Ryan Vogt, executive director of the Cascades West Council of Governments, told the Lebanon City Council on Sept. 10 that the regional agency is coordinating economic‑development support and social services in Linn and Benton counties and is exploring closer operational links with the Community Services Consortium to reduce barriers for low‑income seniors and other clients.

Vogt said the two agencies provide overlapping services — Meals on Wheels, benefits counseling and food distribution through Lynn‑Benton Food Share — and that bringing staff and intake processes closer together could reduce the need for residents to visit multiple agencies for the same or related benefits. “Many of them have transportation issues,” Vogt said.

Vogt said Cascades West helped the city land a $100,000 Housing Infrastructure Support Fund grant for sewer capacity and road access at the Champion Mill site and has worked on brownfield matters for the city. He also described senior insurance counseling work (48 Lebanon clients in the last quarter) and regional food distribution that supplies food banks and social‑service partners.

Vogt warned that federal program changes could increase demand for food and other social services: “We anticipate that the need and demand for food security is gonna grow,” he said, and asked the council to note that food distribution agencies may approach the city for support in coming months.

On wetlands mitigation, Vogt described a multi‑jurisdictional feasibility study and a submitted phase‑2 grant application to establish a potential wetland banking approach to lower mitigation costs for local projects; he said the Wetlands Consortium’s phase‑2 application is under consideration by the funder.

Councilors thanked Vogt for the briefing and noted instances of existing cooperation between the council and COG staff on local projects.