Greenwood Avenue, from Third Street west to U.S. 97 (Bend Parkway), will be closed to westbound traffic for approximately seven weeks beginning April 1, 2019. The closure is for the safety of the traveling public as BNSF Railway replaces railroad bridge decking on the bridge over Greenwood Avenue.

Westbound traffic on Greenwood Avenue, between Third Street and U.S. 97, will be detoured to Revere Avenue. Eastbound traffic on Greenwood Avenue will continue uninterrupted for the duration of the project.

Greenwood Avenue closures and detours will be in place Monday through Thursday each week. All lanes of Greenwood Avenue will be open to both eastbound and westbound traffic Thursday evening through Sunday evening each week.
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The project is expected to be completed by May 17, 2019. Upon project completion, all lanes of Greenwood Avenue will resume normal eastbound and westbound operations.

The City is now livestreaming Bend Planning Commission meetings through the City website, similar to how City Council meetings have been provided online. 
 
Meeting agendas and livestreaming links for Bend Planning Commission meetings can be found at www.bendoregon.gov/planningcommission. Videos will also be achieved for viewing after the meetings.
 
“With all the high-profile land-use activities that the Planning Commission will be addressing as we move forward with implementing the community’s Growth Plan, we want to make sure these meetings are as accessible as possible to everyone interested in following these meetings,” said Planning Manager Colin Stephens. “Sometimes it’s hard to make it to City Hall on a Monday evening so now Planning Commission meetings can be viewed from the comfort of home.”
 
Planning Commission meetings start at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall on the second and fourth Mondays of each month unless otherwise specified. 
 
The Planning Commission provides citizen involvement opportunities on land-use issues, conducts quasi-judicial and legislative public hearings on some types of land-use applications, and makes recommendations to City Council.
 
City Council meetings have been livestreamed and archived through www.bendoregon.gov/councilagenda for many years. 
 

Contact: David Abbas Streets & Operations Director
541-317-3016, dabbas@bendoregon.gov
  
Following community input and engineering analysis, speed limits will be lowered this month on the following road sections:
 

• NE Penn Avenue / NE Neff Road

-between NE Eight street and NE Eastwood Drive - from 35 mphto 25 mph

• NE Neff Road

-from NE Eastwood Drive to NE Eagle Road - from 35 mph to 30mph
 
The new speed limit signs will have orange warning flags on top for a few weeks to call attention to the changes.
 
These speed changes were requested by community members in response to changing traffic and development along the corridors.
 
In Oregon, speeds for roads within the City that are not highways or local residential streets – such as the aforementioned road sections -- are set by the Department of Transportation. The new speed limits are established based on a traffic study that looks at existing driving speeds, road characteristics, adjacent land use, access locations and more.
 
The City asks drivers to pay attention to the new speed changes and be aware of conditions. Oregon’s basic rule speed law requires driving at the speed that is safe for conditions – this may be a speed slower than the posted speed. With winter here, it is especially important to pay attention to your speed and road conditions. Drive safely.

Contact: Grant Burke
Facilities Division Manager
541-317-3014, gburke@bendoregon.gov

The Bend City Council recently approved Phase Two of a contract with Ameresco, an energy services company, to help the City improve energy efficiency and reduce fossil fuel use. The Council adopted Resolution 3044 in September 2016 with a goal of reducing the City’s fossil fuel use by 40 percent by 2030.
 
Last year, Ameresco audited a variety of City facilities and operations as part of Phase One of its Strategic Energy Management Plan. The audit identified opportunities for reducing the City’s fossil fuel use and determined which projects to recommend for Phase Two. Projects to be included in Phase Two were selected based on their capacity to significantly reduce the City’s fossil fuel use, lower maintenance costs, and use less energy and/or water, which lowers operating costs for the City.
 
Phase Two projects will improve energy efficiency in nine City facilities by upgrading lighting and lighting controls, conserving domestic water, improving building thermal performance, installing solar panels, and updating heating and cooling systems. The City will also upgrade street lighting to light-emitting diode (LED) lights in Phase Two. A full list of Phase Two projects can be found in the online issue summary.
 
