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MacKed briefs commissioners on transit grant and county project priority list; county approves transit IGAs
Summary
Mid‑Columbia Economic Development District (MacKed) staff briefed Wasco County on awarded transit and community grants and on a county project priority list; the board approved an intergovernmental agreement to operate LINC transit service and accepted the county’s community enhancement project list for MacKed’s regional economic plan.
Wasco County commissioners approved an intergovernmental agreement to deliver a state transit grant and accepted a proposed county project priority list developed with the Mid‑Columbia Economic Development District (MacKed).
Andrew Danes, MacKed deputy director and staff lead for the Wasco County Economic Development Commission (EDC), told commissioners that the region secured a number of small awards for local projects, including an approximately $96,000 award for an electric municipal fleet vehicle and a $25,000 Oregon Community Foundation grant to expand Wi‑Fi and technical assistance in Antelope.
On transit: Jessica Metta, executive director of Mid Columbia Economic Development District, said the county applied for and was awarded ODOT public‑transportation funds to operate LINC bus service in The Dalles. The county signed an intergovernmental agreement with MacKed to operate the grant and separately approved the state grant contract (ODOT agreement number 3350709).
Commissioners voted unanimously to approve both the intergovernmental agreement with MacKed and the ODOT grant agreement. The agreements require MacKed to run the service and the county to act as the grant recipient and fiscal agent.
Why it matters: The transit funding supports local mobility and ensures continuity of bus stops and routes in The Dalles. County commissioners and MacKed staff said the arrangement will allow service operations to continue with ODOT oversight and county contracting.
Community enhancement project list: Danes presented MacKed’s recommended ranking of county projects (the community enhancement project list) developed with local stakeholders and the EDC. Top priorities included drinking‑water and wastewater projects in several towns, an early learning center, and preconstruction planning for a Port of The Dalles boat‑launch project. Commissioners signaled unanimous consensus to forward Wasco County’s priority list into MacKed’s regional comprehensive economic development strategy (SEDS) process.
Ending: MacKed staff said the county list will be used to support grant applications and legislative requests; commissioners asked staff to coordinate on an intergovernmental agreement to document the transit relationship and to pass the county priorities onward to MacKed for regional aggregation.
