1. call to order of the aurora parks ......2020/09/15 · jorgensen also ordered signs from canby...

Aurora Parks Committee Agenda September 15, 2020 of 1

Agenda

Aurora Parks Committee Meeting

Tuesday, September 15, 2020 at 7 P.M.

City Council Chambers, Aurora City Hall

21420 Main Street NE, Aurora, OR 97002

1. CALL TO ORDER OF THE AURORA PARKS COMMITTEE MEETING

2. ROLL CALL

Chair Stuart Cregger Member Aaron Ensign

Vice Chair Ronan Feely Member Nick Kaiser

Youth Member Sunny Weidman Member Marilee Sullivan

3. VISITOR

Anyone wishing to address the Aurora Parks Committee concerning items not already on

the meeting agenda may do so in this section. No decision or action will be made, but the

Aurora Parks Committee could look into the matter and provide some response in the

future.

4. CONSENT AGENDA

a) Parks Committee Minutes-July 21, 2020

b) Parks Committee Minutes-August 18, 2020

5. NEW BUSINESS

a) Wetlands technical memo findings

b) Grant opportunities for discussion/decision – Marion Soil & Water Conservation

District Landowner Assistance Program grant (up to $7500); Oregon Watershed

Enhancement Board Small Grant ($15k)

6. OLD BUSINESS

a) Master Plan Update

7. ADJOURN

Aurora Parks Committee Minutes July 21, 2020 Page 1 of 2

Minutes Aurora Parks Committee Meeting

Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 7 P.M. City Council Chambers, Aurora City Hall 21420 Main Street NE, Aurora, OR 97002

STAFF PRESENT: W. Scott Jorgensen, City Recorder STAFF ABSENT: None VISITORS PRESENT: None


Chair Stuart Cregger called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.

2. ROLL CALL Chair Stuart Cregger-Present Member Aaron Ensign-Present Vice Chair Ronan Feely-Present Member Annie Harris-Absent Youth Member Sunny Weidman-Absent Member Nick Kaiser-Present Member Marilee Sullivan-Present

3. VISITOR There were no visitors at this time.

4. CONSENT AGENDA

a) Parks Committee Minutes-June 16, 2020 Cregger moved to approve the consent agenda. That motion was seconded by Aaron Ensign and adopted unanimously.

5. NEW BUSINESS a) Council Action on Disc Golf Baskets at City Park

City Recorder W. Scott Jorgensen said that the council voted unanimously to approve the baskets. He ordered them July 20 and they should arrive at city hall some time the following week. Jorgensen also ordered signs from Canby Signs and Graphics. There was an article in the Woodburn Independent newspaper about the course. Once the course is finished, he will order a larger sign to be placed at the park entrance with disc golf rules and a map with the distances of the holes.

b) Art in the Park Cregger said the concept was to put art in the bathrooms at both city parks. He likes it. Ensign said it may be subject to vandalism. Ronan Feely said the city does have a couple of bulletin boards that could be used to display the art. Cregger suggested that an announcement could be made to solicit for rotating monthly art at public places. Marilee Sullivan said White Rabbit did something similar. Cregger said there could be an art show if there were enough submissions. The city could ask citizens where

Aurora Parks Committee Minutes July 21, 2020 Page 2 of 2

they would like to see more art. Jorgensen said he could do a survey. Ensign said somebody would need to head up those efforts. He mentioned that ivy is taking over some large fir trees in the park. The lines on the tennis and basketball courts are faded and the benches and picnic tables need to be power washed. Sullivan said the bathroom’s roof is getting mossy.

