I can't believe the last time I posted anything was January. Oh well!
I've been busy on the Parks and Recreation Citizens Advisory Committee and the Planning Commission. At Parks, we have been working on the master plan, security issues at Salish Ponds Park, and a nature play area at Lakeshore Park. There are a lot of things we'd like to do, and our comprehensive plan has several years worth of goals on it. Not the least of these goals is to build an off-leash dog park. Our citizens want this almost as much as they want bathrooms at some of our bigger parks. We don't have the land for it picked out, yet, so once the city buys an appropriate parcel, we'll get right on the dog park. We have big graffiti and homeless camping problems in some of our more natural parks. It was only a matter of time. These camps keep being moved out of areas in Portland. And it's easy to camp in the wild areas of the parks where most users don't venture. The committee hopes to step up citizen involvement in taking care of the parks. Lakeshore Park is under construction. It has been for quite some time even before I was appointed to this committee. But it's almost to a point where it can be enjoyed by all! The nature play area got a lot of our attention this spring. I advocated for actual natural equipment, but in the end we voted for the fake stuff because people think it has more longevity. Either way, it will be a great place for kids. Next month we hope to have a grand opening. On the Planning Commission we have become very busy with applications because the city's development incentives are ending. I've been on the commission for a year and a half, and for the first year we didn't even have regular meetings. Now we're having meetings twice a month most months.The fall looks to be about as busy if not busier than the summer has been. Also, Fairview is considering Urban Renewal. Everyone on the Planning Commission was invited to the introductory training on Urban Renewal in the early spring. City Council has decided to explore the idea further, and asked for one member of the Planning Commission to sit on the Urban Renewal Advisory Committee. I may not be remembering the name of it correctly, but we've had one meeting so far, and several more are scheduled for the fall. We have to get it together before 2019 in order to get the most benefits. So I will continue to be busy with meetings. So I haven't been to many networking events lately. I enjoyed going to one at Arcadia Floors earlier in the spring, but failed to follow up with everyone I wanted to follow up with. Clearly this isn't my priority at the moment. I have been taking a class aimed at improving myself and being the leader of my life, rather than simply meandering through existence. It has been eye-opening. I would recommend my coach, if you're looking for someone who can help you improve yourself and your outlook. Attending the online meetings has been a challenge for me, though. So if you have a weird schedule for some reason, you may want to consider straight up coaching rather than a group class. If, however, you have freedom in your daily routing, you should look into Life Leaders by Selena. I can send you a link if you would like. AirBnb has been VERY busy for me this spring and summer, also. June and July have been almost completely booked up, and I've achieved Super Host status for the 4th quarter in a row. Not much design work has been happening here. Just mulching and watering the plants, painting, fixing up stuff around the house, and assembling furniture. We've slowly been replacing the old door hardware from the 70's with shiny new hardware from Rejuvenation. Now guests have privacy locks! And we just got a new dining set after planning and saving for a few months. The old set is living in the sun porch, and we envision using it for our next BBQ. We haven't had a BBQ party in forever. But! We think we might have enough corn next month to have people over for the first time in forever. Woohoo!
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Hollie Holcombe is a trained architect, LEED accredited professional, and certified permaculture designer trying to find her way in the world, well, PDX at least. Archives
January 2018
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