Attendees: Don Leonard, chair, Joette Storm, vice chair, Jeff Silverman, Matt Bryant, Cindy King, Jim Beauchemin, land committee Excused: Larry Kierulff
Joshua Romero, city of Bend, Eric King, city of Bend, Tim Dragila, Carol Ganzer, John Parker, Jeremy Saltzman, Deb Saltzman, Erin Serra, Ani Kasch, Kathy Roche
Don Leonard opened the meeting introducing Ani Kasch of the Energy Challenge, who offered to exchange in private homes incandescent bulbs with new LED bulbs as part of the organization’s mission to reduce energy use. Thousands of Oregonians have traded in conventional light bulbs for the new energy efficient bulbs. The program is free. Anyone may sign up to have a technician do the actual replacement. www.theenergrychallenge.org
Bend City Manager Eric King presented the processes for managing growth in our city. He indicated the appropriate time for residents to engage in development plans by attending meetings with developers and during the review process. He shared that State law requires communities to plan for a 20-year horizon. Bend is estimated to grow to 130,000 residents by 2030, the current planning date.
He said the City Council hopes to advance the idea of complete communities in its zoning decisions. An example is the northwest corner of 18th street and Empire Avenue where the corner lot is zoned convenience commercial. That would permit small businesses serving the area to be developed. The lots are currently for sale.
Transportation
Mr. King also confirmed that the city will call for bids on three projects in our area, the roundabout at Empire and Purcell, the pedestrian bridge over the North Canal at Purcell and a new signal at Purcell and Butler Market.
The new North End Transportation Strategy is being supported with city dollars to the tune of $15 million. It includes a roundabout at Cooley and Hwy 20; improvements at Cooley and HWY 97; and improvements on Hwy 20 from Greenwood to Empire.
Charter Amendments
The Charter Committee is proposing two options for creating wards and geographic representation. These call for three or four wards align with voter precincts. They are also recommending that the mayor be elected at large.
Justin Livingston, councilor, was also present. He said he was sitting in for Mayor Roats, who is the liaison to BANA, as the Mayor was out of town. Councilor Livingston said he looked forward to having improved communications between the neighborhood associations and the council.
Status Reports
Neighborhood Associations
The City Council is seeking to create a new Neighborhood Association Committee in the city code that would improve communications between the associations and city government. The associations meeting as a Roundtable will discuss the proposal and how it would function at their November 16 meeting.
Civic Equity Project / Business Outreach
BANA is continuing to implement its strategic plan by reaching out to area businesses. Jeff Silverman sent letters to five businesses inviting them to participate in the association so we may advocate for their needs. BendBroadband has responded and he will meet with a company member soon.
BANA has been invited to participate in the Community Organizations Active in Disasters (COAD) forum being formed by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s office. The purpose is to be prepared to respond to a disaster in our community when one occurs.
Land Use Report
Jim Beauchemin responded to notices regarding a permit for a short term rental on Ranch View Dr. and a waiver request for a home on Casey Place where all of the existing houses are encroaching in the right of way.
Jim also met with project architects regarding a major 3-story expansion of the office building at Bend Research. The building will be a primary feature of their campus and visible from the Parkway. Discussion involved architecture, canal enclosure, a campus pedestrian concourse, landscaping and transit.
He attended a meeting Bend Mailing Systems sponsored to discuss their proposed building on the southeast corner of Cooley and 18th St. Issues covered were noise, access and traffic impacts. Jim inquired if the firm considered solar panels in their design.
Matt Bryant announced the BANA Facebook page is active. He hopes everyone with “like†it and “share†the page. We will be posting meeting times and events regularly. Please feel free to start a discussion about any and all issues facing our neighborhood.
Next meeting: Dec. 11 at the Elks Lodge. The Board will seek a speaker from the Bend Police Dept.