The plaza street section of Water Avenue had trees planted when this photo was taken on Nov. 15, 2025. If they seem to be in the traffic lanes, well, the plaza street is not designed for traffic.
The Albany Waterfront Project is complete, the end of CARA is near, and electric ratepayers in the city won’t have to bear the full cost of placing overhead power lines on Water Avenue under ground.
That about summarizes a city council decision Wednesday night.
The council met as the Albany Revitalization Agency (ARA), which governs the urban renewal district known as the Central Albany Revitalization Area or CARA.
The council established CARA in 2001. The district had $56 million in spending authority, meaning it could borrow that much. Borrowed funds were paid off with property taxes on the annual increase in assessed value within the district.
The finance angle is complicated and confusing. If you want the details, listen to a consultant from Tiberius Solutions explain them to the council here.
The upshot is that CARA has a little more than $1 million left to spend before winding down. And the council voted to split the amount. Half goes toward the cost of undergrounding the power lines on the blocks of Water Avenue that were turned into a plaza street, and half to a new small-business grant program.
“In dollars, that would direct $545,054 to Pacific Power and $545,054 towards a CARA grant program,” Sophie Adams told me today. She administers the CARA program as the city’s economic development manager.
The newest council member, Chris Van Drimmelen, made the motion to split the remaining spending authority 50/50 between Pacific Power and a grant program. City Manager Peter Troedsson cautioned the council against a grant program because of the preparation and staff time that would take, but Van Drimmelen’s motion was adopted 6-0.
The action means that CARA will officially go out of business at the end of this biennium in June 2027.
Pacific Power says the Water Avenue undergrounding cost about $1.8 million. The company plans to bill city customers for that amount, with interest, in monthly installments over two years.
Based on an original estimate of $2.4 million for the total cost, the utility had estimated monthly surcharges of $4 per customer within the city. With the company’s actual cost reduced by half a million from CARA, the monthly surcharge will likely be a bit more than $2. (I’ll wait for Pacific Power to announce the exact amount.)
The Waterfront Project was CARA’s culminating effort. I had calculated the cost to be roughly $23 million based on contracts approved by the city. Today I got a breakdown of actual costs from Finance Director Jeanna Yeager, who said some bills came in at less than budgeted. The final total: $22,353,773. And 30 cents.
The project rebuilt Monteith Riverpark and two Willamette River overlooks, created the plaza street on Water Avenue from Washington Street to the Lyon Street Bridge, and built new crossings on the Water Avenue rail line.
Adams told the council Wednesday that with the construction and landscaping complete, Water Avenue should be reopened by the end of this week. (hh)
Do you know if this is a flat fee, or based on electrical usage?
It’s a flat fee, as I understand it, the same for every customer.
Electric rate payers won’t have to foot the bill but property owners, that also pay for electricity, will have to foot the bill. Got it! The cost of living continues to increase in Albany, and we need to pay more taxes. $200 million annual budget in a county with a $3.6 Billion GDP, that is 5% of all the money generated in the county goes to the city of Albany.
Good summary, Mr. Hering. However, the grant program will not be ‘new’ as it has been utilized on and off since the inception of CARA. As was reported last evening, all current borrowers are up to date on their loans and the city is managing the details. In my mind the grants/loan program is a bit like the Habitat for Humanity model, with dollars returning to the fund each year; those returns may be available for new projects. The real change will be the process used to award the loans as the ARA Board has made those decisions since 2001 and it will sunset in early summer 2027. That is time enough for the city staff and council to develop the mechanisms needed to be successful in supporting small businesses within the CARA boundaries.
Just curious, we did not ask for a loan from Pacific Power, why are we, the ratepayers, having to pay interest on this? Can anyone explain that?
We didn’t ask for CARA either which skimmed property tax money for 25 years away from our schools (which are failing), our police and fire departments (which hit us up for bond measures to keep afloat). And we shouldn’t have to pay for the “pink” brick road’s underground electrical infrastructure, let alone interest!!! We have already paid for almost 25 years of the Council’s follies!!
Sorry to burst your bubble… By our system of government we absolutely did “ask” for CARA. You and others simply disdain results of elections. Not uncommon, but there it is…
Yes, we elected you Council people. You are right about that. But, there was no vote of the people on whether to form CARA and spend 23 million on Water Street and ruining the old, classic look of Monteith Park!! From now on, there has to be a vote of the people to form a new urban renewal district (such as CARA) which are financed by tax increment financing, which is skimming off the top of property tax money that should go to schools, fire and police depts. (Oh, and tax increment financing has now been outlawed in several states, but not in Oregon.)
I get that you and some others don’t like the results of some council decisions. I also was on the “short end” of votes. If we were always in 100% agreement, we wouldn’t be needed IMO . So, gird your loins, and change the people who make the decisions on your behalf…
I would have preferred the total amount to go towards paying down the Water Ave underground financial fiasco; I am appreciative that at least 1/2 of the remaining funds were directed there.
LOL! They make it sound like they are doing us taxpayers a big favor. We never voted for CARA and the Water Front project to begin with. Placing the power lines underground was purely cosmetic and should have been part of the original project budget. The City used $22,353,773.30 of taxpayer money to create an area along the river with a train track running through the full length that makes it useless. Aside from the River Rhythms concert and soon to be Saturday Market which are both seasonal there is no use for this area. The remaining $1 million dollars should have went to the power cost. It now sounds like with the remaining $500.000 the city is now in banking business, issuing grants to small businesses. The City Council need a reality check. The taxpayers don’t work for them, they work for the taxpayers!
Thank you, thank you, Tim!
I am happy to hear that they put some money towards the cost of burying the power lines and unlike most people in these comments, I am pretty grateful for the nice new waterfront! I have no problem paying such a minimal amount to have a beautiful downtown and waterfront that will host festivals and other events that will bring more money into the city and downtown!
Hey, I finally get what Mr. Ray was telling us all along. If we are stupid enough to vote for them, we are to blame and get what we deserve lol. Please remember that next time you vote. Voting for someone that does not focus on community goals makes them sore winners and angry that people are upset at them. If they represented themselves honestly they would never be voted in so they get what they deserve too.
If politicians always told us the truth
And nothing but the truth
No one would ever vote for them
The money would have been more wisely spent fixing all the potholes in the city streets.