6. OLD BUSINESS a) Virtual 5K

Feely said a virtual race could be done as a replacement for the one that is typically done during Colony Days. It’s too late to organize anything for the August 7 antique fair that has been planned. Maybe something could be done Halloween weekend with costumes.

b) Bike Hubs Jorgensen said bike hubs were included in the funding request the committee made to the Budget Committee. The disc golf baskets cost $3500, so there’s still plenty left out of the $10,000 that was allocated for park improvements. Committee members agreed by consensus to recommend to council that one bike hub be purchased and placed at the downtown park area. Feely said a sign could be placed on Highway 99 directing people to it.

c) Aurora Film Festival There was a discussion about when it could be held. Jorgensen and Feely said it could be part of the 2021 Colony Days festivities. Ensign suggested a holiday art show be done as part of a winter event. Sullivan said the town she grew up in used to have a Halloween parade. Feely said a costume contest could be part of the Virtual 5K event.

d) Fitness Equipment at the City Park Cregger said that a couple of items could be added to the park periodically.

e) Master Plan Update Cregger said the committee could keep working on it. The old master plan was very ambitious.

7. ADJOURN Cregger adjourned the meeting at 8 p.m. ________________________________ Stuart Cregger, Chair ATTEST: _________________________________ Stuart Rodgers City Recorder

Aurora Parks Committee Minutes August 18, 2020 Page 1 of 3

Minutes Aurora Parks Committee Meeting Tuesday, August 18, 2020 at 7 P.M.

City Council Chambers, Aurora City Hall 21420 Main Street NE, Aurora, OR 97002

STAFF PRESENT: W. Scott Jorgensen, City Recorder STAFF ABSENT: None VISITORS PRESENT: Allan Whiting, Portland


Chair Stuart Cregger called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m.

2. ROLL CALL Chair Stuart Cregger-Present Member Aaron Ensign-Absent Vice Chair Ronan Feely-Absent Member Nick Kaiser-Absent Youth Member Sunny Weidman-Present Member Marilee Sullivan-Present

3. VISITOR There were no visitors at this time.

4. CONSENT AGENDA

a) Parks Committee Minutes-July 21, 2020 No action was taken due to lack of a quorum.

5. NEW BUSINESS a) Allan Whiting Presentation on Aurora Mills Property

Whiting said he built on his original draft memo. There’s an analysis, some GIS work and flooding analysis combined with site reconnaissance surveys. He developed an enhancement concept by looking at the broader landscape context. The water at the nearby Mill Creek doesn’t move much because it has no conveyance capacity. That’s why the area floods so often. The wetlands and surrounding habitat depend on that flooding. Out of the last 97 years, 70 of them, or 72 percent, reached flood stage. It is a hot spot for flooding. Historically, it was a forested closed riparian area, around the 1850s. He spoke with Marion Soil and Water Conservation District (MSWCD) about restoring the property to a wet or open prairie. The property has been cleared, farmed and worked over the years. One objective for the property is to increase native plant diversity. The wetland can absorb water that’s moving downstream by increasing floodplain connectivity. There’s some cement and metal debris in the creek that should also be removed. Wood can probably be placed on the site for turtle habitat. There are lower areas of the property that can be used for the floodplain connectivity,


as others are high and steep. This can be done by removing a culvert and pulling the bank back. An engineer would have to calculate the volume of water to be stored. The upland area can be used to plant native species. The same logs that can be used for turtle habitat could also take some of the velocity off of the stream. Cregger suggested that the committee take a field trip to the site prior to its next meeting. City Recorder W. Scott Jorgensen said that the city’s public works department had planned to treat the knotweed but can’t obtain certifications because the state agencies that issue them are backlogged. Whiting said the restored habitat at the site could be good for coho salmon and especially their spawn. Cregger said there used to be crawdads near the bridge when he was younger. Whiting said that is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. He put together a list of the kinds of native plants that could be placed on the site in his memo. Wet prairie is difficult to maintain, but a flood plain forest would be easier. Funds are available for these kinds of restoration projects. There’s a grant window in September for the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) and he just worked on one of those grants. Those grants are for up to $15,000 with a 25 percent cost share. The MSCWD has a landowner assistance program. Jorgensen said there is around $5,000 left in the park improvement fund that could go towards the cost share of the OWEB grant. He suggested that the city pursue the OWEB and MSWCD funding streams. Whiting said native plantings can be done for about $5,000. Cregger asked when the best time to do the planting would be. Whiting said there are two windows. One would be October or November to see what plants would work, then another in February and March. He said the city could also reach out to the Wisdom of the Elders, a Native American group. The OWEB small grant deadlines are September 14 and November 2. Cregger said the city should shoot for November. Jorgensen asked about the deadline for the MSWCD funds. Whiting said it’s a rolling fund and may be a more stable pot of money these days. Jorgensen asked if representatives from the MSWCD should be invited to attend the committee’s field trip to the site. Cregger said they should, along with Pudding River Watershed Council Executive Director Anna Rankin. Jorgensen said he could reach out to them. He mentioned that there was an email from Nancy Trivitt suggesting the use of decorative wood carvings throughout town. Grants Pass has bear statues all over its downtown area that are decorated by local artists and sponsored by businesses. He asked if the wood carver mentioned in the email should be invited to the next meeting. Cregger said yes.

