Eliot Neighborhood Association
Land Use Committee
Minutes for February 8, 2016
Committee Members present: Mike, Phil, Allan, Clint, Paul, Laurie and Montse
Guests from the neighborhood: Kelly Gillard
Presenters from Solterra: Josh Guerra, Justin Church, Tim Dudly, and Melynda Retawick (?)
Meeting was called to order by the Chair at 7 PM
Ex Novo translates as “from scratch” which describes the non-profit 10 barrel brewery which was built from the ground up on Eliot neighborhood’s bike route to the Broadway Bridge on Flint Street.
Do you have a Neighborhood Watch on your block?
More than 50 new Neighborhood Watch groups started in 2015. Mark Wells, Community Organizing Specialist with the Crime Prevention Program City of Portland, is excited about next year and continuing to grow and strengthen our Watch groups throughout the city. With Wells’ help, Eliot neighborhood has three blocks which have organized themselves into a Neighborhood Watch and at least one other working on the process. Is your block one of these four? If not, consider starting one today.
Are you concerned about the recent reports of air toxins in and around Eliot Neighborhood? If so there is an open house and community meeting today, February 18th, hosted by The Multnomah County Health Department and Portland Public Schools. The event starts at 5 pm and will be held at Hariett Tubman Middle School.
The newest addition to Eliot in the brewery category is Labrewatory. Located on Russell just east of Widmer and west of Ex Novo, craft brewers can come to this brewers playground to collaborate and create small batch beers.
In 1979 home brewing was legalized in Oregon. Kurt and Rob Widmer, having trouble finding a beer that they liked in Portland, decided to embark upon the adventure of making beer for themselves and friends. Five years later, they decided to turn their hobby into a career and cobbled together funds to open their brewery. They scrounged up parts and opened in an industrial space in what now is the Pearl District.
In November 2015, Patricia Montgomery and I were elected co-chairs of the Eliot Neighborhood Association Board.
Patricia Montgomery is a native Oregonian but has lived in Eliot for 26 years, working and raising her children. Her favorite things about the neighborhood are the accessibility to the city, the diversity of the neighborhood and the sense of a caring community. When she’s not working Patricia volunteers at her church, St. Philip the Deacon, at Rodney and Knott Street, where the ENA, Eliot Neighborhood Association meetings are held.
Board Members: Jere Fitterman, Pat Montgomery, Annie Rudwick, Kristin Yates, Susan Stringer, Ronnie Blocker, Johnny Engleheart Noel, Joe Entler, Jim Hlava, Joan Ivan, Angela Kremer, Clint Lundmark
Visitors: Julia Anderson, Nicole Leggett, Sara Long, Saint Hood, Angel Hood (Forgotten Realms) Karla Gostnell, Jimmy Gnass (neighbors), Sam Smith (Green Zebra Grocery) Cameron Bremer (neighbor), Vicki Guinn (Legacy Emanuel).