Rick McClung is on a roll.
In the past few months, the city of Yachats’ water plant supervisor has written and received grants totaling $170,000 to help reconstruct streets or study water issues.
McClung said the four grants from state agencies are part of a larger plan by City Manager Shannon Beaucaire “to go after this money.”
“She’s given me the time to research and write these grants,” he said. “It’s a team effort.”
The recent grants follow $100,000 the city received last year from the Oregon Department of Transportation to redesign and rebuild East Second Street and $91,000 it is getting from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help remodel and move city offices into the former Bank of the West building.
The city recently received word that ODOT has again awarded it $100,000 to help pay for engineering, reconstruction and paving of the Driftwood Lane between Sixth and Fifth avenues. This is the partially paved road between the bank building and ball field, from Yachats Community Presbyterian Church on the north to the parking lot adjacent to the Yachats Commons.
Because it is a key street in the middle of city property, McClung plans to submit some basic ideas to the city’s engineers and then show their plans to Beaucaire, the Parks & Commons Commission and likely the City Council.
“I just want to make sure that what I envision is what they envision,” he said.
At the moment, McClung believes the street should be wide enough for two-way traffic, a sidewalk and room enough for parking.
McClung is not yet sure how the project might affect the east border of the ball field or the little-used skateboard area that sits on a concrete slab on an east portion of the road.
“That’s why I want Parks & Commons involved,” he said.
Other recent city grants include:
- $20,000 from Business Oregon, the state’s economic development agency, to help pay for an $80,000 water master plan. The work by Westech Engineering of Albany is expected to take a year and give the city guidance on water demand and infrastructure.
- $20,000 from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to help pay for an $80,000 update to the city’s master plan for its wastewater collection and treatment system. Westech is also conducting that study.
- $30,000 from the DEQ to help develop a plan to protect the city’s water sources in Reedy and Salmon creeks and the Yachats River, identify future supply risks and contingencies, and how to plan for increasing demand.
What an awesome job is being done by our City Manager and City employees. Congratulations especially to Rick McClung on well done grant proposals. All municipalities are suffering economic constraints but small ones such as Yachats, with little income to help support those economic constraints, are especially hard hit. This push to get funds through available grants is a well thought out plan which helps the City continue to give its residents the quality of life and services they have come to expect.
Thank you as well to Yachats News for bringing this information forward. So often citizens have no idea of the work being done behind the scenes to keep the engine of government running smoothly.