NRB Subcommittee Portland International Raceway Meeting

Public Meeting
The Noise Review Board’s Portland International Raceway (PIR) Subcommittee is tasked with further understanding the PIR’s noise impacts and exploring possible solutions to address noise-related community concerns.
6:00 pm 8:00 pm

Agenda for November 15 Meeting:

  • Introductions
  • Subcommittee members
  • Consultants to the subcommittee
  • Facilitator, Jill Monroe, Katz & Associates
  • Review Subcommittee Purpose and Ground Rules
  • Work Plan Update and Review of Task List
  • Next Steps
  • General Public Comments 

Download full agenda and find out how to join meeting here:

Meeting Minutes 

Noise Review Board Subcommittee on PIR

Meeting Summary: November 15, 2022

Present:

  • Mary Sipe, NRB Chair
  • Ryan Pittel, Neighbor Representative
  • Marty Knowles, Neighbor Representative
  • Angela Moos, Neighbor Representative
  • Jason Henshaw, PIR User Representative
  • Ron Huegli PIR Management Representative
  • Nichole (Nikki) Gamell, PIR Management Representative
  • Kerrie Standlee, Acoustic Specialist Consultant to Subcommittee
  • Paul Van Orden, Noise Office Consultant to Subcommittee
  • Jill Monroe, Katz & Associates
  • Mark Wigginton, Former PIR Management Consultant to Subcommittee

Meeting Notes:

Call to Order

  • Mary: Called meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. on November 15, 2022.

Introductions

  • Mary Sipe: Noise Review Board Chair. Asked for introductions for the benefit of the public joining us tonight and new facilitator.
  • Ryan Pittel: Kenton Neighborhood Association Board, sixteen- year Kenton resident.
  • Marty Knowles: Kenton Resident.
  • Angela Moos: Member of the Kenton Neighborhood Association Board.
  • Jason Henshaw: Thirty-year resident of the Portsmouth neighborhood. Also a board member of the Friends of PIR.
  • Charles Freeborn: Portland resident and racetrack user.
  • Ron Huegli:  Portland International Raceway (PIR) manager. Calling in from Denver International Airport.
  • Nichole (Nikki) Gamell: PIR Management Representative
  • Kerrie Standlee: Former Noise Review Board Chair, acoustic engineer and involved in the PIR since 1984.
  • Mark Wigginton: PIR manager from 2000 until 2014.
  • Paul Van Orden / Noise Officer: City's Noise Officer
  • Mary Sipe: Introduced Jill Monroe with Katz & Associates and then turned the meeting over to Jill to facilitate and participate as a subcommittee member.
  • Jill Monroe: (Shared screen) Provided instructions for public comment at the end of the meeting and resources for technical difficulties, questions, or written comments be submitted at Variances@portlandoregon.gov. Provided information on firm and role for NRB PIR Subcommittee:
    • Senior Account Supervisor with Katz & Associates a San Diego based community engagement and public involvement firm with offices across California and practitioners across the country. Facilitates the San Diego International Airport Noise Advisory Committee and familiar with concerns around noise, but more importantly with the facilitation of meetings and conversations. Role is funded by both the Parks Bureau and the Civic Life Bureau to support the Noise Review Board, and this subcommittee. Has spent the last month or so meeting with Mary with several City staff also to understand the issues and background for the NRB, the PIR, the role of the subcommittee and the progress that the group has made. Will be the support person for the group. To make sure that meeting agendas are sufficient, properly posted, and that the community is aware of what's happening. And to guide conversation and dialogue to provide the NRB with recommendations as it relates to noise impacts and the PIR.

Review Subcommittee Purpose and Ground Rules

  • Kerrie: Asked if the material went out to the consultants as well?
    • It was determined that materials did not get sent to the subcommittee. Mary resent materials during the meeting.
  • Jill: Reviewed purpose of the NRB PIR Subcommittee:  
    • “The Noise Review Board’s PIR Subcommittee will explore possible solutions and make feasible recommendations to address community concerns related to noise from the Portland International Raceway. The Subcommittee will produce a report with recommendations to submit to the full Noise Review Board, who then will present the final report to City Council.”
  • Mary: Working on a progress report to share with subcommittee and ultimately the NRB. Not intended for City Council submission.
  • Jill: Provided review of subcommittee ground rules: Public meeting, and comments are made public, be courteous of one another, ensure that all viewpoints are heard in any discussion items or any meeting conversations, etc.

