Woodlawn Neighborhood Association General Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, May 6, 2025, at 6:30 pm NEW STARTING TIME!
Please make every effort to join us in person at Classic Foods: 817 NE Madrona
Or join the meeting online via Zoom (now with improved audio): https://zoom.us/j/3014662210?pwd=d3VKbXkzVldqYzNWU2RwVm9OUkZyZz09
Meeting ID: 301 466 2210, Passcode: WNA
Streamed/recorded on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@woodlawnneighborhoodassoci5818
Welcome and Vision: “In the future, Woodlawn will be a place where people live harmoniously, respectfully, and in support of one another. The neighborhood will be a clean and thriving community… All Woodlawn residents will share and pursue the common values of health, efficiency, beauty, equity, and justice.”
6:30 – 6:45 Introductions
- Please share name, pronouns, & what brought you to tonight’s meeting
- Social time – talk to your neighbors
6:45 – 7:30 General Business
- Approve April meeting notes.
Erin makes a motion to approve the APRIL minutes with an editorial amendment. Melody seconds it. All are in favor. Minutes are approved.
- Presentation by Matt Roberts, Associate VP of Community Relations, University of Oregon
Matt oversees all community affairs for U of O statewide. UPDATES on U of Oregon Portland—Every building to be used has been renovated. A few buildings that can’t be seismically upgraded will come down. New building for the Ballmer Institute. 30th and Rosa Parks Way. Asking the legislature re: funding to build this new building. Master plan for the entire campus was done. Students arrived 18 months after purchase of the campus. Total of 500 students now with 80 students living on campus. Most programs are graduate/professional programs. Gymnasium opened about a month ago. Good news—a conditional use permit for the athletic field has been secured. Currently, two programs are renting: (1) National League = Professional Ultimate Frisbee teams games are there & open to the public. (2) The Portland Bangers = new PDX soccer team league (college player league now) = an affiliate of the PDX Pickles. By Fall 2025, public access on a rental basis should be available. Students arrived 18 months after U of O purchased the campus. Total of 500 students. Now 80 students are living on campus. Most programs are graduate/professional programs. Tours are available—reach out to Matt if you are interested. Took the library and created an event space on the first floor. There is now a “ballroom” to seat 150-200. Catering kitchen = can be rented out by community members for dinners and fundraisers. A second event space in the campus center on the 2nd floor, also rentable. 2nd floor of the library building is open to the public. As U of O gets more settled, interest in opening a lifelong learning program. Working with PZ, Woodlawn Farmers Market manager, U of O is in discussion about bringing the farmers market to campus a few times. On campus and student-driven newsletter that goes out via e-mail and one for the workforce. Contact: mroberts@uoforegon.edu. U of O will be participating in Neighborhood Night Out with the Concordia Neighborhood Association on the campus.
- Wrap up from Easter Egg Hunt
Easter Bunny Dave gave an update via Zoom. $29 in the donation cups. Money also made via Venmo. Sold 7 T shirts and got $40 in donations. 200 kids or so were there.
- Next Neighborhood Social
A way to connect with neighbors in a non-meeting format. We are hoping to schedule a few more of these soon.
- Board Housekeeping
Need to officially elect Melody to the board as we somehow forgot to do that way back when. Member-at-Large. Melissa proposed. Nancy seconded. All in favor and it passed.
- Reports on Other Projects
Donation Drive—Melissa will speak more about this at our June meeting.
Dates for Movie Night—For Good and Company will pick a date in late August or early September, and it will be getting dark earlier, too.
Pedalpalooza Bike Ride & History Tours—Scheduled for Saturday, July 19th
Dumpster Day, May 24th at For Good and Company— Linde has signs for us to distribute around the neighborhood.
Indoor Farmers Market Table May 10th—Melissa and and Nancy will staff our table and do outreach, sell T-shirts, etc.
National Night Out—Tuesday August 5th—5:30 pm to 8:00pm. Melissa and Erin will co-chair the event. Nancy and John will lead Woodlawn Community Garden tours. Need a starting budget of $2500 for starting out. We are able cut costs this year by spending less for the grill rental and on music. We may also be getting more food donations from neighbors with connections to places like Tillamook Cheese. Liz will do the neighborhood table this year. For Good and Company will donate some of the sound equipment. Melody suggests a sign that says how much it costs to provide each meal to encourage more donations. Angela suggests a “pay it forward” theme to some of these signs. Melissa makes a motion to have a $2500 budget assigned now to get the ball rolling on the event. Mike seconds. Board members voted yes.
