CAMAS — The future is bright in Camas, noted Mayor Scott Higgins’ portion of the State of the Community address.
However, the present is, too.
Early in Higgins’ portion of the State of Community, he excitedly detailed how the city replaced 3,200 lights with LED bulbs as of Aug. 1. The new bulbs have a 25-year lifespan compared with the seven-year lifespan of the previous lights. It saves the city money and makes the city look better than other parts of the county, Higgins said.
“How are we getting better?” Higgins said. “We’re getting brighter.”
The fourth annual Camas State of Community took place Tuesday at Camas High School. The joint presentation by the city, the Camas School District and the Port of Camas-Washougal wasn’t solely about streetlights. All three presenters — Higgins, Camas Superintendent Jeff Snell and Port of Camas-Washougal Executive Director David Ripp — discussed how their organizations are growing, as well as how they’re planning for growth.
The population of Camas is around 22,000 currently, and that number is expected to rise to around 34,000 by 2035, Higgins said.
“Growth is a given,” he said. “It’s happening everywhere.”
To deal with the growth, Higgins detailed multiple projects around the city that will add housing, including a mixed-use building in downtown and some buildings near Camas Meadows. He also said a new pizzeria and gastro pub are coming to the city.
Ripp said discussions are going to start soon on plans for Parker’s Landing, which could include mixed-use spaces for a combination of commercial, office space and residential. He also talked about the Steigerwald Commerce Center, which is at 100 percent occupancy.
“We don’t have building space to meet demand,” Ripp said.
Construction is expected to start next year on the property’s 18th building, which will be the largest one the port has built so far, he said.
But with all that growth, it’s going to make some areas of the city crowded, such as the school district.
Growth is sometimes viewed as a negative, Snell said. However, the trick for growth is to plan for it in advance while adapting to current times. Snell traced back the district’s growth to a 1994 bond, which paid for Skyridge Middle School. Bonds in 1999 and 2007 brought in seven schools and an expansion to Doc Harris Stadium. Voters passed a $120 million bond in February, which will be used for a new standalone high school, a larger Lacamas Heights Elementary School north of Lacamas Lake, improving safety at schools and Garfield Building renovations. That bond will run through 2021. What comes next, Snell said, is still to be determined.
“We want a school system that continually evolves to meet each student’s need,” he said.
The district already changed its plan for the bond passed in February, which originally called for the new high school to be built on the current high school’s campus. After the bond passed, the district bought the Sharp Laboratories building and surrounding 30 acres. The building is home to a project-based learning middle school that opened this school year, and the new high school, which will also use a project-based learning curriculum, will be built on that property.
“We already delivered one more school than we said we would,” Snell said.