Work Plan Update and Review of Task List

  • Jill: Introduced work plan and task list for review and discussion. Included discussion on meeting frequency and timing. Confirmed subcommittee meetings would now take place monthly on the third Tuesday of each month.
  • Mary: Provided brief synopsis of the nine meetings of the subcommittee since November 2021, the need to bring a new acoustic professional on board and reviewed the work plan. Also provided an overview of the task list which was developed to identify problems and potential solutions, the cost and funding sources for potential solutions, developing a report to be submitted to the Noise Review Board, and then ultimately to uh the City Council.
  • Jill: Called for any questions from the subcommittee regarding the task list and began to review task list and the status of each task.
  • Task Review:  
    • Title 18 – complete.
    • Acoustics “101” – complete.
    • Identify all sound-generating activities that take place at PIR – need 222 data
    • Noise Complaints – need 2022 data.
  • Jason: Clarified that data through 2021 is complete, simply adding in 2022 data.
    • Noise Monitors – Trackside – Report completed.
    • Noise Monitors – Neighborhood –
  • Jason: Questions on reliability of meter data and the need for further discussion about meter location, data gathering and analysis.
  • Paul/Mary: Further offered to collect and provide neighborhood meter data.
    • Gather past reports for Subcommittee review – Report and review completed.
    • Gather data/reports from Noise Monitors – Noise Review Board is gathering and reviewing data for 2022
    • Noise Abatement/Mitigation – Identify noise mitigation at the source
    • Information from past subcommittees:
      • 2010 Kenton Neighborhood Association Survey
      • Grove Insight Survey
      • Greenbusch Survey
  • Kerrie: Asked if the subcommittee had discussed these items.
  • Mary: Provided an overview of the Grove Insight Survey at the last subcommittee meeting before the summer pause and shared materials with the subcommittee. Will draft a summary of the Greenbusch Study which she will send to the subcommittee ahead of December meeting. Asked if Jason could provide a summary of the Friends of PIR Survey.
  • Jill: Next assignments on the remaining task list asked if subcommittee members would prefer to review individually and follow up with next steps at the December meeting.
  • Mark: Stressed the importance at looking at comprehensive data regarding noise and complaints rather than a subset of the data/complaints. Many studies have been about noise throughout the neighborhood, and if it was, they were studies devoted only to racetrack noise or noise, was the noise from PIR was the only source of noise in the neighborhood. I could see that. But uh, looking at that data absent, the other data around. It um seems a skewed at best.
  • Jason: Similar comment. I feel like we really have to see that data from the last season from this summer to get an idea of the scope of the problem, because when we looked when we broke the data down from the 2021 season. There were less than 1% of the people who were complaining so of the neighborhood population, and that was counting just one neighborhood that wasn't talking about my neighborhood and some of the other adjacent neighborhoods. I want to see what the data brings out from this last season, just to understand how big of a problem this is for my neighbors, and then we can start to figure out what to do about it.
  • Jill: Read comment from Jason in the chat regarding how we identify and review data and a need for a review of 2022 data. A comment from Angela making sure that we base decisions based on data from twenty twenty-two and from the year many decades prior to that as well.
  • Mary: Confirmed that the subcommittee could definitely do a comparison We have data or 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 but need to verify that all complaints are being gathered and counted.
  • Jill: Read Paul's comment reminder in the subcommittee is tapped with looking at ways to reduce sound emanating in the community and balance between the track and community.
  • Jill: Looking at the remaining tasks the group has identified potential opportunities for the subcommittee, particularly for funding sources for uh either additional noise studies or for noise mitigation. This can be a review of past track improvements how they've been funded and potentially put research and findings together into a report to the NRB later next year. With that in mind, how would the group like to approach remaining tasks.
  • Mary: With regard to the remaining tasks, is there anybody that thinks there's anything we should block off of this list? Or what should we focus on for our next few meetings.
  • Jill: Read a comment from Nikki regarding the task list and confirmed that this list was in the email that Mary sent to the group earlier in the meeting. We can solicit some feedback over email about identify priority items, so subcommittee members have a chance to look at it a little bit more closely and provide additional comments.
  • Mark: Asked if emails are sent to the entire subcommittee or the chair/facilitator?
  • Mary: Mindful of open meeting rules, if anybody has comments or feedback about individual items on the list, email facilitator and chair, not the whole subcommittee.
  • Jill: Committee feedback will help build future agendas and make sure that we're addressing the critical priorities as we move forward. In January, we can rank through some of these critical priorities and update the subcommittees task list.
  • Mary: Clarified that the subcommittee doesn't, necessarily have to take on the full responsibility of doing all of the research on the task list. The group could recommend to City Council that – for example – Parks and Recreations could be tasked with doing a feasibility study and reporting back their findings, etc.
  • Jill: Reiterated Mary’s clarification, that the group does not necessarily mean to accomplish everything, but to identify opportunities, to mitigate noise and provide those recommendations to the NRB and the NRB could potentially put items forward to the City Council. Also requested review and input from the subcommittee ahead of the December meeting for a more thorough review of the task list.

Next Steps

  • Jill: confirmed the date for the December 20, 202 meeting

Called for public comment – no comments.

  • Jill: adjourned the meeting.

Download a copy of the meeting minutes here: