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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (June 30, 2021)
2A | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2021 | APPEAL TRIBUNE Budget Continued from Page 1A years, but is holding off determining how to spend that money until the late summer or early fall. “The enormity of the amount of funding the county will receive through the ARPA allocation provides a unique opportunity to make investments that can have a generational impact around the county,” county administrator Jan Fritz said in her budget message. Beyond the $38 million the county has budgeted for future expenditures, it is projecting to increase its ending fund balance to $76 million at the end of the fiscal year. Where did all the extra money come from? Of the proposed increase in money coming into the county, much of the year-to-year increase is money from the federal government, which is rising to $69 million from $29 million a year prior and from $9 million in 2018-19. The county’s general fund dollars are increasing to $151 million, an increase of $36 million from a year prior. The county is also budgeting a con- tingency of $36 million, keeping $38 million as a reserve and $76 million as an ending fund balance. Capital improvements in 2021-22 When the Labor Day wildfires ripped through the Santiam Canyon in Sep- tember, it caused major damage to cit- ies, unincorporated Marion County and infrastructure such as roads. The county is budgeting $4.3 million for a new public safety radio tower in Hall Ridge outside Detroit to replace the one destroyed in the wildfires, and the county is asking the federal government to pay for it. That radio tower serves multiple public safety agencies in the area. Kelley said the county got a grant from the Oregon Department of Forest- ry for a temporary radio tower currently at the site. “That’s just that temporary tower and then the tower will have to be fully replaced, and it’s a little bit bigger job than just replacing the tower because it was working on an older network,” Kel- ley said. “It was something we were al- ready studying as far as a replacement.” The other major capital improvement in the 2021-22 budget cycle is an $11.9 million public health and administra- tion building. The county is already in the midst of Address: P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309 Phone: 503-399-6773 Fax: 503-399-6706 Email: sanews@salem.gannett.com Web site: www.SilvertonAppeal.com Staff Crews work on new footings for the bridge over the Little Pudding River on Silverton Road NE outside Salem. ABIGAIL DOLLINS / STATESMAN JOURNAL replacing the Silverton Road bridge east of Salem, with most of that money com- ing from the federal government. The $6.4 million project, which will replace the bridge over the Little Pud- ding River, started in April and is sched- uled to be completed by Thanksgiving. It’s one of the bigger projects of its type the county has undertaken. “This is one of our busier roads, 14,000 a day right through here,” project manager Steven Preszler said. “This is the main way that Silverton people get to work in Salem.” COVID-19, wildfire, ice storm In the 2020-21 fiscal year, Marion County has been the lead agency in mul- tiple emergencies. The county had key roles in the CO- VID-19 pandemic, wildfires that leveled large swaths, including the cities of De- troit and Gates, and the ice storm of 2021. Marion County spent $25.5 million in the 2020-21 fiscal year managing the pandemic, receiving much of that from the federal government. It spent $4.5 million for wildfire recovery and pro- jects it will spend an additional $13.8 million. The county spent $1 million from the ice storm and projects to spend an additional $4 million. That money went to things like rent- ing a hotel in Woodburn for COVID-19 isolation and later wildfire evacuees, and the use of the State Fairgrounds. The county is projecting reimburse- ment of those costs from the American Red Cross or FEMA. Budget doesn’t mention homeless According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Marion County had 12.2% of its popula- tion living in poverty in 2019. Of the 94 schools in Marion County, 61 have more than 50% of their students qualifying for free and reduced-price lunches. News Director Don Currie 503-399-6655 dcurrie@statesmanjournal.com Advertising Westsmb@gannett.com Deadlines News: 4 p.m. Thursday Letters: 4 p.m. Thursday Obituaries: 11 a.m. Friday Display Advertising: 4 p.m. Wednesday Legals: 3 p.m. Wednesday Classifieds: 4 p.m. Friday News Tips The Appeal Tribune encourages suggestions for local stories. Email the newsroom, submit letters to the editor and send announcements to sanews@salem.gannett.com or call 503-399-6773. Classifieds: call 503-399-6789 Retail: call 503-399-6602 Legal: call 503-399-6789 Missed Delivery? Call: 800-452-2511 Hours: until 7 p.m. Wednesdays; until 3 p.m. other weekdays To Subscribe Call: 800-452-2511 $21 per year for home delivery $22 per year for motor delivery $30.10 per year mail delivery in Oregon $38.13 per year mail delivery outside Oregon Main Statesman Journal publication Suggested monthly rates: Monday-Sunday: $22, $20 with EZ Pay Monday-Saturday: $17.50, $16 with EZ Pay Wednesday-Sunday: $18, $16 with EZ Pay Monday-Friday: $17.50, $16 with EZ Pay Sunday and Wednesday: $14, $12 with EZ Pay Sunday only: $14, $12 with EZ Pay To report delivery problems or subscribe, call 800-452-2511 To Place an Ad Published every Wednesday by the Statesman Journal, P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309. USPS 469-860, Postmaster: Send address changes to Appeal Tribune, P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID: Salem, OR and additional offices. Send letters to the editor and news releases to sanews@salem.gannett.com. But the county doesn’t say the word homeless anywhere in its 588-page budget. Kelley said the county appropriates money to areas that help those in low- income situations and struggling with homelessness through departments like Health and Human Services and the sheriff ’s office, and also is involved in programs like the Mid-Willamette Val- ley Homeless Alliance. “Although many programs are not specifically labeled as targeting home- lessness, numerous county health and public safety services