Bush OKs bill for one-year O&C fund extension
Patrol gap
Meth fight
to continue alleviated
MEMORIAL DAY HONORS were observed at Laurel
Cemetery in Cave Junction on Saturday, May 26 by
Glenn Morrison American Legion Post 70 and Boy
Scout Troop 880, which it sponsors. (Clockwise from
top, left) Justin Bartow, Jordan Bartow and Roy Bar-
tow, assistant scout master in training; Post Cmdr. Jim
Fuller; and Kathy Van Trease, of Kerby, whose great-
uncle was Glenn Morrison. (Photos by ‘I.V. News’)
R&R biomass project awaits public hearing
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
A $5 million biomass
plant at the Rough & Ready
Lumber Co. is quickly be-
coming a reality.
“It’s the end of a long
process,” said R&R President
“Link” Phillippi.
An Oregon Dept. of En-
vironmental Quality (DEQ)
informational workshop for
the project permit was held
on Wednesday, May 23 at
Lorna Byrne Middle School.
A formal public hearing is
scheduled for Wednesday,
May 30 at 6:30 p.m. at
LBMS. Once that hearing is
completed, Phillippi said, a
permit may be issued within
the next few weeks.
Under the proposal,
R&R would replace its exist-
ing wood-fired boiler with a
newer one with twice the
capacity, Phillippi said.
Market forces have caused
a greater demand for dry lum-
ber, which prompted R&R to
seek ways to produce more
steam to aid that process.
“From a business sense,
the company for many years
has needed to increase its
Phillippi said. “It’s a lot of
boiler capacity,” Phillippi
work, and a lot of forms.”
said.
Part of the paperwork
However, the necessary
included air quality analysis
equipment upgrade
proved to be cost-
prohibitive.
“It’s a huge
capital expense,”
Phillippi said, “that’s
unaffordable for a
business our size.”
That all began
changing in 2005,
when rising fuel
costs and environ-
mental concerns
created demand for
alternative energy.
The U.S. govern-
ment, along with
state governments,
adopted new pro-
grams to encourage
R&R’s ‘Link’ & Jennifer Phillippi
biomass and other
similar energy sources. As
to measure the plant’s poten-
such, grants and other incen-
tial emissions and its effects
tives began to appear, which
on a 13-kilometer radius of
made it easier for R&R to
the facility. R&R hired con-
pursue its plant.
sultants to create air dispensa-
Not that it was easy.
tion models, with three sepa-
“There were a lot of
rate boiler operating scenar-
hoops we had to jump
ios, and submitted the results
through to make it happen,”
to DEQ.
Nitrogen oxide levels
were exceeded at all three
scenarios, which prompted a
study of the effects on six
areas within a 48-kilometer
radius. The Kalmiopsis Wil-
derness area, located 12 kilo-
meters from R&R, was mod-
eled separately.
The results of those tests
were successful, as well as a
visibility analysis for the
Kalmiopsis, in which “plume
blight” was measured.
Phillippi said he is
pleased that the plant plan
met the standards set forth by
federal and state regulatory
agencies.
“It was a real learning
experience,” Phillippi said.
“But we’ve done everything
we’re supposed to have done,
and more.”
If issued, the permit
would expire on June 1, 2012,
and Phillippi said he would
hope to have the plant opera-
tional by September or Octo-
ber of this year.
“It’s a triple win,” Phil-
lippi said. “It will provide
renewable power, forest res-
toration and jobs.”
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
His department may be
battered by budget cuts, but
Josephine County Sheriff Gil
Gilbertson said that he still is
determined to combat the
methamphetamine problem.
The discontinuation of
federal O&C funding, given
in lieu of declining timber
receipts -- combined with a
failed May 15 public safety
levy plan -- has forced deputy
layoffs and discontinuation of
patrols after Friday, June 15.
Limited patrol, basically
for emergencies only, will
continue until that date. Last
week the sheriff had pegged
May 27 as the last day for
patrols, but because of the
uncertainty of the staffing and
financial aspects facing the
county, that has changed.
Despite the loss of fed-
eral funding for normal op-
erations, Gilbertson said that
the sheriff’s office will con-
tinue to participate in the ef-
forts of Josephine County
Interagency Narcotics Team
(JOINT). Other agencies in-
volved in JOINT are Oregon
State Police, Grants Pass
Dept. of Public Safety and the
Josephine County District
Attorney’s office. The Drug
Enforcement Agency and
other federal agencies also
cooperate in investigations,
Gilbertson said.
