Bend Current, Newsletter for the Community, September 2023

Welcoming Week-Thank You Partners

Thank you friends and community partners for helping the City of Bend celebrate Welcoming Week 2023!

Welcoming Week takes place each September and focuses on community-organized events that celebrate inclusivity and belonging in Bend.

This year, 18 local organizations hosted 10 events throughout the city during Welcoming Week.

Organizers held events that centered around art, music and culture while providing valuable information about how to create communities that thrive because everyone feels welcome.

Welcoming Week events throughout the week included a celebratory kick-off in downtown Bend featuring local musicians and organizations that serve marginalized communities, an art exhibition featuring live poetry, and much much more.

Community members interested in being notified about future Welcoming Week events should sign up for notifications at bendoregon.gov/enews, then select “Welcoming Week.”

If you are an organization that would like to participate in hosting next year, reach out to Community Relations Manager Katherina Barguil at kbarguil@bendoregon.gov to get on the outreach list.

National Preparedness Month

September is National Preparedness Month.

It raises awareness about everyone’s responsibility to prepare for disasters and emergencies.

Nearly half of the country intends to prepare sometime in the future but has not yet started.

This September commit to taking active steps to plan and prepare today to be ready for future emergencies and disasters.

Visit ready.gov to learn more.

Inside Bend: Emergency Preparedness with Director of Emergency Management Carrie Karl

With September being National Preparedness Month, we spoke to our Director of Emergency Management Carrie Karl on this month’s episode of the Inside Bend Podcast. She explains what her role is and how it helps to make sure the community is in the best position possible if a disaster were to happen.

She also has some great tips on what you can do to be prepared in an emergency.

You are not going to want to miss this episode!

Listen at Inside Bend Podcast or on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.

City Council Updates

An Update from Mayor Pro Tem Megan Perkins

Mayor Pro Tem Megan Perkins gives an update on some of the work that the City Council accomplished this past month.

Watch the video here.

Trees

The Tree Regulation Update Advisory Committee is working to come up with recommendations for the Council on ways to preserve more trees during the construction of new development while also not creating significant barriers to building needed housing.

Council gave the committee feedback that Council is also prioritizing the need for housing, and is therefore open to providing some flexibility in the tree preservation updates.

Keeping bigger trees is important to the Council, but they are open to discussing options that preserve more smaller trees instead, when that helps facilitate housing development.

Here’s the presentation and here is the memo that Council considered.

Annexation

Council approved annexing about 153 acres in the North Triangle Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) Expansion Area east of Highway 20, west of Highway 97, and north of Cooley Road for the Caraway master plan, which will provide residential development mixed with employment uses and a transition to existing rural residential areas to the north.

Here is the presentation.

Stevens Road Tract

Council voted to bring 261 acres of the Stevens Road Tract into the Bend Urban Growth Boundary.

This brings the City a step closer to creating more housing development possible on Bend’s eastside.

It will include affordable housing exclusively available to educators in Bend.

Learn more about this development.

Childcare

In a step toward providing more childcare options in Bend, Council approved allocating $100,000 to support much-needed childcare services.

In partnership with the Small Business Development Center at COCC, the money will support childcare expansion by helping providers with start-up costs or permit fees, getting registered or certified, helping pay for upgrades such as renovations or safety features and more!

Learn more.

Navigation center

Councilors approved a $2.3 million contract for construction on the Lighthouse Navigation Center to improve services provided at the center.

The City bought the building in 2021 with American Rescue Plan Act funds to develop a 100-bed center for people experiencing houselessness.

In the last year, the Navigation Center, operated by Shepherd’s House, provided 38,542 nights of shelter, distributed 100,575 meals, and transitioned 230 people to more permanent housing.

It is the only low-barrier, walk up shelter in Central Oregon and works closely with 30-plus community partners to provide services.

Learn more about the Navigation Center.

Transportation Fee

On Wednesday, September 13, the Bend City Council held its second of three roundtables on the topic of a transportation fee.

Roundtables are a new engagement opportunity the City Council has created to discuss matters of community interest.

The City of Bend’s transportation network is growing, and costs are increasing which means new funding sources are needed to maintain enhanced levels of service that the community expects. 

A transportation fee is a recurring fee on utility bills, because everyone relies on the transportation system (mail delivery, garbage hauling services, food delivery, bus routes, etc.).

A well-maintained transportation system allows people and goods and services to move safely and efficiently.

The public engagement process will help City staff and Council determine uses of revenue, ways to lessen the impact of this new fee on customers facing financial hardship, and how to balance the use of other funding tools for future transportation system needs.

A transportation fee could start appearing on utility bills sometime in 2024.

For information: bendoregon.gov/transportation-fee.

Climate Friendly Areas 

Tell us what you think!

The City of Bend wants to know what areas of town you think should become Climate Friendly Areas.

The Climate Friendly Areas project will designate walkable, connected areas that provide a mix of businesses, housing and amenities such as parks and schools.

Designing neighborhoods like this helps reduce carbon emissions and gives people the choice not to rely on a car.

This short questionnaire will help develop a community vision for these areas:

Climate Friendly Areas Feedback (arcgis.com)

Stormwater Program Update

The community is invited to review and comment on an updated stormwater management plan which aims to prevent pollution of stormwater, the Deschutes River and groundwater.

Stormwater runoff happens when rainwater falls on hard surfaces and runs into drainage systems such as catch basins in the streets.

The runoff can pick up sediment and pollutants including oil, grease, pesticides, metals from car wear and tear, and garbage.

The document -the Integrated Stormwater Management Program- is now available for public review and comment through October 11 at the link here: What’s New? | City of Bend

For more information about stormwater, visit: Stormwater Utility.