6. OLD BUSINESS a) Master Plan Update

7. ADJOURN

Cregger adjourned the meeting at 7:42 p.m.


________________________________ Stuart Cregger, Chair ATTEST: _________________________________ Stuart Rodgers City Recorder

Aurora Mills Wetland Enhancement Memo (DRAFT) Page 1

Aurora Mills Wetland Enhancement Concepts (DRAFT)

This document summarizes information useful for understanding opportunities and constraints to

improving wetland condition at Aurora Mills Park managed by the City of Aurora. Base layer datasets

were inventoried using GIS as a platform for future project development needs. Other documentation

was pulled from completed watershed assessment to better understand the Mill Creek watershed in the

context of the Pudding and Molalla systems. Field investigations also included a reconnaissance survey

of the stream habitat condition, vegetation overview, soil survey, and identification of wetland

enhancement opportunities. This included ground truthing of stream habitat types to determine Aurora

Mills landscape position, channel shape, and gradient. These are important to understanding local

flooding patterns and shaping existing wetland condition.

This memo includes recommendations for future projects useful for future proposal development to

balance recreational park needs with improving wetland condition. Draft goals and objectives are

defined to build off past discussions and ideas to achieve Parks vision in collaboration with project

partners including the Pudding River Watershed Council.

Property Boundary Verification and Topography Field investigations provided direction to survey crew to recover property boundaries and establish

benchmarks useful for verifying elevations from LIDAR (Figure 1). Information collected included LIDAR

information that was useful was post-processed and made into hill shade useful for visualizing

surrounding landforms and determining flooding patterns (figure 3-4).

Figure 1: Property boundary verification and benchmark establishment


Flooding Patterns Understanding the surrounding hydrology informs the enhancement potential of the Aurora Mills site. It

also serves as a useful tool to engage area landowners to collaborate on future projects along the

broader floodplain. Flood gage information is readily available online including historic flood patterns

providing an excellent period of record for establishing flood profiles. Figure 2 shows the frequency of

flooding including flood stage when Mill Creek surface water overtops streambanks. For almost 100

years of record Mill Creek, reached peak flood stage 72% of the time. Figure 3 is a rendering of the

inundation patterns at this threshold for flood stage. Figure 4 shows extent of a more substantial

flooding event at 25’ where adjacent properties and infrastructure are exposed.

