|
|
|
Bend Chamber
Weekly
April 17, 2009
By Courtney Linville, Communications Coordinator
This Week's
Highlights
|
|
BAT
receives short reprieve, council to explore
funding options
Bend Area Transit (BAT) received a short reprieve
Wednesday evening as several Bend City Councilors
asked to explore more funding options from the
general fund.
During its work session, the council received several
recommendations from the Public Transportation
Advisory Committee (PTAC) including the BAT system
receiving funding of $1.1 million out of the general
fund. The budget for BAT has seen decreases over the
past few years and for the 2008-2009 budget year had
funding of about $1.3 million. Currently, the
2009-2010 budget for BAT sits at $950,000.
City Manager Eric King reminded councilors this level
would still allow the city to receive grants. Though
the funding could go lower and still meet grant
requirements, city staff recommended the $950,000
level to help maintain the service of the system and
the current route configuration. However, the lower
budget did come with a cost for the system, the
elimination of weekend service for both the fixed
route system and Dial-a-Ride.
PTAC committee members said this would be a detriment
to users of the system who use BAT to get to work on
the weekends or other social and religious events.
In a memo to the council the PTAC said, “reducing
service does reflect negatively in ridership, fare
collection, and the value of public transit to the
community.”
To bring the budget for BAT up to $1.1 million, the
city would have to allocate $150,000 from the
general fund.
“I think the challenge here is that we all want to say,
‘I want to give BAT as much money as possible,’”
said Councilor Mark Capell. “I mean, I would like to
give BAT $1.5 million. But if I say I want
to give them $1.1 million, I think the only fair way
is to be able to say is that, ‘OK …where are you
going to take $150,000? Do you want to cut code
enforcement to zero, do you want to take out
planning?”
Many councilors were dismayed with the fact that more
money couldn’t go to BAT, however, they said the
extra $150,000 would have to be found from another
source within the general fund which is extremely
tight.
“I think that as we discussed before, cutting transit
below $1.1 million is counter productive, especially
in these hard economic times when people depend on
this system,” said Councilor Jim Clinton. “It would
be an increased hardship for a lot of people who
depend on this as their basic transportation. I am
not in favor of going below $1.1 million.”
Another recommendation for possible funding from PTAC
was a $50 increase to the business license fee.
Councilors agreed the increased license fee was not
a viable option.
For now, the council has asked staff to look at taking
shortfall funds of $150,000 out of Long Range
Planning and Engineering budgets. The council also
requested some input from EDCO about how important
transit service on the weekends is to economic
development.
The staff will bring its recommendations back to
council on April 29 at its budget meeting.
|
City Council
Highlights
Council receives update
on Juniper Ridge progress:
The process of getting employment land at Juniper
Ridge to the real estate market continues to move
forward. Under Bend Code, any parcels in excess of
20 acres must have a master plan. The Juniper Ridge
Management Board told councilors they are in the
process of writing the code text. The code will
focus mainly around employment land for now.
Planning is also underway for infrastructure
including water, sewer, and stormwater. A Planning
Commission work session is planned for May. The
board hopes to have the entire package complete by
the end of July and to start the public hearing
process in September. Up to this point, $15.79
million dollars has been spent on the Juniper Ridge
Project. Finance Director Sonia Andrews estimates
the projected costs during the 2009-2011 biennium at
$5.6 million.
Council passes Resolution of
Support for OSU Cascades Campus: The Bend
City Council unanimously passed a resolution of
support for the OSU Cascades Campus. Councilor Jim
Clinton said this was the right thing for the
council to do. “It’s good to remind ourselves form
time to time what the context of OSU Cascades is to
us in this community.” He stated the way the state
funds higher education is pathetic and elected
officials need to be reminded how important higher
education is not only to the state, but in particular
to Central Oregon.
City to reinstate customer
validation program in Downtown Bend: City
Manager Eric King announced Wednesday evening that
he will reinstate the customer validation parking
program in Downtown Bend. Per the code, the city
manager has the authority to reinstate the program.
King says this is a way to encourage people to go
downtown to shop. If a customer receives an overtime
parking citation in the downtown area, and they meet
certain criteria, their ticket could be waived.
|
|
City and County
delay plans for collaboration
During a joint Bend City Council and Deschutes County
Commission meeting, officials on both sides agreed
the collaboration of law enforcement and other
services might cost more money in the long run.
Councilors and commissioners were looking at ways to
help share services in three areas including law
enforcement, building permitting and inspections,
and fleet management.
Staff from the city and county told officials they
already have a good collaboration of services and
are often able to help in tough situations. This
includes the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Department
responding to calls in Bend and the building
departments’ response for building inspections when
either side is short staffed.
A serious round-table discussion commenced while
councilors and commissioners weighed the pros and
cons of combining services. One of the key decisions
in delaying a merge of services was money. It would
cost too much to combine services and it could also
take up too much time to merge services.
