Image provided by: Friends of the Sandy Public Library; Sandy, OR
About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1978)
Section SANDY OREGON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1978 The SÄnäy Post Area News People Home & Garden Features Riprap decisions are split for area land owners by MARK FLOYD Homeowners on the Sandy and Zigzag Hivers were granted permits recently by the Division of State Lands to construct stabilization structures along the riverbanks But a number of other homeowners on the other stretches of the Zigzag River near Rhododendron were turned down Owners of 21 lots including three by Clackamas County — were given the go-ahead to build the reta inin g structure to keep the waters from eating away at the banks. Permits for 26 other lots on the Zigzag River were denied by the DSL because their situations did not constitute an “ emergency" based on state criteria. According to a letter from DSL Director W illiam Cox to the Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District, approval of the permits is based on the distance of a building to the riverbank. As a result, four lots on the Zigzag River near Rhododendron were ap proved while 26 lots just upstream were denied Reinforcing the riverbanks with man made devices — or riprapping — was sought by landowners on the two rivers because of high water which over flowed the banks last year Heavy snow followed by steady ram and a rise in temperatures is believed to have caused the flooding. The Soil and Water Conservation District applied to the state on behalf of the landowners for the permits. Cox stated in his letter to the Con servation District that he denied per mits for the 26 lots on the Zigzag River because “ the proposed work is not justified. “ This is a dynamic, high energy section of stream where, during high flows, water velocities are intense enough to move boulders three and four feet in diameter downstream.” He added that while some bank erosion has occurred “ as one would reasonably expect along a stream of such gradient, it by no means is ex cessive and certainly has not created an emergency.” The emergency clause was the major obstacle to granting the permits. The permits had been applied for under provisions of the Emergency Water shed Protection Act which provides funds for construction of emergency erosion prevention structures. However, there were other reasons for denial, according to Cox. He said that granting the permits would provide a false sense of security for property owners who would then be encouraged to build homes closer to the stream. Another factor was the proposed devices themselves which would stretch out into certain pools of the Zigzag River in the Rhododendron area and disrupt known spawning grounds of steelhead. DSL officials took into consideration the opinion of the State Fish and Wildlife Department which is asked to comment regularly on these ap- plications. “ Our department was opposed to some of the extensive riprapping in the Rhododendron area,” district biologist Jay Massey said. “ The habitat (for young steelhead) would decline rapidly. “ The rive r isn’t particularly fast right now — there are a lot of boulders breaking it up," Massey added. “ If there was riprapping on both sides of the stream, the current would pick up significantly.” Included in the approved Sandy sites was a lot owned by Jim Kitchen, whose case is the most dramatic of any of the property owners. Kitchen’s home on the Sandy River just west of Dodge Park nearly became a houseboat after the high water lopped up to 20 feet off of his bank. His home was left precariously close to the edge of the bank which slopes almost straight down into the river. Kitchen has expressed a fear that weather conditions sim ilar to last year might be enough to knock his house into the river. However, Kitchen and the rest of the property owners w ill have to wait awhile, before work can begin on their structures, according to Ed Olmsted of the Soil Conservation Service. In order to get funding under the Emergency Watershed Protection Act, all of the work must be under one contract, and that contract w ill have to be open for bidding. Additionally, regulations prohibit working in rivers and streams during the winter months in order to reduce the disruption of salmon and steelhead runs. Olmsted said that work w ill not begin until July 1. When work does begin, a number of special conditions for the Zigzag and Sandy areas w ill be enforced. They include st ipulations requiring that: The operation shall be conducted in a manner that w ill minimize any tur bidity increase. —The stream shall not be diverted from the natural bed nor within the natural bed. —Only clean, erosion resistant rock from an upland source shall be used as riprap. —Riprap shall be placed in a manner that does not appreciably increase the upland surface area. —The operation shall not be done between September 15 and July 1. —Areas of streambank