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INSIDE:
New sidewalks and
bike lanes slated for
Multnomah Boulevard
Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper
Volume No. 19, Issue No. 5
www.swportlandpost.com
Portland, Oregon
Complimentary
– Page 5
March 2011
Cleaning up Bridlemile creeks helps
wildlife everywhere
By Polina Olsen
The Southwest Portland Post
Dave Gooley couldn’t do it alone.
With the stream behind his Bridle-
mile home overrun, something had to
change. The ivy and blackberry would
kill trees, destroy wildlife, erode soil
and contaminate water. He called the
Soil and Water Conservation District
and knocked on neighbors’ doors.
Now, two years later, Gooley and 13
neighbors finished phase two of their
conservation effort. “This was a great
example of the financial and techni-
cal support of a government agency
working with property owners to make
something happen,” he said.
They sought advice from experts,
received a Financial Incentives for
Sustainable Habitats grant, and cleared
the land of invasive species. On Feb. 5,
they planted 2900 native plants on the
Bridlemile and Ivey Creek banks that
border their homes.
Gooley’s involvement started when
the family moved to Bridlemile in 1989.
English ivy and blackberries infested
the greenway running through their
backyard. Despite his family’s efforts,
the situation didn’t improve.
“We noticed if others around us
weren’t going at it, the stuff would
come back,” Gooley said. Then, at a
Bridlemile Creek Stewards meeting, he
learned the West Multnomah County
Soil and Water district worked with
landowners and had a grant program
for neighborhood operations.
“I inquired, and the district staff came
out to look,” Gooley said. “It wasn’t
just blackberry and English ivy but also
garlic mustard, Japanese knot weed
and other invasive plants. They change
the soil so natives have trouble getting
established.”
According to Gooley, “It affects the
birds and animals who live there. They
told me to get as many people involved
as possible. The grant program offers
financial assistance buying the plants
but the neighborhood has to get rid of
the invasives and plant natives.”
The group received a $7500 grant. “It
meant hard work strapping on boots
and getting down into the ravine,”
Gooley said. “We didn’t know a lot
about the issues like which invasives
are harder on the soil and how to
Snow Fooling
Urban Conservationist Mary Logalbo (left) and Bridlemile resident Jennie Greb
helped with planting on February 5. (Post photo by Polina Olsen)
establish a planting plan. The district
staff helped us out, and the Bridlemile
Creek Stewards gave us technical ad-
vice.” When rough terrain made hand
pulling some sections impossible, the
district staff recommended a licensed
herbicide applicator.
When it came time to replant, the
district advised mid-winter. “The soil
was wet, and we’d get the benefit of the
Ash Creek neighbors oppose new 2
million gallon water tank
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
Portland Public Schools were closed for a snow day on February 24, so some
folks went sledding in Dickinson Park. (Post photo by Leslie Baird)
Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2.
The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
spring rains,” Gooley said.
Every property owner showed up on
February 5. Plants included red cedar,
ponderosa pine, elderberry, salmon
berry, snowberry, red alder, willow and
Oregon crabapple. “All are native to the
Willamette valley. We broke into teams
and went at it for about four hours.”
Now, the neighbors are watching
(Continued to Page 7)
The Tualatin Valley Water District
wants to double the size of their water
storage facility at 6217 SW Garden
Home Road, in the Ash Creek neigh-
borhood. The Ash Creek Neighbor-
hood Association doesn’t think it’s a
good idea.
The existing tanks, each of which
has a capacity of a half-million gallons,
were built in 1952 and 1962 on the
.65-acre site. The Washington County
utility is seeking to replace them with
a single 2 million gallon tank. The new
tank will be similar in height to the
existing one – about 45 feet – but much
broader; it will be 92 feet in diameter.
In order to accommodate it, the
Water District plans to demolish part
of a grove of mature sequoia trees on
the property, and is seeking a code
adjustment to the required minimum
landscaping.
City planner Sylvia Cate, who recom-
mended approval of the request, wrote
in her staff report, “Water tanks and
reservoirs are not uncommon features
in any neighborhood, and there are no
aspects about the proposed upgrades
that would create a jarring, out of place
visual appearance incompatible with
adjacent residential development.”
Last month Hearings Officer Grego-
ry Frank heard public testimony on the
issue. At the District’s request, he then
left the record open for additional writ-
ten testimony for the almost unheard
of period of 60 days.
This, district representatives said,
would allow them to hopefully reach
some agreement with neighbors.
“They had one meeting with us last
June,” Lyndon Ruhmke, a neighbor,
told The Post. “At the time they said,
‘Don’t worry, this won’t happen for
a couple of years.’ The next thing we
received was notification of the hearing
in January.”
Longtime Ash Creek activist Nancy
Donner said the District had attempted
to do something similar in 1980 and
1981, and had been denied by the City
then. “I guess they figured, because
there has been such a turnover in
homes in this area, there’d be no one
left who’d remember,” Ruhmke said.
Part of the motivation for the change
is that the current tanks do not meet
seismic standards and would have to
be at least upgraded. “I guess the cost
was such that it made sense to build a
new facility,” Ruhmke said.
Aside from the process issues, he
said, the proposed tank, and a 16-foot
gravel path around it, would “fill the
site from fence to fence,” Ruhmke said.
“It would cut off views and sunlight
from surrounding homes, and remove
mature vegetation.”
He added that the District has “not
been a good steward” of the property.
“Prior to 2009 it was a [expletive de-
leted] with standing water that bred
mosquitoes and no maintenance.”
Pete Boone of the Tualatin Valley
Water District, which serves parts
of Beaverton, Tigard, Hillsboro and
unincorporated Washington County,
told The Post that seismic upgrade is
part of the reason for the change, but
only part.
The district’s demand for water is
(Continued to Page 7)