to open May 3, COVID-9/Coronavirus Operations Plan now available – No Community Booth included at this time
  3. Public Hearing to Consider Adoption of Updated Comprehensive Plan Tentatively Moved to June 2 – Public is invited to review the document and provide feedback in advance of the meeting.
  4. Upcoming City Meetings and Library Activities and How to Watch or Engage with Them Online– Check out all of the meetings and library activities coming up that you can watch or participate in online.  
  5. City Elections 2020 Update – Candidate information packet now available online – Two positions on City Council including Positions 1 and 3
  6. Participate in Earth Day Digitally – Here are some ways you can participate in Earth Day digitally!

Ongoing Friday Update Topics:

  • Community Development Update – Update to be sent in a future edition of the Friday Update! Until then you can keep up with projects around town, the Comprehensive Plan Update, and more at the links below.
  • An Ongoing List of Upcoming Events, Meetings and Opportunities – List not included due to cancellations of most events.
  1. NDA Meetings Using Zoom Being Considered for May Meetings – May Elections Postponed Until the Fall

NDA Meetings Using Zoom Being Considered for May Meetings:

A test meeting with NDA officers (Chairs, Vice-Chairs, Secretaries, and Treasurers) was held on Monday, April 12 and now each NDA is to consider if they would like to do online meetings beginning in May. Not all NDA leaders attended, but communication with the NDA leaders mentioned has taken place.

Each NDA now has until April 22 to let me know if their NDA leadership team would like to give Zoom a try to hold their May meetings. For those that do want to give it a try, the city will set up the Zoom license for each NDA and help, as much as possible, to host the first meeting.

I wanted to send along this update to everyone in case you have questions about NDA meetings for May and beyond until they can resume in person. If you would like to help your NDA host meetings using Zoom, please reach out to your Chair or other leader mentioned to let them know. I will send updates about NDA meetings using Zoom as we enter this whole new world of online meetings. Stay tuned!

May Elections Postponed Until the Fall:

In addition, I am asking all NDAs to postpone May elections until the Fall. Some NDAs will hold their first online meetings using Zoom in May and some NDAs are planning to not meet in May and also take off the summer months as they normally do each year. To maintain consistency, it is best if we wait until the Fall to hold elections. If your NDA has a need to fill specific positions that are currently not filled or if someone resigns prior to the Fall, I would encourage you to hold an election to fill those positions as best you can during an upcoming Zoom meeting. While not ideal as we learn the technology and get used to online meetings, having a functioning leadership team is also very important. Given our current circumstances we can only do our best to keep the NDAs functioning at the highest degree possible. I did not mention a specific month for NDA elections in the Fall. We may need to revisit that later this summer to see what the world of in-person meetings looks like before we determine an exact month.

Thanks to everyone in advance for your work to keep your NDA going strong without in-person meetings!

  • Milwaukie Farmers Market Update – Market to open May 3, COVID-9/Coronavirus Operations Plan now available – No Community Booth included at this time

The Milwaukie Farmers Market has been actively researching and planning on how to safely offer a Farmers Market and open on the first Sunday in May as planned. The good news is that the market has developed a strategy, which was posted on the market’s web site yesterday (April 16) at https://milwaukiefarmersmarket.com/. I have copied and pasted that entire Operations Plan below for you to review. Please check the market’s web site before you go to get the latest information available.

No Community Booth at this time:

In addition, I did want to highlight the fact that there will not be a Community Booth that the city typically provides volunteers for on the 2nd and 4th Sundays along with city information. I would have already sent out notice to sign up volunteers to staff the booth from our NDAs, boards, commissions, and committees, but I won’t be recruiting volunteers for later in the year until we know if a Community Booth will be included at any point this season.

Here is the Operations Plan in its entirety that you can find at https://milwaukiefarmersmarket.com/coronavirus-response/

Milwaukie Farmers Market:

COVID-19/ Coronavirus Operations Plan

April 16, 2020

In response to the unprecedented challenges presented by COVID-19, the Milwaukie Farmers Market has been actively researching and planning on how to safely offer a Farmers Market.  

We know many people would prefer to shop at a Farmers Market for many reasons, including:

  • Supporting farmers in our local community
  • Purchasing local products that have travelled a short distance with minimal handling
  • Shopping in an open-air environment

We will open the Milwaukie Farmers Market season as usual, on the first Sunday in May, in our regular location on Main and Harrison Streets, with a number of modifications in place.  We will have a smaller market this season, in order to provide a safe and healthy shopping experience for our vendors and customers. We will also focus the Market on providing essential items.

Please note that while we will not be able to offer a “traditional” Farmers Market at this time, we will be able to offer a COVID-19 compliant environment.  And while the Milwaukie Farmers Market will temporarily not be the community gathering place that we’ve all come to know and love, we will return to that as soon as we are allowed to.  

