The City Council approved the purchase a large luxury home across the street from where the Portland Water Bureau is planning to build a federally-required filtration plant for $800,000 on Wednesday, Oct. 30.
The vote was 4-0, with Mayor Ted Wheeler absent.
According to the ordinance approved by the council, the house sits on 1.87 acres of property where large pipelines from the Bull Run Reservoir to the plant could run. The owners listed the house in rural East Multnomah County for sale earlier this year for $799,000.
The house is located at 35319 S.E. Carpenter Lane and has frontage on Southeast Dodge Park Boulevard, where plan alternatives suggest pipelines may connect.
Some neighbors oppose the plant. They have formed a groups called Citizens for Peaceful Rural Living. Thirteen of the opponents testified against the purchase during the first hearing on it last Wednesday. Many called the house a "mansion" and questioned whether the property will actually be needed.
The Oregon Health Authority is requiring the bureau to treat Bull Run water to remove or kill Cryptosporidium, a potential disease-causing organism. The council agreed to build a plant that will filter the water through a granular media that will also remove other contaminants. The cost was originally estimated at $500 million, but was recently increased to $850 million or more.
