Dear Nina,
To follow up on my phone call, find attached the powerpoint presented last Wed. to the Molalla Planning Commission about the "need" to expand the UGB and the "need" for an Urban Reserve. If you need it, I can get a audio disc of the meeting because the Winterbrook consultant Jesse Winteroud was far more expansive than his powerpoint about the wish to expand the UGB, but not to Exception Lands - instead he and his private landowner clients want to push for the city to spend money on another quest for an Urban Reserve, since they could allegedly pick other lands than the long designated approx. 500 acres of buildable lands in the Exception Lands. As I mentioned, Molalla spent a great deal of money from 2007 till they were soundly defeated in 2011 trying to get a 2,400 acre Urban Reserve in spite of years of negative feedback from the state and county about that sure to fail quest. They borrowed from other funds (illegally it turned out) when they ran out of planning money funds to keep that quest going till the bitter end.
It is extremely expensive and complex to try to get a UGB expansion, let alone to first prove need and extablish an Urban Reserve. There are pages and pages of state law on those processes and I gave each PC member a 15 page printout of those complex rules. DEQ should take note that even inside the UGB Molalla is aggressively building more homes and apartments that will add more burden to the existing wastewater facilities.
So the concern is that Molalla is still barely able to stay in the black in their budget, that it is clear their existing infrastructure is not kept in good repair and that they, per DLCD (I have spoken to several DLCD reps on this issue), have plenty of opportunity in the existing UGB to re-develop using existing infrastructure (far less costly to use/fix existing infrastructure than to build and maintain added infrastructure) so they should not be worrying about spending money on campaigns to expand the UGB or trying to create an Urban Reserve( so they can cherry pick farm land when they try to expand the UGB).
To expand a UGB there are many reports that must be filed and public infrastructure is of high concern; that should be DEQ's role in any push for UGB expansion, concern that current facilities are not meeting the mark. I hope DEQ takes note of this because to me it is denial of the current glaring problems. It is well proven that cities can not grow their way out of problems - they just make the problems worse if they grow before they fix their problems.
Bear Creek Recovery notes that Molalla had a full year to prepare to have a successful lagoon leak test, yet as of today they still have not removed biosolids in 2016, have not been able to do a test run for the lagoon lead test and are writing that the valve needed for the test didn't work. Thanks for keeping an eye on these issues. We look forward to seeing what the MOA looks like.
I commend Tiffany for her ongoing open dialogue to keep us informed of what is happening between DEQ and Molalla. And thank you Nina for being open and accessible.
Sincerely,
Susan Hansen
Bear Creek Recovery
-----Original Message-----
From: cityrecorder@cityofmolalla.com
Sent: Fri, 5 Aug 2016 14:29:38 -0700 (PDT)
To: foxglovefarm@inbox.com
Subject: PIR - Hansen, Susan - Winter Brook Request
Ms. Hansen:
As requested here is the presentation information you requested. The PIR is now closed.
Thanks,
Sadie
Sadie Cramer
City Recorder, MMC
City of Molalla
Cityrecorder@cityofmolalla.com
PH |503.829.6855 Ext. 291
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