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MAY 2024
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(We had technical issues last week when May’s newsletter was meant to go out, thank you for your patience!)
With the turn towards warmer weather (we hope? Central Oregon weather is a fickle thing!), this edition of the Bend Current invites you to share your input about controlled burning for fire management, information about upcoming street safety projects in Bend neighborhoods, and a full review of our water resources and programming.
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Accessible and Effective City Government City Council Updates
An Update from Councilor Ariel Méndez
Councilor Ariel Méndez gives an update on some of the work that the City Council accomplished this past month. You’ll learn about the City of Bend’s work on creating more housing options, an update on the Bend Airport air traffic control tower and a celebration of the opening of the Wilson Avenue Corridor!
Watch the video update.
Designing Pathways for All Users:
City of Bend’s Accessibility Advisory Committee Tours River West
We all have a part to play in making Bend more accessible. That’s why the City of Bend Accessibility Advisory Committee recently led a group of people with different abilities and disabilities on a walking and rolling tour of a River West neighborhood.
The group highlighted the process of submitting Barrier Removal Requests to the City and encouraged attendees to download the City’s new Bend Works app, in order to report barriers and challenges along the route for users with different mobility needs.
The Committee chose the route to showcase a variety of surfaces in a variety of conditions within Bend’s pedestrian infrastructure in neighborhoods, parks, businesses and in the Right of Way. Walking and rolling along it together showed the challenges and opportunities in designing our pathways for all.
Along the way, partners from local agencies like the Bend Park and Recreation District and Cascades East Transit talked about planned accessibility improvements to the route and other areas of town. The group debriefed at the end of the tour to discuss what they experienced, provided feedback, and reflected on accessibility and infrastructure in Bend.
One of the biggest takeaways? Community collaboration is key to truly make our infrastructure accessible for all.
Public Safety
Open House & Roundtable:
Traffic Design and Enforcement to Promote Public Safety
Save the date! Public Safety Open House + Neighborhood Roundtable
Join the City of Bend for a unique engagement opportunity on Monday, June 10 beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Bend Municipal Court (555 NE 15th Street, Bend).
5:30 – 7 p.m. Public Safety Open House
Community members citywide are invited to a Public Safety Open House about how the City’s police officers and transportation planners work to enhance traffic safety and enforce our traffic laws. Open house guests will hear from Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz and Janet Hruby, Assistant City Engineer for Transportation & Mobility, about how safety is considered in Bend using the “Three E’s of Traffic Safety: Education, Engineering and Enforcement.”
There will also be tables with interactive displays, information and staff from Bend Police and Transportation & Mobility departments to answer questions.
7 – 8:30 p.m. Neighborhood Roundtable
Following the open house, representatives from each of Bend’s neighborhood district boards will participate in a roundtable discussion with Bend City Council and staff around Public Safety Council Goals like the coming automated traffic enforcement program, and related neighborhood concerns. Community members can observe the discussion in person or virtually. Virtual meeting links will be posted to the City Council Meeting webpage prior to June 10.
Comments on traffic safety? Find your neighborhood district and provide your input to the board to include in discussions with Council and staff at the roundtable.
Questions? Reach out to Community Relations Manager Makayla Oliver at moliver@bendoregon.gov.
Controlled Burning:
Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project Invites You to Share Your Feedback
Every community across the Pacific Northwest is experiencing the impacts of a longer, smokier wildfire season which poses significant risks to communities, infrastructure, and public health; Central Oregon is no different. One of the best tools we have locally to make our forests more resilient against catastrophic wildfires is controlled burning. These managed burns target hazardous fuels and make for healthier forests by reducing burnable materials and recycling nutrients in the ecosystem through the natural process of fire.
This year, the Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project is working with federal, state, and local partners on a pilot prescribed fire project designed to get more prescribed fire on the ground while also managing smoke and working hard to reduce community exposure.
In order to learn more from this coordinated effort to balance the need for prescribed fire with the protection of public health, a statewide group of researchers, forestry experts, and public health officials convened to develop a survey that will inform outreach and community communication in coming years to ensure the public is smoke-ready and can reduce their potential exposure. You are invited to contribute to this project by sharing your feedback in the survey found here.
Transportation & Infrastructure
Upcoming Construction:
2024 Neighborhood Street Safety Program Projects
Relatively small-scale projects can translate into big safety improvements for local neighborhoods – that’s the spirit of the Neighborhood Street Safety Program, and five projects are set to get underway this summer! The Neighborhood Street Safety Program addresses pedestrian and bicycle safety, safe routes to school, speeding, intersection control and crossings and other residential traffic safety issues. The program is funded by the voter approved 2020 General Obligation (GO) Bond.
Five projects are scheduled to be constructed in 2024:
- NE Boyds Acres Road – The installation of sidewalk from just south of Fred Meyers Road up to the intersection of NE Boyd Acres Road and NE Morningstar Drive.