“We’re excited to get started on this important work with Ameresco,” said Senior Policy Analyst Gillian Ockner. “We’ll save money and reduce our carbon footprint. It’s an opportunity to save taxpayer dollars on operational costs and improve our energy efficiency at City facilities.”
 
The estimated total cost for this phase of work will be $3.8 million. More than $300,000 in grants and other incentives has already been earned to help offset those costs. Annual savings to the City through reduced energy costs is expected to fully cover the costs for these improvements.
 
“We learned a lot about the City of Bend’s energy usage through the audit we did last year,” said Joe O’Donnell, Northwest Region Sales Manager for Ameresco.  “We are ready to work closely with the City on these projects to help them meet the goals of the Strategic Energy Management Plan.”
 
These projects are expected to begin immediately and are scheduled to be completed by early 2020.
 
To learn more about the City’s Strategic Energy Management Plan, visit www.bendoregon.gov/energy.   

Contact: Jon Skidmore 
Assistant City Manager
541-693-2175, jskidmore@bendoregon.gov

The City of Bend is seeking applicants for two positions on the Planning Commission. The City Council appoints members to four-year terms. The Planning Commission reviews and makes recommendations regarding land-use matters, subject to State law and City code. Consideration will be given to include representatives of the various geographical parts of the City of Bend, as well as familiarity with land-use and development within Bend.
 
The current openings are for four-year terms beginning in January 2019, concluding at the end of December 2022.
 
The City Council has focused attention on implementing the community’s growth plan, identified in the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) expansion and accompanying Comprehensive Plan policies. This plan highlights the need for more urban-style development in opportunity areas, infill development, a variety of housing types to meet the community’s housing needs and master planning UGB expansion areas.  The Planning Commission will continue to play a key role in the implementation of this plan. Familiarity with the concepts listed above is desirable. Applicants must be residents of the City of Bend.
 
Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Monday, February 4, 2019. To apply:

1. Submit a one page letter outlining interest in serving on the Planning Commission to Susy Munson at smunson@bendoregon.gov
2. Complete the Advisory Committee application: https://www.bendoregon.gov/government/citizen-committees/advisory-committee-application

 
For more information regarding the Planning Commission visit the web site at: https://www.bendoregon.gov/planningcommission

If your members haven't had a chance to complete the Community Climate Action Plan Survey, there's still time.

                                                        We Still Want to Hear from You!  :) 

The City of Bend is creating a Community Climate Action Plan to reduce our carbon footprint community-wide.

There are many actions we can take to reduce fossil fuels and increase our overall energy efficiencies.

We want to hear from you (if you haven't already completed the survey) about which actions you think are right for Bend!

Let us know what you think!  Visit: go.participate.online/BendClimateSurvey 

For more information, visit http://www.bendoregon.gov/CCAP  or contact Sustainability Coordinator Cassie Lacy at:

clacy@bendoregon.gov or at 541/323-8587.  

The last day to take the Climate Action Survey is Sunday, February 3.  

Contact: Cassie Lacy
Sustainability Coordinator
541-323-8587, clacy@bendoregon.gov

The City and the Climate Action Steering Committee are inviting Bend residents to take 15 minutes to participate in an online community survey. Community participation will help the City set priorities for the best ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
 
The survey will be available at: go.participate.online/BendClimateSurvey from Jan. 9, 2019 until Feb. 3, 2019.
 
The survey results will be shared with the Climate Action Steering Committee and will help shape their recommendations for the Community Climate Action Plan (CCAP).
 
The Community Climate Action Plan will be created by the committee and include a set of strategies, policies and programs that encourage voluntary fossil fuel use reduction throughout the community. The plan will define a roadmap to meet the City’s community wide fossil fuel use reduction goals established in Council Resolution 3044.
 
For more information about the Community Climate Action Plan project, including a link to the community survey, please visit www.bendoregon.gov/ccap.