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City
Council considers stimulus for area
builders
The Bend City
Council is looking to help stimulate the
building community by creating an option
to defer system development charge (SDC)
payments up to nine months.
The Central Oregon Builder’s Association (COBA)
approached city staff with the option of
deferring SDC payments to help stimulate
the economy and increase employment for
area businesses.
“(The COBA) board created a concept on how to do
nominal things to get people off the
fence who want to build homes,” said
Andy High, COBA's Vice President of
Governmental Affairs.
During the deferral period, builders would not be
required to pay any interest. However,
if the SDCs are not paid after nine
months or upon final occupancy, the
city will charge 12 percent interest
starting in the tenth month.
Councilor Chris Telfer said this option is a great way
to help the building industry. “We are
trying to help spark some economic
vitality into the city,” she said.
“There is a major economic problem in
the community, and this is the city’s
way of trying to help the community
out.”
This follows suit with Portland, Salem and Hillsboro
who have similar deferral programs which
are mainly used for commercial
buildings.
The council was concerned about the delay of SDCs and
how that would affect city revenues.
Finance Manager Sonia Andrews said at
this time projections show the city
shouldn’t be too affected, but the city
does have the option to pull or change
this option if necessary.
The debate ensued between councilors as they assessed
the risk to the city and the deferred
payments. Within the ordinance, builders
would not receive their final
certificate of occupancy until the SDCs
are paid. High says this will be a
safeguard for the city.
Councilor Linda Johnson was concerned about some
builders taking advantage of the
deferral and then never repaying or even
starting the project. “I’m not going to
be supportive (of it) if it is as loose
and open-ended as it is now, if it’s not
tied to job creation,” she said.
City staff will report back to several items to the
council including the legal
responsibilities of developers and data
on who would take advantage of the
program. The council should
vote on approval of the deferral program
in early August.
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City
Council Highlights
City to improve Communications-
During a recent communications audit,
the City of Bend looked at ways to
improve communication with local
citizens. “We want to be the first and
best source of communication for the
city,” said Justin Finestone,
Communications Manager. He says it’s
imperative the city find an effective
way to communicate with residents in a
low cost, but user-friendly way. The
city is also looking at developing
“talking points” for city officials on
topics like Juniper Ridge and the Urban
Growth Boundary.
City looks to reduce fuel costs-
City Manager Eric King reported this
fiscal year the city will spend $831,000
on fuel. He has set a goal for all
departments to submit plans on how they
will reduce fuel consumption by 10
percent. City staff has already started
the reduction process by consolidating
staff meetings and holding meetings via
video conferencing. The city will also
look at other options including the
purchase of more economical hybrid
vehicles.
Council sets deadline for UGB-
City Councilors stated they would like
to see the final recommendation of the
Urban Growth Boundary from the planning
commission by the middle of August. The
council had several concerns including
the need for land as well as the
impending November election. If the
planning commission can not produce the
UGB by the deadline, the council stated it
would like to know why.
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City unveils first multi-lane roundabout
Bend now has its first multilane
roundabout at NE 18th Street
and Cooley Road. The City of Bend held a
ribbon cutting ceremony today to open
the roundabout. According to the city,
multi-lane roundabouts generally operate
in the same manner as their single-lane
counterparts and follow the same basic
rules of the road as other
intersections.
Some rules to follow while using the roundabout
include:
-
Choose your
lane in advance of the intersection
(left lane to go
left, right lane to go right, etc.).
Standard lane assignment signs and
pavement markings are posted.
-
Yield to both
lanes of traffic already in the
roundabout
-
Do not change
lanes within the circulatory roadway
(follow your lane choice all the way
through to the exit – no further
lane changes are necessary)
-
Signal your
exit
According to
a city press release, “roundabouts have
76 percent fewer injury crashes than
traditional intersections.”
Bend Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Doug
Koellermeier reminds motorists to yield
the right of way to emergency vehicles
by pulling to the right and stopping
when clear of the intersection. “It is
vital that motorists do not impede
emergency vehicles by stopping in
intersections,” he said.
Drivers also need to make sure they watch for
pedestrians in crosswalks and bicyclists
in the road.
Designs are already underway for additional
multi-lane roundabouts. The city is
currently looking at roundabouts for NE
18th Street at Empire Avenue
and SE 15th Street at Reed
Market Road.
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In the News
Horizon switches fleet to fuel efficient
models- Horizon Air is stepping up
the phase out of its smaller turboprop
Q200 planes to the Bombardier Q400s. The Q400s burn 30
percent less fuel and produce 30 percent
less carbon dioxide than its jet
counterparts. Horizon hopes to convert
its entire fleet by 2009. On August 25,
Redmond’s daily flights to Portland will
be cut down from five to four. Starting
on October 12, Horizon hopes to have
four
Q400s providing service between Portland
and Redmond. According to Horizon, this will increase current
seat capacity by 36 percent.
Utah switches to four day work week-
This summer experts say Utah will become
the first state to institute a mandatory
four-day work week for state employees.
Utah Governor Jon Huntsman says the
change will help to reduce the state’s
carbon foot print while saving money,
resources, energy, and providing
flexibility for workers. Huntsman told
USA Today the change will apply
to 80 percent of the workforce or 17,000
employees. USA Today reports many
local city and county governments across
the nation are switching to this new
work week due to energy and financial
implications.
Treasury Secretary says US faces a tough
second quarter- While on a trip
through Europe and Russia, Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson said the second
quarter will be tough on the US economy
as well as Europe. In an interview with
the International Herald Tribune,
Paulson said, “There’s no doubt that the
second quarter will be a tough quarter.
There’s no doubt in any of our minds
that high oil prices are going to have
an impact.” The international trip is
designed to let Europe and Russia know
what the US is doing to solve its
economic problems.
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Upcoming Chamber Events
July 15: Leadership -
Are you realizing your potential? How
about the other people on your team?
Learn simple and powerful ways that you
can take your leadership to the next
level.
In this session, you will discover:
* Types of formal leadership
* Traits of a successful leader
* A simple 7 step process to reach all
of your business (and personal) goals
* How to exploit change for maximum
growth
* 5 strategies for embracing
organizational change
* How to lead in times of constant
change. If you would like
to attend this event, please RSVP by
noon on Monday, June 14 by calling
382-3221 or going to
www.bendchamber.org.
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