PDC and PCC meet tonight
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, September 20th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The Pendleton Development Commission meets at 6 p.m. today (Tuesday). That will be followed by the Pendleton City Council meeting at 7 p.m.
The PDC continues its look at the funding for its grants and loans programs. The PDC Advisory Committee is proposing several changes. The committee is outlining two basic approaches and a hybrid option. The first is to borrow more funding from a financial institution. The second is to avoid borrowing and spend tax revenue directly on the projects themselves. The hybrid would mean applying for and receiving new funding in the form of a credit line that is paid back with tax funding if possible.
If the PDC approves borrowing more funding from a financial institution, that would provide immediate funding for several large building projects and would allow for enough money to invest $1.5 million in street repair in 2023. Repaying the new financing will, however, consume most of the PDC’s revenues for multiple years before more could be borrowed. Avoiding borrowing would provide immediate funding for a few projects and does not provide sufficient funding for street repair in the urban renewal district.
The city council meeting includes a vote on an expansion of the Pendleton-Pilot Rock Enterprise Zone to add more than 560 acres near the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport to the zone. It allows businesses locating to the zone a three- to five-year property tax exemption.
The city council will also consider a recommendation that McCormack Construction be approved to oversee the proposed bus barn adjacent to the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport. That company estimated its monthly expenses for managing and performing the project would be $28,281 a month. Kirby Nagelhout, the only other respondent, estimated their cost at $38,203 a month.
