and maintenance crews, purchased a sump
pump and brought it up and installed it, using
the Beck house garden hoses. I learned that
day as Joan^M acy read the agreement
between the county and the city, that the
county is responsible for the interior and
exterior maintenance. W e, Town of Butte
Falls, are responsible for the grounds,
sidewalks, etc. W ith the wet and snowy
weather for the past month, the water problem
is still with us. Pat Blair,
Supervisor of
Jackson County Library branches, came to the
January 25 council meeting . She brought a
report
about
the
problems
and
recommendations by the county maintenance
F ir e : hgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
Hugh Simpson heard that United
persons. Scott W addell volunteered to check
Telephone Company had special dollars to
into the problem and report to the council .
assist with projects such as our volunteer fire
The
grounds are not draining properly and
department. Hugh sent a letter telling of our
immediate action is necessary.
'PScott
need and United Telephone Company sent a
M allory9 has been assisting by repairing the
$500 donation to our fire department. Our
pump and monitoring it ’ s effectiveness. I
Butte'PFallsW olunteer'P Fire ^Departm ent
shall keep you posted.
through fund raisers , donations and out of
town subscriber fees raise seventy-five percent
The council has discussed forming a W ater
of the total budget year costs. W e appreciate
Commission sim ilar to the Planning
our volunteer fire department persons and
Commission. At a tumultuous meeting in
their willingness to provide us with an
January , I mentioned that I had learned that
essential service.
currently the town was not required to have
water meters installed for all residences. I
P u b lic W orks:
Following the first major
inadvertently offended Scott M allory with my
rain storm late in December, a storm drain by
approach and timing of the discussion. I had
the alley next to the library clogged with the
talked with the regional manager of the
library landscape bark and flooded back as far
Oregon State Department of W ater Resources
as the library storage shed.
A neighbor,
M ikeW W itte, removed the bark from the
in Grants Pass a few months ago. I had called
storm drain and the water started to drain.
to discuss our water rights and asked him
This was only the beginning of our problems.
about the water meters. At a prior council
A couple days later, our librarian, TKaren
meeting Pete^Vorbeck in his planning
Taylor, called me at home to tell me the
commission report had mentioned that we as
a town of less than 2000 could request a
library was full of condensation and
everything in the library could soon be ruined.
waiver for a Oregon State Department of
Transportation rule. I merely asked if we
I was unable to reach our public works
superintendent, so called upon 7Bill9
m ight get such a waiver for residential water
TuckerT, our faithful town volunteer, to check
meters. Al Cook, ODW R Regional M anager,
it out. W e had more than a foot of water
told m e that he knew of no such law. W e
under the library. Karen contacted the county
discussed the need for a water conservation
limits. However, we must remember that the
taxes to support our police department, our
public works (including park and cemetery),
etc. are paid solely by the town residents. W e
are very fortunate to have so many community
residents willing to put forth so much effort to
support the community.
I mentioned
something about this at the last council
meeting. I am always afraid that what 1 am
thinking does not come out properly when I
am saying it. M y thanks to all who support
our community!!
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