disturbance not covered by riprap shall be seeded or planted with grass, legumes and shrubs. —There shall be no operation of equipment in the water except to dig a toe trench. — R em oval of e xisting woody vegetation shall be minimal. The conditions of the permits were set by the Division of State Lands following extensive research, ac cording to Cox. “ Our staff went out and looked at the sites and compiled the information,” Cox said. “ We (Division of State Lands) act as a coordinator and consolidate all of the agencies involved. “ It saves the individual from having to go to four or five places to find out what he wants to know,” Cox added. For those property owners whose request permit was denied there is still hope. The Soil and Water Conservation D istrict has sent a letter appealing the decision and a hearing w ill be for thcoming. No date has been set for the hearing as yet, according to Cox. THE STATE has approved riprapping in certain sections like this on the Zigzag River near Rhododendron. Marmot artist brings Indian heritage to life by ( ARDI. THURLKILL Post Correspondent “ I don’t miss the fast paced a rtist’s world,” says Roger Cooke “ Sometimes the big time is a detrim A t to success.” CoÖke, a Marmot-area artist well known for his colorful Western paint ings, does not miss the bright lights of the big city. He enjoys living in a mountain environment where he can fish in his backyard for steelhead. "A lot of people get their priorities mixed up and end up losing their families or the desire to produce a rt," he said. The main theme in Cooke s paintings are Northwestern Indians of the last century in their native homelands and dress His works portray a discipline and perfectionist’s realism with every stroke. “ I paint a lot of subjects which are gone forever,” Cooke, 37, said in a 'recent interview in his home on the Sandy River. “ Sometimes it takes as long for the research (on a particular subject) as it does for the painting ” Cooke keeps a photo file of his paintings that have been sold. One painting portrays a buffalo herd being pushed over a c liff by a tribe of hungry Indians. It took him a year just to collect the information on the Indian tribe to ensure accuracy of detail. “ One reason I chose my subject matter was because it hadn't been done before,” he said. Cooke’s research takes him from the alpine meadows of the Cascades to the Blue Mountain range where he takes photographs of mountain scenery as well as of modern day Indians. “ A lot of the areas I paint are open only three or four months out of the year and it’s not possible to go out and paint them,” he said “ There may be the kind of lighting I ’m looking for that goes by in five minutes. " I also try to study and store in formation on lighting in my mind I’m just fascinated with what lighting can do to a scene.” His paintings generally show the nobility of Indians, one painting shows two chiefs resting their horses on a high meadow; another depicts a Umatilla tribe settling for the evening around their teepees Also in his collection are facial portraits of young bucks and the graceful poses of a young squaw in white buckskin. Cooke composes his paintings in a well lit studio in his home. Working there, he is able to take an occasional tea break with wife, Edna, and their two children, Lance and Stephanie. Their home is warm and relaxing with none of the artist’s work on the walls. Cooke looks for balance in his works: “ Balance between the s p iritu a l, physical and mental aspects of life ,” he said. As a part of maintaining that balance, the tall, slim Cooke hikes, skis, plays tennis, is involved in his church, and teaches classes at Timberlake Job Corp Center on “ how to cope with problems that prevent a person from being successful. “ Good art doesn’t just reproduce a scene,” he says. “ I think good art communicates a feeling. People can look at it and relate to it because it recreates a feeling in them. By me relating to others, I feel I can better communicate what others feel. I just now feel that I am moving in that direction. A person has to master technique firs t,” he said. Cooke uses a delicate combination of oil washes (oil with turpentine and copel medium) and opaque oils (thick oil that you cannot see through) painted on a masonite board. “ With this technique I can get all of the spontaneity of water and the flexibility of oils. I use glazes and let them do their own thing It doesn’t dry immediately, so I can work with it,” he explained. “ I t ’s frustrating at first because a lot of things can ruin, and I have to start over What I try to do is have looseness and a certain amount of detail in the background. A lot of the background leans toward impressionism and the foreground is more realistic,” he said. While he says it has taken four or five years to perfect this technique, Cooke has been painting horses since he was a boy. He lived in the Beaverton area until he was 19 and moved to Marmot with his parents