Council
OK’s more
CJ housing
Proposals for a duplex
and a five-home develop-
ment in the city were ap-
proved by the Cave Junc-
tion Council during its
meeting on Monday night,
July 28 in city hall.
The vote was 4-0, with
Councilman Rita Dyer ab-
sent, to approve a zone
change request for a du-
plex at 200 S. Junction
Ave. It was sought by H.D.
Patton Jr. Construction.
With its approval, the
council OK’d Patton’s
wish to change the .21-acre
lot from single-family resi-
dential to multiple-family
residential.
A public hearing was
conducted, but there were
neither comments for nor
against the plan. As part of
the council approval, a
zone change ordinance will
be introduced during the
next council session on
Monday, Aug. 11.
On his application,
Patton noted he believes
th at “th is p rop o sa l
achieves the public need
by providing lots close to
the city center for elderly
and economically chal-
lenged” persons.
A 12-foot-wide drive-
way will provide common
access from the street to
and from the site.
Councilmen also voted
4-0 to first vacate a three-
lot subdivision at 330 N.
Sawyer Ave. for Aubrey
Roche. He explained that
when the plan was ap-
proved by the council in
June that there was a mis-
understanding on his part.
He had indicated that
three homes would be built
initially on the 2.6 acres,
owned by Karen Farmer,
with plans for five.
However, the council
approved the plan for three
homes, but not five, and so
corrective action was
needed. After OK’ing the
vacation, the council voted
4-0 to approve a five-lot
land partition for the sub-
division with a number of
conditions.
They include drainage,
water and sewer issues,
and a street light on the
west side of North Sawyer
Avenue at Millie Street,
and concrete sidewalks,
curbs, gutters and drive-
ways.
“I think this is a good
thing for Cave Junction,”
said Roche, who will con-
duct development with Li
Lan Chen as Echo Park
Estates. “We just want to
build nice houses,” he said.
City Recorder Jim
Polk said that the property
qualifies as 12 city lots.
However, Roche said that
only five homes will be
built, each with a driveway
to Sawyer.
“There’ll be big lots
with big yards,” he said.
Wild Blackberry Festival
section coming in
next issue of the
‘Illinois Valley News’
Reserve your space!
Phillips commended for
I.V. Grange dedication
TENDER TREE TRAVELS - Nate Pera’s memorial tree and plaque were moved to a
new home at Evergreen Elementary School. The tree stands next to his brother,
Nicky’s, memorial tree. Nate’s tree was planted at Lorna Byrne Middle School but
had to be moved due to the building of the new campus. Nate died in 1993 and Nicky
died in 1986. Tree movers included (photo above, from right) Sam Michel, Joseph
Escalona, Tom Rogers, Larry Pera and Aaron Barber.
(Photo by Steve Fairchild)
Spotted knapweed may require poison
By STEVE FAIRCHILD
Staff Writer
Hand-pulling spotted
knapweed to eradicate it
from Onion Camp isn’t
working quickly enough
and herbicides may be the
next step.
That announcement
was made by Cecile
Shohet, a botanist from the
Illinois Valley Ranger Dis-
trict, during a public meet-
ing concerning the treat-
ment status of the noxious
weed held at the Josephine
County Bldg. in Down-
town Cave Junction on
Wednesday, July 23.
Members of the United
States Forest Service
(USFS), Forestry Action
Committee (FAC) and
Siskiyou Regional Educa-
tion Project were on hand
to discuss the project.
The groups have made
it a priority to try to rid
Onion Camp, located south
of Cave Junction, of the
weed by hand-pullingor
covering the weeds with
black plastic this season.
The weed is consid-
ered a threat to native plant
species and it can fill
niches that other weeds
don’t. It also has the poten-
tial to thrive in the area
burned in the Biscuit Fire.
The decision to hand-
pull the weed was made
after more than 30 citizens
voiced strong opposition to
using herbicides, but hand-
pulling hasn’t been as suc-
cessful as the forest service
had hoped it would be.
“Honestly, I really feel
like we haven’t done a
good job at Onion Camp,”
Shohet said. “I feel like we
should use herbicides.”
Hand-pulling will con-
tinue for the rest of the
year while an Environ-
mental Assessment on the
use of herbicides at Onion
Camp is completed.
The forest service is
aiming to satisfy several
goals by hand picking the
weed this year.
Its targets are to: try to
reduce the population of
spotted knapweed by 60
percent from year to year,
prevent the weed from
moving beyond 20 feet
from the roadway (it usu-
ally thrives in travel corri-
dors), and to prevent flow-
ering or seed sets.
After monitoring a
dense area of weed growth
and weed clumps in the
Onion Camp area with
members of FAC, Shohet
stated that hand-pulling
isn’t meeting those targets.
“I give us credit for
being a little flexible on
this,” Shohet said of the
chemical-free approach to
removing the weeds.
“Honestly, I believed pull-
ing would work. It was
really done with good in-
tentions.”
