The Marion County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday unanimously approved seeking a construction executive to oversee wastewater and drinking water system upgrades in the county’s largest unincorporated community.
The county will solicit and contract with a construction manager to supervise the construction in the Brooks-Hopmere area. State and county contracting rules require that the board find there is a public benefit to using an alternative contracting method besides such steps as bidding.
Federal funding will pay for the $14.8 million project, Chief Financial Officer Jeff White told the board on Wednesday.
Board Chair Colm Willis said at the meeting that he supported the proposal due to the quick turnaround needed for the construction, with federal pandemic relief funding expiring at the end of 2026.
“These projects are of a pretty significant magnitude and fine details that we really need to get right,” Commissioner Danielle Bethell said at the meeting. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to invest these funds in such a short period of time.”
Commissioners also approved changes to a county code that limited gatherings to 750 people at homes permitted to run events as “home occupations.” That limit applied to home businesses on agricultural or timber land that host gatherings such as weddings, reunions, company picnics and memorials, according to the agenda.
Conservationist nonprofit 1000 Friends of Oregon appealed the state Land Use Board of Appeals in September 2022, arguing that home occupations could employ no more than five workers, which wouldn’t be enough for such a large gathering. The land use board in February agreed that the county had not considered that employee limit when deciding the 750-person cap and remanded the decision back to commissioners.
The new code requires that the maximum number of participants be decided by a county building inspection official and local fire district. The board also amended the language to apply the five-employee cap only to those onsite at an event, meaning more people can be employed who are not there in person.
The board unanimously approved or advanced other agenda items, including appointments to the Marion County Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Advisory Committee, state funding for operating public health services such as disease prevention and education, and selling wildfire-recovered timber from Minto Park.
Original story below:
The Marion County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday will consider seeking a construction executive to oversee upgrades to wastewater and drinking water systems in the county’s largest unincorporated community.
READ IT: AGENDA
There will be a public hearing to decide whether the county will solicit and contract with a construction manager to supervise the construction in the Brooks-Hopmere area. The two communities are on opposite sides of Interstate 5 north of Salem and Keizer.
State and county contracting rules require that the board find there is a public benefit to using an alternative contracting method besides such steps as bidding.
The solicitation is intended to save county and public money, and it would be publicly advertised “to ensure a fair, open and competitive process,” according to the agenda item. Commissioners will vote on the matter following the public hearing.
A 2021 county study found improved water and wastewater services were among the changes needed to boost the Brooks-Hopmere area’s economic development and make it a more vibrant place to live. The report also found that the I-5 interchange needed upgrades, and the area had no local committee or group tasked with advocating for its growth.
There will also be a public hearing to determine whether homes permitted to run events as “home occupations” will remain allowed to host up to 750 people. The limit was established in a county ordinance approved in August 2022 and applies to home businesses on agricultural or timber land that host gatherings such as weddings, reunions, company picnics and memorials, according to the agenda.
Conservationist nonprofit 1000 Friends of Oregon appealed the state Land Use Board of Appeals in September 2022, arguing that home occupations could employ no more than five workers, which wouldn’t be enough for such a large gathering. The land use board in February agreed that the county had not considered that employee limit when deciding the 750-person cap and remanded the decision back to commissioners.
County staff are recommending that the limit be kept to 750 people, according to the agenda.
To participate
The commissioners meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Senator Hearing Room at 555 Court Street N.E. Anyone can attend or sign up to give public comment in-person at the meeting. The meeting is streamed live on YouTube.
Also on the agenda
Commissioners will consider appointing Deborah Stoyer and Ross Ryan, and reappointing Michelle Silbernagel and Richard Falardeau to the Marion County Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Advisory Committee for terms ending in June 2027.
The board will consider accepting $4.86 million from the Oregon Health Authority for operating public health services, such as disease prevention and education, through June 2025.
They will also consider selling over $235,000 of timber recovered from Minto Park after the 2020 Beachie Creek Wildfire to Lowell-based Alpenglow Forestry Consulting, LLC.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
