WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2019 ❚ SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
Silverton considers plan for parks district
Christena Brooks
Special to Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
At least seven important people think a parks and
recreation district in the Silverton area is a good idea.
Those seven people are Silverton’s City Council,
and they all voted last month to support the formation
of a new taxing district to include the city, parts of the
Silverton Fire District, and all of Drakes Crossing Fire
District. The cities of Scotts Mills and Mt. Angel are not
included.
“An aquatics, parks and recreation special district
with broad boundaries would capture most users, al-
low citizens fair representation on the district board,
and source property tax revenue across the full com-
munity of potential users,” councilors resolved at their
Nov. 4 meeting.
New property taxes collected in the district could
operate the pool, maintain parks, develop new hiking
and biking trails, and maybe even build sports fields,
said Mayor Kyle Palmer.
“For me, the pool is 50 percent of the issue sur-
rounding a parks and rec district,” he said. “The city
also doesn’t own any organized sports realty. Kids use
school district property for all sports, and that’s not
really a plan for the future.”
This is as far as the political process lets city coun-
cilors take the idea. Now supporters must gather about
1,700 signatures from property owners in the proposed
park and rec district and submit those to Marion
County, if the issue is to go to local voters next Novem-
ber.
State law allows communities to vote to form any of
28 different kinds of “special service districts” dedi-
cated to taxing and funding targeted services such as
fire, library, hospital, irrigation, air quality and other
programs.
Special districts, cites and the county can only tax
residents up to a combined total of $10-per-$1,000 of
assessed property value. Silverton residents are at $9
now, while rural homeowners pay less, Palmer said.
Adding this tax of 85 cents per $1,000 of assessed
property value would generate more than $1 million
per year, according to a study completed last summer
by a team from Portland State University. The tax in-
crease for the owner of a home assessed at $300,000
would be about $250 per year.
For city residents, there would be some savings too,
though. The pool levy would be retired, and the
monthly parks fees paid on utility bills could also go
away, Palmer said.
The team from Portland State spent a year survey-
ing community members, gathering information,
comparing a variety of district sizes, and calculating
rough budgets. The city paid $25,000 to contract with
the team, which worked hand-in-hand with a local 12-
person task force.
Together they decided the Silverton area’s most im-
mediate needs include finding stable funding for the
pool, developing more locations for youth sports, and
helping the Senior Center offer its slate of services and
programs. A 370-page report given to councilors in Au-
gust spells out the group’s recommendations.
On the pool: “Renewing the pool levy every five
years is not seen as a sustainable method of funding
for the community pool.”
See PARKS, Page 3A
Salem Health
reaches Oregon
Health Plan deal
Jonathan Bach
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Victor Point area farmers and residents are fighting against a proposed dam along Drift Creek that would
flood nearly 400 acres of this valley near Victor Point and Fox roads. SHELDON TRAVER/SPECIAL TO THE APPEAL
TRIBUNE
Farmers stop proposed
dam on Drift Creek
Bill Poehler
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Joel Rue welcomed a group of fellow farmers and
friends into his home in Victor Point, located in a can-
yon between Silverton and Silver Falls State Park, in
2005.
Over the next few hours, the farmers from around
Mt. Angel explained how for decades they sought
ways to ensure sufficient water for their crops as their
farms were under constant threat of curtailment in
times of low water, such as droughts.
They laid out their plan to build a 70-foot dam and
384-acre reservoir on Drift Creek – the only main trib-
utary of the Pudding River without one. There was
one big hitch: they needed some of his farmland and
his neighbors'.
See DRIFT CREEK, Page 2A
A sign still hangs across from Victor Point School
after the East Valley Water District's proposal was
denied by a state commission.
BILL POEHLER/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Ornaments hidden in the
Willamette National Forest
Abby Luschei
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Add an ornament to your tree by exploring the Wil-
lamette National Forest.
Some 200 hand-blown glass ornaments were hid-
den in the Willamette National Forest to kick off the
Willamette Valley Visitors Association's second an-
nual ornament hunt. It officially began on Nov. 29 and
will last until Wednesday, Jan. 1.
Salem Health Hospitals & Clinics have reached a
deal with PacificSource Community Solutions to co-
ordinate benefits for patients on the Oregon Health
Plan.
Salem Health, which operates Salem Hospital and
several clinics across the Mid-Willamette Valley, con-
firmed the deal Thursday morning. Details were not
immediately available.
PacificSource is a not-for-profit in-
surer with offices in Oregon, Idaho,
Washington and Montana. The group
has operated coordinated care sys-
tems in the Columbia Gorge and Cen-
tral Oregon since 2012, serving ap-
proximately 60,000 members, accord-
Wolfe
ing to company numbers.
PacificSource became the region's
coordinated care organization after the locally oper-
ated Willamette Valley Community Health coordi-
nated care organization opted against seeking a new
Oregon Health Plan contract.
Willamette Valley Community Health was sup-
posed to continue services until the end of the year.
PacificSource's contract starts in 2020 and goes
through 2024.
“We are pleased to welcome Salem Health to Pa-
cificSource Community Solutions’ provider network,
and we look forward to working together to serve the
health care needs of Marion and Polk County’s CCO
population,” said Ken Provencher, president and CEO
of PacificSource.
The agreement comes after Salem Health in No-
vember bought WVP Medical Group's six primary
care clinics throughout the Mid-Willamette Valley.
The tie-up nearly doubled Salem Health's clinic
count from eight to 14. Now, Salem Health consists of
two hospitals, the clinics and an urgent care clinic,
according to spokesman Elijah Penner. In January,
patients will start being seen at a new, 31,000-square
foot clinic in Woodburn.
WVP Health Authority approached Salem Health
and asked if they would be interested, Cheryl Wolfe,
Salem Health's chief executive, said in a November
interview. A deal had been under construction since
around May, she said.
The "driving force" behind the move was patient's
access to medical care by preserving the medical
practices, Wolfe said.
"We don't always make a profit on everything we
do in our organization. Our clinics don't make a prof-
it, as an example," she said. "So this isn't about profit-
ability at the end of the day for us. This is just making
sure that we're fulfilling our mission and making sure
that people get the care that they need."
Salem Health offered employment to WVP work-
ers, Wolfe said. Salem Health had 4,505 workers be-
fore the deal and was poised to have 4,722 afterward,
according to Penner.
Contact reporter Jonathan Bach by email at
jbach@statesmanjournal.com or by phone at 503-
399-6714. Follow him on Twitter @jonathanmbach.
Becca Barnhart, the marketing and public relations
manager for the visitors association, said 40 of the
200 ornaments have been found and claimed as of
Tuesday.
Ornaments were hidden along approximately 1,700
miles of trails. People who find an ornament can also
register to win one of three grand prizes: dinner, an
activity or an overnight stay in the Willamette Valley.
When the Sweet Home Ranger District of the Wil-
See ORNAMENTS, Page 2A
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