Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee Meeting Meeting Will Take Place Via Zoom – Information Below Login Online
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Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee Meeting Meeting will take place via Zoom – Information below Login online: https://tinyurl.com/HCRHAC-March21 Meeting ID: 880 7064 2585 Password: HCRH_AC Call in (does not require internet): 1 (253) 215-8782 Meeting ID: 880 7064 2585# Thursday, March 18th, 2021 12:30 PM – 1:00 PM Begin call/sign-in testing for video and audio connections 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Advisory Committee Meeting AGENDA: Time Agenda Topics Presenter 1:00 PM Call to Order Arthur Babitz, Chair 1:05 PM Opportunity for the public to comment on any item not on the agenda* 1:10 PM Approval Minutes Arthur Babitz, Chair 1:15 PM A Conversation with ODOT Leadership Cooper Brown, Assistant Director of Operations/Rian Windsheimer, Region 1 Manager 2:00 PM Waterfall Corridor Hop on, hop off shuttle David Duncan 2:05 PM Mitchell Point Crossing Kevin, Molly Viento to Mitchell Point design Oneonta Tunnel Restoration 2:20 PM Gorge Management Plan Update Krystyna Wolniakowski 2:30 PM Friends of the Gorge Mt Ulka and Mosier Mile Renee Tkach Project Concepts 2:40 PM Staff Updates Terra, Kent, Valerie • Maintenance Update o Closure gates o Winter Slide mitigation update o Rowena Guardrail repair – finished! • CGE and CAT transit updates • State Trail Completeness Progress • Cascade Ave Design Refinement Plan • Mosier school sign • Next meetings: o May 12, 2021 Cascade Ave focus, Zoom – 1-3pm o Thursday, June 17, 2021 (tentatively online) o Thursday, September 16, 2021 (tentatively in-person) o Thursday, December 16, 2021 (tentatively in-person) 2:50 PM Updates Jeanette, Clay, Scott, Christy, Matt • Friends of the Historic Columbia River Highway • OPRD • Travel Oregon • USFS • WFLHD 2:55 PM Committee Round Table All 3:00 PM Adjourn Public comment will be accepted prior to the meeting and during the meeting itself. *If possible, please contact Roxane Glynn at [email protected] or 503-731-3246 to indicate that you’d like to provide public comment during the meeting, and we will do our best to call on you during the public comment period. If you’d like to share your testimony, please submit written testimony via email to [email protected], phone 503-731-3246, or regular mail 123 NW Flanders Street, Portland, OR 97209. Comments received after the meeting will be shared with committee members. June Agenda items - Cascade Ave Design Refinement Plan (+ a supplemental May meeting) - Mitchell Point Tunnel Construction Updates - Concrete Barrier on the Historic Highway Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee 2021 Work Plan 1. The Final Five Miles Engineering – in process 2. Mitchell Point to Hood River State Trail funding 3. Multnomah Falls Viaducts Railroad Coordination – in process 4. Columbia Gorge Express –Year 5 5. Eagle Creek Stairway Replacement 6. Congestion and Safety Plan Implementation Projects 7. Historic Guardrail Research/Analysis and speed zone analysis 8. Twin Tunnels Safety Improvements Implementation 9. Larch Mountain Slide – Funding 10. Slide mitigation Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes Dec, 17, 2020 Zoom Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee Meeting – Special Session Summary Dec. 17, 2020 Zoom Members Attending: Arthur Babitz, Chair Ernie Drapela Francie Royce Rian Windsheimer (ODOT) Art Carroll (member emeritus) Marc Berry (member emeritus) Judy Davis Mark Stevenson (OPRD) Wayne Stewart Leti Valle Moretti Scott Bricker, Travel Oregon Historic Highway AC Staff: Terra Lingley (ODOT) Katelyn Jackson (ODOT) Roxanne Glynn (ODOT) Others Attending: David Duncan Molly Davis, DEA Jeanette Kloos, FHCRH Kevin Bracy, DEA Jennifer O’Donnell Matt Miller, WFL Colleen Coleman, Mosier Paul Wilcox Bob Hadlow, ODOT Lynn Burditt, USFS Morai Helfen, USFS Nate Stice, Gov. Brown’s Office Kent Kalsch, ODOT Bonne and Richard Alfieri Malcolm Kaylee Crosby AJ Zelada Lizzie Keenan Doug Henne Valerie Egon, ODOT “Executive Director” Larissa Rudnicki Rajiv Batra 1 Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes Dec, 17, 2020 Zoom Shana Bucher 503-858-5921 Gary Bushman Call to Order Arthur Babitz, Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:02 p.m. and invited the public to comment on items not on the agenda. Public Comment Colleen Coleman, City of Mosier: About a year ago, all of you were given a presentation on the restoration of the Mosier Trail Derailment. Due to COVID, limited funds on the Mosier Center (a community center, city hall and fire). Mosier has decided to go into negotiations with the railroad to restore the north side of the tracks, including the restroom and utilities under the track, for a cash settlement. The funding