Lane County Approves $3.5M EWEB Septic Grant, Tax Property Sales

The Lane County Board of Commissioners moved through several consequential consent-calendar items at its March 17 regular meeting at the Public Service Building on East 8th Avenue in Eugene, approving up to $3.5 million in amended grant authority for an EWEB Holiday Farm septic project alongside orders governing the sale of tax-foreclosed county property.

The EWEB Holiday Farm septic grant amendment, the largest-dollar item on the agenda, authorized up to $3.5 million. Details on the specific order number, funding source, number of properties served, and project timeline were not immediately available from the meeting materials reviewed, and Lane County has not released the full staff report. The county's agenda identified the action as an authorization to amend an existing grant rather than a new appropriation.

On the tax-foreclosed property front, Property Management Officer Kellie Hancock shepherded two orders through the consent calendar. Order 24-02-06-02 finalized the sale of a county-owned tax-foreclosed parcel at 77583 Brock Rd. in Oakridge for $21,747 to Karen Hale, identified in county records as the former owner of record for that parcel, map number 21-35-03-00-01201. The sale followed an earlier authorization under Board Order 21-11-09-03. A companion order, 24-02-06-01, authorized a Sheriff's Sale of surplus county-owned real property and delegated authority to the Property Management Officer to pull any individual parcel from the sale if removal was determined to be in the county's best interest.

The board also approved Order 24-02-06-03, which green-lit the 2023-25 Lane County Justice Reinvestment Program competitive grant award and budget. That order delegates authority to the County Administrator to execute any additional grant documents, intergovernmental agreements, and contracts tied to the program. Assistant County Administrator Greg Rikhoff and Denise Walters, who serves as PSCC staff and LCOG Principal, were listed as the staff contacts on the item. The full award amount and budget breakdown were not included in the agenda fragment reviewed.

Rounding out the County Administration portion of the consent calendar, Program Manager Alexandria Dreher was listed on a letter of support for Lane County's Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, or RAISE, FY2024 grant application covering the 30th Avenue Corridor Active Transportation Plan. The agenda did not include the dollar amount sought under that federal application.

The consent calendar, estimated at two minutes, was structured so that any commissioner requesting discussion on an individual item could pull it for separate consideration. The March 17 meeting was held at 125 East 8th Avenue, Eugene, with a live webcast available to the public without registration.