In order to comply with COVID-19 requirements, the Milwaukie Farmers Market is taking the following steps to keep our customers and vendors safe and healthy.  

COVID-19 Requirements

  1. Leaving a minimum of 3 feet of empty space between each booth, by reducing the total number of vendors by one-third.  
  2. Prioritizing vendors who sell food and food-related items, and planting materials.  
    1. Vendors/services who will not currently be at the Market include:
      1. Musicians
      2. City of Milwaukie Info Booth
      3. Nonprofit Organizations
      4. Young Entrepreneurs
      5. Master Gardeners
      6. Master Recyclers
      7. Most craft vendors
      8. Massage
      9. Face painting
      10. Balloon artist
  1. Enforcing social distancing through our Social Distancing Officer, Market Master Brendan Eiswerth.  In addition, each vendor booth will have a Social Distancing Officer, as required by the State of Oregon.  
  2. Not selling Market tokens.  If a customer has tokens from previous years, they will be accepted.  An ATM is available on site.
  3. EBT and EBT Cash tokens will still be issued and accepted.
  4. Prepared food will be available, but should not be eaten on site.  There will not be seating or tables.
  5. Samples of any kind will not be offered.

Likewise, we will ask the following of everyone who attends the Market:

  1. Do not come to the Market if you are feeling ill, or have been in contact with someone who is ill, per CDC guidelines.
  2. Maintain a healthy distance: keep 6 feet between yourself, other shoppers, and vendors.
  3. Shop with your eyes, not your hands: please ask vendors for assistance.
  4. Shop without your family: shop solo or with one other person.
  5. Shop efficiently: plan to get in and out of the Market in a timely manner.
  6. Keep your hands clean: with gloves, washing, or sanitizer.
  7. No pets: the Market’s policy of no pets continues.  Service animals are allowed.

Alternate Ordering and Pick-up Options

We will not be able to offer a drive-through Farmers Market.  However, many of our vendors are implementing online ordering.  This is done through an app (iOS and Android) called What’s Good https://sourcewhatsgood.com/.  This is an outside company, and is not managed by the Milwaukie Farmers Market.  If you choose to preorder through What’s Good, and select the Milwaukie Farmers Market as your pick-up location, you would then pick up the items you ordered directly at the vendor’s booth.

Next Steps

Please note that this is our plan as of the current date.  As the COVID-19 situation is rapidly changing, we will make updates as needed.  If you have questions, please send us a message here: https://milwaukiefarmersmarket.com/new/contact-us/. 

Thank You!

We want to thank the other Farmers Markets in the Portland area and around the state for their advice and information.  And we want to especially thank the Oregon Farmers Market Association for their leadership, resources, and guidance.  They have been a tremendous help throughout.  

We also want to thank you—our wonderful community—for your past, present, and future support of the Milwaukie Farmers Market and the many farmers who call our Market home.  Our local farmers need our help now more than ever, and we thank you for continuing to support them.  

And to our vendors: thank you for growing and creating the food and other items we all need in order to be healthy and happy.  Your dedication and devotion is inspiring!

Thank you,

Milwaukie Farmers Market and Celebrate Milwaukie, Inc.

  • Public Hearing to Consider Adoption of Updated Comprehensive Plan Tentatively Moved to June 2 – Public is invited to review the document and provide feedback in advance of the meeting.

Following over 2 years of work and public input, on March 10 the Milwaukie Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the city’s first major update to its Comprehensive Plan policy document in 30 years.

City Council will now consider the Commission’s recommendation at their June 2 public hearing. The Milwaukie community is now invited to provide comments on the policy document, which is available on the project website. The ordinance to amend the Comprehensive Plan will be available on the June 2 Council meeting page by May 26, and the staff report will be available by May 29. 

Note: June 2 has been identified by the city as the earliest potential meeting date to allow for in-person oral testimony, and is subject to change as well as social distancing and other public health measures. Any decision to hold an in-person City Council meeting will be based on guidance from Governor Brown and local and state health officials. The City Council believes that projects that have included as much public input and involvement as the Comprehensive Plan Update should ideally have an in-person public hearing. In the event that the current public health emergency extends into and beyond Summer 2020 and begins to hinder work to implement the Comprehensive Plan, the Council may elect to hold a virtual meeting (which it has done on March 17 and April 7).

How can I provide feedback?

The policy document is available for review here, and incorporates changes recommended by Planning Commission during their five public hearings in January-March 2020. Public comments are encouraged, including from those that submitted comments during the Planning Commissions public hearings. 

