There was a sharp division of opinions at Wednesday night’s bend city council meeting on, what else: the Water Public Facility Plan.

 

Up for vote with the Council was an amended "Goal 11" of the P-F-P in response to an Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) Remand Order.

 

Councilor Doug Knight quickly spoke up that there was no way he would vote to approve the ordinance.

 

"I think the current PFP flies in the face of the Oregon Revised Statutes; wherein it's currently required that we currently inventory our existing our current water infrastructure as well as correctly time project accordingly. And I don't believe that the existing piping infrastructure has been appropriately and thoroughly analyzed for its level of service and health."

 

But Victor Chudowsky says after giving much thought to the project, felt that the timing is now to act to replace an 87 year old pipe they know is already leaking.

 

"Why wait for some occurrence to happen, when the opportunity to replace, again, an 87 year old pipe, that we do know for a fact is leaking, now at less expense than doing so in the future. That’s the way I look at it."

 

The ordinance passed 4 to 3 with Councilors Barram - Capell - Ramsay and Chudowsky voting "yes."

 

Also- the Council considered a “tune up” to building height ordinances.

 

The Bend City Council had a long discussion about a revision of the development code regarding building heights in downtown Bend, and whether to allow for a variance of over 35 feet.

 

Although the Council had given preliminary approval to the changes; Councilors Sally Russell and Marc Capell wanted the council omit part of the wording about building height restrictions because there was some public objection to a height variance.

 

Marc Capell:  "This is a substantial question we all don't agree on. So throwing it through as a "tune up", does a disservice to the community.  And I think whether you're in favor of the variance or not, having it in a "tune up" is misrepresentation and we ought to start from scratch on this particular question."

 

Russell,Capell and Mayor Jim Clinton want to re-open the subject to public comment, and reconsider part of the ordinance at a later date.

 

But the Council passes the revised ordinance 4 to 3.

 

 

Finally – the Northwest Crossing Storage Facility Objection:

 

The Bend City Council voted on an item that, at their last meeting garnered plenty of public comment in opposition.

 

A proposed storage facility in the Northwest Crossing area had many residents upset that the project was getting approval without their voices heard.

 

But David Ford spoke on behalf of the applicant saying the developer met with the residents about the proposal and an agreement was worked out to everyone's satisfaction.

 

"The applicant has taken the initiative and met with the property owners and the potential developer of the property. Convinced the developer to move the storage facility to another site and then met with the neighbors to address any concerns on any potential other uses that could take place on the property."

 

All of the Councilors noted that it was refreshing to see everyone working together to solve an issue and they unanimously voted to approve some zoning changes in the northwest crossing overlay zone.