Local News

City Councilor Holds Another Marathon Meeting

The Bend City Council voted 6 to 1 to approve the first reading of the Bend Development Code for Central Oregon Community College roads to establish standards.

 

Councilor Jody Barram, who was absent at the last meeting when the decision ended in a tie, says she reviewed the last meeting along with public comments and believes the code amendment is fair.

 

"As I was looking through the record, i was trying to see if they were ding something really egregious that's not meeting the standards or criteria for the overlay district. And trying to come up with the argument against, I found I was leaning more into the argument in favor, because i wasn't finding some of that."

 

Councilor Doug Knight was against approving the code amendment because he felt some “criteria” details were omitted in the proposal.

 

"The way I last left this topic is I had requested from staff that more be generated in the form of criteria for approval of the road. I don't see that information before me this evening, and so in absence of that, it's difficult for me to vote in favor of this."

 

Councilor Marc Capell disagreed wholeheartedly and said he felt the college bent over backwards to accommodate the nearby residents.

 

The Council voted 6 to 1 in favor of moving ahead with the ordinance amendment that gives the college autonomy in constructing needed roads on the campus.

 

Water Issues Rise Again

 

Bend City Councilors again had to revisit a portion of the Water Public Facility Plan to respond to a Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) remand order.

 

While the Council voted 4 to 3 to adopt the Amended Goal 11 Water Facility Plan, Councilor Sally Russell questioned the costs that are already committed to the project.

 

City Manager Eric King said because the scope of the project has changed somewhat; a new accounting will be generated.

 

"The project, as was originally envisioned has completely changed and is not longer a $68-million project as was estimated, and that number gets used a lot. It was really about the pipe and intake facility. I hear your point about just telling that story about the evolution of how things have changes and generating some number associated with that. And that's something that we can do."

 

Councilor Jody Barram agreed that also a new list of all projects included for the water plan is needed.

 

 

ALSO-

 

Another water related issue was approved by the Bend City Council Wednesday night.

 

They unanimously approved an agreement for Apollo Incorporated to construct the Water Reclamation Facility expansion  at a cost of about $31.5-million.

 

Councilor Marc Capell was amazed that there has been no interest from the public on this particular project.

 

"It’s really amazing that we're spending this much money and no one in the community telling us we're either wonderful or awful people. We do a $2-million project and we get feedback.  This is a huge thing in the community, this is really an important project for this community and we've got no comment. I think that's pretty amazing."

 

Capell went onto say that it's a testament to the staff doing a great job in preparing the project.

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