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Timeline and history

About Metro  ›  Mission, charter and code  ›  Timeline and history

Discover a list of major achievements at Metro from 1977 to 2008 and download a roster of past Metro Councilors.

2008

• The region’s voters pass a $125 million bond measure for the Oregon Zoo to improve outdated exhibits and animal service buildings, and make the zoo more sustainable, including addressing water conservation issues.
• The Metro Council awards a 10-year contract to Troutdale-based Walsh Trucking, Inc. to transport nearly 700,000 tons of waste per year to the Columbia Ridge Landfill in Gilliam County, Oregon. The new contract also includes several environmental benefits, including at least a 90 percent decrease in emissions through the use of diesel filters
• This year marks the 25 annual Salmon Festival at Metro's Oxbow Regional Park celebrating the annual return of the fall Chinook salmon to the Sandy River.
• Metro reexamines its business and management structure in order to sharpen its focus on continuous improvement and better serve the residents of the region; the Sustainable Metro Initiative reorganizes Metro departments along functional lines.
• The Metro Council passes a measure to boost business recycling in the Portland metropolitan region, aiming to recycle at least 80 percent of the 100,000 tons of recyclable material currently disposed of annually.
• The Metro Council announces $389,500 in matching grants that will improve water quality, support local wildlife and increase access to nature for residents. The Nature in Neighborhoods capital grants fund three projects.
• The Metro Council unanimously approves the Regional Solid Waste Management Plan. It commits Metro to goals and investments for the next 10 years and includes more effective strategies to help the region reach its 64 percent regional recycling goal.
• The Metro Council announces $60,000 in grants that will benefit residents of North Portland as well as support neighborhood improvement projects. Twenty-one projects are funded by this year’s community enhancement grant program.
• MetroPaint, made entirely from post-consumer recycled interior and exterior latex paints, is named a 2008 Top 10 Green Product by Sustainable Industries business magazine.
• Metro’s Gardens of Natural Delights™ tour grows to 30 sites and nearly 3,000 visitors.

2007

• Metro's Transit-Oriented Development program is named the recipient of The American Planning Association Program’s 2008 National Planning Award for Best Practice and receives the Multi-Housing News 2007 Annual Design Excellence Award for its work in the region.
• In a collaborative effort, Metro, the City of Portland Office of Sustainable Development, as well as Clackamas, Washington and Multnomah counties launch a regionwide Green Building Hotline.
• The Oregon Downtown Development Association presents Metro the 2007 Pioneering Award for the work on North Main Village in Milwaukie.
• Metro’s Blue Lake Natural Garden opens. The garden encompasses 7,500 square feet with 5,000 square feet planted and more than 150 species suited to our region's warm summers and wet winters.
• Milestone reached: 1 million trees have been planted at Metro owned parks in the last 10 years.
• For the second year, the Metro Council awards funds to local organizations for projects to protect fish and wildlife throughout the region. A total of $420,682 is awarded to 19 groups for 21 projects in 2007’s Nature in Neighborhoods grant program.
• Metro achieves a rating of AAA from Moody’s Investors Service as well as a re-affirmation of its AAA rating from Standard & Poor’s. Metro is one of only two municipal governments in Oregon to achieve the highest bond ratings from both firms.
• Metro volunteers contribute more than 20,000 hours to Metro’s parks, natural areas and the Oregon Zoo in one year.
• The Metro Council releases its slate of 20 neighborhood improvement projects to fund through the Metro Central enhancement grant program. Several will use their Metro grant to leverage other monies raising the total value of the projects selected to an estimated $371,294.
• Metro announces the distribution of $6.3 million to assist local cities in urban growth planning, fulfilling land use planning requirements for areas brought into the urban growth boundary in 2002.
• The Oregon Zoo hosts 1,507,515 visitors this year (the highest number of visitors in one year in zoo history).

