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The Roseburg News-Review---August 21, 2007
The Cow Creek Economic Development and Revitalization program, created by the Cow Creek tribe to develop cooperative relationships to benefit the local community, has awarded $55,000 to the City of Myrtle Creek and to Umpqua Transit.
By John Sowell
CANYONVILLE — The city of Myrtle Creek and Umpqua Transit were awarded $55,000 Monday in economic development grants from the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians.
Myrtle Creek will use the $30,000 the city was given as a portion of the matching funds it needs to obtain a federal aviation grant to widen the runway at the municipal airport. Umpqua Transit will do the same with its $25,000 grant to help pay for new buses.
"The purpose of the project is to improve the operations and safety of the existing runway," Myrtle Creek City Manager Aaron Cubic said during a short presentation at the Seven Feathers Convention Center.
The existing runway pavement is 30 years old and in need of repaving, Cubic said. Widening the runway from 50 feet to 60 feet will bring it to modern safety standards, he said. The runway length will remain 2,600 feet, but city officials hope to be able to lengthen it sometime in the future with a separate project.
The widening and repaving project will cost about $800,000. The bulk of the money is being provided through an airport improvement program operated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Altogether, the city needs to provide $46,000 in matching funds.
"With the project, the airport will continue to serve Douglas County and beyond," Cubic said.
With its grant money and another $8,000 provided through a state transportation fund, Umpqua Transit will be able to go out for bid on three new buses.
The Douglas County agency hopes to be able to obtain the buses in about six months, the time it takes for bids to be received and the buses built, transportation coordinator Sande Dixon said.
Umpqua Transit plans to obtain two additional buses a little later. The agency needs another $17,000 in matching funds to be able to buy those. Dixon said she hopes to be able to raise the money by selling the old buses to other agencies or through an appropriation from the county.
The bus provider received a $500,000 federal grant to replace its aging buses.
Previously, the tribe provided $40,000 to Umpqua Transit to help with operational costs after the county last year took over the service from the Umpqua Regional Council of Governments, which disbanded in June 2006.
"We’re very grateful and I know the citizens of Douglas County are also grateful and we really appreciate and honor the relationship we have with you," Dixon told tribal Chairwoman Sue Shaffer and other tribal officials.
The grants were provided through the Cow Creek Economic Development and Revitalization program
Previous recipients include the cities of Roseburg and Canyonville, Umpqua Community College and the Ashland Fiber Network.
The purpose of the program is to enhance the tribe’s mission to develop cooperative relationships to benefit the local community, Shaffer said.