aim to prevent homelessness and stabilize housing for the individuals we serve,” the county said in a statement. “Costs for these programs are ac- counted for within each program budget which can include other supportive ser- vices.” Kelley said the county does that through the Housing and Human Ser- vices department with efforts such as providing short-term shelter for indi- viduals needing to quarantine, a rental assistance program for those with a challenging rental history and the LEAD program, which works directly with homeless individuals and homeless shelters, including for those with addic- tion and in mental health crisis. The Marion County Sheriff ’s Office has a subsidized transitional housing program that provides housing stipends to people for 90 days and helps 250 peo- ple year, and its community corrections program helps 60 people per year secure transitional housing and supports the DeMuniz Resource Center, which pro- vides assistance for navigating re- sources like employment and housing. The county has been designated an “entitlement county” by the U.S. Depart- ment of Housing and Urban Develop- ment and it will receive and has budgeted to distribute $4.4 million to benefit resi- dents with low and moderate incomes, prevent blight or meet urgent community development needs as part of a new pro- gram in the upcoming fiscal year. Marion County also has an emergen- cy rental assistance program that has $10.4 million budgeted with an addi- tional $3.3 million expected. Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@statesmanjournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler Duo Continued from Page 1A “He’s really been able to take over the point guard (position) this year and be our team leader and our engine.” Indeed. The Foxes are 13-0 and three wins away from completing an unde- feated season. They’ve already locked up their fourth straight Mid-Willamette Conference crown. Last year, Silverton was 25-1 and were about to tip off their Class 5A state semifinal game against Crater when things stopped. The sports world had come to a sudden halt as games, leagues and tournaments were canceled due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year featured more uncertainty as Silverton boasted another strong team capable of making another deep run in the playoffs. The basketball sea- son, however, was pushed back to a shortened spring season with no state championship. “Our boys put a lot into last season and felt we had a good chance,” Jamie McCarty said. “We had a lot of good pieces coming back. We had three sen- iors this year and knew they were going to lead our team. We’re playing for them and want to give them the best season they can have and all of the best memo- ries and make it as close to a regular sea- son as we can.” Undeterred, Silverton proceeded to cruise through their schedule, which featured for perhaps the first time ever, all the larger Salem-area schools. “We expected to have a really good season and the boys have met all the ex- pectations so far,” Jamie McCarty said. “Those are going to be some great mem- ories because it’s teams we don’t usual- ly get to play. It was neat for our boys to get to some new gyms and some bigger schools, but our focus is never the oppo- nent, it’s to playing to the best of our abilities.” Silverton has knocked off Sprague, South Salem, West Salem, North Salem, McKay and McNary, and all the wins have by double digits. They’ll finish the season this week by playing West Salem and Sprague again. “We’ve always wanted to play 6A schools and be able to compete with them because we know that we can,” Jordan McCarty said. “It’s been good to show some people that and have some challenges with those bigger schools. Our goal was to show how good we can play as a team, play together and play for each other.” Besides McCarty, the team features a Apartments in Bascom Village in Eugene, a low-income complex administered by Homes for Good, are reflected in the window of the closed community center as the pandemic continues. Homes for Good is one of the county's largest landlords and has been actively assisting tenants in paying their rent and keeping them in a home. CHRIS PIETSCH/THE REGISTER-GUARD Silverton head coach Jamie McCarty talks to players during a timeout. The Foxes faced the McNary Celtics at home June 8. PHOTOS BY BRIAN HAYES/ Rent Continued from Page 1A STATESMAN JOURNAL link and will remain on the website after the program. Tenants cannot be evicted for back rent until March 1, 2022. Landlords cannot charge fees for unpaid rent during this time and cannot report past due rent from April 1, 2020-June 30, 2021, to a consumer credit report- ing agency. A renter’s unpaid rent dur- ing this time period cannot be used against them in future rental applica- tions. More resources Silverton’s Lucas Roth (22) goes to the basket against McNary’s Zane Aicher (20) during the game June 8 at Silverton High School in Silverton. roster full of upperclassmen with nine juniors and three seniors. Next year’s team will be one of the favorites to lift the state trophy with so much talent re- turning including leading scorer Neil Efimov. “It’s nice to know that our program is able to compete with any statewide program,” Jamie McCarty said. “We’ve built a really nice tradition at Silverton to where we’ve become super compet- itive and we enjoy that challenge.” Contact reporter Luis Ramirez at lramirez@salem.gannett.com Landlords may apply to the Land- lord Compensation Fund and receive up to 80% of their owed rents from the state if they forgive their tenets’ re- maining 20%. The deadline for land- lords to apply for the third and final round of assistance was extended to Wednesday. Landlords can get infor- mation about the Landlord Compen- sation Fund from Oregon Housing and Community Services. The Oregon Emergency Rental As- sistance Program for tenants is now accepting applications for help paying rent and utility bills. Tenants can get up to 12 months of rent (including three months of future rent) paid di- rectly to landlords and utility compa- nies. More information and applica- tions are available at oregonrentalas- sistance.org. Contact reporter Tatiana Parafiniuk- Talesnick at Tatiana@registerguard .com or 541-521-7512, and follow her on Twitter @TatianaSophiaPT.
