We Got SCREWED Tonight... THPRD's Board of Directors meeting

[K'Tesh]

In a surprising move today, one of the members of THPRD's Board of Directors decided to reverse his decision on an 8' wide trail through the Lowami Hart Woods.

He decided to bow to the "anguish" of the neighbors, and now we are stuck with a 6' wide community trail through the park (8' is the District's standard width). It was his desire to soothe the hurt feelings of the neighbors that have to now put up with an official hard surface trail going through their "natural area"... Problem is that the "natural area" is overgrown with blackberries, non-native trees, and english ivy.

The trail was designed to keep people off of the flora and fauna, unlike the natural surface trails that have sprung up throughout the park which often lead to "party" areas, and homeless camps.

He also wanted to end the debates over the issue. Great job... He just gutted the District's credibility in trying to keep its standards. There's blood in the water, and now everybody who cries boo hoo will home in on his weakness like sharks.

Oh, and to add insult to this, it was done with less than 5 hours of warning before the meeting, and no public input was allowed.

[q`Tzal]

Originally Posted by K'Tesh

Oh, and to add insult to this, it was done with less than 5 hours of warning before the meeting, and no public input was allowed.

It does seem from the Public Meeting Notes on Lowami Hart Woods Park held at Beaverton Seventh Day Adventist Church, Fellowship Room on June 29, 2011, 6:30-9:00 PM (http://thprd.org/pdfs/bond/doc/document1249.pdf) found on THPRD's page for "Lowami Hart Woods -- natural area restoration, weed removal that this width issue was discussed at length.

On page 3 :

Main Wahoo Trail – Hal Bergsma explained that the main trail will retain its ‘Community
Trail’ classification. The Park District’s trail standards call for community trails to be 8 to 12-
feet wide hard surface with minimum 1-foot gravel shoulders. However, the District is
proposing a 6-foot wide hard surface main trail with no shoulders for this improvement
project, with occasional wide spots, or turnouts, for resting, passing and viewing
opportunities. Trail connectivity through park land to the north and south are anticipated to
occur in the future, and widening of the main trail through Lowami Hart Woods to meet the
District’s Trails Plan standards would be considered at that time.

I will grant that this was not listed or hinted off of the main description page for the site.
You have to intentionally go to the bond measure section of the THPRD website. It was not as arduous as finding a sign that that states "Beware of the Leopard!" but who makes a point of popping in on their local planning office of the off chance that someone is going to knock your house down?

[Simple Nature]

I never knew the park was there but I well knew that there needed to be connectivity between Davis and Hart. It is indeed the -missing link- for the power line trail from the Nature park to Murrey Hill park (Scholls Ferry). I can see how this can be considered "caving" to pressure but once it is paved even at 6', it will see a significant increase in patronage.

Today, only 155th Ave serves this connectivity need. Fortunately, traffic there is very light.

Not to change the subject, but okay, I will... what is the "125th connection" project I've seen signs about?