City of Monroe to receive $1.3 million for water infrastructure upgrades
MONROE, Ore. — On June 20, Monroe Mayor Dan Sheets and the City of Monroe received word from Rep. David Gomberg that a $1.3 million appropriation had been included in a late-session House bill to help upgrade Monroe's water infrastructure including a clarifier to pre-filter the City's water supply and replacement of the aging computer automation system which dates back to 2001, the City stated Friday in a media release.
Rep. David Gomberg (D-Otis), who added Monroe to his district representation this calendar year, worked with Mayor Sheets and City Administrator Steve Martinenko to include Monroe's water infrastructure upgrade project into House Bill 5506. Gomberg attended a legislative town hall at the Monroe Community Library on February 4, 2023. After the town hall, Mayor Sheets and City Administrator Martinenko worked closely with Rep. Gomberg to identify the City of Monroe's water infrastructure needs.
"At about the same time, I was asked to coordinate this rural economic development group — this was both Democrats and Republicans working together on priorities for rural Oregon — and we actually put together a package of nine different bills dealing with everything from meat inspection to seafood to outdoor recreation. One of the parts of that package was a series of infrastructure improvements in communities in different parts of the state,” Gomberg said.
It's that part of the appropriation package in which Gomberg pushed for the Monroe project, the City said.
The bill advanced from the Capital Construction Subcommittee to the Ways and Means Committee, and Mayor Sheets went to the State Capitol, in Salem, to testify in front of the committee on May 5.
Mayor Sheets provide the following testimony to the Ways and Means Committee:
For the record, my name is Dan Sheets and I’m the Mayor of the City of Monroe. We’ve been working with Rep. Gomberg to secure $1.3 million dollars in lottery bond funding to help resolve issues with our water treatment facility.
Monroe has a population of 723, yet we have full municipal water facilities including water treatment and waste lagoons. These are expensive to operate for a small community but are necessary for the health and safety of our community.
The Long Tom River, where our city draws its water from, has high concentrations of organics that the current water filters cannot remove.
The City of Monroe is seeking funds to fulfill OHA recommendations for our water infrastructure, including a clarifier to pre-filter our water supply and replace aging control computers.
However, with the City still paying on the original bond for the initial construction of the water plant, a new bond would simply be an unfeasible fiscal burden for our residents to bear.
We need clean water in Monroe, and we urge this committee’s support of our community. Thank you for taking the time to hear our request, and thank you for your consideration.
Rep. Gomberg anticipated the bill would pass both the House and Senate. On August 15, the bill was automatically signed into law by Governor Kotek.
The City stated the $1.3 million influx won't cover the entire cost of upgrades to the City of Monroe's water infrastructure, but it's a great start.
"It's the first time in the City of Monroe's history, we've successfully teamed up with our state representative to seek and secure significant funding to make critical upgrades to the City's water plant to satisfy OHA recommendations," Mayor Sheets said.
"We anticipate the City of Monroe will receive the $1.3 million funds this Fall. In the meantime, we’ve started the process of requesting bids on the clarifier and updated computer automation components for the water plant. Installation of both the clarifier and computer automation could begin as soon as this Fall or early Winter," said City Administrator Martinenko.
The City is also working with Senator Merkley's office on a $2.3 million federal appropriation that will provide additional funding for remaining upgrades to the water plant, so the City can continue to grow and supply clean drinking water to Monroe’s residents.
We look forward to celebrating this incredible accomplishment in September. "Rep. Gomberg plans to attend our First Responders Appreciation Event at the Monroe City Park on Saturday, September 9, 2023 starting at 12 Noon. This is a free event and everyone is welcome to attend and thank our elected officials for their hard work to secure this funding for Monroe," said Mayor Sheets.
For questions, call City Hall at (541) 847-5175.
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