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City of Bend outlines digital shift for private stormwater maintenance agreements; 69% compliance in first year
Summary
City stormwater staff described a new digital reporting system for privately owned stormwater facilities, reporting 248 of 362 agreements submitted this first year (about 69% compliance). Staff flagged mapping gaps, HOA dissolution and enforcement questions as priorities for next steps.
City of Bend stormwater staff said the city has moved to a digital system to manage privately owned stormwater maintenance agreements and to improve enforcement and reporting.
Elizabeth, a stormwater program staff member, told the Water Advisory Group that the city first began issuing maintenance agreements around 2013 and has since imported old agreements into the city’s permit center portal to enable online inspection reporting. "We asked people to submit reports by February 28 of each year for the prior full calendar year," she said, explaining that the city built a one‑page inspection template and automated notices to property contacts.
The nut graf: The city reported 362 total maintenance agreements in its inventory, of which 248 were submitted through the new portal this reporting cycle — roughly 69% compliance, Elizabeth said. Of those submitted, about 84% used a third‑party inspector and eight of those contractor packages included both inspection and maintenance work. Staff described the digital launch as a substantial effort that required a large import of legacy records and additional outreach.
Staff and advisory group members flagged several operational challenges. Elizabeth said many property owners do not realize an agreement is tied to their deed or do not understand which on‑site facility the agreement covers; some of the county’s scanned maps are low quality and hard to read. Members noted that when an HOA dissolves, coordinating a single report for a subdivision can be difficult. "It became really difficult to coordinate subdivisions submitting a single report when they didn't have an HOA," Elizabeth said.
Committee members pressed on enforcement and funding. One member asked whether the city should charge an inspection fee for delinquent reports. Elizabeth said the stormwater fund currently covers enforcement and that staff are exploring inspection fees, but acknowledged billing poses practical challenges — for example, how to equitably bill a large subdivision with many individual owners and no coordinating HOA.
Several members suggested outreach channels to improve awareness: title companies providing closing materials, HOA newsletters, and existing backflow testing letter programs. Elizabeth said staff had already reached out to title companies and planned to refresh web resources, create address‑searchable public dashboards showing mapped private facilities, and conduct staff inspections for agreements that were not submitted this year.
The presentation closed with a series of follow‑up questions for the advisory group on outreach tools, the merits of inspection fees, and approaches to inspect and bill properties without a coordinating entity. Staff said they will continue refining the database, strengthen escalation pathways, and seek group input at the planned June field tour.
The advisory group did not take a formal vote on policy changes; staff described next steps as internal program work and outreach.
