Multnomah County's deflection center will cost another $1.8M due to unexpected issues
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The money allocated towards constructing Multnomah County’s temporary deflection center has nearly doubled what officials first anticipated this summer.
On Thursday, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners approved $3.8 million in funding to continue setting up the Coordinated Care Pathway Center. In July, officials discussed allocating just $2 million toward constructing the facility.
According to the county’s Director of Facilities & Property Management Dan Zalkow, officials “did not have high confidence” in the initial budget due to their “limited knowledge” of the building.
He noted that crews were operating on a rushed schedule, as the county aimed to open its deflection center on Sept. 1 — the same day that a bill recriminalizing small amounts of hard drugs went into effect. The goal of the facility is to give drug users the option of receiving treatment rather than going to jail.
Although the opening was later pushed to mid-October, officials had already faced the issue of attempting to design and construct the facility at the same time.
“From the start, nearly everything we touched in the building was worse than we expected — more demolition and asbestos than we thought, electrical HVAC and fire alarm and smoke systems were in worse shape than we anticipated,” Zalkow said, among other unforeseen issues.
In response, Commissioner Sharon Meieran — the only board member who rejected the additional funding – stated she was “frankly shocked” about the cost increase.
She noted that the deflection center’s opening was not a requirement, but rather a “choice” of Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. She also said others voiced confidence in the center when she posed questions about permitting, occupancy, construction and so on.
“Today, Dan, you literally started by saying the fact, one, ‘We said we didn't have confidence in the numbers, and the facility had not even been designed.’” Meieran added. “What the actual F? I mean, I'm sorry, I don't understand how that could be.”
In total, Oregon allocated $25 million toward establishing Multnomah County’s deflection program. The current center in the Buckman neighborhood is a temporary solution. Officials plan to open a permanent facility in the coming years.