The Philomath City Council has approved participation in the University of Oregon’s Sustainable City Year Program, a partnership that would bring faculty and students to work on a series of city planning and improvement projects over the next two years.
City Manager Chris Workman told city councilors during a meeting Monday night that the program has been running for several years and each year partners with six to 10 Oregon communities.
“This isn’t about give your students an opportunity at your detriment; this is all about provide benefit to the community and at the same time, provide benefit to our students and our faculty,” Workman said.
Under the arrangement, the city would identify four to six projects for UO teams to tackle across the two-year period at a cost of $5,000 to $10,000 per project. The council will have final approval on the project list.
One priority Workman highlighted is long-term master planning for the city’s three largest parks — Philomath City Park, Marys River Park and Natural Area and Skirvin Park.
“Not just adding a bench here and there and then some equipment or whatever but that we have a kind of master plan for the parks themselves and how they’re going to grow and what they’re going to develop into over the next 20 years,” Workman said.
Hiring a professional consultant for that work alone would cost $60,000 to $90,000, Workman said. Through the UO program, it would run $5,000 to $10,000 — and count as just one of several projects the university team would complete.
Mayor Christopher McMorran framed the program as a cost-saving measure.
“If we generally have consultants working on plans and projects for us, I think it saves money by having this program do some of the planning rather than some of the professional consultants,” McMorran said.
The discussion came on the same evening the council was weighing a proposed city services fee tied to Philomath’s budgetary challenges. Workman acknowledged the UO partnership would be an added expense but said it would help sustain momentum on city improvements.
Staff will now work with program leaders to finalize a project list for the first year, with a final slate expected before the council in April or May.
The council voted 4-0 in favor of the arrangement with McMorran recusing himself after recognizing a potential conflict of interest — he serves as assistant director for the Coalition of Oregon Public Universities, which receives dues from UO and other schools. Two other councilors were absent.