in 1960 The interest in Indian history grew from the stories his great grandfather used to tell. “ He lived in Lewiston, Idaho, when the United States declared war on the Nez Pierce Confederation. He told a lot of stories of Chief Joseph He respected him. He told his stories with respect I t ’s kind of funny because 100 years later, I did paintings of Chief Joseph's great great-granddaughters, Valda and Vonda Humphrey. He received his formal training at Portland State University for two years and the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles where he majored in illustration. He initially started out in illustration in Indianapolis and moved Carol ThurIk ill ptwxr RO G ER COOKE with phata repradaetiaa« af hto warfci back to Portland in 1972 It was then that he began to paint Western art on the side market They are used to paying $50 to $200. When you get into the higher figures, there aren’t that many buyers. There are several I wish 1 could have “ In 1974 I sent two of my paintings kept I can’t afford my own work,” he over a two-month period to the Husberg said. Fine Arts Gallery in Sedona. Arizona. I “ Ten years ago the demand for sold them right away,” he said with a Western art exceeded the supply. Now grin there are an awful lot of artists involved Cooke now supports his family with in it. A lot who live back East and don’t the income from his paintings. He know what they are doing. I make sure produces as many as 24 in a year, my quality is tops and make the sometimes working up to 12 hours a competition chase me,” he said. day. But, he said, his emphasis is on With each of Cooke's paintings, the quality rather than quantity. buyer gets a w ritte n h istorica l The m ajority of his work is now sold background of the tribe and setting, and in Sedona to out of state collectors at a the knowledge that he is purchasing a price ranging from $400 to $6.000. unique and painstakingly created piece “ The Portland area is not a good art of art. Hoodland clinic receives approval OREGON CITY — The request to use a double wide mobile home as a tem porary home for the Hoodland Com munity Clinic in the Welches area was approved Thursday by Clackamas County Hearings Officer Richard Crist. Representatives of the Providence Medical Center in Portland asked for a temporary permit to use the trailer on the west side of Welches Road almost 600 feet south of its intersection with Highway 26 while plans are being made for a permanent facility. Jerry Milstead. a representative of P rovidence M edical Center said members of the Hoodland Community requested the center have a medical clinic operating before the winter recreation season began. Milstead said his company w ill be looking for a permanent site in 1979 Milstead said the center w ill provide special treatment for emergency cases and w ill also have a standard physicians practice during the day. Lowell Njust, president of the Hoodland Chamber of Commerce testified at the hearing the Hoodland area was in desperate need of a medical center. “ There just aren't adequate words to tell you how badly we need this care,'' Njust said. “ We’ve been trying for 10 years to get something like this going “ With all the people traveling through our area to Mt Hood, the burden is becoming unbearable and this was the only immediate location we could find,” he said Ann Wickersham of Sandy testified that there was a great need for the center in the area because most of the emergency cases go as far as Gresham for trea tment Crist approved the request subject to several conditions including adequate parking spaces, landscaping, access and Department of Environmental Quality approval of the septic holding tank Officials at Providence said they plan to open the clinic Tuesday if the specially constructed double-wide trailer can be transported over the mountains from Idaho Zigzag nurse Susan French has been hired for the facility and w ill begin taking appointments for visits next week during regular office hours of 8 30 a m. to5 p m Phone number at the clinic is 622- 3126 District formation vote set Voters in the proposed boundaries of the Hoodland sewage district w ill go to the polls Jan 23 to decide whether the district w ill be formed The Clackamas County elections office certified the names of signers to a petition presented to the Clackamas County commissioners last week Forty-five names were required to put the matter to a vote The petition listed 61 signers The county elections office said 301 persons w ill be eligible to vote in the election They include residents in the Welches area bordered by Highway 26, Arrah-Wanna Boulevard, Salmon River Road and the Salmon River. Also included in the proposed district are people in Timberline Rim and residents of the commercial area in Rhododendron The district is being proposed for construction of a regional sewage treatment plant that could handle 500.000 gallons of sewage a day It would serve an eventual population of 10.000
