The city councils of Bend and Redmond meet Tuesday August 1 for a first-ever joint workshop.

Redmond city councilor Cat Zwicker tells KBND News this meeting is important as there are decisions made by one city that sometimes impact the other, “The communities are a little bit different as far as our makeup and how people see things. But I think it's important that we all practice good community outreach and also talk about what that looks like between the two of us.”

Zwicker is willing to hold these joint sessions more often, if it proves beneficial, “We respond to like challenges between the cities and each day and what we choose as a city often impacts the other city. And I think it's important that we start finding solutions and work together.”

In addition to an update on homelessness initiatives, the councils will hear from ODOT about Highway 97 safety corridor investments. “To alleviate the traffic between our cities is something that we talk about frequently. As many people come into Redmond as leave Redmond every day for work. And I'm sure Bend feels that same bottleneck at Cooley Road that we see as they come in here. So, I think that that's just something that's going to continue in our conversations,” Zwicker says.

The workshop starts at 6 PM at Redmond’s City Hall.