2006

• Voters approve a $227.4 million bond measure to protect natural areas to safeguard water quality, protect fish and wildlife habitat and ensure access to nature for future generations.
• Metro’s popular “Construction Recycling Toolkit – A Directory of Recycling & Salvage Options,” becomes available as a mini-CD. The free CD is just one of several tools available to area construction professionals seeking to reduce their waste.
• The Metro Council awards nearly $100,000 from the Visitor Development Fund (VDF) to a variety of tourism-related projects in the east Multnomah County area.
• Metro is awarded a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify and inventory petroleum-based brownfield sites throughout the region. 
• The Metro Council awards more than $560,000 to 27 local organizations for 32 projects to protect fish and wildlife throughout the region through the Nature in Neighborhoods grant program.

2005

• Metro shows its environmental colors with a new eco-friendly green roof. The newly installed green roof is the latest resource-conservation measure designed into the building. 
• As the 2005 Bike There! Map rolls out for Portland citizens, it is awarded second place for Cartographic Design at the 25th annual Environmental Systems Research Institute conference.
• The National Association of Local Government Auditors (NALGA) names Metro as winner of the Knighton Award – its highest award – for producing the best audit report by a local government audit agency in the United States and Canada.
• Metro Enhancement Committee awards grants valued at $99,592 for nine neighborhood improvement projects that benefit local residents, nonprofit organizations, senior centers and schools in Oregon City.
• Metro and other local governments launch a challenge for local area businesses to boost recycling at work, by distributing 10,000 recycling boxes.
• Metro’s bond rating from Standard and Poor’s (S&P), one of the two largest credit rating agencies in the country, improved from AA+ to the highest rating level AAA, making Metro the only S&P AAA-rated issuer in the state.
• After sharing space with Metro’s Oregon City garbage transfer station for 12 years, The MetroPaint facility moves to Swan Island in North Portland, and opens for sales in February.
• Fourteen grants totaling $82,514 are awarded to schools and environmental groups in the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan region through the Metropolitan Greenspaces program, a Metro partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

2004

• Eagle Canyon exhibit opens at the Oregon Zoo.
• A $630,000 lobby renovation is completed at the Keller Auditorium.
• More than 12,000 people attend special events at Metro parks and greenspaces, including Salmon Festival and Blue Lake’s Fourth of July celebration.
• The 2004-2007 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program is adopted and $53 million in federal funds are allocated to transportation projects and programs of all types.
• All local transfer stations are successfully reissued franchise permits by Metro.
Conceptual design for a new MAX station and public plaza in Gresham Civic Neighborhood are completed.
• Smith and Bybee Lakes dam is removed and replaced with a water control structure.

2003

• Metro Charter amendments approved by the voters in November 2000 are implemented starting January 6, 2003.
• Oregon Convention Center’s expansion is successfully opened with newly hired and trained staff; OCC achieves an “excellent” rating in 98 percent of customer surveys.
• Metro Regional Center’s capacity for public participation is enhanced through closed circuit video and audio improvements.
• Metro led regional efforts to increase transport, reuse and processing capacity for the region’s food waste.
• 2002 Urban Growth Boundary amendments are completed.
• Served more residents with the Metro Recycling Hotline, Metro transfer facilities and Metro hazardous waste collection services than ever before.
• Partnered with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to increase funding available for habitat restoration projects around the region.
• Customized monthly reporting is implemented for minority-and women-owned and emerging small business enterprise program.

