Greetings from City Hall!
By Tyler Deems, For The Sandy Standard
It has been a busy summer in Sandy with many important projects underway. Sandy Mountain Festival was an enormous success. Thank you to the Mountain Festival committee for their work, the countless volunteers, vendors, and City staff who made this event possible.
Immediately following Mountain Festival, Meinig Park closed for renovations. Those renovations are currently underway. This project includes the addition of a new bathroom near Fantasy Forest, three new picnic shelters, and new pathways throughout the park for improved accessibility. In addition, enhancements to the electrical infrastructure throughout the park are underway to support the various events and program that are held each year. This project will finish later this year, just in time for City staff to decorate the park for our annual Winterfest events. We cannot wait for you to see the finished product!
In addition to our parks project, work on water and wastewater infrastructure continues to move forward. The City’s Alder Creek water treatment plant is undergoing comprehensive capacity and resiliency improvements, ensuring that the primary water source for the City can manage current and future demands. These repairs and upgrades will allow the City to maximize the full potential of this water source, which is approximately 2.4 million gallons per day. This work is expected to finish by mid-2028. In addition to this work, the City has also completed the new pipeline along Bluff Road for the future connection to Portland’s Bull Run water source.
Following the adoption of the Wastewater Facility Plan Amendment in June, the City is now seeking proposals for engineering services for wastewater treatment plant improvements, specifically a membrane bioreactor (MBR) treatment plant. This work is necessary to ensure the efficient and effective treatment of our wastewater and remain compliant with our discharge permit to ensure long-term protection of local waterways. It will take several years for the design and construction of these improvements to be completed, but staff and our consultants are working diligently to ensure the total project cost remains feasible.
As always, additional information regarding these vital projects can be found online at https://www.ci.sandy.or.us/publicworks/page/water-wastewater-projects. To learn more about utility rates and the City’s customer assistance program, please call the Utility Department at (503) 668-7449 or visit https://www.ci.sandy.or.us/finance/page/utility-bill-customer-assistance-program.
The City has also been busy with our annual street maintenance work, completing slurry sealing and repaving roads throughout Sandy. Slurry seal helps to seal the pavement and protect it from the elements and extends the life of the road at a much lower cost than paving the entire street. This work is part of our overall street maintenance program, which is intended to keep the pavement condition index, a score to determine the health and quality of city streets, at 80 or above.
Beyond street maintenance, the City has also been analyzing future improvements at the intersection of Highway 211 and Dubarko Road. While no final decision on future improvements has been made, the City Council and staff remain committed to finding an affordable solution to improve the safety of this intersection for current and future community members.
Sandy City Council meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of each month at Sandy City Hall, 39250 Pioneer Boulevard. These meetings are open to the public, both in person and virtually. The agenda is typically published the Thursday prior to the meeting. Each agenda contains a Zoom link for those who wish to attend virtually. Come check us out and learn more about what is happening with the City!
Cheers!
Tyler DeemsCity Manager