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Monday Mailing

Year 22 • Issue 20 08 February 2016 1.

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Top Ten Tips for Inclusive Engagement Palm Trees Sway Wind Turbine Design Feds Announce New Klamath Accord to Remove Dams by 2020 Smith Rock Love OSU Research – Global Food Insecurity Impacts PSU Transportation Seminar Series: An Analysis of Cyclist Path Choices Through Shared Space Intersections in England.

Legislative Webinar Set for February 12 The 25 Best Free iPhone Apps For Business Free Federal and State Tax Returns for AmeriCorps Members Can Salem Build a Home for its Homeless?

Funding Opportunities

1. Top Ten Tips for Inclusive Engagement So, why is inclusive engagement so important to our Heart & Soul Community process?

Quote of the Week: “It is never too late to be what we might have been.” ~George Eliot Oregon Fast Fact: Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States. It was formed more than 6,500 years ago. Its crystal-blue waters are world renowned.

Broad—and deep—engagement with community members is a fundament building block of a successful Heart & Soul Community Planning project. We’ve worked hard to advance authentic engagement because it makes all the difference to building stronger communities; it is a means to an end in our work, and it is also an end in itself for the trust it builds, the ideas it sparks, and the new connections it creates.

Here’s why it’s important.

Local wisdom: Local people know their town best. When you get their insights it can transform a project. Local knowledge deepens and gives context to your quantitative data, from wildlife to walkability.

Community ownership: Residents need to own the final recommendations of a planning process so that they can be upheld.

They need to share in the decisions leading up to the results.

Many minds, better results: Research shows that many minds working on a project lead to better results. The greater the diversity of people contributing to solving a problem, the more creative and effective the solutions.

New leadership: The next generation of community leaders are cultivated through civic processes. Involve the people who the decisions will effect, and look for leadership in new places. In long range planning, involve the young people who will inherit your decisions.

To access the full story, click here.

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2. Palm Trees Sway Wind Turbine Design Eric Loth is an aeronautical engineer by training, and by his own admission began looking for something to investigate and work on that was a little different. So he began looking into designs of wind turbines, something that captured his attention as an undergraduate engineering student in the 1970s. The result: Success, in a three-year program to investigate the viability of an ultralight segmented morphing rotor for a 50-MW wind turbine, backed by $3.56-million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy.

The project promises to advance the technology fivefold; a 50-MW wind turbine does not now exist.

Recent advances are only now producing 8-MW and 10-MW machines with a conventional threeblade design. “There’s no guarantee this is going to work,” notes Loth. “It is a longshot.”

If successful, that longshot could propel wind power to grab a 20% share of U.S. production capacity by 2030, one of the goals outlined in DOE’s recently updated Wind Vision Report. Loth, now the chair of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Virginia, says attaining the goal will require greater development of offshore wind resources that the U.S. is only beginning to exploit.

Large, low-cost wind turbines are essential to crack the market but such designs do not exist and have not yet been attempted, he points out.

To access the full story, click here.

3. Feds Announce New Klamath Accord to Remove Dams by 2020 A new deal has been reached to remove the four hydroelectric dams that clog the Klamath River and revive the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, the federal government announced today.

According to a joint press release, the federal government, the states of Oregon and California and PacifiCorp — the energy company that owns the dams — have reached an agreement in principle to amend the historic Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA) and remove the dams in 2020. The plan, as laid out in the press release, is to submit the amended agreement to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s process on dam decommissioning. If approved, the agreement would see PacifiCorp transfer title of the four Klamath River dams to a third party that would assume liability and take the appropriate steps to remove the dams.

In our cover story last month, “Uncharted Waters,” about the apparent demise of the Klamath agreements, we asked PacifiCorp spokesman Bob Gravely about whether PacifiCorp could surrender its licenses to a joint trust that would then initiate decommissioning and indemnify the company from liability associated with dam removal. “The concept is certainly viable,” Gravely said at the time. “Dam removal for a lot of people means a lot of things, and for us, we just need an outcome for an expired federal license that’s a good outcome for our customers in the eyes of our regulators.

With the protections provided by the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement, removing the dams and replacing the power was going to be a better way forward for our customers than relicensing with the new requirements that it would [include].”

To access the full story, click here.

4. Smith Rock Love Central Oregon's majestic Smith Rock State Park is considered to be one of Oregon's "Seven Wonders" by Travel Oregon, the state agency that promotes tourism. It is also considered to be one of the world's premiere rock climbing destinations and the number of visitors to the park has grown to approximately 900,000 per year. Most who come are fair weather users, but winter, with cooler temperatures, is a great time to enjoy the 650-acre park located right in our backyard.

