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Lawmakers hear $20 million proposal to harden fairgrounds as county evacuation sites
Summary
Representative Anna Sharp and county and fairgrounds representatives urged the committee to fund a $20 million grant program to add water, power, sewer and telecom infrastructure at fairgrounds used as evacuation centers; testimony pointed to lessons from the 2020 wildfire evacuations.
Representative Anna Sharp told the House Committee on Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans on Feb. 4 that House Bill 2136 would appropriate $20 million to the Oregon Department of Emergency Management to create a grant program for infrastructure improvements at county fairgrounds used as evacuation sites.
Sharp recounted Polk County’s 2020 wildfire evacuations and said fairgrounds that opened to evacuees lacked adequate RV hookups, sewer, water and telecom capacity. "Many of those fleeing came in RVs, towing livestock trailers," Sharp said. "This limited the ability for these folks to stay in their RVs and stay self contained, and shuffling people around during a disaster just adds to the trauma that they are enduring." She said fairgrounds often operate on limited budgets and asked the legislature to invest in hardening basic infrastructure to make fairgrounds usable as evacuation and staging sites.
Witnesses speaking in support included J.L. Wilson, representing the Oregon Fairs Association, who said fairgrounds have become central community assets for evacuation, staging and emergency operations since 2020. Tim Dooley, legislative affairs manager for the Association of Oregon Counties, told the committee that many counties lack on-site water or sewer and that fairgrounds are one of the few county-controlled sites that can be repurposed quickly during disasters. Dooley said improving fairground infrastructure would also create year-round event and economic-development opportunities for counties.
The bill, as summarized for the committee, would fund water, power, fire, telecommunications and sewer infrastructure projects at fairgrounds designated as evacuation centers. Committee members did not complete all public testimony and the chair carried the remainder of the public hearing and the work session to the committee’s Feb. 6 meeting.
Ending
Sponsors asked the committee to prioritize the appropriation to begin addressing infrastructure gaps at county fairgrounds before the next disaster season.