2002

• "Where do we grow from here? Let’s Talk" conference and community workshops attract 1,200 participants, some of whom participate in a town hall hosted by Northwest NewsChannel 8, the Portland Tribune and Community Newspapers Inc.
• The International Association for Public Participation for “excellence and innovation” awards Metro in its “Where do we grow from here? Let’s Talk” outreach effort.
• Metro proposes and voters approve Ballot Measure to amend Metro Charter to prohibit increased density in existing neighborhoods and require a report to residents on proposed Urban Growth Boundary changes.
• Metro establishes over 200 contacts within the business community and visits nearly 125 neighborhood associations and community groups to enhance communication and partnership.
• Metro approves significant expansion of the urban growth boundary.
• The 2002-2005 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program is adopted and $50.54 million in federal funds are allocated to multi-modal transportation projects and programs around the region.
• The Oregon Zoo has 1,330,838 visitors, breaking all previous attendance records. Bee-Eater/Weaverbird exhibits are remodeled; Polar Exhibit is renovated and Winged Wonders seasonal butterfly exhibit opens.
• More than 10,000 people participate in one of thirty-five one- to three-day events where Metro collects household hazardous waste for disposal.
• Environmental impact statement completed for study that looks at transit options for the southeastern portion of the region.
• The Willamette River to Sellwood portion of the Springwater Trail and a $440,000 wetland restoration project at Tualitan River’s Gotter Bottom open to the public.
• School field trips, Oxbow campfire program, GreenScene natural history interpretive programs, and Metro’s roving naturalist program reach an estimated 13,000 people.
• A series of online interactive tools, including “find a recycler,” “who’s my councilor” and interactive maps to allow citizens to participate and comment on regional issues.
• Updated "Bike There!" map sells on Metro web site describing 512 miles of bike lanes, 124 miles of multi-use paths, airport MAX and light rail stations and more

2001

• Small group discussions called "Coffee Talks" held around the region as part of "Where do we grow from here? Let’s Talk", a dialogue with citizens about the urban growth boundary, fish and wildlife habitat protection and provision of parks and transportation systems.
• Consolidated the Growth Management and Transportation departments into a single Planning Department, reducing cost and improving efficiency
• Renegotiated the region's solid waste contracts to ensure competitive rates
• Almost 10,000 people attend one of thirty-five one- to three-day events where Metro collects household hazardous waste for disposal and more than 1,000 illegal dumpsites around the region are cleaned up.
• The Recycling Information Hotline answers more than 102,000 calls from residents and businesses in the region.
• Amazon Flooded Forest exhibit opens at Oregon Zoo
• Criteria and maps for identifying riparian corridors and wildlife habitat substantially revised
• Newly designed web site makes it quicker and easier for people to find information about Metro; pubications and services can be purchased online for the first time
• A $5,000 grant is secured from The Autzen Foundation toward the purchase of sixty-nine acres of open space on Scouter Mountain in the East Buttes Target Area.

2000

• Ballot Measure 26-10 amending Metro’s Charter by eliminating the Executive Officer and reorganizing Executive Staff approved for the ballot and passed by voters for implementation in 2003
• Ground broken on an expansion of the Oregon Convention Center that will nearly double the size of the facility and increase revenue and attendance by up to 60 percent
• Funded though a combination of infrastructure and facility construction loans from the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department, built a new Hall D at Expo
• Steller Cove exhibit opens at the Oregon Zoo
• 2000-2005 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program adopted to allocate $50.54 million in federal funds to a broad array of multi-modal transportation projects
• Contact information database created for agency-wide use

1999

• Metro Council adopts changes in solid waste contracts that provide significant savings
• Metro Council adopts revised Regional Transportation Plan
• Metro initiates an extensive research and outreach effort to conserve, protect and restore fish and wildlife habitat in streamside corridors of the region
• Amur leopard and lorikeet exhibits open and the Oregon Zoo acquires a new Asian elephant
• The recycled latex paint program, which receives, packages and sells the usable paint to nonprofits, contractors and the public, begins operations
• Design, engineering and construction of master planned improvements at Oxbow Regional Park, Howell Territorial and M. James Gleason Boat Ramp begin
• Metro receives a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund local government planning to address the complex land-use, transportation and related environmental impacts of developing areas recently added to the urban growth boundary
• Implementation begins on a three-year work plan for waste prevention and recovery in offices, the construction and demolition industry and in commercial food operations
• Agency's fourth annual, five-year capital projects plan adopted

