The Bend City Council agreed to allow "sharing" of some Public Works equipment, staff and services with Deschutes County and other jurisdictions.

Public Works Director Paul Rheault says they have been doing some sharing over this year and it's been very successful; he gives an example of what was done in cooperation with the county. "They've been very helpful, easy to work with. We’ve done staff training on major pieces of equipment. We actually have a striper that we used to stripe the roads. It gets very limited use; it's just a certain time of year, it sits a lot, so we're looking at maybe taking that vehicle on the road for a fee, and maybe painting some stripes, doing some striping for other communities."

Rheault says there are a lot of maintenance projects where the city and county could share equipment and staff, as well as nearby jurisdictions.

The sharing that was done this year was on a "courtesy" basis; but all  jurisdictions agree that a fee schedule needs to be developed for the future.