Erin has emailed city folks if there is a park fee this year and if the application process is the same or different. Other outreach ideas—area churches, the Zen temple on NE Hegland, other nature organizations, Columbia Slough, Backyard Habitat folks (Columbia Land Trust and Bird Alliance of Oregon), etc.
- Time for Neighbor Open Comments
Shirley said we should give the new mayor kudos for Peninsula Park Community Center not being on the budget cut list.
Liz asked about the free garage sale coming up in the neighborhood. Information— Woodlawn Buy Nothing folks are organizing this at 6506 NE Bellevue. Free Sale on Saturday, May 17th from 10 am to 3 pm. Anybody can bring stuff Friday, March 16th, the day before, 3 to 5 pm. No large bulky items. ONLY RULE: If you drop something off, you commit to coming back to collect anything of yours that wasn’t taken between 3 and 5 on May 17th. Don’t bring broken stuff. Any leftover items will be donated.
7:30 – 7:50 Board Business
- Treasurer’s Report – Melissa
Just over $3534.87 in our account, roughly, with $604 allocated for our communications purchases. Melissa will be applying for the Civil Life Community Activities Fund to reimburse expenses from June 2024 to June 30, 2025. Amounts are $400 to $5000. Possible costs that could be covered—everything spent last year on National Night Out, our Zoom feed, movie night expenses, easter egg, needs to gather receipts.
2024 annual report filed with state and everything has been updated.
Applied for Google nonprofit grant. Not sure what we can get to see what we can get.
Our Venmo was initially setup as a business account. We have to do it as a non-profit instead. Melissa is working on figuring this out.
Reaching out to Woodlawn businesses to partner with them to do stuff that is beneficial to us and them. For example, Brandon at Woodlawn Coffee and Pastry and Quinton at Electric Lettuce have agreed if we do stickers or magnets they will sell them at their registers. Idea might be to have a t-shirt with all Woodlawn biz logos and WNA info on it too.
Melissa will reach out to local businesses re: more donations including reaching out to folks like Safeway, Starbucks.
About Movie Night, reaching out to Concordia about involvement. Also we are seeing if area NAs will host a table at the Sunday Parkways in NE Cully, June 29th.
- Farmers Market Update & Winter Markets – Keith
Nancy and Melissa will staff a WNA table at the last winter market, Saturday May 10th.
On June 7th, Farmers Market up and running out in the triangle with new hours, 9 am to 1 pm. The Market got a $20,000 grant from NAYA for additional SNAP match this year. Double up food match this year. Highly restrictive—can only be used for produce. The market is still looking for a space to store all of their market stuff during the season. In a bit of panic mode as storage is needed ASAP. If anyone has any leads, let Erin and/or Keith know.
- Secretary Report – Nancy
Nancy submitted the past two years of minutes to NECN and will continue to do so each month. This means we are now in compliance with NECN records/rules re: sending minutes of our monthly meetings.
Easter Egg Hunt 2025 photo sampler up on Go Woodlawn as of today thanks to help from Shelly Caldwell.
Updated information about WNA meeting time change and Woodlawn Farmers Market summer hours change also completed.
- Outreach and community engagement report – Linde
No updates.
- NECN Report – Anjala
Necoalition.org—newly updated web site has tons of information about NECN, other NAs, services NECN can do for us, offerings, etc. Sample letters written to officials, testimonies given, etc. April 2025, new NECN groups had a retreat that included training about what legal responsibilities exist for volunteers in NAs. Giving money to NAs for communication and also providing the insurance for directors, officers, and general liability insurance for our NA events. Unfortunately, the city budget is in crisis and there may be cuts to our basic NA needs that we have relied on for years. At the next NECN board meeting, they will be discussing ways to find funding for these things. June 2025, NECN new board meeting elections will be held—always looking for new members.
- Land Use and Transportation Report – Anjala
No updates other than receiving notice from a neighbor announcing they were running an Air BnB in their house. Also the former Strawberry Goblin building and adjacent house sold in February to local ownership. Nothing online as to business plans.
7:50 – 8:00 Additional agenda items and announcements
Question about the status of Rogers property, the one with chain link fence with razor wire on top, former gas station across from Breakside. Sold for $2 million two years ago and nothing much has changed since.
Mutantis has closed as of May 4th. Food trucks have already left. Big “sale” there on May 20th.
New non-alcoholic bottle shop in Café Eleven space. Which means Café Eleven now stays open in the evening.
No update on the status of the Potland building.
