Justsayin'

1. Mirror Pond has reached a natural balance which will persist now that the future of the dam is secure. There is no need to dredge, now or in the future. As with the former log ponds upstream of the Old Mill, the silt deposits will form areas of wetlands with plants and abundant wildlife and the growth of these areas is self limiting. BP&R could accelerate wetlands development with plantings at a fraction of the cost of dredging.
2. The iconic Mirror Pond will remain a large expanse of open water but bordered in places by rich riparian sections, arguably an even more attractive centerpiece to Bend.
3. The proposal is to impose utility fees on Bend residents to meet a $6,000,000 cost for dredging without a public vote. Throughout the recent elction season, Mayor Russell and the new Councilors preached more community participation in City affairs, not less. Time to Walk the Walk?

Across cities in the USA and around the globe, parking is no longer treated as a problem. It is treated as a symptom of the real, underlying problem.The root cause of parking woes is too much use of personal cars and unless we focus on that problem we are never going to improve congestion and never going to address the core characteristic of personal transportation downtown which is that personal cars are used for 5% of the time to get to and around downtown and left inactive for 95% of the time - which is why parking is needed in the first place.

Cars are used to get to-and-from a destination. Once at the destination they are abandoned until the time arrives to leave that location. It's a question of convenience and cost. Meet the convenience factor and find the acceptable cost of shared transit solutions and the need for parking, parking strategies and a parking manager simply evaporates.

Counter intuitively, the parking 'problem' is being solved elsewhere in the USA and across the globe by eliminating parking spaces, outlawing (or pricing prohibitively) on-street parking for all but local residents (and charging them for the privilege), creating car free zones (Bond, Wall and connecting xstreets would be a good start) and subsidizing shared transit solutions.

Instead of investing in parking studies, focus on ways to encourage people to leave their cars at home. Go wild. Make Uber free (or as near as we can afford) within the City (and any other rideshare provider that is already in or can be persuaded to operate in Bend). Our streets would be emptier and safer for alternative users (cycles, pedestrians), need less maintenance and eliminate the need for parking management and enforcement.

Parking is not the problem. It is a symptom of the real problem. Make personal cars a costly indulgence to move to and around downtown and provide the means for widespread adoption of shared transportation options.

I can see that safety is a concern for cyclists in town and wonder whether the emergence of autonomous cars will reduce the dangers of speeding or distracted driving. I read of towns across the country opening their streets for tests of autonomous vehicles and wonder whether Bend should initiate such a program. Replacing public transport with a fleet of autonomous taxis that would offer door to door transportation at nominal fares would also seem to offer the possibility to improve adoption of public transport, reduce the number of private cars on the road, lessen congestion, improve safety and open the door to pedestrianization of Downtown. HAs anyone on the Council considered talking with the major car manufacturers, Lyft or Uber?