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Mike Volk, considered by many as an icon of the mountaineering and outdoor community, first encountered Smith Rock 45 years ago in 1971, while a student at the University of Oregon. Today, he and his wife Marcia live across the street from the world-famous rock climbing destination on a 10-acre parcel directly across from the rim.

Nowadays, the park is used not only by climbers, but also by hikers, slack line enthusiasts, runners, mountain bikers, and horse lovers. There are numerous trail options – some easy, others much more challenging. No matter which trail one chooses, the spectacular scenery viewed during a brisk winter hike in the park is hard to beat.

To access the full story, click here.

5. OSU Research – Global Food Insecurity Impacts CORVALLIS, Ore. – The warming of Earth’s climate threatens to increase global food insecurity and halt more than two decades of progress toward curbing global hunger, according to a major assessment by 31 researchers …“A lot has been written about the impacts of climate change on agriculture in developing countries,” said John Antle, an agricultural economist in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University who led the study’s socioeconomic modeling.

“What’s different about this study is that it brings the impact of food insecurity home to the United States,” Antle said…

For more information, click here.

6. PSU Transportation Seminar Series: An Analysis of Cyclist Path Choices Through Shared Space Intersections in England.

Shared space is a traffic calming technique as well as urban design concept. Also known as ‘Naked Streets’, this technique strives to fully integrate the roadway into the urban fabric by removing elements such as lane markings, curbs, and traffic signs. By removing these elements and creating a more plaza-like space, these spaces become ambiguous and no user group has priority. The technique is relatively new, and the majority of existing research concerns pedestrians only.

This study focused on intersections in England with the goal of understanding how bicycle riders perceive and travel through shared space intersections.

Using video observations, this research analyzed the variations in the paths cyclists rode through the intersections and collected data on several variables related to both the cyclists and their interactions with the site itself such as helmet use and riding through crosswalks.

The analysis indicated that cyclists rode similarly through both shared and control intersections, and that a large percentage of riders preferred to ride farther from motor vehicles when given the space to do so. This project offered further insight in how to best design shared space projects for nonmotorized users by looking at the spatial layout and the elements that most influenced a rider’s path choice.

Allison Duncan is a Ph.D. candidate in Urban Studies & Planning at Portland State University. Prior to enrolling at Portland State, Allison worked in landscape architecture and planning in Tucson, Arizona. She is passionate about bicycles and is interested in how road design can influence nonmotorized transportation use and safety.

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If you are live streaming and want to ask a question, send an email to psuseminar@yahoo.com during the broadcast.

Seminar Speaker: Allison Duncan, Ph.D. Candidate, Portland State University Event Date: Friday, February 12, 2016 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm Where: Room 204 of the Distance Learning Center Wing of the Urban Center at PSU 12:00 Noon, PST. Follow this link on the day of the seminar to stream it live.

7. Legislative Webinar Set for February 12 The League’s Intergovernmental Relations Department will present webinars during the 2016 legislative session on February 12 and 26 beginning at 12:00 p.m. The webinars are open to the entire LOC membership and will provide updates on the bills and issues being considered by the Legislature during the February “short” session. They will also include any “calls to action” that may be warranted. Participants will have the opportunity to submit written questions during the webinar.

Any questions not answered during the webinar will be answered later in writing.

To register for the webinars, click here.

8. The 25 Best Free iPhone Apps For Business That little computer in your pocket has come a long way over the years, huh? Here are 25 incredibly useful apps that can help you run your business a whole lot smarter than ever before. And every one of them is free, at least in basic form.

Pump Up Your Productivity For Putting Paper in Its Place Try as you may, sometimes it’s impossible to avoid paper. That doesn’t mean you can’t digitize it, though. Evernote Scannable makes short work of dead trees, automatically cropping documents, business cards, receipts, and whatever else you can scan with your phone’s camera.

For Getting It Done, One Task At A Time Work your way through the day in 30-minute chunks with 30/30. Feed it your to-do list and it’ll guide you task by task, counting down until it’s time to move on to the next one. Don’t worry: you can finesse the timer in five-minute increments in either direction if 30 minutes doesn’t cut it for you.

To access the full list, click here.

9. Free Federal and State Tax Returns for AmeriCorps Members Each year, AmeriCorps Alums partners with MyFreeTaxes.com to offer free federal and state tax return filings to alums and current members. Year after year, this free service provides AmeriCorps alums with millions of dollars in tax refunds. This service has proved to be valuable to thousands of alumni who are looking to put a few extra dollars in their pocket around tax time or a free guide to filing taxes on your own online.

