California developer has option to buy I.V. links
Heralded as “a new era
for golfers in the Illinois
River Valley”, an option by
a California company to
purchase I.V. Golf Course
for $2,075,000 was sold
Friday, Aug. 24 by the I.V.
Golf Association (IVGA).
Deputies plan
tough tactics
A change in patrol tac-
tics to “aggressively deal
with troublemakers and
criminals” means that the
Josephine County Sheriff’s
Office will respond to life-
threatening 911 calls, but
other calls for service may
be delayed.
Sheriff Gil Gilbertson
added that the intent is “to
better utilize our limited
resources and personnel.”
He continued: “We ask
that you be patient when
dealing with nonemergency
calls for service. You also
may experience an increased
delay to response time, in
some cases.
“We are committed to
serving you,” said the sher-
iff, “and will continue to do
our very best to promote a
safe environment for this
community.”
Manor Communities
Development Co., LLC, of
Lodi, has until Aug. 1, 2008
to exercise the option.
The sale would include
the approximately 60 acres
of land, plus buildings and
equipment. When the option
is exercised, payment terms
would be $625,000 cash
down, plus a $1,375,000
five-year note for the bal-
ance at 7 percent interest.
Minimum annual pay-
ments would be approxi-
mately $160,000, with a
final payment for the total
balance due not later than at
the end of the fifth year.
Said Kit Fluck, IVGA
chairman, “Proceeds from
the sale of the option and the
property, once the option is
exercised, will be used by
the association to operate the
to be distributed to existing
shareholders.”
golf course during the option
period. Also, to retire the
existing mortgage on the
property, with the remainder
He added that Manor
Communities, which is in-
volved in several other pro-
jects in Cave Junction, “has
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Three days of events including a Tuff Truck event, a pa-
rade and a park full of activities for young and old are set for
the Illinois Valley Lions Club Labor Day Festival & Parade.
The 36th annual series of family oriented events will be
held Saturday through Monday, Sept. 1 to 3, mostly in Jubi-
lee Park. However, the parade on Labor Day will be held in
Downtown Cave Junction.
A schedule of events and related items appear in a spe-
cial I.V. Lions Club presentation on pages 3 through 5.
Smokejumper museum
group awaits JoCo pact
Proposed lease anticipated in next two weeks
ACCIDENT NEAR SELMA - Roger P. Smith,
80, of Selma suffered serious injuries when
the pickup truck he was driving swerved off
Hwy. 199 near Wild Park Lane and struck a
tree at approximately 9:17 a.m. on Saturday,
Aug. 25, said Oregon State Police. Ameri-
can Medical Response took Smith to Three
Rivers Community Hospital, where he was
listed in fair condition early this week. Illi-
nois Valley Fire District (IVFD) extricated
him from the wreckage. (Photo by Dale &
Elaine Sandberg, IVFD Media Dept.)
Revived I.V. Booster Club for IVHS, LBMS
will dish up burgers, dogs at game Aug. 31
A recently formed Illi-
nois Valley Booster Club
will have a hamburger and
hot dog booth at a preseason
football game at I.V. High
School on Friday, Aug. 31.
The club, which would
like to encompass programs
at the high school and Lorna
Byrne Middle School under
a single umbrella, will begin
serving at 6 p.m.
The game pitting the
Illinois Valley High Cou-
gars against South Umpqua
will begin at 7 on the field
behind the school on E.
River Street..
It will be an Oregon
School Athletic Association
(OSAA) endowment game.
The gross gate receipts will
be divided 50/50 between
IVHS and the OSAA Foun-
dation.
Interest earned from the
foundation’s portion of en-
dowment game revenue,
coupled with tax-deductible
contributions, will be used
to enhance the future of
Oregon high school activi-
ties, said OSAA.
No Gold Cards, OSAA
VIP, school, athletic district,
officials association, or
other passes will be ac-
cepted for admission.
The I.V. Booster Club
is working to raise money
for a new press box. Pro-
ceeds from the club’s fund-
raiser might be matched
with money from the Rotary
Club-sponsored Duck
Derby, depending on an
application process.
The new I.V. Booster
Club, with tentative plans to
consolidate fund-raising for
the two schools, will elect
officers on Monday, Sept.
10 at 6 p.m. The open meet-
ing will be at IVHS.
“This is a newly formed
group, and all community
members are encouraged to
attend, especially parents
and business owners,” noted
a club spokesman.
Proponents of a pro-
posed smokejumper mu-
seum at Illinois Valley Air-
port aren’t yet leaping with
joy at word that a long-term
lease contract with the
county will be ready soon.
While indicating relief
that the pact is nearing com-
pletion, based on previous
meetings with county offi-
cials, principal Gary Buck
wants to review it before
diving into a statement of
approval.
