Inside
the
Post
Voi. 70
No. 8
Inside B u sin ess......................Page 3. Section I
Editorial, le t t e r s ...........
Keeping Posted
Page t . Section I
............. .... Page 8. Section I
N ew map-
Auction
see pg. 4,
action- see
sec. I
pg. 1, sec. II
Menus.........................................Page ». Section I
Area N e w s .............................. Page 1. Section II
Around the C o u n ty............... Page 2. Section II
Home and G arden................. Page 4. Section II
Television Directory . .
Pages 6-8, Section I I I
Sports. R ecreation.........Pages 1-8. Section 111
The
Voters OK library levy
N $1.43 million-per year serial levy to
finance the Clackamas County
cooperative library system was ap
proved by voters in the special election
Tuesday, guaranteeing funds for
libraries for the next three years.
A $3 m illion special levy to continue
the present level of services at Mt.
Hood Community College was also
approved, ending speculation that the
library would have to eliminate per-
The vote on the three-year library
levy was 4,770-3,430. The property tax
rate which homeowners w ill now pay is
27 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation.
That is down from 30 cents per $1,000
paid on the levy which expired July 1.
The vote on MHCC’s ballot “ A” ,
providing $2,482,941, was 7,473 yes, 5,864
no. Ballot " B ” which provides an ad
ditional $551,665, was passed by a
narrower margin, 6,684-6,630.
The MHCC election was the first to
test the new two-ballot system, begun
by the 1979 Legislature.
Under the new process, the “ A”
ballot allows taxing districts to in
crease levy requests to allow for in
flation and population growth. That
amount is eligible for state payment of
up to 30 percent of homeowner’s
property taxes.
Additional money must be generated
by a “ B” b allot That money is not
eligible for state support.
In the races for the two positions on
the college’s board, incumbent Polly
Casterline defeated Tom Dennehy
1,354-1,061.
In the race for the vacant Zone 2 spot,
which serves the Sandy area, Mary
Opray defeated Roger Kromer 2,334-
1,800.
Hearing slated Monday
on ‘no frills' budget
The City of Sandy w ill ask voters to
approve a "no frills ” $270,392.17 special
property tax levy when they go to the
polls March 25.
‘ ‘The expenditure appropriations
have been reviewed by each depart
ment and are the m inim al ap
propriations to sustain the current level
of service in most cases,” according to
City Manager Roger Jordan. “ In some
cases it was not possible to sustain
existing service levels.”
This is the first year under the new
state law controlling property taxes.
The law provides for the state to pay up
to 30 percent of the property taxes for
operating purposes. However, the state
has set the lim it to which they w ill
participate as last year’s levy plus
inflation and growth.
Any levy outside this amount must be
approved by taxpayers on a separate
ballot “ B ” without state participation.
In addition, the state has limited the
taxable value of property.
“ This year our taxable property,
while actually growing by well over 30
percent with new construction and
inflation, w ill be lim ited to much less,”
Jordan said in his budget message.
"This new lim itation has the effect of
incrementally raising our tax rate,
since the amount of taxable property on
which we spread the cost is not in
creasing proportionately with growth.”
Jordan called this a "drastic change
from previous years when the
tremendous increases in the value of
property have decreased rates.” The
proposed budget w ill cost $4.64 per
$1,000 assessed valuation.
The Sandy budget was prepared
without contemplation of any ballot
“ B” therefore, the state w ill pay 30
percent of the operating levy.
The new state law allows a levy of
$282,979. However, the uncollectable
amount is expected to be nine percent,
which gives a total tax resource of
$257,511. Because the c ity ’s allowable
tax base is only $12,586.83, tb*i city w ill
have to conduct an election outside the
six percent lim it for $270,392.17.
Under the general fund, the city
council would be appropriated $3,250.
That is down from last year when
council received $3,500. The decrease is
due to a lessening of the travel ex
penditure.
The city manager’s office w ill receive
a budget of $79,056. Included in that
amount is a CETA-funded ad
ministrative trainee to assist with
grantsmanship.
Other departments under the general
fund are legal and judicial, $12,770;
finance
officer, $24,128;
library,
$62,262; police, $235,745; community
center, $2,450.
Other proposed appropriations under
the general fund are $22,501 for
recreation department; $45,572 for
senior citizens programs; $1,000 for
parks; $26,192 fo r the planning
department, and $38,028 for the building
department.
Public works w ill receive $210,954 and
$43,623 w ill be spent in the non-
departmental fund.
The city w ill hold a public hearing on
the proposed budget Monday, Feb. 25,
at 7:30 p.m. in the city council cham
bers.