- SW Larkwood Drive – The installation of sidewalk from the Murphy Road/Brookswood Boulevard Roundabout to Hollygrape Street.
- NW Lolo Drive – Curb extensions at the intersection of NW Lolo Drive and Discovery Trail.
- NW Mt Washington Drive – The installation of sidewalk on the Deschutes River Trail along Mt Washington Drive.
- NE Providence Drive – Raised Crossings at Providence Park and a pedestrian island at the intersection of providence and Locksley. This project will require a temporary road closure and detour during construction.
Construction is estimated to begin in spring and be completed in fall 2024.
For more information on the Neighborhood Street Safety Program visit bendoregon.gov/NSSP.
Affordable Housing & Sustainable Development
Using Federal Funding to Benefit Low- and Moderate-Income Households
Obtaining and allocating federal grant funding is just one of the ways that the City Council and City staff work towards affordable housing goals. This month, the Bend City Council approved the 2024 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding recommendations from the council-appointed Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, totaling $541,277. The projects selected to receive funding this year are:
- Thrive Central Oregon ($35,771): Bilingual case management to provide housing and resource navigation services.
- Volunteers in Medicine ($32,588): Comprehensive medical care to low-income, uninsured Bend adults who are not eligible for Affordable Care Act programs.
- J Bar J, Living Options for Teens (LOFT) ($25,000): Case management for unaccompanied youth experiencing houselessness.
- Bend Church ($5,000): Case management to provide supportive services that reduce barriers for the unsheltered on their path to regaining housing, and to assist those in danger of becoming unsheltered.
- Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity – Daly Estates ($442,918): Homebuyer financial assistance for up to nine households.
Learn more about the City’s Affordable Housing Program at bendoregon.gov/affordablehousing.
Environment & Climate
Tracking Our Climate Work:
Learn About the Community Climate Action Plan
On the latest episode of the Inside Bend podcast, we chat with Senior Management Analyst Cassie Lacy who explains more about the Community Climate Action Plan. This is a set of strategies that were adopted by the City Council in 2019 to guide the City and the community to work together on reducing fossil fuel use.
In this episode, you’ll learn what the Community Climate Action Plan is, how the strategies are being deployed and how the success of the program is being tracked.
Listen at bendoregon.gov/inside-bend or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Conserving Water Use Now Will Help You Save Later: Learn More Below!
Reducing our community’s water use now will help save money in the future!
Using less water leads to the ability to postpone the need for costly water infrastructure expenses and more water rights.
If we conserve 7.9 billion gallons between now and 2040 we will be on track to save money in the future. What does that mean for you? That’s a reduction of roughly 13 gallons per utility customer per day for the next 15 years. The average Bend customer uses about 157 gallons per day.
In planning for the future, we know our population will continue to grow and water conservation is one affordable tool that we have to offset the costs associated with growth. That’s why we have increased our efforts to help our customers conserve water.
Start saving water this summer by:
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Thoroughly inspect your irrigation system at the season’s start-up.
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Correct any misaligned sprinklers that may spray onto sidewalks and streets.
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Review your irrigation schedule to make sure it falls within your water provider’s allowed days and hours.
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Take advantage of available water conservation programs, such as rebates and xeriscape landscaping.
Visit your water provider’s website to learn more:
Water connects us all.
Bend Offers Quality Drinking Water:
Check Out the 2023 Report
Bend continues to have outstanding drinking water, straight from the tap!
The City of Bend Utility Department recently published its 2023 Water Quality Consumer Confidence Report validating that Bend has some of the best drinking water quality sources available.
The Utility Department laboratory monitors over 130 regulated and unregulated contaminants from both of its water sources throughout the year, including lead, copper, minerals, pesticides and radioactive materials. The City’s lab conducted more than 2,600 tests throughout the year. Data from the tests indicated that all samples were well within compliance ranges set by federal and state regulatory agencies.
To view the report, visit bendoregon.gov/waterreport. To request a printed version of the report, please fill out the online form or call 541-317-3000, ext. 2
Tree Code Changes: Invitation to Learn, Listen, and Share Your Opinion
Changes to how trees are preserved on new development sites are on the horizon.
Proposed changes include requiring new development on 1 acre or larger to preserve more large trees. When that’s not possible, developers would have to either replant new trees or pay a fee for a certain percentage of trees removed from a site.
Money collected from the fee would go toward planting more trees throughout the City to provide more shade and keep Bend beautiful.
The community is invited to the following public meetings this June.
Come listen and learn:
Planning Commission Work Session: June 3, at 5:30 p.m. online and at City Hall.
Come share your testimony:
Planning Commission Public Hearing: June 10 at 5:30 p.m. online and at City Hall.
City Council Public Hearing: June 20 at 7 p.m. online and at City Hall.
Learn more about what the recommended changes are and where they would apply at bendoregon.gov/tree-code.
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