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New Bend Council Majority Backs off Dredging Mirror Pond

Posted on March 11, 2019

Four Bend City Councilors would rather spend $5.5 million other needs

Plans to dredge Mirror Pond appeared to hit another roadblock Wednesday, as a majority of the Bend City Council said they weren’t comfortable spending $5.5 million that could be used for needs like housing or transportation.

A proposal to pay for removing 35 years’ worth of accumulated silt through fees attached to Pacific Power customers’ bills had tentative support from the City Council in December. But two new councilors — Gena Goodman-Campbell and Chris Piper — took office in January, and they joined Barb Campbell and Bill Moseley in rejecting the proposal Wednesday night.

Dredging is expected to cost $6.7 million in total. In December, the city, the Bend Park & Recreation District and Pacific Power pledged $300,000 apiece toward dredging, joining the $300,000 pledged by private donors and reducing the remaining cost to $5.5 million.

At the time, the City Council tentatively agreed to raise the other $5.5 million through a 1.5 percent increase to the franchise fee charged to Pacific Power, which owns the dam that created the pond.

During a discussion about the city’s upcoming two-year budget Wednesday night, the City Council said it would be interested in increasing franchise fees — the fees utility providers pay to use city right-of-way — across the board to help pay for additional needs.

Spending the fee hike on dredging Mirror Pond would mean the city couldn’t use the money for other needs, Moseley said.

“It’s a lot of money,” he said. “We have a lot of priorities.”

Moseley said he’s open to the city contributing a smaller amount, somewhere between $2 million and $3 million. Decreasing that funding, an idea suggested by Mayor Sally Russell, would mean other entities, such as the park district or Pacific Power’s foundation, would have to pay more if dredging were to happen.

During talks last fall, the park district was reluctant to give more than $300,000. The district has a planned project that would improve banks along Mirror Pond.

Russell said she didn’t want to give up on momentum toward getting the dredging project done. Conversations about whether to dredge and how to pay for it have been going on for years.

“We have the bird in the hand,” she said. “It won’t be there forever.”

Goodman-Campbell said her concerns about the city paying to dredge the pond were less about the cost and more about being good stewards of city money.

“It’s not as if the city is a business and we just have our money,” she said. “It’s all of our money.”

When and if dredging is done, the private group that owns the land under the pond plans to give it to the park district. That’s a bonus of the plan, Russell said.

Campbell said that would leave taxpayers on the hook for future maintenance, and would mean the city will have to keep collecting money for Mirror Pond maintenance in perpetuity.

“This is being offered as a gift, and I’m looking that gift horse in the mouth,” Campbell said. “I can’t afford to take care of a horse.”

She, Goodman-Campbell, Piper and Moseley said they didn’t hear a lot of consensus among residents that the city should pay for dredging. In contrast, residents speak at many City Council meetings urging the city not to pay for dredging Mirror Pond.

“What we don’t know is what the public wants,” Campbell said. “People want fish passage as much as they want a pond.”

Source: bendbulletin.com

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