Snow removal costs set
Snow removal in the Columbia Gorge
and throughout Oregon during the week
of January 7 through 15 cost the state
$197,000, according to state highway
engineer H . Scott Coulter.
Clearing snow on 1-80 from the
Cascade Ixx?ks to The Dalles, known as
Operation Snowmarch, cost $105,000
while an additional $92,000 was spent on
Clatskanie, Banfield, North Portland
and Milwaukie sections of highways.
The highway division had to bring in
trained personnel from around the state
because it did not have the equipment
or personnel trained to handle the
unprecedented amounts of snow that
closed I-80N for a few days.
When in full force, there were 18
rotary snowplows, eight heavy plows,
four medium plows, 15 light trucks, five
motor graders and 125 people working
to remove about one million tons of
snow.
Cable T V companies OK'd;
Commissioner fears over-run
*1
Three more cable television companies
have been given the go-ahead to
operate in Clackamas County, bringing
the total number to four and prompting
county commissioner Ralph Groener to
worry the companies "m ay trip over
each other "
But Assistant County Counsel Jack
Schwab defended the county’s non
exclusive franchise policy, saying "the
public w ill make the decision as to
which companies they w ill be serviced
by, rather than having that decision
made for them by the county
By granting the companies fran
chises, the county allows them to string
cable in the rural parts of the county.
In September, com m issioners
granted franchise to Liberty Cable
Television, which covers the Oak
Grove-Jennings Lodge area.
Since then, commissioners have
granted franchises to Warner Cable,
Storer Communications and Cascade
Utilities.
Cascade U tilitie s , a telephone
company with offices in Estacada,
plans to operate only in the Estacada
area, said Tom Gorman, vice president
of customers relations.
Right now we’re putting all the
paperwork together,” said Gorman,
"so it's hard to say what the next steps
w ill be. We re applying for an FCC
licensing, and that w ill probably take a
couple months,
"Since the county franchise only
applies to the area outside the city,
we’ll probably go to the city council for
permission to go inside the c ity ,”
Gorman said. "This is a natural area
for cable, we feel, and the phone
company, which already has the lines
and some of the equipment that a cable
TV system needs, would be ideal to
handle it.”
k
County crews have begun work on the washout that has blocked Ten Eyck
Road since Jan. 14. Crews are now laying down a track so heavy equipment
can clear debris at the bottom of the ravine and begin work on a culvert that
w ill avert such washouts in the future. Work is expected to take a few more
weeks.
Ten Eyck problems continue
by DAN DILLON
Work on Ten Eyck Road is un
derway, but criticism and concerns
continue to surround the project.
County crews are working seven
days a week during daylight hours,
according to Hugh Kalani, county
road superintendent, but he is
hesitant to put a timeline on the
project.
One person who is not hesitant to
discuss the p ro je ct is Sandy
businessman Don Obrist. “ If I did it
the way they’re going at it, I ’d be
broke tomorrow.” Obrist, who
operates a gravel pit and fill
operation, is critical of the county’s
policy of hauling its fill from G ar
field, above Estacada, rather than
the county pit at Brightwood.
However, Kalani claimed the
distance is approximately the same
fro m G a rfie ld as it is from
Brightwood. Currently, 10 trucks are
hauling, but when fillin g begins,
more trucks w ill be used, Kalani
said.
“ I told them I ’d donate my loader
for two days, if they’d get 30 trucks
to keep my six-yard loader going.
Free of charge,” Obrist said.
Kalani said the offer never
reached his desk, “ n we had one for
free, I ’d certainly take him up on it.”
Because Obrist said the offer still
stands, when the serious hauling
with more trucks begins, perhaps
the county and Obrisi can get
together and strike a deal.
In the meantime, residents who
live in the area served by Ten Eyck
Road are concerned about fire and
medical protection.
Fire Chief Bob Rathke said
Tuesday that the district has had
“ five or six” calls in that area since
the road washed out Jan. 14. Of those
calls two involved fires and one was
a heart attack. The heart attack
victim died.
“ I really can’t say whether the
running time would have made a
difference,” Rathke said. Normal
running time to that location is three
to three and one-half minutes. The
rescue unit responded in 21 minutes,
because it had to go by way of
Coalman Road.
Another problem the long running
tim e firings about is the length of
time it takes a piece of apparatus out
of service. Instead of the normal
eight to 10 minutes a piece m ight be
on the road, now they are gone 40
minutes.
To combat that problem, Rathke
has instituted a staggered response
program.
The first unit w ill respond Code 3
with lights and sirens. A second unit
holds at a certain point, such as Baty
and Coalman Roads, before com
m itting itself to thé trip all the way
down Coalman Road. The third
piece w ill hold at the highway.
