BEND, OR -- Deschutes County Commissioners host a community conversation Tuesday, to discuss the potential for a recreational campground on Fort Thompson Lane, north of Bend. "It's on the west side of Highway 97, approximately 500 acres," says Board Chair Patti Adair. The county-owned property is the most likely option for a tent and RV park out of three identified in a feasibility study. 

Adair tells KBND News, "I've been talking to the neighbors in that community and they're just incredibly concerned. It's good that we're going to meet with them." Tuesday's meeting is 5:30 - 8 p.m. at the County Services building at 1300 NW Wall in Bend. There's also an option to attend virtually.

Some have suggested it could generate revenue for the county. But Adair worries it'll cost too much to get started, "From the feasibility study, was $21 million. And I feel like, as County Commissioners, we have some other issues that are way more demanding and seriously needed in our county." She wants more focus on developing a managed camp for the houseless community, "I definitely wouldn't be voting for it. I have been really clear the whole time. I am not lukewarm; I am ice cold about this project. Because I want some managed camp for the homeless, so they get out of the forest."

Commissioners are again asking the Governor to allow one outside Bend's Urban Growth Boundary, "We've done so many things within the city of Bend. We have people that don't want to go within the city of Bend. So my theory is, we have to offer them something that's close but not that close, but yet it's completely managed." And, Adair says, "We're working Monday on the 45 acres that we own within the city of Redmond for a managed camp. Not using the whole 45, but just a spot where they can move to, we will have service, water, dumpsters, etc." That location, she says, would be for people living on a county-owned parcel involved in a state land deal.