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About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 1981)
Castles Dungeons page 2, sec. I l l page 5, sec. I FASY R E IJ 1 can whole green c 34 cup shredded A cheese Won Ton skins Salsa sauce Elementary school district seeks first ‘B’ ballot by DAN DILLON Although the March election w ill m ark the firs t tune the Sandy Elem entary School D istrict has been forced to pursue a ‘B ’ Ballot, district superintendent Clark Lund is optim istic that voters w ill approve it. Although there is an association that *B’ Ballot items are “ fr ills ,” Lund said Tuesday, “ Our *B’ Ballot is not. In my estimation, the programs and services on our B’ Ballot are essential.” The $333,094 B Ballot is in addition to a $1.59 m illion request the d istrict w ill make on its A ’ Ballot proposal. Lund SMid the reason for the *B’ Ballot is not an increase in services, with the exception of a new kindergarten proposal, but rather, is due to a cur tailm ent in funding. “ The big cur tailm ent comes in the form of state Basic School Support,” he said. “ Oregon Board of Education officials have advised that for the current time, state revenues be budgeted at current year levels,” Lund said in his Budget Message. “ The final level of funding from state sources w ill be determined at a later tim e by the 1981 le gislature. “ The D istrict experienced an actual loss of $71,956 in state revenues from those budgeted for the current year .” The 1980-81 tax levy called for $1,438,555 It is lim ited to a 12.64 percent increase for 1981-82, representing a gain of $152,278. “ This increase in itself is insufficient for providing all of the operations,” he said. That made it necessary to pursue the B’ Ballot proposal. If the state had continued w ith its anticipated Basic School Support, the district would not have had to pursue the second ballot. “ I feel that when people see what is in is a question that should be put before the community at large,” Ixirxl said. That decision came after a 10-month study by a ste e rin g co m m itte e examined the feelings of the school d is tric t’s parents and asked the School Board to consider adding kindergarten. Sandy is one of only four districts in the Multnomah-North Clackamas area that does not offer kindergarten. Lund disagreed w ith the idea that items were placed on the ‘B ’ Ballot because they are expendable. “ I just don't look at a school bus as expendable,” he said. The school is the *B’ Ballot, they w ill see that as appropriate program ,” Lund said. Included in the ‘B ’ Ballot is a proposed kindergarten program and its transportation bill, $148,313; two school buses and a grounds maintenance tractor, $65,500; Talented and Gifted p ro g ra m , $32,161; c o -c u rrjc u la r athletics and activities, $33,672; elementary level counseling program, $21,490; outdoor school, grade 6, $11,658; Sandy Community School, $14,300, and exterior painting at the Aquatic Center, $6,000. “ I feel that the kindergarten decision Sandy postmaster steps down after 26 years on job by DAN DILLON When John Metsger went to work for the Sandy post office, stamps were 3 cents and zip codes hadn't even been dreamed up. When he retired last Friday, after 25 years of service, stamps were 15 cents on their way to as high as 20, and zip codes were steaming fu ll speed ahead toward nine digits. “ When I came here, we had four clerks, one rural route and one star route,” Metsgar said. “ Now, we s till have four clerks, but we have five ru ra l routes and two star routes.” He became Sandy s postmaster in June, 1954, “ back in the days of the presidential appointment.” He had been an accountant w ith a small office in Sandy while he worked for a Portland certified public accountant firm . At that time, the post office was located where Tina’s Brass King Resale Clothing is now — on Proctor Boulevard next to the theater “ We moved here (to the present location on Ihoneer Boulevard) in 1959, and outgrew it in 1968 and we re still waiting for a new post office,” Metsger said. A new one has been promised for Sandy for a number of years, he said. In fact, the postmaster’s office already has supplies for the new post office stacked around in it. The only problem is that the U.S. Postal Service has not even purchased any land in the Sandy area to build the new fa cility Metsger said. “ We re supposed to be scheduled for 1981,” he said. Also in the works for Sandy is a new system of local delivery and the addition of two new rural routes The ru ra l routes undoubtedly w ill come first. The five current routes are called "K routes.” That means they are "overburdened," Metsger said. “ As soon as we get the routes split, the folks on those routes who have to drive over to another road to pick up tlw ir mail w ill get service. I hope something s done