A6 The SpokeSman • TueSday, november 8, 2022
Wetlands
This rendering shows the layout of
the proposed Redmond Wetlands
Complex The 1,200-acre complex
would treat wastewater and be
located at which would be located
at 5801 NW Way.
Continued from A1
tions: upgrade the current sys-
tem or build the wetlands.
It would cost $104 million to
upgrade the current system and
raise residents’ monthly sewer
bill. And, since space to expand
is limited at the current site, the
city would need to continuously
pour money into increasing the
technology of the facility to do
more with less.
Additionally, they would need
to add one or two staff mem-
bers. The $70 million wetland
complex, on the other hand,
would simplify the process and
allow the wastewater division to
reduce their staff by one person
— helping keep residents’ sewer
bills the same for now.
“There’d be a significant
difference in the rate in com-
parison to moving here and
building this system versus ex-
panding at the current site,”
Kirchner said.
Redmond, he said, has the
lowest sewer rates in Central
Oregon, with most people pay-
ing around $33 a month. In
cities like Madras, Bend and
Prineville, the average cost is
around $50.
“It’s a natural treatment sys-
tem,” Kirchner said. “It’s got a
lower initial cost and a lower life
cycle cost and what that ends
up doing is it’s stabilizing the
rates for the city of Redmond
and keeping a focus on trying to
maintain low rates for the com-
munity.”
At the current mechanical fa-
cility, it takes about a day and a
half to treat the city’s wastewater
while the wetlands would take
anywhere from 30 to 60 days.
Going with the wetlands
rather than the mechanical ex-
pansion, Kirchner said, would
result in about half a million
dollar savings per year.
The majority of the funding
for the project, Kirchner said,
would come from a low-interest
loan from the Department of
Environmental Quality’s Clean
Water State Revolving Fund.
“At this time, we’re not going
to have to make any significant
change to the rate structure to
afford to pay off that loan,” he
said.
The city plans to decommis-
sion the current facility and
could repurpose some struc-
tures for future use.
The wetlands are not a new
concept. Prineville was in a
similar position in 2005 and
tasked with creating a me-
chanical treatment facility for
$62 million. According to Eric
Klann, Prineville city engineer,
that price tag was too high and
they began looking into natural
treatment options and settled
on their current wetlands com-
plex.
The total cost to the city after
receiving grants: $4.2 million.
Klann said the project “saved
us a boatload of money.”
Klann added that the com-
plex received the Environmen-
tal Protection Agency’s PISCES
Award as one of the top five
environmental projects in the
nation.
“We’re pretty proud of it,” he
said. “Our facility just turned
into a wonderful park. We have
people out there every day
walking.”
rendering provided by redmond
Wastewater division
CONCERNS AND LIMITATIONS
Kirchner said there have
been few who oppose the wet-
lands but that most concerns are
about the smell, mosquitoes or
vandalism.
“We were all pretty con-
cerned about the odor and what
it’s going to do to our aquifer
and our groundwater,” said
Randy Marvin, who has lived
in Tetherow Crossing near the
proposed site since 2005.
But Marvin visited the
Crooked River Wetlands Com-
plex in Prineville with his wife
to see what the Redmond com-
plex could be like and said it
completely changed his mind.
“I was really impressed with
the wetlands,” he said. “I really
think it’s a lot better system than
the mechanical ones.”
Marvin said he couldn’t smell
anything standing right next to
the ponds and that he felt better
after seeing the way they moni-
tor the groundwater.
According to Klann, one of
their biggest concerns building
the complex was mosquitos and
tested the site for five years, but
found no increase in mosqui-
toes.
Klann noted that they did
see an increase in midges, but
have successfully controlled
them.
“Our mosquitoes don’t nec-
essarily (like) habitat like this,”
said Kirchner. “They like the
grass blades that are flood ir-
rigated, so we’re not doing any
flood irrigation.”
While some are concerned
about increased vandalism,
Kirchner and nearby residents
believe the complex will actually
decrease the number of people
causing trouble.
Marvin and Kim Kathol, who
has lived near the site for 13
years, said they hear people in
the area every weekend driving
ATVs and shooting guns.
“I think with a presence every
day,” Kathol said, “(it) is going to
make a difference.”
But, while the wetlands may
provide an all-around benefit,
they have their limitations for
other cities that may try to fol-
low suit.
Redmond, Kirchner said,
is lucky that it already had the
land available and that there
were already gravity-fed pipe-
lines going out to the site. The
reason why most communities
aren’t able to build a wetland
treatment system, he said, is
because they don’t have a big
chunk of land set aside like Red-
mond.
“We got lucky,” he said.
According to Kirchner and
the project’s website, construc-
tion would begin late next year
and wrap up in early 2026 if all
goes to plan.
BENEFITS
Linda Seeberg, executive
director of academic achieve-
ment for the Redmond School
District, said there are a lot of
potential opportunities for stu-
dents to learn about the envi-
ronment and science with field
trips to the nearby wetlands.
“It’s taking what is a required
function… and turning it into
something that is a benefit,” See-
berg said. “They’re doing a great
thing. It’s a real value-added for
a required function of a city.”
She added that RSD is hop-
ing to work with schools in
Prineville to learn how they’ve
taken advantage of their own
wetlands complex, such as how
they made nests for aquatic
birds and were able to collect
data on how they were used.
Prineville, she said, is already
doing the work they hope to do.
And, since the site is less than
a 15-minute drive from down-
town Redmond, Seeberg hopes
there would be more opportu-
nities for parents to get involved
in field trips.
“We’re excited for the oppor-
tunity of partnership,” Seeberg
said. “I think that’s what builds
strong communities – when we
work together.”
Additionally, the wetlands
would be a mecca for bird
watchers, with members of
the Audubon Society already
heading to the site every day to
do bird counts and try to spot
unique birds.
Kim Kathol, who has been
birding for 32 years, said he vis-
its the site every day and has
seen around 160 bird species
already. But, he estimated that
when the project is completed
that there could be more than
200 bird species that flock to the
wetlands.
“I’m excited,” Kathol said.
“It’ll be changing for the better.”
█
Reporter: nrosenberger@
redmondspokesman.com