WEED and SEED 2001

 

 

                        Economic Development/ Jobs Minutes July 5th

 

 

 

INTRODUCTIONS

 

The meeting was called to order at 8:25 by our chair, Jeff Beiswenger.

 

Attending were Don King, Lori Rose, Lennea Corday, Joan Pasco, Colleen Colleary, Jeff Beiswenger and Sharron Kelley.

 

There were no corrections to the minutes.

 

COMMITTEE MEMBER INFORMATION SHARING

 

Joan Pasco presented to the committee information regarding the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Comprehensive Community Initiatives for Children and Families and a request that we apply for this grant.  The grant would fund research to develop and test innovative ways of measuring social capitol and community capacity at the community level.  There will be 6 to 10 grants awarded of 50,000 each for a period of 1 year.

The committee had no objections and Joan will apply before the deadline of July 13th.

 

Sharron Kelley mentioned another grant opportunity using technology in supporting alcohol and drug services that we could consider when we have developed a more comprehensive plan.

 

The committee was invited to attend ECOS Summer Celebration on July 26th at 6:00 PM.

 

Sharron discussed the new application guidelines and memo from the Department of Justice. The committee discussed the issue regarding new site funding and the possibility of delayed funding.  Factors such as seriousness of crime were also raised as an issue. Crime Victims United was suggested as a resource for crime statistics particularly for unreported crime rates.

 

 

PRESENTION OF ADDITONAL DATA

 

Malcolm Boswell will e-mail his report regarding the committee’s request for additional data.

 

GUEST SPEAKER, COLLEEN COLLEARY, CUSHMAN WAKEFIELD

 

 

Colleen Colleary presented the history of the Fred Meyer Home Improvement Center, the problems and her recommendations.

 

This building has only three parking slots per thousand square feet rather than the five required for retail use. This ratio has rendered the building an unacceptable use for most retailers with the exception of furniture dealers.

 

Fred Meyers has a two-year lease with the building owner at a rate that is higher than the current market will pay. The short time left in the lease would not allow any current investor to recover their initial leasehold improvement costs. In addition, the building owner is reluctant to negotiate for a more realistic purchase price or allow Fred Meyers to buy out the lease.

 

There was also discussion regarding the larger building and it’s future viability given the new store in Wood Village.

 

Colleen told the committee that very few viable businesses had expressed interest in the building.

 

“ If the Rockwood area continues in it’s present course, more retail vacancies will occur.”

The Rockwood commercial area cannot command the same rate as the Clackamas area or even Gateway. The square foot rate for Clackamas is 12.00 a foot. Gateway is approximately 7.00 a square foot and Rockwood is 3.50.

 

She went on to suggest that a Latino grocery store would be an excellent addition to the community and with the addition of several government and social service agencies; at least one of those building would be occupied with services that would compliment community needs.

 

Manufacturing was suggested as fitting the employment gaps for both for the unemployed and the under employed.

 

A community center was discussed as a way to provide the services discussed at previous meetings. Job resources, training, child care including Head Start and ESL classes were a few of the services suggested. A report by Victor Schmaltz was discussed that recommended that the City of Gresham and Multnomah County consider the Fred Meyer site rather than the park and ride site given the acquisition costs.

Urban Renewal was raised as a possible remedy to mitigate the costs of the community center.

 

 

SUMMERIZATION OF ISSUES AND IDENTIFICATION OF GOALS

 

 

Don King was the first to present his ideas followed by a joint effort by Lori Rose and Lennea Corday

 

  1. A Community Garden to develop a sense of place. This idea would follow the Oregon Gardens approach and it’s positive effect on the City of Silverton.
  2. A Rockwood Square, which would serve as a magnet and identify Rockwood to both its residents and the larger community.
  3. Cooperative business ventures that would encourage job training and incubate start up businesses particularly manufacturing. Grow and sew and sew and Saw are two such approaches that could be initiated as possibilities.
  4. Raising cultural awareness through a cultural fair.
  5. A Farmers market including a bazaar, music and arts.
  6. Attracting a quality workforce.
  7. Good jobs, Good neighborhoods.  This approach would require code enforcement by the City of Gresham and would include annual cleanup activities that could be activated by youth groups and SOLVE. Graffiti cleanup was also suggested as an important activity.  Encouraging property owners to do background checks on all rental applications and ready to rent classes were two more suggested activities.
  8. Public transportation for all shifts.
  9. A study on why there was such a high turn over rate.
  10. Head Start and child care services.
  11. Programs to address the high drop out rate such as school mentoring and literacy and language programs.
  12. Negotiate with the property owners for more quality businesses.
  13.  Identify the needs of the business community.
  14. Work with the business community to identify high crime areas.
  15. Create a safer environment to do business.
  16. Hold a series of community events

 

 

NEXT STEPS

 

The committee raised a concern that because there were so many committee members missing at this meeting that an e-mail be sent those absent requesting input regarding the issues and goals.

 

The next and final meeting of the committee will be on August 2nd at 8:15 AM at the Gresham Employment Office.