The Board of County Commissioners advanced the recovery process for Holiday Farm Fire survivors on March 2 when it voted to accept a $4.1 million grant from Oregon Housing and Community Services for Holiday Farm Fire recovery.
The money can be used for affordable housing development, home purchases, infrastructure, and recovery staffing.
“This is an important step forward for the disaster recovery effort,” said Commissioner Heather Buch.
The grant funding will be used to support several projects in the McKenzie River Valley, including using $800,000 toward the development of multiple low- to moderate-income single-family homes in Blue River. Lane County’s contribution will be used by McKenzie Community Land Trust and DevNW to secure additional state money for this project.
McKenzie Community Land Trust was established in 2022 to support the development of affordable homeownership opportunities in the McKenzie River Valley. DevNW is a Springfield-based nonprofit that develops and manages rental homes throughout Lane, Benton, and Linn counties.
Other projects include:
• Blue River Drive Design and Engineering: A ¼-mile stretch of Blue River Drive, known as “downtown Blue River,” needs design work to meet community transportation needs and to accommodate water, electric, and other underground utilities.
• Blue River Retracement Survey; Non-Blue River Property Surveys; McKenzie Valley Long Term Recovery Group; Wildfire Recovery and Resilience Account (WRRA) Program; Install communications conduit to accommodate high speed communications while utility work is occurring in the right-of-way; Fund repairs to local parks and boat ramps damaged in the Holiday Farm Fire.
More information about Holiday Farm Fire recovery is available at McKenzieRebuilds.org.
