Happy New Year, Bend!

What a productive year 2019 was for the City. I am positive and excited about our big plans for 2020.

In 2019, Council’s biggest accomplishments were inspired by listening to differing community viewpoints and ideas and were made possible by working together as a Council. We made great strides towards addressing housing and transportation, the community’s top priorities. Here are some highlights:

As Bend is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, we need to get more housing units built to keep it affordable for everyone. The City’s goal is to get 3,000 more homes by June of 2021. We have used code changes, state and local policy changes, public/private partnerships and funding from our affordable housing program to tackling the affordable housing crisis. Today Bend has more than 1,300 units under construction and more than 400 in some phase of permitting review, and more than 400 units in the pipeline that are considered “affordable housing.” We succeeded in securing two successful legislative pilot programs that will create more than 400 low and moderate income homes on the east side, and allow Bend to designate 40 acres of commercial land to allow residential development, to encourage the use of underutilized commercial land. Many of these projects will focus on Council’s desire to build “missing middle” income housing in our City.

This is a lot of progress! All of these efforts will continue into 2020.

We heard the community asking for better traffic flow and more safe, reliable transportation options. Council has been working hard to implement more immediate solutions, while creating a long term transportation plan.

The City’s 2019-21 budget includes roughly $74 million in projects and programs to address transportation needs citywide. These projects range from major intersections to sidewalk improvements and neighborhood street safety projects. Some projects will be funded through recently-increased Transportation System Development Charges (SDCs), (fees on development), and Franchise Fees, (what some utilities pay to use the City’s right-of-way). The City’s $25.4 million investment in the Empire Corridor Improvement Project, (largely derived from those recently-increased SDCs), along with funding commitments from the State of Oregon and Deschutes County, helped leverage a $60.4 million federal grant, one of the biggest awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s $855,950,000 Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grants. This will improve Highway 97 on Bend’s north end. We also dedicated some funds for a Neighborhood Street Safety Program and expect to see numerous safety projects in neighborhoods all over Bend under construction next summer as a result of the community-based application and selection program.

We can do more important transportation work if we have more funding. Council unanimously agreed to ask voters this May for about $180 million in bonds to complete many of the projects that our community has identified as top priority.

Council will also continue to focus on livability through a range of programs and plans, from safety programs such as the Neighborhood Street Safety Program to sustainability efforts aligned with our recently-adopted Community Climate Action Plan.

The Community Climate Action Plan suggests actions for both the City and the community as we work together to reduce our fossil fuel use. Not only will this plan lead us toward a more sustainable environment, it will identify cost and energy efficiency changes within the City that benefit us all!

I’m proud and humbled to be the Mayor for this amazing community and I invite you all to stay informed and involved with what your leaders are doing.

Happy New Year,

Sincerely, Mayor Sally Russell

We’re in the thick of the winter season! Depending on your location in Bend, you could see inches or feet of snow. Central Oregon’s weather can be unpredictable and can vary in conditions. Our crews recognize the unique topographical layout we have and understand that every storm is different.

A major component of winter operations is community participation – that means doing what we can to make it easier for operators to clear the streets.  Make sure you’re ready for winter operations and snowplows to hit the road. There are several things you can do to help:

• Please remove your car, trailer, campers, etc. from the street to help curb-to-curb plowing.
• Neighborhood streets are a lower priority than major arterials and collector streets and typically are only plowed in major snow storms with over six inches of snow fall and additional snow in the forecast.
• Do not park along snow routes. In residential areas, leave room for plows to get through safely. If possible, park off the street.
• Remove obstructions from the road such as garbage or recycling containers, basketball hoops, and ramps.
• When approaching snow removal equipment from the rear, travel a minimum of 200 feet behind allowing for sanding and abrupt movements. DO NOT pass unless absolutely necessary. 
• Have patience!

Our Streets and Operations Department changes schedules to run 24-hour coverage should the need arise. During a major storm, cleanup operations may be on-going for multiple days after the first snowfall. Crews will be plowing roads based on a system of priorities - major arterials and other collector streets need to be cleared first so traffic can flow more safely and efficiently. Remember, we don’t plow residential streets with every storm – when the snowfall is minimal and the temperature is above freezing, we stick to our priority routes.

Questions? Visit bendoregon.gov/snow.

This community clearly wants safety improvements in neighborhoods, and a dedicated group of folks have worked hard to come up with some priority projects.

On January 14, the Neighborhood Leadership Alliance (NLA) unanimously recommended eight priority projects for funding with the Neighborhood Street Safety Program.  You can find out details about the final projects, ready for design and construction, can be found on the far right tab on this webpage.

In the 2019-2021 biennial budget, the City Council approved $800,000 to fund the program. The City received more than 360 applications for projects across Bend. Projects were reviewed and prioritized by the 13 Neighborhood Associations (NAs) and 25 priority projects advanced to the NLA for a final ranking that considered demographic data, crash data, geographic equity and cost.

The eight recommended projects now move into design and public outreach. In May, the NLA will revisit the plan for a final stamp of approval.

We are launching a user experience survey to help improve the City of Bend website. We need your help tell us what information you want and how to best find it. The survey takes 10 minutes to complete. Your responses will help us organize content on our website to make it easier for everyone to find information and services that the City provides. Click here to take the survey!

A City Council goal to develop a community-wide parking program includes residential and business parking districts. The City’s new Parking Services Division would like invite all members of the community to attend a two-part community meeting on proposed residential parking districts. Attendees will have an opportunity to provide feedback about neighborhood parking conditions. These meetings will be held from 5:30-7 p.m. on January 23 and February 27 at the City’s Public Works Campus, 575 NE 15th Street. Let us know you’re coming by filling out this RSVP form.

In December, the Deschutes County Commission unanimously supported the City of Bend’s proposal to officially name a key source of Bend’s water “Prowell Springs” in honor of the late Roger Prowell who worked in the City’s water division for 24 years, ultimately serving as its water quality supervisor. Prowell was known for his dedication to protecting the water quality within the Bend Municipal Watershed where the springs are located. The Oregon Geographic Names Board will give the proposal its final consideration later this year.