Councilors and commissioners also stressed throughout
the meeting they aren’t looking for short-term fixes
through the current economic climate, but rather
they are looking for long term solutions. “For
myself, I want to look at long term solutions, not
just a short term fix,” said Mayor Kathie Eckman.
“We need to look at cost effectiveness, this is the
prime time to start looking at the future and make
more cost savings.”
Currently, the Bend Police Department and the Sheriff’s
Department collaborate in a lot of areas including
emergency response, the SWAT Team, drug enforcement,
major incidents team, the regional dispatch center,
and more.
Bend Police Chief Sandi Baxter told councilors even
without filling vacant positions and budget cuts,
her department has not reached the “breaking point”
to where her department would need to share with the
county to keep service levels from dropping.
Commissioners and councilors talked about the
consolidation of services down the road, but agreed
right now Bend isn’t ready to give up its police
department.
The community development departments at the city and
county have both laid off nearly half their staffs
as demand for services in building, planning, and
engineering has dropped off. The departments do have
an established agreement for sharing some services
and are currently working on updating the agreement
with new rates and regulations.
To combine the two departments would be very difficult
due to different fees, pay scales for employees,
rules, etc. Officials agreed combining the two
development departments could be more trouble than
its worth. “I’m not seeing how we could save a whole
lot if you look at the time it takes to put the
departments together and the work you do,” said
Commissioner Alan Unger.
Several ideas were tossed around to help with fleet
maintenance and fueling. Some thoughts included the
sharing of fueling stations or possibly having one
jurisdiction work on all large vehicles. Officials
also liked the idea of talking to other entities
like the school district and parks and recreation
about collaboration opportunities.
Though no decisions or major changes were made,
councilors and commissioners said they should
continue to talk about how to work together to save
money.
“I think this is a good working relationship,” said
Commissioner Tammy Baney. “I want to thank everyone.
Whatever we can do on both sides, we are ready and
willing.”
|
|
Sponsorships available
for Summer Opener Golf Tournament
It's time to play! The
Summer Opener Golf Tournament on June 22 at Broken
Top Club is right around the corner. We all love to
play, but especially when you can play and get great
exposure for your business at the same time.
The title sponsorship for this great event is
available! As the title sponsor you would receive a
huge advertising package as well as the option to
have a team of four play in the tournament at no
additional cost! Contact Ann Gates today to discuss
all the perks at 382-3221.
|
|
In the News: Communicate
with the City of Bend electronically:
Residents of Bend now have another option to receive
information from the city electronically. The latest
information from the City can be delivered right to
your email. Those who sign up for this service will
receive news releases, the city’s Our City e-edition
newsletter, and much more. If you are interested in
signing up for this news subscription, go to the
City’s Web site at
www.ci.bend.or.us
and use the eNews link.
Bend named as one of America’s
Top Towns: Bend was recently listed as
one of the top 100 vacation towns in a new guidebook
entitled “The Great Towns of America.” Out of 221
semi-finalists, 100 communities across America were
chosen for the book. The authors looked at a variety
of features and describe in detail the prime
attractions, restaurants, and lodgings within the
communities. Bend is described as “the heart of one
of America’s finest year-round recreation
wonderlands.” Other Oregon towns featured in the
guidebook include Seaside, Cannon Beach, Florence,
Grants Pass, Newport, Ashland, Gold Beach,
and Bandon. For more information or to look at the
communities featured go to
www.greattowns.com.
Deschutes Brewery named among
Top 50 Biggest Breweries in America: Four
Oregon companies were recently named by the National
Brewers Association to a list of the Top 50 biggest
brewers in the country. Deschutes Brewery was the
largest brewery for Oregon and was ranked at number
12 in the standings. Other Oregon breweries that
made the list include Full Sail Brewing from Hood
River, Oregon Brewing from Newport, and Bridgeport
Brewing of Portland. According to a report from
Oregon Public Broadcasting, a new ranking of
breweries per capita shows Oregon as third. This
means Oregon has one brewery for every 40,000
residents.
|
|
Upcoming Events
April
21 – Professional Development Series – “The Les
Schwab Commitment – Legendary Customer Service” –
Speaker: Brian Capp/Les Schwab – You do not need
to be the biggest to be the best at what you do.
Quality Customer Service is a 24-hour commitment for
every employee. Do you have the desire, the
determination, and the commitment to stay focused on
your customer? “Pride in Performance is the value
that drives us at Les Schwab. We take pride in our
customer service and pride in our employees. As a
company we try to incorporate this belief into
everything we do,” said Brian Capp, Vice President
of Marketing for Les Schwab Headquarters. So, what
makes them run? Commitment, Motivation, and the
Basics of Customer Service. Join us to “hear from
the experts” and also share best practices that
you’ve used. Please RSVP for this event by no later
than Monday, April 20 at noon at
www.bendchamber.org.
|
|
