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City
Update
Development Code and City Council
Agenda:
You might recall the Central Oregon
Builders Association (COBA), Palmer
Homes (PH) and the city of Bend entered
into mediation to resolve issues
surrounding objections by COBA and PH
with the new Development Code, adopted
earlier this year by the City Council.
At the Council meeting last night, with
no discussion or comments from the
public, the City Council unanimously
passed the code amendments recommended
by city staff.
Hell-0 Law Suits:
Watch
out General Fund! After over an hour of
public comment and discussion, the
Council passed the second reading on a
four to two vote amending the current
Manufactured Home Ordinance to be in
compliance with HB 2735; the State Law
which, in part, requires Mobile Home
Park owners to pay tenants affected by
park closures from $5,000 for
single-wide units to $9,000 for
triple-wide units. The city ordinance
would, in part, require an additional
$1,000 to $3,500 on top of the
requirements in the state law. During
discussion by the City Council, the
community learned that the city has
already paid out $37,000 in legal fees
from the City's Affordable Housing Fund
defending this ordinance, and the City's
insurance company is expected to pay
another $125,000 to defend the city in
another suit concerning this ordinance.
Mark Capell and Chris Telfer tried in
vain to persuade their fellow
Councilmembers to repeal the current
ordinance in favor of state law.
Unfortunately, there was not sufficient
time for the Council to take such action
because it needed to be amended by the
end of 2007. By the way, the public also
learned that we have around $3.5 million
remaining in the City’s General Fund,
with known judgments and other legal
actions costing the city well over three
times what's in the fund. Mark and
Chris argued that passage of this
amendment would only add more risk and
exposure to the city, in addition to
what is already known.
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Mid-Term Solution
At this week’s Cooley Road US97 Steering
Committee meeting, the members of the
committee adopted a $37M solution, one
which will add one more stop light on US
97. The western loop on-and-off ramp
solution will see Cooley Road go under
US97 and the rail road tracks, thereby
eliminating the current left turn lanes
and stop lights at this intersection.
However, if the recommended solution is
adopted by the Bend City Council and
Deschutes County Commissioners, new left
turn lanes and stop lights will be added
south of Cooley on US97 and new
on-and-off ramp and left turn lane and
stop lights will be added north of
Cooley on US97. This solution is
designed to allow an additional 3,000
trips during rush hour traffic and help
to accommodate commercial development in
this area as well as trips needed for
Juniper Ridge. It will take a couple of
years to plan, design, engineer and
build. Currently, US97 and Cooley Road
have around 36,000 trips a day on this
stretch of highway, and in 2006 there
were 18 accidents, making this one of
the top 5% in traffic congestion and
accidents in the state highway system.
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City Hall Art Exhibit
City Hall will be hosting an art exhibit
for the David Kinker Studio group
running January 4 through March of
2008. The David Kinker group is
exhibiting work by a number of artists
reflecting their impressions of
“Changing Seasons”. A reception will be
held on Friday, January 4 from 5:30 to
8:30 P.M. at City Hall on Wall Street to
kick off the exhibit. Attendees will
have the opportunity to meet with local
artists to discuss their work.
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ODOT Rules Spell Problems for
Future Economic Development
Imagine for a minute you own a nice
piece of property which could be
developed into a great economic
development project…new jobs, expanding
a successful local business or maybe
constructing a new shopping area badly
needed in your part of town. The only
problem is, its adjacent to a state
highway and ODOT is going to require a
traffic analysis. Why would this be a
problem, you ask? Well, just talk with
Gary Walker in Madras. He has been
trying for over two years to get the
city of Madras to annex and rezone a
parcel of land he owns just north of the
city limits. The city finally agreed,
and then in stepped ODOT and the state
Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).
Stop the plan! Under regulations implemented last year,
ODOT now requires cities to show where
funds will come from before rezoning of
land may be granted. Does Juniper Ridge
come to mind? For Mr. Walker, the small
guy, he was caught between a rock and a
hard place. No rezoning makes it
difficult to attract a development
project and with no development project,
it’s hard to figure out where funds
might come from. Madras City Manager
Mike Morgan said funding would become
clear once a development commitment and
plan have been determined. ODOT and LUBA
didn’t see it that way. Mike believes,
“What folks need to understand is that
this is a de facto moratorium on
development by a state agency.” Since
state transportation policy have
determined that state highways running
through local communities are not for
local use, this kind of thinking and
decision making is adding just one more
new problem for economic development
projects if and when ODOT determines
these developments “could” impact the
state highway system.
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Award Deadlines Extended
It’s not too late to submit your
nomination for the Bend Chamber’s 2008
recognition awards for and of the award
categories:
-
Outstanding Organization of the Year
-
Distinguished Large Business of the
Year (11 or more employees)
-
Distinguished Small Business of the
Year (10 or fewer employees)
-
Citizen of the
Year
The deadline has been extended to
January 4, 2008. For more information,
contact Gayle Najera at
gayle@bendchamber.org or download
nomination forms from
www.bendchamber.org/awards.
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Coming
events
Jan. 18, 2008
~ PDS
presents “Stellar Sales. Getting
Your Year Off To A Flying
Start!”
Sales guru Dennis Hungerford
with the Sandler Sales Institute
will be hosting a special
one-time-only presentation where
he will field your goals &
objectives, then provide
immediate solution ideas and
answers! Dennis’ presentation
will also feature local sales
success stories to give you real
world results that you will have
seen or been able to relate to.
As we have been doing for years now, all of our
afternoon sessions will be held
at the Bend Golf & Country
Club. They will run from 11:00
– 1:30 and include lunch! The
cost for this presentation is
only $30 for chamber members
($45 for non-members).
Jan 18, 2008 ~
Community Affairs Council (CAC) –
Town Hall Luncheons
The first Town Hall Lunch topic has been selected;
entitled “The City Budget and the
Business License Fee.” City CFO
Sonia Andrews will provide us with an
overview of the city budget system, what
has been collected from the new Business
License Fee, and how it’s being spent.
Rockland Dunn, a private citizen member
of the Budget Oversight Committee will
join Sonia in the Q and A discussion
portion of the Town Hall. Want to know
more about the city budget? Are we
going broke due to all the law suites?
Did public safety receive more funding
since the creation of the Business
License Fee? What questions do you have
for Sonia and Rockland? This should be
great discussion, plan on joining us for
this first CAC Town Hall for 2008.
The new CAC Town Hall luncheons will be held at
Touchmark at Mount Bachelor Village in
the Forum Theater. The luncheons will
be held on the third Friday of the month
from noon to 1:30 p.m. If you sign up
now, for the full year, you will save
$55. To join the CAC Town Hall lunch
series, call Lindi at the Bend Chamber
to reserve your spot: 382-3221.
The next weekly E-News will be on
January 3, 2008.
Happy
Holidays!
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