La Grande Parks and Recreation Director Stu Spence, far left, chats with Soroptimist co-chair Di Lyn Larsen-Hill at The Barrel Room, 10105 W. First St., Island City, on Thursday, May 11, 2023. Soroptimist International of La Grande donated $50,000 toward La Grande’s Riverside Park playground project.

LA GRANDE — Economic goals, land needs and playgrounds will take center stage during the La Grande City Council regular session on Wednesday, March 6.

Residents will have another opportunity to address the council about the city’s amended Goal 9 Economic Opportunities Analysis before councilors vote on whether to adopt the comprehensive plan.

The last Goal 9 was conducted in 2009, according to Mike Boquist, the city’s community development director. Since then a large number of projects have been completed within La Grande, including the development of large commercial parcels along Island Avenue, Mulholland Drive and May Lane.

These developments supported both new and expanding businesses, Boquist said, such as Starbucks, Banner Bank, Napa Auto Parts, Commercial Tire, Hampton Inn Suites and Miller’s Home Center. However, this has also left the city with critically low levels of vacant commercial land.

City officials and council members decided to get ahead of the issue in 2022, according to Boquist. La Grande hired Points Consulting and Nexus Planning Services to conduct the Goal 9 analysis.

The economic opportunities analysis identified that over the next 20 years La Grande could see employment growth in the range of 470 and 760 jobs — leading to a 7.5% to 12% increase in net job growth.

Boquist said that based solely on future employment growth the city would need an additional 31 acres of industrial land and 28 acres of commercial property. However, after taking other factors — such as parcel size and shape, locations, proximity to one another and site availability — the consultant suggested that La Grande needs upward of 121 acres of industrial zoned land and 63 acres of commercially zoned land.

If the council votes to adopt to the Goal 9 analysis, Boquist will bring the economic opportunities analysis before the Union County Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners for co-adoption.

Playground grant

Parks and Recreation Director Stu Spence will speak to the council and seek their approval to apply for funding from the Oregon State Parks Local Government Grant program for the Riverside Park playground.

Last year, Parks and Rec had the manufacturer of the current Riverside Park playground equipment — Ithaca, New York-based Leathers and Associates — out to perform an additional inspection due to the age of the structures, Spence said.

The consultant recommended that while the playground is currently still in good shape, Parks and Rec should start planning for a replacement within the next year or two.

The recommendation was made due to splitting of the main support posts and the overall framing showing its age.

The project was also identified as the top priority for the city as part of the 2021 Parks and Recreation Department’s Master Plan. Spence wanted the community to be involved with the project because community volunteers were the driving force that brought the existing playground to Riverside Park 20 years ago.

The replacement committee has been steering the project with support from Parks and Rec. They made decisions about which vendor to work with — Ross Recreation Equipment — and what design elements they wanted to include.

“The committee has been working hard raising money and, along with supplemental grants from staff, are very close to reaching their goal,” Spence said.

The playground replacement, which includes Americans with Disabilities Act inclusive play, is estimated to cost a total of $650,000. The committee is nearing the $200,000 in donations with an overall goal of $265,000, according to the Riverside Rebuild website.

The Oregon State Parks Local Government grant would provide 60% of the funding for the project, Spence said, which comes out to around $390,000.

When and where

The Wednesday, March 6, regular session of the La Grande City Council, which is open to the public, will begin at 6 p.m. at La Grande City Hall, 1000 Adams Ave. The meeting also will be streamed live on the EO Alive website and Facebook page.