City Adds Additional Week to Nominate Community Enhancement Projects

The city of Wilsonville has extended the deadline by one week to submit project nominations for a program aimed at improving the community.

Residents now have until Monday, Jan. 23, to send in their ideas for the Wilsonville-Metro Community Enhancement Program. The extension offers community members and local organizations more time to nominate a wide range of projects that do not have funding, but if implemented, would benefit Wilsonville. To submit a community enhancement project for consideration, visit www.ci.wilsonville.or.us/CEP.

Funds collected under the Wilsonville-Metro Community Enhancement Program are used for “enhancing the host community of the facility from which the fees have been collected” to fund projects that “rehabilitate and enhance the area within the city,” officials said. Eligible projects can improve the appearance or environmental quality of the community, increase reuse and recycling opportunities or improve recreational areas and programs.

Project nominations will be reviewed by city staff in February for compliance with applicable laws and regulations and for cost estimates and feasibility. Viable projects are then forwarded for consideration in Spring 2017 by the Wilsonville-Metro Community Enhancement Committee, which is composed of four community members, chair Brad Hughbanks, vice chair Larry Beck, Kate Johnson and Jimmy Lee; two City Council members, Mayor Tim Knapp and City Councilor Susie Stevens; and Metro District Three Councilor Craig Dirksen. City Council will consider the approval of the committee-recommended projects in May or June, with funding becoming available in July.

Funded by a per-ton charge on biodegradable solid-waste, the Community Enhancement Program was extended by Metro regional government effective July 2015 to cover all cities in the Portland area with a waste-transfer facility, including the Willamette Resources Inc. facility operated by Republic Services in Wilsonville.

About $90,000 in community enhancement funds are available in 2017 to fund projects in within the City of Wilsonville

• Improving the appearance or environmental quality of the community.
• Reducing the amount or toxicity of waste and increase reuse and recycling opportunities.
• Upgrading property owned or operated by a nonprofit organization.
• Preserving or enhance wildlife habitat, riparian zones, wetlands, forest lands, and/or improve the public awareness and access.
• Expanding community recreational areas and programs.
• Benefiting youth, seniors, low-income persons or underserved populations.

• Memorial Park “Dog Park” Relocation Project: Award of $25,000 to sponsor City of Wilsonville Parks & Recreation Department.
• “Bee Stewards” Wilsonville Pollinator Improvement Project: Award of $21,433 to sponsors City of Wilsonville Community Development Department/Natural Resources Division and Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP).
• Multifamily Waste-Reduction and Recycling Project: Award of up to $16,000 to sponsors Clackamas County Department of Business and Community Services/Sustainability Division and Republic Services of Clackamas and Washington Counties.
• Frog Pond Church Campus Restoration Project: Award of up to $10,000 to sponsor Frog Pond Church Meridian United Church of Christ.
• Fluorescent Mercury-Lamp Business Recycling Program: Award of $7,110 to sponsors Clackamas County Department of Business and Community Services/Sustainability Division and Republic Services of Clackamas and Washington Counties.

Any member of the public may nominate a project for consideration that improves the community. While not designed as grant program, projects may be nominated by a sponsoring organization that has the capacity to oversee and document implementation; these kinds of submissions require additional documentation for cost estimates, organizational capacity, etc.

For more information, contact Jon Gail, Community Relations Coordinator at 503-570-1502 or gail@ci.wilsonville.or.us.