Bulletin E-Edition:
Grant could fund bus facility
Redmond leaders approve application for $2.6 million grant that would double the size of the city's maintenance garage
By Patrick Cliff / The Bulletin
Published: November 18. 2009 4:00AM PST
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REDMOND — The city of Redmond and the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council are looking for help from the state as they try to fund a new $3.2 million bus maintenance facility.
To that end, the city and COIC are applying for a $2.6 million Connect Oregon III grant. Redmond Public Works Director Chris Doty said the city would make its required local match by donating about $600,000 worth of land for the project. The new facility would be located on East Antler on property slated for the city's new Public Works offices.
Connect Oregon grants use lottery funds on transportation projects, including air, rail, marine and transit infrastructure. During the first two rounds of grants, the state gave out about $200 million statewide.
The Redmond City Council unanimously approved the grant application during its Tuesday meeting.
The proposed 11,000-square-foot facility would double the size of the city's already-crowded maintenance garage, Doty said. The facility would include a maintenance area for COIC's Cascades East Transit bus fleet, office space for dispatch and secure parking for the buses. Redmond would also maintain its vehicle fleet at the facility.
Doty said the partnership between the city and COIC was beneficial to local residents. By using the land for matching funds, the city could gain a maintenance facility and help CET expand services for lower cost, he said.
“It's a win-win for the city and win-win for the taxpayers to have this service. Redmond, as the regional hub, relies so much on the (buses) to bring people here,” Doty said.
Cascades East is a regional bus system connecting Redmond, Bend, Sisters, Madras, Prineville and La Pine. In operation since 2008, the service has expanded from nine to 16 buses.
By next summer, it will have 27 total buses, according to COIC's Deputy Director Karen Friend.
In part because of that growth, the service needs a larger maintenance facility, she said.
“We just really need to provide for a home for the system,” Friend said.
COIC already pays Redmond for the time city staff spends working on the buses, Doty said.
The need for the space has also become critical in recent months because of crime, Friend said. The buses used to be parked at COIC's Redmond offices, in an unfenced lot. But after a string of vandalism, the organization moved the buses to a locked area in another part of the city, according to Friend. Because of the move, the bus service's operations are spread across Redmond and have become inefficient, she said.
The grant is the only hope for funding the project, Friend said. “This is the only way to fund it.”
Patrick Cliff can be reached at 541-382-1811 or at pcliff@bendbulletin.com.
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