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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 2010)
Page 6 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, June 16, 2010 Illinois Valley Fire District board of directors adopts budget By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer Illinois Valley Fire Dis- trict (IVFD) directors voted 4-0 during their 45-minute meeting on Thursday night, June 10, to adopt a $1.39 mil- lion budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year. That budget has a tax rate of $1.87 per $1,000 of as- sessed property value, and includes approximately $180,561 in bonded indebted- ness. The rate is unchanged from the current fiscal year which expires June 30. A series of other resolu- tions was passed 4-0 by the board during the meeting, held at IVFD headquarters on Caves Hwy. Director Larrick Jones was absent. No public comment was given for a second reading of an ordinance establishing a fee schedule for fire preven- tion inspections, fireworks inspection and permit fees and annexations. Chief Harry Rich later thanked the board for passing the ordinance, and said that it gives IVFD the authority to enforce compliance of fire code regulations. Board Chairman Sam Michel asked if area business owners had sufficient input regarding the ordinance. Rich replied that business owners were able to ask board mem- bers about the ordinance for the past two months, and that the issue has been publicized. “This was all done above board,” Rich said. Also approved by the board were resolutions adopt- ing the district’s financial policies for 2010-11 and an- nexation of a property at 686 Briar Lane in Selma. Another resolution called for changing budgeted per- sonal services. IVFD received unplanned money from Illi- nois Valley Community De- velopment Organization for fuel-reduction (brush, trees and the like) projects in O’Brien. As such, the budget amount in the personal ser- ODOT begins Hwy. 199 work at Wonder By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer A $2.2 million project to add a passing lane to Red- wood Hwy. (state Hwy. 199) near Wonder is well under way, with crews diligently working toward completion around the end of October. The construction is be- tween Elliot Creek Road and Round Prairie Road by high- way mileposts 10 and 11. The project is partly funded through a state trans- portation improvement pro- gram, said Gary Leaming, of the Oregon Dept. of Trans- portation (ODOT). Approxi- mately $1.6 million of its cost comes from a congressional earmark made possible by U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D- Springfield), Leaming said. No property acquisitions were needed for the project, he added, as ODOT already had a wide section of right- of-way through the area. The bid for the project was awarded to Grants Pass- based Copeland Sand & Gravel, which also is using subcontractors. Leaming estimated that between 30 and 40 jobs were retained or created as a result of the project, all of which went to Josephine County residents. That stretch of highway was selected for improvement due to its “higher-than- normal crash rate,” according to Leaming. “We were looking for an additional passing lane oppor- tunity between Wilderville and Hayes Hill,” Leaming said. “We were looking for an opportunity for northbound traffic to pass slower-moving vehicles, which is really im- portant during the summer months.” Drivers can expect shoul- der closures in that stretch of Redwood Hwy. as crews work to construct roadway foundation. They also can anticipate slow-moving con- struction traffic entering and exiting the work zone. As of Monday, June 21, work is scheduled for installa- tion of underground drainage pipes, which will cause short delays. Work will be con- ducted Monday through Thursday nights that week. Leaming said that main focus of work crews will be to keep traffic moving through the area. “At some point, they will be working really close to the highway,” he said. At that point, it will be night work. Drivers may be flagged dur- ing the night time with some minor delays through there. “The goal is to keep traf- fic moving in the daytime and on the weekends.” BLM to host contractor workshop in Medford The Bureau of Land Management Medford Dis- trict will host speakers from the Government Contract Assistance Program (GCAP) on Thursday, June 17. The workshop, at the Medford Interagency office, 3040 Biddle Road from 9 a.m. to noon, is designed to provide the information tools to navigate the federal gov- ernment procurement system for current and future contrac- tors. Topics will include bid preparation, electronic con- tracting, interpreting solicita- tions, and how to obtain con- tract specifications. GCAP — Oregon’s Pro- curement Technical Assis- tance Program — is spon- sored and brought to the pub- lic by the Organization for Economic Initiatives, the De- fense Logistics Agency, the Oregon Economic & Com- munity Development Dept., and the Oregon Dept. of Transportation. For more information about the workshop, contact Pat Hebb at 541-618-2212. Additional information about the Medford District can be found at: http://www.blm.gov /or/districts/medford/ index.php. School district faces $2 million in cuts … (Continued from page 1) the shortfall include reducing the number of employees, reducing their compensation or eliminating up to 20 school days, Huber-Kantola said. Further complicating matters is the fact that the district is in regular negotia- tions with three of its four union bargaining groups. The next round of negotiations will occur in August, he said. TRSD reduced its num- ber of teaching positions by 10 last year and four this year, he said, adding that $2 mil- lion is the equivalent of 26 teaching positions. The timing of the budget- ary complications also is trou- bling to Huber-Kantola, he said. TRSD received the final forecast on revenue for next year from the state on May 14, and based its budget on those figures. Local officials had “no hint from anybody” what was about to happen, he said. A similar situation occurred in May 2007, when the TRSD Budget Committee