Two New Regional Coordinators Join the IFA Team

Infrastructure Finance Authority (IFA), Regional Services is pleased to announce that on May 3rd, Aneta Synan joined the team as Regional Coordinator to work with communities in Lane and Columbia counties.

Synan comes to the IFA from Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) where she administered the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), a temporary program to assist communities that have suffered from property foreclosures and abandonment. Prior to OHCS, she worked in Alaska as a planner with the Ketchikan Borough Government, tourism development planner for the Alaska Department of Community & Economic Development, scenic byways coordinator for the Alaska Scenic Byways Program and transportation planner for the Alaska Department of Transportation. Before her Alaska employments, Synan worked for the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments as an associate planner preparing and administering state and federal grants/loans for public works and community facilities.

We also are happy to announce that on June 1st, Bob Ault joined the Regional Services team as Regional Coordinator to work with communities in the region currently served by Beverly Kupperman, who is retiring on June 30th. She will provide mentoring for him as he becomes acquainted with the diverse communities dispersed throughout the eight-county, north central region of Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, Wheeler, Crook, Jefferson and Deschutes counties.

Ault comes to the IFA with nine years of community and economic development experience in water and wastewater project coordination and microenterprise program development at Umpqua Community Development Corporation in Roseburg, affordable housing program administration with St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County and capacity building and leadership training for non-profits and rural communities at Rural Development Initiatives headquartered in Eugene.

Regional Coordinator's Public Service Leads to Citizenship

IFA Regional Coordinator Fumi Schaadt has come a long way from her birthplace in Indonesia to work with community leaders in the mountainous region of southern Oregon. And recently that long journey culminated in her becoming a U.S. citizen.

"It is a relief to strengthen my existence and ties to this country," she said recently. "I truly want to be part of the community as a whole."

Schaadt has worked at the IFA for the last six years. She began her service working in the capital projects division as a regional assistant. Schaadt now serves as the regional coordinator for the southern Oregon counties of Douglas, Jackson and Josephine and she is excited about some of the community improvement projects currently underway in the region.

In Douglas County, the strengthening of Department of Environmental Quality water regulations spurred Schaadt to work with the communities of Myrtle Creek, Canyonville, Riddle and Glendale to secure the millions in funding necessary to make the required improvements to their respective water systems.

In Josephine County, Schaadt is working on a Community Development Block Grant project with the Kirby Water District to install a new drinking water system.

In Jackson County, she is working on the Butte Falls wastewater system improvements project as well as helping finalize infrastructure improvements associated with the continued growth of Ashland's Brammo Motorsports, a manufacturer of electric motorcycles.

Schaadt earned a degree in business and economics from Willamette University where she met her future husband. She then returned to Indonesia where she worked as an international banker for Lippo Bank handling export/import and foreign currency transactions.

$5.7 Million in Community Development Block Grants Awarded

Representatives of the League of Oregon Cities and the Association of Oregon Counties along with IFA staff and management recently finalized the distribution of more than $5.7 million in first quarter 2010 Community Development Block Grant awards to nine Oregon communities. Below are descriptions of the funded projects.

$800,000—Coos County
Coos County is partnering with Oregon Coast Community Action (ORCCA) in the development of a food bank to be located in Coos Bay. The county will construct a new central food warehouse that provides food to the 33 member agencies belonging to the South Coast Food Share Network (SCFS). Through the SCFS, ORCCA serves low-income persons residing in Coos, Curry and Western Douglas counties. SCFS currently operates in a warehouse that is not adequate to meet the needs of the food insecure population of the south coast, both in size and equipment to process or handle the food required.

$1 million—Yamhill County
Head Start of Yamhill County (HSYC) sought grant funds for the expansion of the current Head Start facility in McMinnville. The facility does not currently have enough classroom space and consequently there is not only a long wait list for the program services but children living in McMinnville must be bused to other Head Start facilities.

The proposed expansion will occur on a vacant parcel abutting the east side of the existing Head Start facility located in McMinnville. HSYC currently owns the facility and the land. The expansion will add an additional 2,815 square feet to the existing facility and will include a fourth child development classroom, storage and preparatory space, a conference/parent room, a new play area and expansion of the existing kitchen. The county will combine the $1 million CDBG grant with $160,000 of committed matching funds to complete the project.

$1 million—City of Vale
Since the 1970s the seniors in the city of Vale have utilized a poorly adapted two-story church building for meals and meetings. Plans call for construction of a new 7,700-square-foot senior center facility to be built on city-owned land. The location of the new facility is in the downtown core providing good accessibility and visibility. Currently, about 60 seniors are served. After the building opens it is possible that as many as 170+ persons over 60 may be served.

The city will combine the $1,000,000 grant with $80,000 raised by the seniors to complete the project.

$2.43 million—City of Riddle
The city of Riddle owns and operates a municipal activated sludge wastewater treatment and collection system. The city was notified by DEQ of three Class II violations of its NPDES permit in April 2002, pertaining to the discharge of untreated raw wastewater and inadequate treatment efficiencies. The current treatment plant has exceeded its original design life. It has failing equipment, insufficient hydraulic capacity and must face increasingly stringent discharge requirements associated with the Umpqua Basin Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL's) for phosphorus issued by DEQ.