Instructions are noted below. It's fast! It's free! It's effective! So start today and get your tax return back at no cost to you.

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STEP 1: Visit bit.ly/FreeTaxesforAlums to get started!

STEP 2: Learn if you’re eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit and other credits.

STEP 3: If you made under $60,000 in 2014, you can file your federal and state income taxes securely online with our exclusive link to tax preparation.

10. Can Salem Build a Home for its Homeless?

“People living day to day on the street are only able to live in survival mode,” says Pamella Watson, who is a member of the Salem Homeless Coalition, is chair of the Homeless Task Force at First Congregational Church of Christ, and is one of Salem’s “arta-pottie ladies.”

“These people are consumed with looking for their next meal, looking for a place to sleep. So if you are able to get them into shelter, you allow them to get out of survival mode and start addressing issues.”

Salem homeless advocates like Watson are increasingly looking to a model called “Housing First,” an approach advocated by the National Alliance to End Homelessness that centers on providing people experiencing homelessness with permanent rental housing as quickly as possible – and only then providing services like medical care, employment and clothing as needed.

To access the full story, click here.

11. Funding Opportunities USDA Cool and Connected Pilot Program USDA’s Rural Utilities Service & EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities have set February 24th as the deadline for small towns & rural communities with economic challenges to apply for Cool & Connected, a pilot initiative that will offer technical assistance to the communities to develop an “action plan” to “promote smart, sustainable community development” by using existing or new broadband capacity to “create walkable, connected, economically vibrant main streets and small-town neighborhoods.” Interested applicants should submit a letter of interest to EPA’s Ed Fendley at fendley.ed@epa.gov by the 24th.

Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG) Program.

USDA Seeks Applications to Support Rural Businesses and Create Jobs Approximately $300,000 is expected to be made available in Oregon under the Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG) Program. The grants will be awarded competitively. Eligible applicants include public bodies, government entities, Indian tribes, and nonprofit organizations. This year’s announcement also includes a Native American set aside that is funded through a national competition.

The Rural Business Development Grant Program supports targeted technical assistance, training, and other activities leading to the development or expansion of small and emerging private, rural businesses that have fewer than 50 employees and less than $1 million in gross revenue. For additional information, see the RBDG website.

If you are planning to submit an application in Oregon, we encourage you to contact a local Business & Cooperative Program Specialist. You may also contact our State Office for more details about the application requirements and process: Lisa Siesennop Business & Cooperative Programs Director USDA Rural Development Page 5 of 6

1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 1801 Portland, OR 97204 (503) 414-3367 Lisa.Siesennop@or.usda.gov Complete applications must be received by the USDA Rural Development Oregon State Office no later than 4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 2, 2016.

Diamonds in the Rough Grant Program Diamonds in the Rough grants are to restore or reconstruct the facades of buildings that have been heavily altered over the years. The purpose is to return them to their historic appearance and potentially qualify them for historic register designation (local or national). These grants are part of the SHPO's Preserving Oregon Grant Program for the 2013-15 biennium. Grants may be awarded up to $20,000. Application Deadline: May 13, 2016 2016 Diamonds in the Rough Grant Information 2016 Diamonds in the Rough Online Grant Instructions OPRD Grants Online Program Oregon’s Transportation and Growth Management Grants Want help applying for grants for community planning to improve walking, biking, and transit?

Oregon’s Transportation and Growth Management Grants help local communities plan for streets and land use in a way that leads to more livable, economically vital, and sustainable communities and that increases opportunities for transit, walking and bicycling.

TGM awards two types of grants:  Category 1 (PDF): Transportation System Planning, including TSP updates, to give Oregonians a range of transportation choices and meet requirements of the Oregon Transportation Planning Rule  Category 2 (PDF): Integrated Land Use and Transportation Planning, to promote compact, mixed-use development supported by improved pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and multi-modal street facilities The 2016 TGM Pre-application is now available! Now through March 11.

Pre-applicants submit a short paragraph describing the local issue and desired outcome. TGM staff will contact each pre-applicant to discuss project ideas and assist with submitting a qualifying grant project application or request for other TGM community assistance service.

The formal pre-application period ends March 11, 2016, but pre-applications may be submitted at any time.

The Pre-Application Packet contains a description of our services. To fill out the Pre-Application form right-click and save the Pre-Application Instructions and Form and complete using the latest version of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.  

Pre-Application Packet (PDF) Pre-Application Instructions and Form (PDF)

TGM has funded over 700 grant projects. See the list of completed and active projects through 2014 (PDF).

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