As we head into the holiday season, I’d like to recognize what a challenging and unique year this has been for the city and staff. The Sandy community and the city organization have done such an amazing job of coming together to support each other and forge ahead despite these challenges that have tested us all.

COVID-19

Since March we have been living and working through the first truly global pandemic in 100 years. In addition to directly affecting millions of Americans and thousands of Oregonians, the novel coronavirus has impacted the way we work, shop, eat, gather and socialize. And unfortunately the number of new cases and hospitalizations in our state and country have risen to new highs. As of November 18, the Governor has issued a statewide “freeze”, again closing our beloved restaurants, bars, and gyms, in order to help slow the spread of the deadly virus.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the city has followed the guidance and requirements of our public health authorities to keep staff and the public safe. This means many staff members are working from home, adjusting to new policies and practices such as wearing masks and keeping our distance from each other, and taking extra precautions to ensure we help slow the spread of the virus.

Our police officers and staff, Public Works and SandyNet employees, bus drivers, and essential staff have been coming into the office and working on the front lines keeping people safe, mobile, and connected. That means they’ve been working with new precautions and protocols and equipment while delivering services.

Even though most of our facilities remain closed to the public, the city has remained open for business and we continue to deliver services in many other ways.

Regarding the future, our plan has been to reopen several of our facilities to the public when Clackamas County is approved to move into Phase 2 of the governor’s reopening plans.

If a global pandemic wasn’t enough, this year has also brought us windstorms, wildfires, local demonstrations, and a presidential election season.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Following the murder of George Floyd in May, worldwide protests and racial justice movements brought into focus the systemic racism that exist in our society and the call to act. In June, the City Council convened a community listening session with the leaders of the Sandy Stand Up Movement and they adopted a resolution condemning racism and a commitment to equity.

As outlined in their resolution, the city and council are committed to protecting the civil and human rights of all Sandy community members and investing in training for our staff members and Council. 

This fall city staff will begin the first of these trainings which will be online and virtual based programs. At the same time, our administration team is looking at what other cities have been successful with in terms of internal programs and external efforts to be more culturally conscious and inclusive in how we engage and involve our public.

With the local demonstrations, it was also clear that our Police Department is strongly supported by our community and City Council which reflects the community focused policing the men and women of our police department exemplify every day. Thank you to our brave officers and police staff who have been working in difficult circumstances and overcoming obstacles this year. I know this has not been easy, but your service and commitment to excellence and continuous improvement is appreciated here in Sandy.

Wildfires and Smoke

Then at the end of summer mother nature had another trick in store for us as the heat and wind brought storm damage and unprecedented wildfires to western Oregon.

It started with heat, wind, and warnings. Our public works and SandyNet crews cleaned up debris, they were keeping our treatment plants operational after the power and outages, and repairing our internet connections brought down by the storm. 
Then the Riverside Fire burned and spread and our neighbors south of us were evacuated. Several city employees were evacuated from their homes as well.

Under a level 2 evacuation notice in Sandy, our Police officers worked around the clock to help with the evacuations and preparations and communicate critical information to the public. We sent employees home to prepare for evacuating while many others stayed to help prepare the city to ensure we had a continuity of operations and that our citizens were safe and taken care of.

Responding to these emergencies is one of the core services that we, as government, do for our public and it cannot be done without the dedication of our public safety and essential employees.

As the fire settled down and the smoke blew in, our facilities, already mostly emptied by COVID-19 protocols, had to stay vacated due to the smoke intrusion. Again, many of our employees put on n-95 masks to continue cleaning up the storm and to keep our critical services functioning while we waited for the smoke to clear. 

Major Projects and Updates

Despite all these historic challenges, we have accomplished some important work and made progress on a number of large projects.

• Community Campus — On the community campus, it was a year and a half ago that the City council made the difficult decision to close the pool due to the city not having the funding or financial resources to operate it. 
  Since then we’ve been working with the City Council to develop options and a plan for the future of the campus, including exploring a new special district and getting public input on the park priorities at the campus so that we can move forward with improvements. We will have an upcoming work session with the council to discuss the park improvements and options for the remaining buildings at the property.
  
• Wastewater — The largest utility project in the city’s history is in the planning and design phase with construction on the pipes and our current treatment plant starting this next year. We have consultants under contract for the collection system and existing wastewater treatment plant improvements, and we are studying the feasibility of constructing wetlands at the former site of Roslyn Lake. The projected cost of this multi-phased project is $65 million. We have applied for a low interest, favorable term, WIFIA loan from the federal government.
• 362nd and Bell Street Extension. We are also working on another vital project, the extension of 362nd Ave to connect it to Bell street. That project is also under design with the intent to start construction next year.
• Master Plans. Progress continues on a lot of important planning work. These plans are critical for us to properly understand the needs of our utilities as the city grows and matures, so we can appropriately plan and budget for the future. Those plans include the Transportation System Plan, HWY 26 Bypass Study, the Transit Master Plan, the Parks & Trails Master Plan, and the Water Master Plan.
• Communications. With these major projects and issues going on, another area we are focusing on is improving our communications with the public. The electronic newsletter so far has been a big success and a new city website is currently in the works that is looking very nice. 
• Communications. With these major projects and issues going on, another area we are focusing on is improving communications with the public. The electronic newsletter so far has been a big success and a new city website is currently in the works that is looking very nice. 

Be sure to check out our webpage with information about our major projects that are currently going on. These are just the highlights of the items that make the news or Council Goals, but the real heart of the city are the core functions that our community depends on. And Sandy does a lot of those.  Public works, police, planning and building permits, public transportation, court, library, fiber internet, parks, senior services and meals on wheels, just to name a few. During times of crisis, those services are more important than ever. Thanks to all our staff for everything they are doing to serve the community despite the difficult circumstances. 

City Council Elections

Finally, the 2021 will bring new faces to the City Council and to several of our Boards and Commissions. We are excited to welcome Richard Sheldon, Kathleen Walker, and Don Hokanson to the City Council and we look forward to their swearing in ceremony on January 4. Many special thanks to outgoing Councilors John Hamblin, Jan Lee, and Bethany Shultz for their dedicated service and many hours of volunteer work on Council during this busy stretch for the city.