Page 12
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Pool closure, topless bar liquor permit
among items before CJ’s City Council
ILLINOIS VALLEY TRACK TEAM members took second in the Frosh/Soph 4x100 re-
lay at the Grants Pass Rotary Invitational Meet Saturday, May 6. Cougar Steven Paul
(at left) dashes to the finish line. Teammates were Nathan Green, Sam Winter, and
Larry Ragsdale. The IVHS team took first place and set a new meet record of 3:34.65
in the Frosh/Soph 4x400 relay. Team members were Ragsdale, Paul, Moises Men-
doza and Green. Ragsdale won the Frosh/Soph 100-meter dash in 11.65. The meet
attracted teams from throughout Oregon and some from California. (Photo provided
courtesy of Ward Winter)
THE COUGAR BASEBALL TEAM took its Skyline Conference mark to 0-15 with
losses of 14-2 and 17-16 against North Valley in Cave Junction Saturday, May 6. The
losses occurred despite the efforts of IVHS players including Austin Hocker, An-
thony Thomas, Doug Hoskins, Tony Derda, Alex Bergman, Antonio Escalante and
Jacob Murphy. The Cougars were to host Phoenix Tuesday, May 9. The IVHS girls
softball team took its record to 1-14 with losses to NV on the Knights’ field the same
day. The girls lost 12-2, 12-2. (Photo by Dale Sandberg)
ODF debris burning recommendations
can help avoid emergency situations
Firefighters in Jackson
and Josephine counties are
making daily runs on grass
fires, many of them caused
by debris burning, said Ore-
gon Dept. of Forestry (ODF).
Open burning is an ef-
fective way to get rid of
brush cuttings, tree
branches, and needles and
leaves. But it is important
for residents to remember to
burn only on legal burn days
(does not include Illinois
Valley), to constantly moni-
tor an open fire to prevent
the fire’s escape, and to
completely extinguish the
pile before sundown.
*Preparing a site:
Choose a debris burn
pile location that has plenty
of room around and above
it. Also, choose a site that is
flat. Building a burn pile on
a slope is risky since burn-
ing debris can easily roll out
of a pile and start fires down
the hill. Burn barrels should
only be used on flat ground.
Make sure the burn pile
site is at least 50 feet from
structures, wood piles, pro-
pane tanks, snags and water-
ways. Also, the site needs to
be at least 20 feet from tree
branches, brush, tall grass,
fallen trees or any other po-
tentially flammable mate-
rial.
Ensure that there is
nothing overhanging the
debris burning site; tree
branches and utility lines are
easily ignited or damaged
by flames and heat rising
from a burn pile.
As a final measure,
scrape or dig a fire line
around the burn pile. Make
the fire line at least 2 feet
wide, and ensure that it is
clear of any potentially
flammable material such as
grass, decaying wood and
stumps.
If the burn pile is lo-
cated on a slope, dig a
trench on the downhill side
of the pile; make it deep and
wide so it will capture burn-
ing material that may roll
out of the pile.
Avoid large piles. If you
have quite a lot of debris to
burn, and a large area in
which to burn it, consider
making several small piles
instead of one big one. Al-
ternately, make a medium-
sized burn pile. Then, once
it is burning, feed additional
dry material onto it.
Keep fire-fighting tools
close by. A shovel for each
person at the burn site is
prudent. A rake is useful for
fire control if the area sur-
rounding the burn pile is
littered with needles or
leaves.
Have a water supply
close at hand. If the burn
pile is near a spigot, run a
garden hose that extends at
least 25 feet beyond the
burn pile site. Put on a noz-
zle, charge the hose and test
it before igniting the pile.
For piles that are in a
remote location, strongly
consider having a vehicle-
or trailer-mounted water
tank, with pump and hose, at
the burn site. At the very
least, a 5-gallon can of water
should be kept close at hand.
Burn only brush, tree
stems and branches, and
needles and leaves in your
burn pile. It is illegal to burn
wet garbage, plastic, auto
parts, insulation, asphalt,
any petroleum products or
petroleum-treated materials,
rubber, animal or vegetable
matter from the preparation
or cooking of food, or any
substance that emits dense
smoke or odors.
*Actions to take before
lighting the pile:
Open burning is al-
lowed by ODF whenever
fire season is not in effect,
and ODF does not require a
permit for pile burning.
However, several fire
districts do issue burn per-
mits. Phone the appropriate
district to find out whether a
permit is required and how
to get one.
Open burning is also
regulated for air quality in
Jackson and Josephine
counties. The number to
phone in Josephine County
is 476-9663. The number
for open burning informa-
tion in Jackson County is
776-7007.
Check the weather prior
to striking the match. If un-
usually hot or windy
weather is predicted, con-
sider postponing your burn
until another day. In general,
start your burn before noon
and always make sure it is
dead out by sunset.
*Monitor the burn pile:
Never leave an open
fire unattended, and never
allow children to play near
the burn pile. Also, juveniles
should never be around a
burning pile without adult
supervision.
Watch for embers that
may float into nearby vege-
tation -- or other flammable
material, such as piles of
firewood or lumber -- and
immediately extinguish any
“spot fires” that occur. Air-
borne embers and radiant
heat from your burn pile
may ignite nearby dry grass.