Buck, who served at the
former Siskiyou Smokejum-
per Base, is chairman of the
Siskiyou Smokejumper
Base Museum Project. The
nonprofit organization
ahead on the proposal with
the project leaders.
“We’re looking at a
lease that would expire on
Sept. 30, 2012,” said Hill.
She told the county board
that she is pleased that mat-
ters involving I.V. Airport
“that have been languishing
in past months are moving
forward.”
Buck stated on Friday,
Aug. 24 that he believes Hill
and Commissioners Dave
Toler and Dwight Ellis “are
sincere in their efforts to
help us reach agreement.”
Among major points
that apparently need to be
worked out: parking spaces,
and credit for building and
Former dispatch office would be part of the museum
project at I.V. Airport. (Photo by I.V. News)
(Continued on page 7)
Workshop 6th
A public house regard-
ing the Western Oregon
Plan Revisions (WOPR)
document, which could
greatly increase timber har-
vesting, will be held in Cave
Junction Thursday, Sept. 6.
The informational, in-
formal drop-in occasion will
be held in the Josephine
County Bldg. in Downtown
CJ from 6 to 8 p.m.
to Manor Communities for a
solid proposal.”
In a prepared statement,
IVGA noted that it has pro-
vided “affordable golf for
more than four decades for
the more than 20,000 resi-
dents of Illinois Valley.”
The association built the
current nine-hole course at
the north end of the city of
Cave Junction in 1976.
In February this year,
said IVGA, “the sharehold-
ers charged with board of
directors to seek proposals,
including proposals for the
outright sale.”
This was based on the
fact that, “It became clear,
as the membership aged and
rounds of play and numbers
I.V. Lions set for Labor Day
Raffenburg
D.C-bound
for WOPR
“The Whopper” is on
the menu for Chairman Jim
Raffenburg from the Jose-
phine County Board of
Commissioners when he
goes to the nation’s capital
next month.
He’ll be lobbying in
connection with Oregon &
California (O&C) Railroad
timber payments.
“The Whopper” is the
nickname given the Western
Oregon Plan Revisions
(WOPR) document in a re-
cent timber proposal by the
federal Bureau of Land
Management. It would raise
the allowed timber harvest
from 57 million board feet
(mbf) to 132 mbf.
That eventually could
result in sustained timber
receipts that could bail out
Josephine, and others of the
18 O&C counties, from
their financial dilemmas.
Expiration of the O&C
funding, although a one-
year extension was gained,
has counties extremely con-
cerned.
Raffenburg, who has
made similar trips to Wash-
ington, D.C. to push for
county funding, will leave
Monday, Sept. 10 and return
Friday the 14th.
“I’m looking at two
very long days of lobbying,”
said the commission leader.
He plans to meet with
Nancy Smith, division chief
stated an intent to keep the
bulk of the property as a
golf course, and to build
additional holes as the com-
pany develops the surround-
ing land it currently owns.
“This will result eventu-
ally in an 18-hole golf
course that includes much of
the current IVGA nine-hole
course.
“The front part of the
property, where the club-
house now is located, is ex-
pected to become commer-
cial development integrated
with other surrounding com-
mercial developments.
“It looks like a real win-
win situation,” Fluck stated,
“for our shareholders, our
members and the residents
of this region. Our thanks go
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, this shows an Illinois
Valley Fire District (IVFD) volunteer
‘having fun’ at Rough & Ready Park on
Saturday, Aug. 25. Volunteers and staff
held a Fun Day that included slippery ac-
tivities like Wheelbarrow Races through
shaving cream and baby oil. (Photo by
Dale & Elaine Sandberg, IVFD Media Dept.)
wants to be granted respon-
sibility to manage the six
original buildings at the site,
including maintenance of
buildings and grounds.
Some issues, he feels,
need to be resolved, and the
project members are looking
forward to seeing the con-
tract. It is to be ready no
later than the second week
in September, said Marie
Hill, chief operating officer
for Josephine County.
She touched on the mat-
ter during a meeting of the
county board of commis-
sioners in Grants Pass on
Wednesday morning, Aug.
22. Late last week she added
that, “I think we’re nearly
there with getting the major-
ity of the issues resolved.”
She noted that the
county is anxious to move
maintenance work. In con-
nection with the latter, Buck
said that the county has not
taken the best care of the
buildings.
The project leaders
want to remedy that, and not
only present and preserve a
genuine historical site, but
improve the valley economy
and its recognition.
The historical nature of
the site, just off Hwy. 199
between Cave Junction and
O’Brien, make it a logical
location to attract visitors,
Buck noted. He and a num-
ber of others who served at
the base, across from Rough
& Ready Lumber Co., live
in the valley.
The base began in 1939
when a dirt strip was built
by the Civilian Conservation
(Continued on page 9)