He said that Josephine
County Sheriff’s Office
(JCSO) staffing cutbacks will
not affect JOINT operations.
“It’s not just deputies on
patrol that deal with this,”
Gilbertson said. “Their role is
(Continued on page 6)
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
It was overcast but dry
on Saturday, May 26, as spec-
tators crowded the sidewalks
along Hwy. 101 for the an-
nual Azalea Festival Parade
in Downtown Brookings.
And the overall mood
was good. But beneath it all
was the real fear stemming
from Curry County’s pending
fiscal crisis.
A series of sirens wailed
amid enthusiastic applause, as
the procession was led by a
Brookings Police Dept.
(BPD) vehicle. Right behind
it was a Curry County Sher-
iff’s Dept. patrol car -- and
the latter may be a rare sight
in a matter of weeks, as 16
deputies already have been
laid off.
On Friday, May 25,
President Bush signed a one-
year extension of the county
payments program, which has
long funded Curry, Josephine
and other timber-dependent
areas. The $425 million plan
was part of $8 billion in do-
mestic spending offered as a
compromise between the
president and congressional
Democrats.
Bush agreed to include
the spending if Democrats
excluded a timetable for with-
drawal of U.S. troops from
Iraq in the emergency appro-
priation It includes approxi-
mately $95 billion for that
war and the conflict in Af-
ghanistan.
However, those federal
dollars won’t arrive until No-
vember, leaving officials in
rural counties with a funding
(Continued on page 6)
JoCo plans to receive $12 million in O&C funds
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Friday, May 25, Presi-
dent Bush signed a one-year
extension of federal payments
to timber-dependent counties
with Josephine County stand-
ing to receive $12 million
from the $425 million pro-
gram -- the same amount it
obtained last fiscal year.
Therefore, patrol by sher-
iff’s deputies will continue,
using reserve funds, until the
anticipated payment arrives in
late October or early Novem-
ber, said Dave Toler, vice
chairman of the county board
o f c o m mi s s i o n e r s . Th e
money will be included in the
budget for the 2007-08 fiscal
year, which begins July 1.
County officials will
have to adopt a supplemental
budget in order to accept
those funds, Toler said.
“I think that’s what we’re
looking at,” Toler said.
“We’ll reconvene the Budget
Committee in early June.”
During its Thursday,
May 17 meeting, the commis-
sioners planned to place a
public safety levy on the bal-
lot in September. That action
came two days after voters
rejected a proposed three-
year, $42.6 million levy for
public safety.
However, the last-minute
federal appropriation means
that the county no longer will
pursue a September levy.
Also on May 17, the
county Budget Committee
adopted the Service Level 1
budget, which did not include
federal funds. Toler said that
the county still will operate
under that budget, meaning
that many employees still will
be laid off. But most of the
cuts to public safety opera-
tions will be restored.
“Most of the budget will
continue,” Toler said. “The
libraries will still be closed
and all the other cuts at all the
other programs, we’re going
to keep those, except criminal
justice.”
Toler said a 5 percent
reduction in public safety is
“likely,” but will be accom-
plished through attrition.
“The sheriff’s office and
D.A.’s office already had
some budgeted positions not
filled this fiscal year because
of the hiring freeze,” Toler
said. “Those positions will
likely be reduced. People
won’t be reduced, but there
will be unfilled positions.”
County officials are plan-
ning to save a good portion of
the anticipated federal funds,
Toler said, in an attempt to
bolster the county’s immedi-
ate financial future.
“It will probably be in
the neighborhood of close to
$5 million or it could be more
that we will save, not spend,
of this $12 million and put
away,” Toler said. “We may
find ourselves in a similar
situation next year. But in-
stead of having $5 million in
reserves, we’ll have over $8
million.
“We’re preparing as
much as we reasonably can to
try and lessen the burden
when we do have to do some-
thing next year.”
ILLINOIS VALLEY High School cheerleaders performed
Saturday, May 26 to help gain sponsors for their partici-
pation Saturday June 2 in Grants Pass during the 24-hour
American Cancer Society Relay For Life benefit. (Photo
by Dale & Elaine Sandberg for ‘IVN’)
A special color presentation featuring the Illinois Valley
High School Class of 2007 that will graduate on Tuesday,
June 5 is on page 11. The tribute is co-sponsored by
Evergreen Federal Savings, Home Valley Bank, and
SOFCU Community Credit Union.
Additionally, a number of businesses also are congratulat-
ing the graduates. Their messages, and a story about
commencement exercises, are on page 5.