Deschutes commissioners discuss 911, canal, pot

Deschutes County commissioners received an update on the troubled 911 radio system during a work session Wednesday afternoon and also took a stand against historic designation of a Bend-area irrigation canal.

County 911 officials told commissioners at their work session about the latest on improvements being made to the system after an upgrade caused serious problems in coverage.

In January, local law enforcement unions filled a complaint about the new upgrades to the system not working properly.

Deschutes County 911 is making sure the system is up to the proper standards.

Joe Blaschka, an engineer for Adcomm, said he is working to make sure that good solutions to the coverage issues are in place soon.

“Coverage does not extend to the west very well, and there is a number of areas to the west, including a school, which would certainly benefit from better radio coverage there,” he said. “And so the goal is to move the site a short distance to the west, so we can take advantage of the rising terrain, so we don’t have to build a very tall antenna structure.”

Commissioners also discussed the issue of piping an irrigation canal that is up for national historical designation.

The board sent a letter to the Oregon Historic Preservation Office, stating it does not support a proposal that a portion of the Central Oregon Canal should be nominated for the National Register of Historic Places.

If that happens, the canal cannot be piped. Piping irrigation canals has become much more common in recent years as irrigation districts look to conserve water.

“It’s an active water delivery system. It’s not a historical monument that you might think of like some historical landmarks,” Commissioner Phil Henderson said. “So as commissioners, we were trying to balance that, some of the greater need is to make sure our water system works.”

The Central Oregon Irrigation District said Wednesday that particular stretch of canal is not set to be piped in the near future. But homeowners want to see it protected so it cannot be piped.

In a letter to a state historic preservation officer, commissioners said they are concerned that a listing of the canal segment between Ward and Gosney roads will hamper efficient management of the canal and hinder water conservation efforts. But they added, “If the canal is formally listed, we ask that conditions be provided to allow for efficient purveyance of the canal’s irrigation water.”

The State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation will be reviewing the nomination at a meeting on June 22.

The board also discussed what kind of new rules it wants to consider for marijuana production sites. It received a presentation from the Community Development Department about what regulations may be beneficial for the county.

The commissioners are working to find regulations that best suit people in the region.

One area of concern is water rights in Tumalo and Alfalfa.

According to Deschutes County Planning Manager Peter Gutowsky, a solution needs to be found that will make sure that water can be preserved and utilized to its greatest extent.

“We’re seeing, I think, with a rapidly urbanizing county that there are these increasing demands,” Gutowsky said. “And it is going to be incumbent upon local and state agencies, in this case the Water Resources Department, to ensure that water rights are being put to beneficial use consistent with their water rights.”

There are other regulations being discussed as well, including setbacks, odor and noise.

As of now, though, all of the proposals are preliminary, and it will be up to the board to make suggestions to county staff about which regulations they would like to be put in place.

Once the board makes those recommendations,they will be reviewed by the planning department and receive public input before they are adopted as county code.