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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (July 19, 2017)
Happy 27th Anniversary Reno Mike and Chrissy! Illinois Valley News Wednesday, July 19, 2017, 1 Section, Volume LXXX No. 17 $1.00 Published weekly for the residents of the Illinois Valley Oh, deer! Fire district board member quits amid controversy Jason McMillen IVN Contributing Writer Tension ran high July 13 during the Illinois Valley Fire District’s board meeting, where Joe Feldhaus, successor to Carol Dickson, was sworn in and Edwin Butler, a 10-year veteran of the council, tendered his verbal resignation in anger. When the vote for this term’s president was cast near the start of the meeting, all were in favor of Ron Humphfres resuming the position except for Butler, who nominated Richard Bouchard. Butler cited the several monthlong controversy surrounding Humphfres and his general embarrassment regarding the conduct of the rest of the board as the reason for his resignation. “I now leave in disgust,” Butler said, ending his speech and exiting the building. The controversy began when Humphfres came to Fire Chief Dennis Hoke with a memorandum of understanding that granted one particular long-term employee lifetime medical coverage after leaving the district. The chief said that lifetime medical coverage was not a good idea and, after discussion between him and Humphfres, was reduced to six months and signed. SEE QUITS ON A-3 (Photo by Dan Mancuso, Illinois Valley News) While momma retreated back into the woods, this little fawn hunkered down on the side of Bear Creek Rd. Tuesday, July 4. Mill property does a 180 Jason McMillen IVN Contributing Writer Sparetime Supply Distribution has purchased the lumber facility previously owned by Rough and Ready Lumber Company and will soon be converting it into a distribution center to suit their needs. They specialize in the wholesale and distribution of farming and gardening supplies and have been operating since 1983 in Willits, California. Sparetime bought the property after an arduous two-year search spanning both Jackson and Josephine counties. They are opening the Cave Junction location so that they can more easily keep up with demand in the Pacific Northwest. The property’s ownership was officially transferred over about two weeks ago and over the coming month they will finalize plans and begin the process of remodeling the facility to meet their needs. Some of the changes include: adding conveyers, replacing flooring, siding, and insulation and rewiring electrical capabilities. The main mill site is Sparetime’s primary interest in the property. Although ideas are abound, they have no current plans to use the rest of their 300 plus acres of land and have no plans to utilize the airport nearby. “We’re going to work with all the local contractors that we can find,” Andrew Hosford, executive vice president, said. However, he admitted that Sparetime may have to use contractors from Grants Pass to work on their new metal buildings because nobody with that specialization has yet been found in the Illinois Valley. Although research has been done with regards to finding contractors available to work for them, Sparetime has yet to reach out and schedule any appointments. “We’re probably going to start up in the coming months and from there hopefully have most of it done by early winter,” Hosford concluded. Tim Hosford, brother of Andrew Hosford and sales manager for Southern Oregon, moved to Cave Junction about three weeks ago and will be overseeing efforts to remodel the facility. When the distribution center is up and running it is estimated that Sparetime will initially need some 10-20 new employees, all of which, Hosford hopes, are going to be hired from the local workforce. Currently, they plan to hire office staff, forklift drivers, warehouse workers, inventory personnel and commercial drivers. Over the next five years, if business goes as well as it has in Willits, Hosford estimates that the number could grow to as many as 80. “It really just depends on how the business develops up there,” Hosford said, “It’ll help to bring back some jobs that have been lost as the lumber industry has died off over the past 20 years or so.” When they’re ready to start taking on employees to operate the facility, perhaps by the spring of next year, they are considering hosting an employment faire for interested locals to attend. In addition to bringing jobs to the area, Hosford said that their business is one of the largest community supporters in their small, Mendocino County town. In Willits, Sparetime reportedly donates to the schools, 4H, SSA and the hospital. “The sky’s the limit for what we’re happy to support, particularly in a small town that doesn’t have a lot of industry,” Hosford said, noting that community support, like jobs, rests on their level of success. Sparetime has been a family owned and operated business since its inception as a retail store 34 years ago. After good success, they expanded into wholesale and distribution and currently have over 100 employees at their location in Willits. Sparetime claims to have customers all over the country, even in Alaska and Hawaii, but most of their business takes place in the western United States. “The sky’s the limit for what we’re happy to support, particularly in a small town that doesn’t have a lot of industry,” Tim Hosford, sales manager, Sparetime Supply Distribution JoCo cannabis advisory committee wants you: Long debated cannabis advisory committee, which directly supports the Josephine County Board of Commissioners with information, advice and opinions, was approved, seeks interested members. SEE A-5 City to upgrade wastewater system Caroline Griffith IVN Contributing Writer The Cave Junction City Council took steps Monday, July 10, to begin making necessary improvements to the city’s aging water system and wastewater treatment plant. Using input from Civil West Engineering, who the city regularly contracts with, the council voted unanimously to move forward in seeking funding for the projects. The estimated cost for wastewater system upgrades and water system upgrades is $6.5 million. According to Bill Boger, of Civil West Engineering, the specific projects under consideration were designated as priorities based on studies done in 2013 and 2014. “The goal of these projects is to protect health and human safety, and to improve efficiencies which will lower the operations and maintenance costs to the city,” said Boger. Both studies outlined the need for several projects to protect the health, sanitation and security of Cave Junction by addressing aging infrastructure and future population growth. SEE CITY ON A-10 Time for some folk and bluegrass Judy Hoyle IVN Contributing Writer Just when you thought the summer couldn’t get any hotter, here comes the 14th annual Siskiyou Folk and Bluegrass Festival at Lake Selmac County Park with an all-new lineup of West Coast bands. Gates open at 9 a.m. July 22 for the highly anticipated fest, sponsored this year by the Rotary Club of the Illinois Valley. Performances will run from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and are listed in order of appearance. • Illinois Valley String Band playing a blend of Appalachian, New England and Irish fiddle tunes, originals, old-time Americana and novelty songs. • The Brothers Reed hail from Southern Oregon and offer comedic brotherly banter along with close harmonic singing influenced by a wide variety of genres. SEE BLUEGRASS ON A-8
