By Brian Hoop
In the March 2021 newsletter issue we covered how Portland is a key participant in a $550 million nationwide settlement with Monsanto due to environmental contamination caused by PCBs, a harmful compound found in sediment at the Portland Harbor.
Cathedral Park and Linnton neighborhood leaders tracking this issue have advocated for half of the funds to be spent within communities near the Willamette River Portland Harbor Superfund area. Indeed, Linnton leader Darise Weller had a role helping convince former City Commissioner Nick Fish to file the class action lawsuit in the first place. City leaders have also prioritized utilizing the funds to support communities of color.
In response, participants at the March 3rd neighborhood association meeting came up with a list of community improvement project ideas. These ideas will be reviewed at the May 5th Linnton neighborhood meeting and, if ready, participants will be asked to help prioritize. If there is still a need for more discussion I would suggest an ad-hoc committee to develop a recommendation to bring back to the next meeting. To encourage transparency and accountability, we should be prepared with a list
of top priorities if the City solicits input to fund any of
these projects.
Initial ideas included:
• Firewise emergency exit signage
• Improving the riparian zone
• Pedestrian crossing stop lights along St. Helens Rd./Hwy 30
• Linnton Community Center improvements
• Mill site admin building purchase – future Superfund
• Education Research Center
• Forest Park trailhead signage
• Willamette Greenway path in vicinity of NW 107th pedestrian river access point
• Bike path along US Hwy 30 and/or rail line
• Affordable housing and/or homeless
transitional village
• More equipment for our NET team
In late March Linnton’s State Senator, Betsy Johnson, and Representative Brad Witt, reached out to Linnton board members asking if there were project ideas they should advocate for to be funded by the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act passed by Congress in March. Oregon will receive somewhere between $2 to $6 billion. A mad scramble has ensued with Legislators from across the state soliciting ideas.
Ideas submitted to the Legislators included:
• Linnton Mill Office Building – $1,345,000 to purchase and restore the historic building
• Linnton Community Center – $900,000 for
earthquake retrofitting
• Playground equipment at Kingsley Park – $50,000
• US Hwy 30 safety improvements – $6.5 million as part of PBOT Transportation System Plan
• Build Willamette Greenway bike path along Hwy 30 – $2,158,000
• Beach riparian zone/riverfront access – $500,000
Other ideas that have been long discussed within Linnton and were brought up as part of this discussion included forest fire prevention, earthquake mitigation, incentives for fossil fuel industries to decommission old tanks, and Linnton business district main street repair.