by next month " The new delivery system would be a park and loop The postal service has eliminated creating any new door-to-door routes. Instead, the ca rrie r delivers from a small van, parks it periodically and makes a small loop for delivery But, like the new post office. Metsger isn’t sure Grand jury clears man in shooting John Metsger posed in front of the post office when it opened in 1959. F rid a y. as he readied for retirement, he posed a final time. when it w ill begin. “ We’ve been fighting that battle for two years It needs it , ” he said. “ We just don’t have adequate boxes for the business area, i t ’s been grow ing so much.” The whole area served by the Sandy post office — from 362nd Avenue to Brightwood and from Wildcat Mountain Drive north to Aims has grown. In 1954 Metsger said there were 500 persons in the city lim its getting mail. Now, it's more than 2,800 In the entire area, there were 3,000 persons in 1954 Now, it ’s grown to more than 18,000 As the population has grown everywhere, the postal service in troduced zip codes. Now with talk of nine-digit zips, Sandy faces the possibility of having more than seven zip codes just to itself. The nine-digit code is designed to bring the m ail right down to the individual carriers, Metsger said, and the city w ill probably have more than one zip code number per rural route, with the star routes and potential park-and-loop The whole idea of zip codes is eliminating labor and increasing reliance on machines to sort the m ail. Metsger, who has heard his share of post office jokes, pointed out, “ You’ve got to punch the right key. Machines are only as good as the operator." But late mail and misplaced parcels w ill be the responsibility of another now Metsger plans to enjoy his retirem ent There's a lot of things to do around his C herryville home, he said. And he’d like to play a little golf and do some hunting, and then “ maybe another job.” Originally from New York, he came west in the service, m arried in California and migrated north to Oregon, a move that, he said, “ worked out pretty good ” More than anything, Metsger said he'll miss his fellow workers. "Most of us have been together for quite awhile.” U ntil a permanent replacement is named, Chuck Tropp of the Glad stone post office w ill serve as tem porary postmaster. Council repeats stand against outside developments by DAN D IU .O N The Sandy City Council decided Monday night that it w ill endorse no commercial sites outside the city lim its even if that business is already established locally At the same time it asked city staff to look into the fees charged for sewer and water hookups for motels in the possibility that a Sandy site is pur chased for such a development B ill Trunble, who has owned Trimble Construction for 10 years, asked the council to remand his request to the Clackamas County Commissioners "w ithout prejudice.” The council voted to take no action. T rim b le ’s request is a comprehensive plan change application that he has filed w ith the County Commission that would allow him to relocate his storehouse and shop on land near Los Amigos Restaurant, east of Sandy currently in the third year of its three- year cycle for school bus purchasing. That means that this year the district plans to buy two buses to m aintain its fleet He also disagreed that the Talented and Gifted program is expendable. “ Our TAG program is recognized as an exemplary program throughout the state,” he said, citing requests from other districts for help in better im plementing their own TAG programs. The extracurricular athletics and activities “ should be heartily endorsed because of the numbers it serves,” Lund said. He estimated that more than half the student body participates in these activities over the course of a school year. The ‘B’ Ballot items are “ sound, fundamental programs that have proven themselves and we want to maintain them ," he concluded. Turning to other support the district enjoys, Lund agreed with comments made last week by Sandy Union High School superintendent Jack Peters that approval of the Clackamas County Education Service D istrict proposed levy is essential. “ The loss of their handicapped services would put huge instant b u r dens on any local district, ours in cluded," he said. It would force the Sandy district to assume a cost of nearly $4,000 per child in the trainable program, he said, if the ESI) levy fails. Trim ble testified that he had been unable to locate any usable land inside the city lim its and had letters from local realtors verifying his contention. He told the council that what he plans is not “ a m ajor development and I don’t really feel it's comparable to Carmel Estates ” The city had claimed that it would jeopardize its long-standing litigation to prevent C arm el Estates fro m developing a retail shopping