Extinguish grass fires
immediately using water, or
by slapping the flames with
wet burlap.
If your fire escapes con-
trol, immediately phone 911
at once.
(Continued on page 14)
*Due to lack of money,
the Cave Junction Swim-
ming Pool will not open this
summer.
*Many people are op-
posed to the planned open-
ing of a topless bar in the
city of Cave Junction, and
want to protest a liquor li-
cense for it.
*A number of people
are upset at what they call a
lack of law enforcement in
and around the city.
*Three Cave Junction
City Council positions are
coming up for election, and
one of those spots needs to
be filled soon by appoint-
ment, as Councilman Rita
Dyer has resigned.
Those and other matters
arose before the council dur-
ing its 90-minute meeting in
city hall Monday night, May
8. The meeting began with
presentation of the colors by
Girl Scout Troop 123.
Subsequently, City Re-
corder Jim Polk announced
that an e-mail note had been
received from Dyer stating
that her resignation is effec-
tive May 8. She cited work
commitments as the reason.
Her Position 3, Council-
man Dan Fiske’s Position 1,
and Mayor Tony Paulson’s
seat will expire at the end of
December. Each of the
council spots is for four
years; the mayor’s job is for
two years. Fiske and Paul-
son said after the meeting
that they plan to rerun.
Nominating petitions
can be filed no earlier than
July 6 and not later than
Aug. 21.
Pool Closure Set
Paulson announced that
“unfortunately, the city pool
will not open this year” be-
cause “the city doesn’t have
the money.” He added that a
move to have Josephine
County take back ownership
of the facility, due to a po-
tential liability to the city
based on the original agree-
ment, essentially has been
ignored by the county com-
missioners.
“I think they’ll just let it
slide into oblivion,” said the
mayor.
In connection with a
city Budget Committee
meeting set for Tuesday,
May 16 at 7 p.m., the coun-
cil and Polk urged those
unhappy with a lack of law
enforcement to attend. They
also urged attendance at a
workshop on community
protection set for Monday,
May 15. (Story on page 1).
Following complaints
Monday from several per-
sons, Paulson and Council-
man Margaret Miller noted
that last year they voted
against renewing the contract
with the county sheriff’s of-
fice. Their idea was and is to
set aside the money with an
eye toward possibly hiring a
private firm or establishing a
city police force.
The city is paying ap-
proximately $100,000 per
year for a deputy to be in the
city 40 hours per week.
Miller suggested to the audi-
ence of nearly 30 persons
that citizens need to con-
sider a number of possibili-
ties as options. A taxing
district or a town marshal
are among ideas.
Sonny Moore and oth-
ers asked about using pri-
vate resources for law en-
forcement. He was told that
as long as an organization is
licensed or has proper certi-
fication, the citizens are free
to do what they will.
Andrea Thomas, owner
of Nacho Mama’s, related
what she basically described
as a lackadaisical and some-
what cavalier attitude by the
sheriff’s office after a recent
burglary at her business.
She indicated that she
was provided no help, other
than a deputy taking a small
amount of personal data “for
a report.”
Thomas said that be-
sides running her business
for 15 hours on the day of
the burglary, she and her
son, with the help of wit-
nesses and informants, were
able to find a suspect, and
that she retrieved approxi-
mately a third of what had
been taken.
The sheriff’s office, she
said, declined to act in the
matter, offering a number of
excuses, including the com-
ment that the resources do
not exist. Thomas related
that the suspect is still free,
and that the district attor-
ney’s office is interested in
finding out why no action
has been taken to apprehend
that person.
Although not on the
agenda, the matter of a liquor
license for the planned Sug-
ars topless bar was a hot
topic. Many protested the
business, and were advised
that the liquor license appli-
cation will be on the council
agenda for Monday, May 22.
Persons including Tani
Webb and Susan Salerni
took the council to task
about the proposed bar, as
well as the lack of law en-
forcement in the city.
The mayor advised
them and others, including
Steve Lyons, who asked
about how to define a nui-
sance in the city, that the
city simply follows state
law. Protests can be sent to
the Oregon Liquor Control
Commission (OLCC), and
Polk was to have informa-
tion available at city hall for
those wanting it.
Others asked about the
proximity of the proposed
business to churches, parks
and schools.
In other matters, the
council, with Dyer and
Councilman Russell Ehr-
man absent:
*Agreed 3-0 to send a
positive recommendation to
OLCC for a liquor license
so that The Shining Stars
can sell beer during the June
3 family oriented picnic
with music and other attrac-
tions in Jubilee Park.
*Were advised by Polk
that he received notification
from longtime reporter Bar-
bara Hahn that as of Tues-
day, May 9, she is leaving
the employ of the Grants
Pass “Daily Courier.”
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Mon. - Fri. 10-6 Sun. 12 - 4
220 N. Redwood Hwy.
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You cannot live a perfect day without doing
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Cave Junction Office
218N. Redwood Hwy.
(541) 592-6580
Grants Pass Office
1619 N.W. Hawthorne Ave.
Suite 109
(541) 476-2502
Jeff Wood, M.S., P.T.