Summary of Jan. 17 BPRD board of directors meeting
January 18, 2023
At the Jan. 17, BPRD board of directors meeting, additional funding was approved to further refine design concepts to improve access at three of its parks: McKay, Miller’s Landing and Columbia parks. The board also approved an update to BPRD’s public contracting rules and procedures. A recording of the meeting is available.
In 2020, BPRD started a two-year planning process to best manage the increased recreational river use and improve the experience for all users at these parks and protect the surrounding river bank and habitat. This resulted in the Deschutes River Access & Habitat Restoration Plan that identified 28 projects for approximately a 10-year period.
Three individual projects from the river plan (projects #20, #21 and #22), have been combined into a single, larger project: the McKay, Miller’s Landing and Columbia Park’s River Access Project (MMC), which include four river access points, to manage the increased recreational river use and improve the experience for all users.
Community input about these initial design concepts is being collected via:
- an online story map survey, open from Jan. 18 to Feb. 8
- feedback submitted on the project webpage and/or to the project manager
- in-person outreach events in winter and spring 2023
The first public input session is Wednesday, Feb. 1 from 10 a.m. to noon or from 5 to 7 p.m. at the BPRD Community Room, 799 SW Columbia St, Bend, OR 97702. Spanish language interpretation services will be provided.
BPRD has completed the initial phase of work, which included site surveys, data collection and development of initial concept drawings. The initial concepts were developed based on data collected at each location, the opportunities and constraints of each site, BPRD planning documents, and from recommendations by the team of external consultants.
This public input will assist the project team in the development of a preferred concept design for each location this summer.
In other business, the board of directors approved an amendment to BPRD’s public contracting rules and procedures. In accordance with Oregon’s revised statutes and administrative rules, staff requested and the board approved that moving forward BPRD may select the most qualified architects, engineers and related consultants while also considering price to ensure best value is realized for the district and its taxpayers.
The next board meeting is Feb. 7 for a workshop from 2 pm to 8 pm. The meeting is open to the public.