Figure 2: Flood Stage Frequency 1923-Present, Pudding River Gage, Aurora

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

30.00

35.00

1/7

/19

231

2/3

0/1

93

72

/19

/194

91

1/1

8/1

95

01

1/1

8/1

95

01

/22

/195

12

/5/1

952

1/2

0/1

953

1/2

7/1

954

12/

22

/19

55

1/5

/19

561

2/2

2/1

95

72

/1/1

958

1/1

3/1

959

11/

25

/19

60

2/1

1/1

961

3/2

8/1

962

3/3

1/1

963

1/2

6/1

964

12/

23

/19

64

1/2

9/1

965

1/6

/19

661

/30

/196

72

/21

/196

81

2/1

1/1

96

81

/7/1

969

12/

24

/19

69

1/2

3/1

970

1/2

0/1

971

1/2

/19

721

1/1

7/1

97

31

/16

/197

41

2/8

/197

51

2/1

6/1

97

71

/15

/198

01

2/7

/198

11

/1/1

982

2/2

0/1

983

2/1

8/1

986

2/2

5/1

986

1/1

6/1

988

1/7

/19

931

/16

/199

52

/20

/199

51

2/3

/199

52

/8/1

996

11/

20

/19

96

1/3

/19

972

/2/1

997

11/

28

/19

98

2/2

/20

032

/1/2

004

1/1

/20

061

/19

/200

61

/3/2

009

12/

16

/20

10

12/

30

/20

10

1/1

9/2

011

1/2

0/2

012

3/1

8/2

012

4/2

/20

121

1/2

3/2

01

22

/17

/201

41

2/1

1/2

01

51

2/1

9/2

01

54

/11

/201

9

Stag

e

Date

Flood Stage=22’


Figure 3: Flooding Extent @ Aurora Mills Wetland Area (=22’)


Figure 4: Flooding Extent @Aurora Mills Wetland Area (=25’)


Restoration Planning Flooding information provides background for understanding current wetland condition at Aurora Mills

site. In discussions with project partners, a general principle was established to examine area in context

of broader watershed landscape. With that principle in mind, flooding is not is not viewed as a

constraint, but as an opportunity to generate wetland enhancement concepts in alignment with natural

processes.

Figure 5: Landscape position of site, Pudding River Watershed

Figure 5 shows the landscape position of the site along the watershed gradient of the Pudding River. Its

low gradient position in the watershed hinders it’s the areas ability to convey water efficiently, affecting

its duration patterns and shaping extent of wetlands on site. Findings from wetland assessment

conducted from previous effort largely echo flooding patterns observed where lower elevation swales

and channels experience persistent of water. In these area soil profiles verify this phenomena along with

subtle changes in vegetation species.

Goals and Objectives To frame the range of wetland enhancement ideas, project goals and objectives were vetted with Park

committee members and City of Aurora staff. Building from previous efforts from Master Plan and

completed wetland assessments, objectives were defined to provide more precision to wetland

enhancement component.

• Goal 3: Preserve and enhance the natural resources and sensitive habitat areas of the park

(2009 Aurora Mills Park Master Plan)

Objective 1: Increase native plant diversity with plantings and regular maintenance of

invasive species

Objective 2: Increase floodplain connectivity to reduce flood hazard risk downstream


Objective 3: Enhance instream complexity and function (i.e. debris removal, large wood

placement)

Objective 4: Increase public awareness of historic native American context (i.e.

ethnobotany elements)

Wetland Enhancement Concept Map Based on the assessment information compiled and examination of area opportunities and constraints,

wetland enhancement concepts are portrayed in Figure 6. Concepts are meant to meet objectives above

and improve overall quality and function of wetland habitat. All the concepts are within City of Aurora

boundary and can be modified and/or expanded on depending on feedback from the community and

adjacent property owners. Iterations of the map can be used as a tool to engage project partners and

stakeholders to solicit their input and support of these ideas. Explanations of each of the project

elements are provided below.

Figure 6: Wetland Enhancement Project Opportunities


Wetland Connection Opportunities: These are wetland areas that are hydrologically connected during

flood events. Enhancement concept includes removal of artificial debris and with Mill Creek channel

along with streambank modification to allow more frequent inundation to these areas. Modifications

can occur in the form of recontouring the stream bank to gentle slopes in alignment with local

hydrology. More frequent inundation of these areas will improve overall habitat connectivity to Mill

Creek stream corridor and hinder the propagation of invasive species. Removal of undersized culvert

along eastern property boundary will improve drainage of property during flooding events. Additional

features can be placed in these areas to improve in habitat complexity in the form of large wood. Wood

can be placed in such a way to provide habitat for multiple aquatic species including basking habitat for

turtles. Placement of large wood will also diffuse erosive stream velocities that can adversely effect

properties downstream. More frequency connection to these wetlands can also provide flood storage to

buffer flooding risk in the area.

