Consortium pursues $2.86 million for West Glenn water project, schedules June outreach and technical review

Consortium members reported progress on a West Glenn drinking-water project and discussed funding avenues and public outreach, including testimony before a state committee and upcoming local meetings.

Consortium member Matt reported that he testified before the Senate committee on the lottery‑bond funding request for the West Glenn project and that the consortium’s request of $2,860,000 has been entered into a large field of requests; Matt said roughly $500 million in available bond funds were competing against about $2 billion in requests. Matt told the consortium: "It's time to put the water bottles away and put pipe in the ground," and said he was optimistic about committee receptivity.

Board members discussed the likely match and project costs: the consortium has discussed a $500,000 matching contribution and plans to seek private and other local matches in addition to state funds. The consortium is relying on Meyer Architecture and Engineering for a technical feasibility study (funded in part by Business Oregon grants) and on Rev (a community outreach contractor) and Willamette Partnership for outreach and option analysis. Consortium staff said Business Oregon contributed $20,000 to a technical feasibility study that will cover engineering and outreach work; a separate Business Oregon award and county‑managed funds are supporting sewer and water planning work.

Representatives read and discussed terms in an Oregon Health Authority (OHA) agreement the consortium is using to track eligible uses. One speaker summarized OHA language requiring that at least 50% of certain funds be used for treatment and potable‑water provisioning (citing an original agreement amount of $1,933,000) and describing additional funds of $581,000 and an unspent‑funds clause. The OHA agreement was described in the meeting as allowing distributions to Morrow County (or Boardman) to support public drinking‑water extensions and requires contracts and expenditures to be in place by the final reporting date of 07/31/2027.

The consortium set near‑term public engagement steps: staff said a West Glenn community outreach meeting was targeted for June 18 (venue to be confirmed) with bilingual notices and mailings to affected properties; the consortium also scheduled a meeting on June 3 to introduce and onboard advisory committee members and to share the project roadmap. Members said outreach would include presentation of options, cost estimates from Meyer, and a comparison of alternatives prepared by Willamette Partnership so residents could provide feedback, not simply receive a finished plan.

Members discussed practical questions residents raise about hooking into public water systems: ongoing operating costs for users, whether private wells would be decommissioned if households connect to a public system, and how to preserve irrigation access for rural properties. Board members noted federal congressional‑directed spending generally requires connection to a publicly owned system (not conversion of private domestic wells) and said the consortium will need a clear plan about which funding sources can be used for private‑well remediation versus public‑system extensions.

Consortium staff said they will continue engineering and outreach work, coordinate with Boardman on rate and out‑of‑city charges, and return with cost estimates that can be used in public outreach and grant applications. The group identified the need for further policy discussion about whether funds will support connection costs, ongoing user rates, or well decommissioning and said those topics will be prominent in the June outreach meetings.