1998

• Metro Council lowers garbage tipping fee from $70 to $63.50 a ton
• Westside MAX light-rail line opens
• Metro Washington Park Zoo renamed the Oregon Zoo; new entrance and Cascade Crest exhibit open
• Implementation of the Stream and Floodplain Protection Plan (Title 3) begins
• Metro Council makes first major changes to the urban growth boundary
• Metro completes landfill gas project at St. Johns Landfill

1997

• Metro Council adopts urban reserves
• Metro Council adopts Regional Framework Plan
• Metro Council lowers garbage tipping fee from $75 to $70 a ton
• Expo Hall E opens for America’s Smithsonian exhibit

1996

• Metro Council adopts Urban Growth Management Functional Plan
• Voters approve a $28.8 million bond measure for the zoo's Oregon Exhibit

1995

• Voters approve $135 million open spaces, parks and streams bond measure
• Metro Council adopts Region 2040 growth concept and adopts Future Vision
• Metro Council adopts Regional Solid Waste Management Plan
• Revised Metro structure adds an elected auditor and reduces the size of the council from 13 to seven members
• Funding approved for new Hall E at Expo

1994

• Multnomah County asks Metro to take over responsibility for its parks

1993

• Metro moves into Metro Regional Center (former Sears building)
• First members of Metro Committee for Citizen Involvement appointed

1992

• Voters approve home-rule charter identifying Metro's primary mission and changing the agency's name from the Metropolitan Service District to Metro
• Region 2040 growth management planning process begins
• Metro Council adopts Metropolitan Greenspaces Master Plan

1991

• Metro Council adopts Regional Urban Growth Goals and Objectives (RUGGOs)
• St. Johns Landfill closes to the public
• Africa Rain Forest exhibit opens at the zoo
• Metro Central Station opens in Northwest Portland

1990

• Oregon Convention Center opens
• Metro given management responsibility for Portland Center for the Performing Arts, Civic Stadium and Memorial Coliseum through the Metropolitan Exposition-Recreation Commission
• Landfill in Arlington, Ore., starts taking region’s garbage
• Voters approve a $5.1 million permanent tax base for the zoo
• Metro initiates an excise tax on its own enterprise operations
• Voters approve an amendment to the Oregon Constitution allowing the creation of a home-rule regional government in the Portland metropolitan region and calling for the creation of a charter committee

1989

• Metro given responsibility for Portland's Exposition-Recreation Commission (now named Metropolitan Exposition-Recreation Commission)
• Metro signs 20-year contract for transportation and disposal of waste
• Africa exhibit opens at the Metro Washington Park Zoo; attendance breaks 1 million mark

1988

• Metro assumes responsibility of appointing members of the Portland Metropolitan Area Local Government Boundary Commission

1986

• Voters approve $65 million general obligation bond measure to build Oregon Convention Center
• Eastside light-rail line (MAX) opens

1984

• Voters approve renewal of the three-year $15 million serial levy for the zoo

1983

• First regional garbage transfer station opens in Oregon City (Clackamas Transfer and Recycling Center – now called Metro South Station)

1982

• Metro opens the Data Resource Center
• Metro Council approves the first Regional Transportation Plan

1981

• Metro given responsibility for regional recycling hotline

1980

• Metro given responsibility for the St. Johns Landfill
• Voters approve a three-year $15 million serial levy for zoo

1979

• Metropolitan Service District (Metro for short) begins operation: given responsibility for the urban growth boundary, solid waste planning, and operating the Washington Park Zoo
• MSD Council adopts first urban growth boundary
• Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation created; federal government names MSD the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the region

1978

• Voters approve combining the Metropolitan Service District (MSD) with the Columbia Region Association of Governments (CRAG)

1977

• State Legislature approves creation of Metropolitan Service District, refers it to voters

Related links

Files that are downloadable from this page

• Roster of past Metro Councilors 104K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published June 17, 2009