Talks on Mirror Pond’s fate heat up again

After months — make that years of debate over the future of Mirror Pond, the city of Bend might be getting closer to a plan of action.

City Councilor Mark Capell told NewsChannel 21 Tuesday that the city is working hard to find a solution that will make the entire community happy.

However, making everyone happy might be next to impossible on an issue that ties the costly matter of removing silt from the murky pond to the fate of an aging hydroelectric dam Pacific Power has made clear it no longer needs and wants to get rid of.

Capell said the dilemma, in a nutshell, is that about half the community has said it wants Mirror Pond restored, while the other half wants it gone and a more natural river flow restored — and just about all of them don’t want to spend any money on it.

Can the city, in essence, split the difference – in a cost-effective fashion?

“What we’re hoping to do is not costing the taxpayer any money,” Capell said. “Keep the pond, but also turn it into a more natural flow and fish passage.”

City officials met with Pacific Power representatives in Portland last week, and they agreed to a public/private partnership on the project.

At this point, there are not many details on what a plan might look like but Capell said the city is hoping to be able to present a concrete plan within the next few weeks.