could then be applied for the joint use facility, the Mosier Center. The promise to the community would be to take a good portion, estimated $200-300,000 for habitat restoration and revegetation, creating the driveway, signage, and walking path. Colleen was providing information on the change in direction, and not looking for any feedback at this time. Appointments Nate Stice, Gov. Brown’s Office: Thankful for all the work of this group. We were working on the Governor’s appointee and committee membership. Arthur had submitted an application to continue, and we are looking to make our committee’s more representative. He worked with Arthur and Terra to identify Leti Valle Moretti, an advocate in the Gorge. Thanks to Arthur for his good work, he’ll be continuing on as the Hood River rep., per board of commissioners’ meeting in January. Excited to have a good community representative at the table. Leti: Good afternoon and thank you for having me – I’m excited to represent the Latino Community. I was born and raised in Hood River. Appreciate the opportunity to work alongside you all, get to know you all better. It’s amazing work I can’t wait to take my bike on the whole path. I have been a board member for CAT for about 5 years and we helped advocate for a fixed route system and new marketing update. Arthur: I think this board is going to be well served by getting your expertise. Bill Pattison will be moving off the committee as a voting member, but will stay on as a member emeritus so we don’t lose his expertise. Francie (In chat): Welcome Leti! Leti (In chat): Thank you, all. Approval of Minutes The Committee approved the minutes. 2 Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes Dec, 17, 2020 Zoom CGE update Valerie Egon, ODOT: ODOT has been working with CAT to plan various scenarios, knowing we will have to be flexible based on changing conditions. We are preparing to offer seasonal service to Multnomah Falls, pending compliance with USFS and COVID restrictions. There’s a good possibility we will see stronger visitation in 2021, though there’s a lot of uncertainty. The exiting FLAP grant ends in 2021, so next year will be the last season of seasonal service to Multnomah Falls. The next application is open in the spring. We’re working with area partners on that grant application and will be reaching out. Feel free to reach out with questions. Valerie (in chat): The next round of FLAP applications is scheduled for Spring 2021. ODOT and CAT will consult with partners in the next quarter to outline the ask for transit programming in the grant application. Feel free to reach out to [email protected] and [email protected] with questions Project updates Kevin, Molly and Matt introduced themselves and roles in the ongoing projects in the Gorge with Western Federal Lands. Eagle Creek Stairs Molly Davis, DEA: Earlier in the fall, we began partnering with Friends of the Historic Highway, to launch a scoping effort to replace the stairs. Scoping is a preliminary effort to understand the costs of moving forward with a design and construction project to inform future FLAP applications. DEA has done some preliminary visualizations on a viable alternative with switchbacks, retaining walls and a viaduct structure that runs adjacent to the off-ramp (I-84 eastbound off-ramp at MP 41). The intent here is to make this accessible to more users than are currently serviced by the stairs. Looking to keep the maximum 5% grade. Site visit in October, including engineering team members, Friends, and stakeholders. Terra attended for historic ODOT perspective on the stair development. The idea is to have minimal impact to the off-ramp. Terra: this is a scoping report, intent to look at what’s possible. It’s not engineered, not funded, it hasn’t gone through the process, and no decisions have been made. We’re not going to go out and build this tomorrow. This is DEA’s run at this and they were very generous in donating their time for the Friends of the Historic Highway. This will inform a FLAP application to do more work, determine what’s possible and cost to engineer and build. Arthur: Stairs were built very early in State Trail development. We’re very aware now we have this chunk that is not accessible to many in our community. Looking to correct error. Molly: Delivering draft report to Friends tomorrow. Friends will share with ODOT to help inform a future FLAP application or other funding options. Terra: If we’re successful, we will definitely include partners and ensure that the teams will be engaged similar to how we’ve been developing other FLAP funded projects. 3 Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes Dec, 17, 2020 Zoom Rian: This is the first I’ve seen of this. We’ve talked about ‘Oh this will be great.’ I do have concerns about cultural resources. Our priority has been the trail, getting it finished.