Philomath Community Services board leadership told the Philomath City Council during a July 27 meeting that construction of the city’s new water treatment plant next door to their building has created safety hazards for the hundreds of people who rely on the nonprofit’s food pantry and clothing bank each month.
The next day, Mayor Christopher McMorran, Assistant City Manager Chelsea Starner and City Councilor Diane Crocker visited the facility at 360 S. Ninth St. during a late-afternoon food bank distribution.
McMorran said the visit made clear how much the construction has changed traffic flow at the site. Before the project began, a one-way gravel loop allowed vehicles to circulate around the existing water treatment plant site and back onto South Ninth Street. With that area now closed for construction, McMorran said, visitors must enter and exit PCS through the same narrow gate.
“It’s one thing to talk about it and another thing to actually see drivers pulling in and seeing kind of how people react,” McMorran said in an interview this week. “That was a big piece that was missing from some of our earlier conversations.”
At the July 27 council meeting, PCS board president Jodi Russell and vice president Mike Goodrich spoke during the public comment period to stress how construction has altered access to the nonprofit’s building, which houses five programs serving food, clothing and other essentials to residents in need.
Russell told the council that construction has eliminated an estimated 40 to 50 parking spaces and rerouted traffic directly in front of the building after barriers were removed. Vehicles now enter and exit through a narrow access point with limited visibility, she said, raising the risk of head-on collisions.
“We remain very concerned that if current conditions persist, someone could be seriously injured,” Goodrich said.
Philomath Community Services has been relying on a temporary access arrangement through a neighboring property owned by Gerding Builders, which is currently for sale.
The disruption comes as demand for PCS services is at record levels. In June, Nancy’s Food Pantry logged 327 visits and June’s Kids Kloset logged 91 — the highest monthly totals in the organization’s history, with more than 400 combined visits to the building. Russell told the council PCS has already spent over $300 on temporary safety measures and asked the city to prioritize safety improvements and clearer communication for the remainder of the project.
Goodrich, who described himself as a longtime builder and developer, told the council that PCS has sought detailed traffic and access information since April when the project’s land-use application became available. He said the organization attended a preconstruction meeting in May but was not given signage or traffic plans, and a requested site meeting to discuss details had not taken place. When construction began in earnest in mid-July, he said, it included full closure of the organization’s existing Ninth Street access without advance notice. Maps later provided by the city, he said, contained inaccuracies.
“We modified existing signage on site, installed some temporary visual aids and have offered additional markers and lighting to help guide our clients,” said Goodrich, who is also the organization’s facilities chair. “We need to do more, and to do so, we need more accurate information about project plans.”
McMorran said the city is working to route all communication with the contractor through city administration rather than allowing direct requests from PCS to the contractor, citing potential contract and liability issues.
The mayor said the biggest unresolved question is whether additional perimeter fencing or area closures are coming once construction moves from site preparation into active building.
“That is something that our city staff is working with the contractor on right now to get a clear answer on,” McMorran said, adding that some of the delay reflects a genuine lack of answers rather than a breakdown in communication. “People are asking for answers that we don’t have yet, and we are working very hard to come up with those.”
McMorran said the city is also working with PCS on signage at the intersection of Ninth Street and Applegate Street to clarify that the nonprofit remains open during construction, amid a cluster of road-closed signs in the area. He said the city is also exploring whether additional parking could be made available nearby.
“We also talked about how this water treatment plant project is happening and will continue to happen and there will be inconveniences because of that,” McMorran said. “And I think we’re all on the same page with that — that this is a really critical infrastructure project and anytime there’s a large construction project, it will create temporary inconveniences. But we certainly want everything to be as safe as possible and as accessible as possible.”
Asked about the timeline, McMorran said the city is targeting late spring to early summer 2027 for most of the project to wrap up, though he cautioned that estimate may not cover every remaining piece of work.
“We understand infrastructure projects are necessary and we appreciate the work being done to improve our community,” Russell said. “The purpose tonight is not to oppose the … project. My purpose is to ask that the safety of our community members be given the same level of consideration as the construction itself.”
Goodrich added during his comments, “I understand and support the effort to provide sufficient safe drinking water for our community. I also understand that construction is often messy and inconvenient.”
Philomath Community Services Executive Director Sharon Thornberry said this week that the mayor’s visit produced a list of potential mitigation steps developed with input from herself and David Low, past president on the PCS board. She said she had been told City Manager Chris Workman would take the lead on communication and follow-up.
“I am hopeful, but have seen no changes so far,” Thornberry said.
Thornberry said the $300 in safety spending covered signage, reflective markers and solar lighting to help visitors find their way to the building — costs she expects to continue given that construction will extend through the winter, when visibility after dark becomes a bigger concern. One directional arrow has already gone missing, she said.
With client numbers at record highs, Thornberry said the lost parking falls hardest on vulnerable visitors.
“Many of our recipients are older, disabled, parents of small children and stressed,” she said. “Coming for assistance is already an emotional challenge. Maneuvering in an overcrowded parking lot is one more burden in their already challenging lives.”
Thornberry credited Gerding Builders for loaning PCS a strip of land that currently provides the nonprofit’s only building access, along with staff time and portable fencing to create a temporary driveway. She said PCS is also seeking clarity on what will happen to that arrangement once the project concludes, including where the organization’s dumpsters — currently stored on the loaned land — will go afterward.
McMorran wrapped up his comments by reiterating something he’s said in the past.
“We really appreciate the role that PCS plays in the community and are very grateful to have them here in town and to be neighbors with them, and I appreciate their communication and active desire to make things work throughout the project,” he said. “I want to emphasize that.”
