S ERVING THE S ILVERTON A REA S INCE 1880
50 C ENTS
●
A U NIQUE E DITION OF THE S TATESMAN J OURNAL
V OL . 136, N O . 45
W EDNESDAY , O CTOBER 25, 2017
SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
SOLAR FARMS
COMING TO AREA
$1B development spree to benefit Marion, Polk counties
Silverton
voters to
decide on 2
measures
Residents to see gas-tax,
pool levy on ballot this fall
JUSTIN MUCH
STAYTON MAIL
The Cypress Creek Renewables solar energy farm is seen under construction near Silverton on Oct. 17. Five new solar farms are
planned to be built in Marion and Polk counties. ANNA REED/STATESMAN JOURNAL
JONATHAN BACH
STATESMAN JOURNAL
A national solar energy
company is betting nearly
$1 billion on an Oregon de-
velopment spree, includ-
ing five new solar farms
in Marion and Polk coun-
ties.
Cypress Creek Renew-
ables, a developer that
sells electricity to utility
companies and already
operates seven solar sites
in Oregon, is building
farms near Salem, Silver-
ton, Gervais, Turner and
Grand Ronde.
Cypress Creek, which
operates in 15 states, has
its largest group of farms
in North Carolina, where
more than 100 are either
operating
or
under
construction, company
officials say.
The Marion and Polk
county farms will cover
about 12 acres each, pro-
ducing enough energy to
power some 450 homes.
They should be churning
out electricity by year’s
end or shortly afterward,
company officials said.
The farms will sell energy
to Portland General Elec-
tric, which will send it to
its utility ratepayers.
The Willamette Val-
ley's population density is
such "that solar's needed
in this area as part of the
renewable energy mix,"
said
Cypress
Creek
spokeswoman Amy Berg
Pickett. "So it's good to site
solar where the energy is
going to be used."
Company officials say
they try their best to hire
local workers to build the
farms and believe the pro-
jects will create "hun-
dreds of good-paying
jobs" in Marion and Polk
SPECIAL TO THE APPEAL TRIBUNE
SILVERTON – What
will happen to the 78-year-
old section of the aban-
doned building connect-
ing the two halves of Sil-
verton Middle School?
Nothing for now.
The old Silverton High
School, built in 1939, was
See VOTERS, Page 2A
If approved, the five-year operating levy for the
Silverton Pool calls for a $275,000 annual tax,
$1,375,000 total, to pay for operations and
maintenance.
“We will not be blanketing the state with solar. No solar
Silverton
mulls smoking
ban, nudity,
Eugene Fields
company will, because there's no avenue for that.”
JUSTIN MUCH
Aerial photo of a solar installation near Silverton. JEFF DAYTON/CYPRESS CREEK RENEWABLES
BERG PICKETT,
STAYTON MAIL
REGARDING THE FUTURE OF SOLAR FARMS WITHIN THE STATE
counties.
In 2016, slightly more
than 4,500 people worked
in solar energy jobs in
Oregon, up 50 percent
from 2,999 in 2015, ac-
cording to the Solar
Foundation, a Washing-
ton, D.C., nonprofit.
Cypress Creek started
working in Oregon in
2014. Six farms are gener-
ating electricity in Mal-
heur County and one in
Deschutes County. At
some of those sites, the
company took advantage
of a taxpayer-fueled ef-
fort by state officials to in-
crease renewable energy
supplies.
During the 2016 ses-
sion, Oregon lawmakers
approved the formation
of a Solar Development
Incentive program to
stimulate solar energy
construction. It works by
paying companies half a
cent each month for every
kilowatt-hour of electric-
ity they produce. Pay-
ments expire after five
years.
Under the program,
Business Oregon, the
state's economic develop-
ment agency, plans to pay
Cypress Creek $2,035,225
for four of the solar pro-
jects in Deschutes and
Malheur counties. About
$246,000 has already been
paid.
Otherwise, the agency
isn't giving the company
any loans or incentives,
spokesman Nathan Bueh-
ler said in an email.
