Clean Streams gets tentative OK

By Kara Hansen

The Lake Oswego Review, Nov 19, 2009, Updated Nov 21, 2009

ADVERTISEMENTS

<< Prev. Page 1 | 2

Councilor Sally Moncrieff called it “a frustrating document” and said she wished it “had more teeth.” But she also acknowledged that bigger efforts would increase costs, which would be passed on to citizens.

That was also a concern for Councilor Mary Olson.

“I want to do a lot more than the city is doing now, but I have great concerns about three FTEs and about raising our fees,” she said, advocating for more public involvement and education.

Councilor Roger Hennagin expressed concern the plan is “an expensive study that’s going to go on the shelf, and that’s as far as it will go.”

If they’re charting a long-term path to improvements, he said, “Why didn’t we go as far as we could?”

“We need some place to work from,” said Councilor Kristin Johnson, noting projects couldn’t be funded without a plan in place. The Clean Streams plan offers a voluntary grant program to encourage some stream restoration on private property.

Another question, Coun-cilor Bill Tierney suggested, might be what councilors expect from master plans and the consultants who help prepare them.

City staff and consultants who crafted the document acknowledged the city should work harder to address flooding and poor water quality, often the result of heavy runoff eroding streambanks and dumping pollutants into local waterways.

But if the council later chooses to take more aggressive measures through a supplemental plan, the costs could be much higher.

“The next step is a very expensive step,” said Papadopoulos.

In other business Tuesday, the council:

n Unanimously approved a contract for Brown and Caldwell, a national engineering firm with an office in Portland, for $4.4 million to manage the Lake Oswego-Tigard Water Partnership project for the 2009-2010 year. Lake Oswego’s share of fees is $1.9 million.

Last August, the two communities signed an agreement to feed long-term water demand, nearly doubling the water drawn from the Clackamas River under Lake Oswego’s water rights and costing nearly $200 million in system upgrades. Tigard ratepayers shoulder a greater burden of those costs, while Lake Oswego citizens will pay about $82 million, said Joel Komarek, the city’s engineering director.

According to the agreement, the city of Lake Oswego is to assume the role of managing agency. Early on, however, the city knew that it did not have the resources to manage a program of this magnitude.

The cities plan on beginning upgrades in the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

* Reversed the Develop-ment Review Commission’s denial of a land-use application to legalize a lot on Phantom Bluff Court, allowing the owner to build a home on the property but setting height limitations to limit the negative impact on a neighbor’s view.

* Learned the city might need to allocate funds to finish building a dock at Foothills Park, a project so far funded with grant money. The city was denied an extension to a work permit that ended Oct. 31, delaying the dock’s completion until next summer. That means the money would come out of next year’s budget.

But it’s unclear how much will be needed. Parks and Recreation Department Director Kim Gilmer said the state marine board might step up to split the cost, now estimated at about $107,000.

<< Prev. Page 1 | 2