The city applied for and received a 2008 CDBG grant in the amount of $654,000 to design the Phase I improvements. As result of this grant, DEQ approved construction plans and specifications for the proposed Phase I wastewater treatment plant construction project. The design project was completed under budget and the city returned $84,000 of the original grant that can be applied towards the construction project.

The city will combine the requested $930,000 grant with the committed matching funds of $1,676,332 from DEQ and $3,000,000 from USDA Rural Development for the $5,606,332 project.

$150,000—City of Mt. Vernon
The city of Mt. Vernon owns and operates a wastewater treatment and collection system that consists of four lagoons, chlorination and discharges into the John Day River. Despite regular maintenance the facility is over 30 years old and many parts are failing or have failed.

The city intends to use the $150,000 CDBG grant to procure the services of a professional engineering firm to prepare a wastewater facilities plan and conduct a comprehensive rate study among other objectives.

$150,000—City of Echo
The city faces crises daily with their 30-year-old municipal water system. The city does not have a current water system master plan.

The city is taking a proactive approach to complete a comprehensive system evaluation before they are confronted with an overwhelming crisis. The city proposes to contract with an engineering firm to prepare a water system master plan; a water management and conservation plan in accordance with the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) Requirements; a comprehensive water rate study; an environmental assessment; as well as Water Rights research and related work.

$100,000—City of Philomath
A regional microenterprise assistance program will be formed through a partnership involving the municipalities of Philomath, Florence and Cascade Locks. The city of Philomath will serve as the lead agency, responsible for administering the award contract and overseeing project operations.

This project targets the identified needs of low- and moderate-income artists to grow their businesses. The purpose of the project is to provide classroom training and support. The cities anticipate assisting 40 persons/microenterprises.

$45,000—Lincoln County
Lincoln City, Newport and Waldport have entered into an agreement to sponsor this regional microenterprise program, with Lincoln County as the lead. Lincoln County continues to face high unemployment, with its top industry of tourism producing jobs that generally pay low wages and are often seasonal. Development of microenterprises has been identified as a way to support low- to moderate-income, local entrepreneurs while also addressing the chronic issues of poverty and unemployment in the county. The city anticipates assisting 30 persons.

$47,000—Benton County
A regional microenterprise assistance program will be formed through a partnership involving Linn and Benton counties (excluding the city of Corvallis). Benton County will serve as the lead agency, responsible for administering the award contract and overseeing project operations. The purpose of the project is to provide classroom training and support to low-income entrepreneurs who wish to start or expand their small businesses. The city anticipates assisting 40 persons/microenterprises.

IFA Board Adopts Ports Plan

Board Calls for Better Coordination with Other State Agencies
At the IFA Board's May13, 2010, meeting, the body unanimously approved theStatewide Ports Strategic Plan. The plan is the culmination of a highly collaborative effort between Business Oregon, Oregon's 23 ports, the Oregon Public Ports Association and a number of other state agencies including the Department of Transportation, Fish and Wildlife, and the Marine Board. Community forums attended by citizens, city and county representatives also were a part of the plan's opportunities for public comment and input.

From earlier reviews and comments on the draft plan, the board requested a number of actions be taken which they believed would strengthen the final plan and lead to its successful implementation. These included:

• A request that IFA Director Lynn Schoessler meet with state agency heads who have interest or are directly involved with this plan. Schoessler met with the departments of State Lands, Marine Board, Environmental Quality, Fish and Wildlife, Parks, Land Conservation and Development, Agriculture and the State Treasurer. All of these agencies support the plan and encourage the agency coordination role outlined.
• A specific recommendation to establish an ongoing state agency coordination program with regard to port strategic plans and funding approvals. The IFA's Ports Program manager is charged with being responsible for implementing and facilitating this new coordination, which would involve many of the agencies that the IFA Director met with to receive their input on the draft plan.
• Responding to concerns of certain board members, and other stakeholders, regarding creation of a stand-alone port infrastructure funding program when a number of other funding needs by other municipal interests also are being advanced to the legislature. This resulted in an "alternative funding scenario" recommendation in the plan which calls for increased capitalization in the existing Special Public Works Fund (SPWF), which would include ports among the other municipal entities eligible to use the program. IFA staff have developed a legislative funding proposal for this SPWF scenario.

Also, the board has requested IFA staff to proceed with implementing the plan's recommendations, conditioned upon the Oregon Business Development Commission support for these actions. The implementation measures include:

• Establishing a new staff position which would assist the Ports Program manager in developing and executing business contracts between Business Oregon and each of the Oregon port districts;
• Implementing the port district training and accountability provisions contained in the plan;
• Initiation of the state agency coordination program related to port funding; and
• Preparing a 2011-2013 budget proposal to implement the efforts for staffing and SPWF program funding described in the plan.

The IFA Board recognizes the importance of Oregon's ports for economic development and growth in the state of Oregon, and also recognizes the significance of adopting and implementing the Statewide Port Strategic Business Plan.