Story by Rodger Nichols for Gorge Country Media
Wasco County Commissioners met Wednesday. The majority of the meeting was taken up with the Basalt Commons housing project. A few testified against the project, bringing up concerns about potential impact to parking downtown. But the majority of those testifying supported the project, which as several people pointed out, the project is a city project that has already been through the whole gauntlet of city public meetings and opportunities to appeal and has been granted.
In order to secure the last $3 million necessary to fund the $30 million project. Developer Mary Hanlon will sell the land under the old car dealership to the county and lease it back for five years, taking possession at the end of the lease.Commission chair Scott Hege pointed out that the county was not risking any taxpayer dollars on the project; all the funding comes from Google and other companies’ enterprise zone payments.
“The money that we’re looking at using is not tax dollars. What we’re using, is the money we’re getting from these agreements that we have. The county and the city get quite a lot of funding, and, quite honestly, those funds are supposed to be use to reinvest in your community in ways that actually generate economic development. So this is actually a perfect use of these kind of funds. The benefits that we get are way beyond the benefits of just earning a return.”
And Nate Stice, who lives in The Dalles, and has been on the Governor’s Regional Solutions Board for Wasco County and others had this to say:
“I am really excited to see something new in the downtown. I know some of our downtown businesses are struggling. Putting 116 units in those residents downtown will simply be a game-changer.”
The meeting began with public comments, which included a request for donations from The Dalles High School Robotics team, a request for temporary parking from the Gorge Academy of Hair Design, and general comments on community history and development. The board then approved several items, including a contract for an AI-powered accounts payable software, a renewal for the statewide victim notification system, a maintenance contract for the 911 dispatch radio system, and an agreement for public transportation services. And a proclamation was made declaring April 13-20 as Dark Sky Week.
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