The first objective of the Tri-Cities is to build 300 houses in Rural Oregon — 100 in each city.

The city of Burns (Harney County), city of John Day (Grant County), and town of Lakeview (Lake County) announced that they entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) governmental agreement to be formalized though Oregon Revised Statue 190 to create a Tri-Cities Coalition in Eastern Oregon.

The first objective of the Tri-Cities is to build 300 houses in Rural Oregon — 100 houses in each city — over the next 5 years. With a $60,000 Planning Assistance grant award for 2021-2023 from the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD), the Tri-Cities will bring, to the best of their knowledge, the first 3D printed homes to Oregon. The grant award will develop four unique floor plans for single-family, cottage cluster, and multi-family housing units to be approved using 3D printing technology and other innovative construction methods. The Ridge, a master planned development approved by John Day’s planning commission, will be the first city to received 10-12 dwelling units as housing for disabled Veterans and other socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.

It is anticipated that the 3D printer will be used in John Day in 2022 to print the first single-story foundations and both the exterior and interior walls. This advanced technology will print each dwelling unit in 48 hours or fewer, completing the entire project in about three weeks. The Tri-Cities and ECONorthwest will model the economics of the development, then the 3D printer will travel south from John Day to Burns and then to Lakeview. The lessons learned from John Day will be applied to each of the other two cities, which will allow modifications to the approach, with the goal of creating up to 36 new homes in Eastern Oregon in a single season. This eventual refined model will then be used to scale housing in these areas in 2023 and beyond.

Beyond housing, the Tri-Cities will develop and achieve greater economies of scale and increased economic gains by pooling public assets across multiple jurisdictions, facilitating public-private partnerships and managing complex community development and capital improvement projects through a single government agency. This innovative and adaptive approach has already engaged a network of diverse stakeholders to advance progress toward the Tri-Cities’ vision.

The Tri-Cities want to protect and increase the value of their collective and independent investments. Unlike commercial entities that have access to legal and financial structures — such as joint ventures, mergers, and acquisitions — municipalities must find additional creative ways to capture external innovation.

How will the Tri-Cities harness the proposed Tri-City municipal portfolio management approach? They will re-imagine (1) investment structures and partnership models to engage new and more diverse types of partners, moving beyond the traditional mindset; and (2) dedicated functions within government that have the capabilities to connect new ideas.

Tri-Cities will use three “investment strategies” and outline core capabilities as part of a new government growth model:

• Greater investment in innovation: investing and bringing technology to the Eastern Oregon Frontier much sooner than expected by way of broadband.

• Greater distribution of innovation: by managing the Tri-Cities as an investment portfolio they will create a greater number of players and products to add to the global supply chain of new ideas as the market continues to proliferate.

• Greater public-private partnerships (3Ps): engaging others who have assets or capabilities that could accelerate or help.

Developing a new strategy of growth will attract mutual advantage. Opportunities will be addressing complex environments with the interplay of finding relief from existing and over burdening regulations. Tailoring strategies for growth will make each of our communities more sought after and allow a stronger foothold in a global marketplace.

For additional information, contact:

City of Burns
https://www.cityofburnsor.gov/
City Manager Daniel Brown: 541-573-5255

City of John Day
https://www.cityofjohnday.com/
City Manager Nicholas Green: 541-575-0028

Town of Lakeview
https://townoflakeview.org/
Town Manager Michele Parry: 541-947-2020