When the firefighters are certain
of the severity of a fire, then the rest
of the equipment responds ac
cordingly from their hold positions.
This helps response time to a second
call should a simultaneous alarm
occur.
Rathke is attempting to work out
an arrangement with Clackamas
County to allow a fire district vehicle
pass through the construction
project on Ten Eyck to respond to
medical emergencies. As yet, that
plan has not been confirmed.
Problems at the repair site, ac
cording to Kalani, are a lack of
space and the large amount of
moisture that is retained in the
mountain. The hill, he said, is
“ super-saturated.”
The problem that has created is
s till in the process of being
corrected. The new drainage system
is s till being constructed. When that
is completed, the heavy hauling w ill
begin.
To assist with that, Kalani has
lined up extra trucks to help the
county haul fill and Obrist is willing
to contribute a loader too.
“ I ’ll take my big 8 down to the
county pit (at Brightwood) and load
it,” Obrist said. He is a resident of
Kubitz Road and uses Ten Eyck
when it is usable.
Like the rest of the residents in the
area, he is w illing to do anything to
get the job done and get the pace of
life back to normal for everybody.
Annual mayor’s message:
City faces fiscal challenges
Despite surviving the fiscal night
mares of 1979, there w ill be no time for
the City of Sandy to let down, Mayor
Ruth Ixiudree said Monday.
"The past few years have brought the
pains of inflation, but this year those
pains have multiplied beyond belief.
Next year it w ill be difficult, if not
impossible, to simply continue the
existing level of city services," she said
in the annual m ayor’s message.
“ The challenge of the future is clear;
we cannot let down for one minute. We
are fortunate that our efforts last year
met the challenge, but for the for-
seeable future it w ill get more difficult,
rather than easier,” the mayor said.
Summarizing 1979 as a “ hard year for
the City of Sandy,” Ixiundree outlined
fiscal woes and the struggle to keep up
with inflation. “ An audit of the city
finances showed several funds in a
deficit position,” she said. “ In fact, it
appeared that if adjustments were not
made the city could end the fiscal year
over $300,000 in debt.”
She congratulated the city manager,
council and budget committee for
meeting the challenge and bringing the
budget into balance by the end of fiscal
1979. Now the budgetary problems are
lessened.
“ Fortunately, it appears we were
successful, as the state auditor has
informed us that we ended the year
with all but one fund in balance.” That
is a $50,000 debt for property purchase.
The city experienced an 8.9 percent
growth rate with more than $6 m illion
in new construction valuation. Com
m ercial growth was encouraging with
the addition of Independent Bank of
Sandy, Benj. Franklin Savings and
Ix » n and the major remodeling of
Clackamas County Bank. New com
m e rc ia l and in d u s tria l growth
broadened the economic base
“ Certainly, our philosophy is to ac
commodate growth which is inevitable
in our area, and yet not encourage
growth at all costs. To ensure this goal,
we spent much of last year developing a
comprehensive plan for Sandy,” she
said.
Completion of the comprehensive
plan, Loudree said, is a major item
scheduled for 1980 “ We have already
initiated an effort to ensure our share of
industrial and commercial growth, and
1 am appointing several local residents
to an Economic Development Com
mission for Sandy. The purpose of the
Commission w ill be to ensure that the
city takes the appropriate actions to
encourage future economic develop
ment for our community.”
Im pro vin g street conditions is
another priority the city must tackle in
the upcoming year, the mayor said.
South Bluff w ill finally begin to see an
improvement project this year after
postponements in the past. In addition,
Ixiundree expressed hope that Tupper
Road would also see improvements in
the coming year
Of prim ary importance is the fiscal
management of the city. "This year is
the first year that we are all governed
by the new state laws on both local
property taxes and on the conduct of
local elections,' Ixiundree said
“ Under the new laws, cities are
lim ited in the amount and method of
generating funds for our local budgets,
and we can no longer conduct our own
elections,” she said
“ Unfortunately, this increase of state
control over our operation and the
overriding of our local charter w ill
continue, rather than decrease, in the
future. However, we must continue to
fight to keep the right to make our own
local decisions,” she emphasized.
A very important matter is the ex
pansion of the Sandy Sewage Treat
ment Plant. " I f growth continues at the
present rate, the existing plant w ill
reach capacity within the next two
years, and if growth should increase
tremendously, it could be sooner,” she
said.
As a result, the city has included a
Sewer Facility Expansion study in the
1980-81 budget.
Other priorities include park im
provements, improvement of city
equipm ent, the continuation of
cooperative ventures such as the
countywide library cooperative and
community school agreement, the
expansion of the library and city hall,
and the resolution and payment of LID
No. 4 warrants
Any person who would desire the
complete text of the mayor’s annual
message may contact city hall.