Update 3/18, 7:28 pm: The Bend City Council voted unanimously tonight to take the city's proposed transportation bond off the May ballot. Below is the story we posted Tuesday night.
O
n Wednesday, the Bend City Council will meet in its usual location in the Council Chambers—with one big agenda item on the table.
The room will be set up to maintain social distancing measures, but the public is encouraged to
watch the meeting from home.
The Visitor's Section, during which citizens can typically offer comment for up to three minutes, will be limited to written comments only. They can be submitted to council@bendoregon.gov.
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City of Bend
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Bend City Council will meet Wednesday, March 17 to vote on whether to remove the transportation bond from the May ballot.
Most of the meeting agenda involves normal city business, such as contracts and agreements with other agencies and companies. But the City Council announced Tuesday that
due to the coronavirus outbreak, it will also vote to withdraw the ballot measure for the general obligation
transportation bond, Measure 9-131, planned for the May 19 ballot.
Within the last week, the municipal bond market has become volatile and market access has been challenging, according to the resolution to remove the bond posted along with the
agenda on the City's website. While the effects may be short-term, many bond issuers are delaying normal operations. The Federal Reserve recently reduced treasury interest rates, which has helped municipal bond markets in the past, but that has not been the case within the last few weeks.