Comments may be provided any time prior to the public hearing via:

  • Email: Comments can be emailed to plan@milwaukieoregon.gov.
    • Note: the City will be preparing a matrix of public comments as an attachment in the June 2 meeting packet (similar to what was done during the Planning Commission public hearings), and City staff will provide responses to all comments that are received by midnight on Sunday, May 17. Comments submitted between May 18 and June 2 at noon will be forwarded to City Council, but will not be incorporated into the staff report. 
  • Mail: Mail comments to City of Milwaukie, Attn: Comprehensive Plan Update, 6101 SE Johnson Creek Blvd, Milwaukie, OR 97206 
  • Oral: There will be a public comment period during the June 2 public hearing, with individuals provided 3 minutes for oral testimony, either in-person or via an online portal. 

Have questions or want to submit comments? Contact David Levitan at plan@milwaukieoregon.gov.

Para más información en español, mande un email a espanol@milwaukieoregon.gov.

Want to learn more about the Comprehensive Plan Update? Visit the project website!

What is a Comprehensive Plan?

The Milwaukie Comprehensive Plan is the city’s primary land use planning document. It sets out a series of goals and policies that will guide growth and development in our community over the next 20 years. Oregon state law requires that all cities and counties adopt Comprehensive Plans that are consistent with the state’s 19 Statewide Planning Goals, which were established in 1973 by Oregon Senate Bill 100. The Comprehensive Plan is implemented through the Development Code, Land Division Code, and other city codes and ordinances.

Visit www.milwaukieplan.com for more information and the latest updates on the planning process.

  • Upcoming City Meetings and How to Watch or Engage with Them – Check out all of the meetings coming up that you can watch or participate in online.  

Now that we are over a month into the inability to hold city meetings, events, or activities in person, some meetings and activities are continuing to take place using a variety of tools to keep you connected including the City’s YouTube Channel, Comcast Cable Channel 30, an online video conferencing tool called Zoom and using email to submit comments. I will try to highlight those meetings and activities for you each week as they come online so that you can stay connected virtually if you would like to.

The meetings next week that will take place are listed below. Please read how to engage with each meeting if you would like to do so.

  • Public Comments: written comments may be submitted by email to ocr@milwaukieoregon.gov. Council will take limited verbal comments during the meeting. To speak during the meeting, email ocr@milwaukieoregon.gov to receive the video conference login information.

Join author/educator Rick Reynolds for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, & math) activities and readings of Beware of Mosquitula! and Mosquitula and the Great Gambusi.

All ages will have fun with science and reading these humorous science books that teaches how to avoid the mistakes of the zany zombies and FIGHT THE BITES!

Learn more at fightthebites.com/education and get FREE resources for grades preK-12, such as:

  • Life cycle kits which include live specimens, magnifying devices, pipettes, and more
  • Engaging curriculum designed to meet the Next Generation Science Standards + Common Core standards
  • City Elections 2020 Update – Candidate information packet now available online – Two positions on City Council including Positions 1 and 3

The candidate information packet for the 2020 general election is now available online, see link below. The November 3, 2020, general election will feature two positions on the Milwaukie City Council – Positions 1 and 3. The candidate filing window is July 27 through August 25.

If you have any questions, please contact the City Elections Officer at ocr@milwaukieoregon.gov or at 503-786-7502.

www.milwaukieoregon.gov/elections

  • Participate in Earth Day Digitally – Here are some ways you can participate in Earth Day digitally!

I wanted to send along a tool to Find a Digital Earth Day Event that you can join. The best part is that you can join an event anywhere in the world that has registered!

The Earth Day Network has the tool available at https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2020/.

Ongoing Friday Update Topics:

  • Community Development Update – Update to be sent in a future edition of the Friday Update!  Until then you can keep up with projects around town, the Comprehensive Plan Update, and more at the links below.

Community Development:

Projects:

Planning:

  • Visit the Planning homepage at www.milwaukieoregon.gov/planning to find links to the Community Vision, Comprehensive Plan Update, Preapplication Conference Reports, Submitted Applications and Public Notices, Planning Department FAQs, Resources for Development Review, and What’s My Zoning?

Engineering:

  • Visit the Engineering homepage at www.milwaukieoregon.gov/engineering to find links to Safe Access For Everyone (SAFE), Street Surface Maintenance Program (SSMP), Asphalt Pavement Overlay, South Downtown Improvements, and more.
  • Upcoming Events, Meetings and Other Opportunities

Please refer to the City Calendar for the most up to date and complete list of upcoming City/Library events, meetings, and other opportunities.

Note for reader: This is an informational email that is sent to Milwaukie’s Neighborhood District Association (NDA) leaders and other interested parties each Friday.  The content of this email is prepared by the Community Programs Coordinator at the City of Milwaukie and is meant to inform NDA leaders who can then share this information with their neighborhood.  Some information contained within may not be sponsored or supported by the City of Milwaukie, but may impact the city’s neighborhoods and residents, which is the reason it is included in this update.

JASON WACHS
Community Engagement Coordinator
o: 503.786.7568
City of Milwaukie
10722 SE Main St • Milwaukie, OR 97222