The FAC received
$4,000 from the USFS to
dedicate to hand-pulling,
according to Susan Chapp,
FAC president.
Chapp hired eight
weed pullers at $10 per
hour for the job. It takes an
hour by car on dirt and
washboard roads to reach
the camp, she said.
Chapp said that her
dedicated handpickers
have done a great job mak-
ing sure the weeds don’t
go to seed at Onion Camp.
Their efforts include
spending more than two
hours covering plants with
black plastic on Friday,
July 25. Chapp added she
was surprised to hear
Shohet’s statement that
hand-pulling wasn’t work-
ing.
“We know we are do-
ing an absolutely great
job,” Chapp said. “She
(Shohet) made it sound
like a total mess and it’s
not. We’re doing a good
job.”
Steve Bulkin from the
USFS office in Medford
spent the rest of the meet-
ing focusing on the pros
and cons of using herbi-
cides. The two herbicides
(Continued on page 8)
GETTIN’ IN THE SWIM - The Klamath First Bank girls in Cave Junction dressed in
various stages of beach attire to show their support of the Cave Junction Pool. Pool
schedules are available at Klamath First and other businesses throughout Cave
Junction.
(Photo by Sam Newton)
By BRITT FAIRCHILD
Staff Writer
Being named Oregon
State Grange “Volunteer of
the Year” likely comes as
no surprise to those who
know Tammie Phillips.
After 16 years of Illi-
nois Valley Grange mem-
bership, and membership
on the national grange
level, her dedication to
helping others seems only
to strengthen with time.
But for Tammie, a
charismatic woman who
appears more comfortable
baking cookies or discuss-
ing the importance of test-
ing newborns for hearing
loss than talking about her-
self, the honor still feels a
bit overwhelming.
“I’ve never been nomi-
nated for such an award,”
Tammie said. “I was sur-
prised. I was impressed.”
Tammie’s husband,
Ken, who is Oregon State
Grange community ser-
vices director, presented
her the award during a
state grange convention at
Phoenix High School on
June 27.
He remembered the
announcement catching his
wife off guard. She was at
the time assisting T. Lund
of I.V. High, who was
named Oregon State
Grange “Teacher of the
Year,” and Josephine
County Sheriff’s Office Lt.
Lee Harman, named
“Officer of the Year.”
She was “beet red,”
Ken said.
He added that it wasn’t
nepotism, but Tammie’s
hard work that earned her
the recognition.
Deaf since age 2 -- a
result of an ear infection
she suffered at 18 months
old while ill with the Asian
flu -- she has worn hearing
Tammie Phillips
aids almost her entire life.
Yet she has never let
the disability get in the
way of her goals, or assist-
ing others.
Growing up, Tammie
was actively involved in 4-
H. As an adult she has con-
tinued her agriculture-
oriented service through
grange participation.
As Oregon State
Grange Deaf Activities
director, Tammie hopes
her experience will con-
tinue to raise awareness
and protection for the hear-
ing impaired.
She already has voiced
support on behalf of the
grange on state legislation.
She submitted written tes-
timony twice on Senate
Bill 401, which put into
law that in all Oregon hos-
pitals and birthing centers
with more than 200 live
(Continued on page 8)
Community planner aims
to improve Illinois Valley
Al Koski is using a
SWAT approach to get a
snapshot of the Illinois
Valley community.
But in this case,
SWAT
stands
for
“Strengths, Weaknesses
And Threats” in an effort
to determine the percep-
tions, hopes and plans for
improving the valley in
many areas.
Koski, who has been
involved in community
development work for 11
years, also has worked for
Rogue Community Col-
lege. He most recently,
since 1997, was director of
economic development for
Josephine County.
The position was
eliminated as of July 1, the
start of the 2003-04 fiscal
year, because of budget
woes.
He also has worked
with Southern Oregon
Economic Development
Inc. on economic issues
regarding Illinois Valley.
Koski, who figures
he’ll be working about an-
other month on the com-
munitywide survey, al-
though not full time, said
he’s doing so through un-
used grant money accumu-
lated by the former depart-
ment he headed.
Using a 10-question
survey, Koski plans to in-
terview and discuss a
“strategic assessment”
with some 80 valleyites.
Those interviewed will
represent the valley from
Takilma and O’Brien to
Cave Junction, Kerby and
Selma, he said.
Participants will be
representative of the val-
ley’s varied age groups
and occupations.
“We’re looking for a
snapshot of the commu-
nity,” Koski said. He’s
been conducting inter-
views for about two weeks,
although not daily.
Questions on the sur-
vey include:
*What
are
the
(valley’s) three major
strengths or assets. What is
it known for?
*What are the best
investment opportunities
for future development.
*What is the commu-
nity’s attitude toward
change and growth?
*What are the major
competitive threats
(external or internal) to
future development?
“What three things
would you like to see hap-
(Continued on page 5)