The Pendleton City Council’s decision to open the floodgates on those Urban Renewal funds has everyone seeing dollar signs. The city manager is pushing hard the idea of a multipurpose plaza that entails breaching the levee behind U.S. Bank and installing huge iron floodgates to allow tourists, residents and, from the looks of the new homeless resting map, easier access to the riverbanks for those folks and their overnight camping gear. It’s expected to provide a safe area in the city center for both peaceful/non-peaceful demonstrations away from traffic, City Hall, and double as a resting place for the weary. Pretty thoughtful.

Rebuilding Byers Avenue has been on the docket for several years. City Hall has been rat-holing gas tax money for this project, and were expecting to have a “war chest” sufficient to complete the project by this time. When it was decided to use Urban Renewal funding for this project, a huge sigh of relief was heard from Bob Patterson’s office, as that “war chest” suddenly dropped unexpectedly into his lap.

Street repair funding now looks so good that it’s been decided that the portion of those exploding “pot” tax revenues destined for street repairs is headed elsewhere. Strange that the mayor would announce a hold on street repairs in the rest of the city, but that’s City Hall. 

Once the Parks Commission was informed that Urban Renewal funds would be made available for public projects, they wasted no time in requesting a piece of that pie to rebuild Til Taylor Park. Inadequate parking, a deteriorating wading pool, and unsafe children’s playground equipment were issues highlighted in their presentation to city councilors in a request for $500,000+ in funding. That request was promptly approved with little discussion.

The unsafe children’s playground equipment rating? That was based on a small covered wagon that had been relocated from Pioneer Park to Til Taylor and probably should just be removed. The pool? Well we all know how the mayor feels about pools. A few hazardous trees would also have to be removed to accommodate adequate parking. Fearing the effects on global warming, the Tree Commission is expected to protest.

With a near $30+million credit line the city has at it’s disposal to complete these projects, it’s certain at least one bank and a consulting agency are eager for the city to get rolling.

Rick Rohde

Pendleton