The renovation of Sunrise Park, first considered in 2013, is finally scheduled to take place this year now that the city of Albany has obtained the required permits and spent $38,000 in federal antipoverty grant money to make up for the loss of a patch of so-called “wetlands.”
Here’s an example of how Oregon’s effort to protect so-called wetlands goes too far and requires the spending of public money without accomplishing any actual wetland protection. I came across it on a bike ride on Riverside Drive just outside of Albany.
Wetlands again? Yes, once again the designation of normally dry ground as wetlands is likely to cost the city of Albany some money.
You’re looking at the playground in Albany’s Sunrise Park. But it’s more than that. It’s also an exhibit in the story of how bureaucracy expands when it’s allowed to distort a well-intended law.
Albany taxpayers are about to pay the city of Eugene $164,307 for the restoration of wetlands there. Why? Because of state and federal rules that make no practical sense at all.
Now that it’s raining again is a good time to think about — what else? — wetlands, and how Oregon’s approach to their preservation is interfering with our efforts to save farmland and forests.
Sunrise upgrade: Pretty soon now
If you’re wondering what happened to the long-gestating plans to renovate Albany’s Sunrise Park, wonder no more. The city parks department hopes to call for bids on the project by the first week of February.
Tags: Albany block grant program, Albany parks, Sunrise Park, wetlands