Cypress Creek is also
taking advantage of fed-
eral solar investment tax
credits, which allow the
company to deduct 30 per-
cent from the amount it's
invested in a solar pro-
ject, according to the So-
lar Energy Industries
Association.
In September, while
writing to two U.S.
congressmen chairing a
subcommittee on energy
and power, Cypress Creek
Chief Executive Matt Mc-
Govern said, "In Oregon
we have 17 projects either
See SOLAR, Page 2A
Old Silverton H.S. stands for now
CHRISTENA BROOKS
Typical of off-year
elections, this fall’s Mar-
ion County Voter Pam-
phlet is a thin publica-
tion.
But a glimpse inside
shows that Silverton’s
per-capita piece of the
ballot is significant with
two measures placed be-
fore voters.
Silverton voters will
decide on a gas-tax and a
pool levy. In a recent Ap-
peal Tribune “Your
Turn” opinion piece, Sil-
verton Mayor Kyle
Palmer said both mea-
sures are important
ones for the community,
and he urged voters to
consider them.
If approved, the five-
year operating levy for
the Silverton Pool calls
for a $275,000 annual
tax, $1,375,000 total, to
pay for operations and
maintenance. It would
replace 2013 levy that is
scheduled to expire
June 30, 2018.
The estimated tax to
property owners is
$0.3659 per $1,000 as-
sessed value; the tax bill
for a home with an as-
sessed value of $200,000
is estimated at $73.18
per year. The tax reve-
nue would mirror that of
the expiring 2013 mea-
sure, which also levied
$1,375,000 over five
years.
The
backgrounds
shows that operations
and maintenance costs
for the pool, built in
1939, are not covered by
current municipal tax-
es. In 2003 Silverton vot-
ers passed a 10-year $1.2
million bond for pool im-
provements. The expir-
ing maintenance and op-
erations bond followed,
passed in 2012 and im-
plemented in 2013.
deemed seismically un-
safe many years ago and
now serves as storage
space, sandwiched be-
tween the two newer
wings occupied by the
middle school.
Steel beams support
the old brick building;
they were installed dur-
ing the $2.6 million reno-
vation that created the
Online at SilvertonAppeal.com
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middle school campus in
2016. These and firewalls
were added to protect
staff and students next-
door, not to preserve the
building itself in an earth-
quake.
Four years ago, tear-
down costs were estimat-
ed at $800,000, Supt. Andy
Bellando said.
Rising
construction
costs and the fact that
much of the middle
school’s infrastructure –
such as its computer net-
work and intercom sys-
tems – runs through the
old section convinced Lo-
rin Stanley, maintenance
and facilities director, to
recommend letting the
See SCHOOL, Page 2A
INSIDE
Contact Information..........2A
Life in the Valley.................4A
Public Notices ......................2A
Sports......................................1B
©2017
Printed on recycled paper
Several ongoing is-
sues of note will be on
the agenda at Silverton
City Council’s next
meeting, 7 p.m. Monday,
Nov. 6, in the council
chambers of the Silver-
ton Community Center,
421 S. Water St.
Among the anticipat-
ed agenda items are the
closing date for the sale
of the Eugene Field
School purchase, a code
addressing public urina-
tion, defecation and nu-
dity, and a ban on smok-
ing in the downtown
core and city parks.
The foundation for
the staff work on those
agenda items was large-
ly established during
the council’s Oct. 16
workshop meeting. Oth-
er workshop topics in-
cluded speeding radar,
expansion of a utility as-
sistance program updat-
ing the city’s long-range
financial plan.
The council heard
from Public Works Di-
rector Christian Saxe
about issues with the Eu-
gene Field site and re-
moval of hazardous ma-
terials; asbestos and
lead paint “in and on the
structure” in addition to
an underground heat-
ing-oil tank, which must
be removed with the sur-
rounding soils.
Saxe
noted
that
abatement contractors’
initial estimates for the
asbestos removal are in
the $150,000 range and
the storage tank in the
neighborhood
of
$30,000.
“Due to the excessive
quantity and locality of
lead paint…in the haz-
See ISSUES, Page 2A