had to delay deliberations while the Legislature continued debate on education funding. There are some spots of optimism, however. Federal legislation has been proposed in the form of S.3206, the Keep Our Educators Working Act of 2010, to help states prevent cuts in their school programs. That bill has faced some legislative setbacks, so Huber-Kantola said that its likelihood of passage is a “real unknown.” A new revenue forecast is to be released by the state in November. Huber-Kantola said that the revenue figures could change as a result, but that TRSD still will plan for the worst. “We’re planning as if that $2 million is going to be gone,” he said. In the long-term, the dis- trict’s enrollment is projected to level off around 2012, re- versing the decline of the past few years. “At that point, it be- comes more stable. But that doesn’t help the problem,” Huber-Kantola said. “We will still have a couple more years of declining enrollment.” He added that attending the three recent graduation ceremonies for TRSD high school students helped him cope with the negativity sur- rounding a grim financial picture. “It was a good reminder of why we fight and strug- gle to do the best we can with what money they give us,” noted Huber-Kantola. “It doesn’t get any better than that.” HB 2229 prompts land-use zoning review (Continued from page 1) designation to 200,000 acres. “Their local input was not recognized at all,” Hunni- cutt said. He estimated that there are approximately one mil- lion acres of resource land that have been miszoned throughout the state. “We hear that every- where we go,” he said. Gov. Kulongoski and legislative leaders agreed in 2005 to formation of the Big Look Task Force. That 10- member panel was charged with traveling around the state to solicit input from citi- zens regarding the land-use system, and reporting its find- ings to the Legislature. The report produced by the task force lead to intro- duction of HB 2229 during the 2009 legislative session. Hunnicutt said that bill was “worthless” in its original form, and was widely op- posed by cities, counties, real- tor groups, builders and groups on both sides of the land-use debate. “It would not have done anything,” he said. “Everybody hated it.” However, Hunnicutt said, Rep. Mary Nolan (D- Portland) chaired the House Land-Use Committee and wanted to pass a bill reflect- ing the task force’s findings. That required buy-in from all the different groups that op- posed the bill, Hunnicutt said. HB 2229 passed the House and Senate nearly unanimously. By then, Hunni- cutt said, it had been amended in committee and was a “radically different bill.” Hunnicutt said that HB 2229 is the most significant land-use bill passed by the Legislature since the 1973 passage of SB 100, which created the statewide sys- tem. “This has the potential of being a big change,” he said. Prior to passage of HB 2229, Hunnicutt said, coun- ties largely had given up on changing the zoning of rural properties. He added that once that bill was signed into law, OIA hoped that some counties outside the Wil- lamette Valley would be will- ing to be “guinea pigs” and take the first steps towards rezoning parcels of land. illinois-valley-news.com Around six months ago, Hunnicutt said, the Deschutes County Board of Commis- sioners voted unanimously to be the first county to initiate the process under HB 2229. Jackson County made a simi- lar decision about three months ago, and Josephine County also is doing the same. Grant and Coos coun- ties are moving in the same direction, Hunnicutt said. Deschutes and Jackson are the “ideal counties” to try the process, he said, as both have experienced much change, growth and urbaniza- tion since the 1980s. He said that for HB 2229 to work, LCDC must change its definitions of farm and forest land to a more region- alized concept. He opined that the agency likely would be willing to do so, as it does not want HB 2229 to fail. “LCDC wants to make it work,” Hunnicutt said. “They want to have a success story.” Jackson and Deschutes counties will adopt their rule- making under HB 2229 next March, Hunnicutt said, and their task forces will begin drafting those rules this Sep- tember. “This time next year, we’ll have a good idea where this is heading,” he said. vices budget line item in- creased by $8,200. Approximately $40,000 was shifted from the materi- als and services line item to personal services to meet unexpected medical and per- sonnel costs for the 2009-10 fiscal year. That adjustment was made possible by pas- sage of another resolution. IVFD received $4,956 in grant money from the Oregon Dept. of Transporta- tion for car seats and vehicle booster seats for the dis- trict’s car seat clinic. The board passed a resolution 4- 0 changing a budgetary line item to reflect that grant being received. In his report to the board, Deputy Chief Jeff Gavlik reported that IVFD is down two volunteer firefighters. One moved to Phoenix, Gav- lik said, and another was let go due to personnel issues. Gavlik said that he also is planning a fund-raising event for next year. The event will involve a friendly competi- tion with other agencies throughout the state. The next IVFD board meeting is set for July 8. Academic Achiever Jacob Lukas Jacob Lukas, son of Takilma resident Deb Lukas, graduated with honors (Cum Laude) on Friday, June 11, 2010. He received a bachelor of science degree in computer science from Drexel University in Philadelphia. Lukas began his education with six years at Dome School in Takilma. He attended Illinois Valley High School for two and a half years, earned his GED and spent two years at Rogue Community College. He received an annual Drexel University endowed scholarship of $15,800 to offset tuition, totaling $63,200. He plans to begin full-time employment on the West Coast this fall. Heritage Moments will be closing July 23rd 50% off all inventory continuing price reductions until everything is sold most merchandisers and racks will be sold Thank you all for allowing us to be part of your life and memories. May God continue to bless you as you have blessed us. Jeff & JoAnna Gavlik