center at the Boring Interchange It feared en dorsement would suggest to the county that future comm ercial and industrial expansion in the Sandy area outside the urban growth boundary would be “ possible and encoiraged by the city, which is counter to the intent of o ir plan and goal 14 of the statewide goals,” according to a memorandum from City Manager Roger Jordan to the mayor and council Trim ble said his establishment. which would have no retail outlets, has already been approved by the Firwood Neighbors Association “ It might be a storehouse today, but tomorrow it might be a superm arket," said Councilman Don Blair. The county has made provisions to discourage strip commercial and in dustrial development along Highway 26 from Sandy to the mountain That is why Trim ble was asking the c ity ’s support in his battle against the county's plan. Local realtor Jerry I^iwson asked the council to reconsider the perm it fees necessary for a motel because a potential client “ could make or break over $25,000 in fees. ” He told the council that he has a prospective client " who is interested in building a 36-unit motel in Sandy but that $800 per unit hookup fees could prove prohibitive I .awson cited a Department of Environmental Quality pamphlet that said a single fam ily residence dumps 150 gallons of sewage per bedroom per day into a system. Without any kitchenettes, as the developer proposed, the DEQ said a motel unit would dump 80 gallons per bedroom per day “ It doesn’t seem reasonable to m e,” le w son said, for those two types of units to have to pay the same hookup fees City ordinance says that a motel unit shall be considered a “ dwelling u n it” and w ill be subject to the same charges In other action, the Sandy City Council: — Authorized the city manager to call for bids on tim ber and land clearing of property immediately adjacent to the Sandy Sewage treatment plant. That land w ill be used to develop a sludge disposal and burial site Bob H ornsby, superin te n d e n t, recommended to the city that a two or three acre site be developed as an open field planted with a m ixture of fescue and clover grass to be used as a site for sludge disposal — Instructed city staff to initiate through the Sandy Planning Com mission and City Council a public review of a proposal to reduce the amount of off-street parking required for a senior citizen apartment complex sim ilar to the city of Milwaukie's. Its standards call for variable parking requirements, based on the number of bedrooms per unit. — Approved a request by Gordon Markvardsen for temporary placement of a mobile home to be used as residence for his parents. — Endorsed liquor license renewal application for Ron's No Place, Dry Dock, W illiam s Thriftw ay, Meats and Treats Deli, I e Bon Petit, Weigh Station and Toni’s. The Clackamas County Grand Jury last F riday decided that the Jan. 10 shooting death of Barlow High School counselor Thomas Johnson was “ legally justifiable.” The grand ju ry declined to bring crim inal charges against Micheál J. Hendrix, 19, of Portland. Hendrix fatally shot Johnson in the chest w ith a .30-30 hunting rifle at the Boring home of Johnson’s form er wife. Hendrix worked at the same store as Johnson’s former wife, Lou Ann, ac cording to Clackamas County D istrict Attorney James O’Leary. She had asked Hendrix to come to her home to protect her that evening, O’Leary said. The grand ju ry learned that Johnson, 42, of Troutdale, had a “ longstanding history of physical abuse" against his form er wife, according to a statement by the d istrict attorney. Johnson had threatened her life and assaulted her about a week earlier, the statement said. “ Investigation by the Clackamas County sheriff’s office revealed that Johnson in fact came to the home at about 8 p in. and argued with his ex- w ife,” O 'Leary’s statement said. “ Hendrix confronted Johnson with a rifle and asked him to leave. Johnson declined to leave and instead attacked his ex-wife, at which tune Hendrix fired the fatal shot,” the statement said. The grand ju ry heard the testimony of eight witnesses before reaching its conclusion, O’Leary said. The Johnsons had been divorced since 1976 Johnson had been at Barlow High School since 1972. He is survived Oy four children, two of whom attend Barlow High School. Index SECTION I Keeping Posted...........................2 O b itu a rie s ................................... 2 Senior Center News .................. 3 School M e n u s.............................. 4 Editorials, le t t e r s ................... 6 SECTION II Area News .................................. 1 Around the C o u n ty...................... 2 Recipe Contest W in n e rs ....... 4,6 SECTION II I Sports, R e cre a tio n ...................1-4 Classified A d ve rtisin g ........... 4-8 TV D ire c to ry .............. Tab Insert I