Native Planting Zones: Wetland and Upland Transitional: Invasive species are present throughout the

area. Using maintenance staff from the City, site preparation measures can be useful remove root mats

of established invasive and provide opportunities for native plantings. Wetland area are designated

based on completed assessment and flooding analysis above. Upland species are designated in higher

elevation areas and are meant to complement existing riparian corridor to emulate historic wetland

types of the Willamette Valley. Success of these plantings will depend strongly on the level of

maintenance resources from the City and its partners.

Example Wetland Species Example Upland Transitional Species

Slough sedge Lateral sedge Streambank lupine Oregon ash Red alder Cascara Red-osier Dogwood Tufted Hairgrass Sword leaf Rush Cut leaf Silver puffs

Woody: Bigleaf maple, Black cottonwood, Western red Cedar Willamette Valley Pine, Oregon white oak

Herbaceous/Forbs: Fireweed Checker mallow Sanicle Douglas aster Tarweed Gumweed Camas Species Tickseed Evening primrose Oregon sunshine Narrowleaf milkweeds Sea blush Clarkia Pearly everlasting Camas


Additional Recommendations: • Begin developing proposals that can be used for various grant opportunities:

o OWEB small grant

o Marion SWCD Landowner Assistance Program

o OWEB technical assistance grant

• Package wetland enhancement concepts with future community development grants to

leverage wetland and recreational needs

• Use topographic information to verify existing drainage channel geometry as well as flood

profiles to monitor inundation timing and duration of site that can be used to refine desired

planting species.

• Coordinate with Native American species to such as Wisdom of the Elders to solicit input on

project objectives, historical context, and Willamette Valley heritage habitat types.

Aurora Mills Park Enhancement

Concepts

• Technical Memo Summary• Flooding

• Enhancement Concept

• Recommendations

• Next Steps

Aurora Parks Committee Meeting 08/18/2020

• LIDAR Classification

Landscape View


• Floodstage=22’ (97.6’ WSE, NAVD88)

Flooding Analysis


Memo Summary: Flooding

70 out of 97 years it reaches floodstage (72%)


Aurora Mills Flooding (22’)


Aurora Mills Flooding (25’)


Historic Conditions


Wetland Vision

• Goal 3: Aurora Mills Park Master Plan

Preserve and enhance the natural resources and sensitive habitat areas of the park


Wetland Vision

Objective 1: Increase native plant diversity with plantings and regular maintenance of invasive species

Objective 2: Increase floodplain connectivity to reduce floodhazard risk downstream

Objective 3: Enhance instream complexity and function (i.e. debris removal, large wood placement)

Objective 4: Increase public awareness of historic native American context (i.e. ethnobotany elements)


Wetland Vision


-Wetland Areas (green)-Wet Prairie/Upland Transitional (beige)

Wetland Area Elements


-Stream recontouring for connectivity around flooding-Woody debris (for multiple species)-Wetland Plants

Wetland Area Elements


-Stream recontouring for connectivity-Woody debris (for multiple species)-Wetland Plants

Transitional-Floodplain Area Elements


-Invasive Removal- Floodplain Forest Plantings + Understory

Recommendations


-Proposal Development• OWEB small grant• Marion SWCD Landowner

Assistance Program• OWEB Technical Assistance-Leverage with community development grants-Health Equity Alliance-Monitoring + Reference Site-Reach out to Wisdom of the Elders

Next Steps


-OWEB small grant dates:9/14, 11/2, 1/25/21

- Marion SWCD Landowner Assistance Program Discussion

-Aurora Mills Site Visits with SWCD, WC and Mollala State Parks

Thank you!

• Contact info: 503.789.9240

• [email protected]

• Whitingenv.com


mailto:[email protected]

1. call to order of the aurora parks ......2020/09/15 · jorgensen also ordered signs from canby...

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