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About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (July 30, 1981)
V o l. 71 N o . 31 SA N D Y O R E G O N THURSDAY. JULY 30. 1981 (USPS 481-180» Single Copy 20 ’ Landfill problems being investigated by county by MICHAEL P. JONES Post Correspondent Since spring, residents along the San dy and Zigzag rivers have complained about fill m aterial, which they claim w ill impact the natural resources and future environment, being dumped into the riv e rs ’ floodplains The two prominent fills, located behind lioodland Construction Co and the Mt Hood Lions Club in Wemme and behind the service station in Rhododen dron. contain d irt, stumps and sod which witnesses claim comes from the excavation site of the new Hoodland Service D is tric t’s sewage treatment plant. According to Greg Hess 1er, a resident near the site at Wemme, “ It has been a tremendous landfill that has been in the process of being filled for the last three years He said that its use has been in creased as a dumping since for ’ d irt and garbage since last fa ll." Hessler said he has observed large quantities of cement, tires, mattresses, oil filte rs and old metal being covered with d irt, rock and cement He said the Wemme fill p a rticu la rly bothered him because it interfered with a creek that flows almost all year He added th a t d u m p in g has e ith e r destroyed or severely disturbed the water-loving plants which play a m ajor role in the ecology of the floodplain area “ I ’ve seen Great Blue Herons in habiting the area over th** years, as well as beaver and deer But now, I'm afraid this swampy area that has been used by the w ild life for so long, has been severely im paired And w hy9 To make more land for people," Hessler said Approximately 1.300 yards of fill m aterial has been dumped over the em bankment at the Wemme site on pro perty owned hy W illiam Steinbarger, of the Hoodland Construction Co., and the Mt Hood Lions Club It also covers an “ unvacated" Clackamas County road Evidence exists that erosion of the bank has littered it with pieces of asphalt, old gasoline cans and concrete A large one ton drain tile lays in the middle of the now shallow creek Nearly 12.000 yards of fill m aterial has been dumped on the floodplain of the Zigzag R iver at Rhododendron on property which tax records show is be mg purchased by Steven Sweitzer of Hoodland and N orm an Swan of Gresham The fill also extends on to the property of the Snowline Motel According to D om inic M ancini, Clackamas County planning director, such fills would require a “ floodplain development' perm it None are on file for the two locations July 16, this reporter accompanied W alter Cate of the Code Compliance Division on a site visit to the fills Two additional fills were discovered, as well as passible locations near Lolo Pass Road, M ille r Road and the Salmon R iver Road Cate identified another fill at the junction of Highway 26 and Grouse Lane, ow ned by Ray Thornberg, which he estimated to be more than 600 yards Cate said, “ Of all the fills, the one that w ill cause the least environmental problems is the Thornberg fill They need to get a grading p e rm it." he said, "and then solve the water problems since it s in a seasonal drainage area." The la ndfill site at Wemme, Cate said, shouldn t present much of a pro blem “ after they've taken out the g a r bage, debris and organic fill, and com pacted it " He said that since it is a broad floodplain, it can lie propertly dealt w ith The Rhododendron fill is "d iffe ren t s to ry ," Cate said, because it is filled down on a bench on the rive r's northern bank. “ This fill has the greatest poten tia l for environmental dam age," he said " I f there is a problem with d irt going down the riv e r," he said, “ it's w ith this fill The Zigzag has high water fluctua tions It's a sm all stream and that means problems ” Jay Massey, D istrict fish biologist lo r the Department of Fish and W ildlife, echoed Cate’s concerns He said his of fice w ill study the potential impact of fill on the stream 's fish habitat which could be affected when the d ir, erodes. Property owner Sweitzer said he didn’t know tha, there as anything wrong He said he had gi\ en permission to the Hoodland Service D istrict to dump d ir, from it sewage treatment plant, but "w asn't aware that it would be this much " " I t ’s happened T hat’s all I can say now , said Sweitzer “ There's nothing I can do about it now, except shut it oil I'll just have to stop them from dump mg and deal with it ” L ate said he has notified Steinbarger. Sweitzer. Thronberg and the Lions Club that they have 30 days to get the necessary perm its and comply with county and state ordinances regarding fillin g and grading in floodplain areas He said the Arm y Corps ot Engineers may be needed to help with riprappmg the newly formed hanks along the pro perty at Rhododendron to minimize any environm ental damage. The other sites, he said, can be corrected “ with some work " House bill would allow county money A b ill amendment that would allow Clackamas County to levy its entire $2 3 m illion sh e riff’s ‘A ’ levy has been ap proved by the House Revenue C om m it tee. The amendment, which would allow property tax levey elections in certain cases when taxing districts have made technical errors in calculatin levy amounts, now depends on eventual passage of HB 2175 The b ill modifies the ‘A ’ and ’ B ’ ballots system adopted by the 1979 Legislature. The county over-estimated the size of its A ’ levy last year when it was forced to use its own population projections to c a lc u la te it. It re ce ive d o ffic ia l estimates from the state Department of Revenue in December, a month after the *A’ levy had been approved by voters. According to state officials, $365,000 should not have been included in the ‘A ’ levy and is not e lig ib le fo r its homeowners’ property tax relief pro gram That sum should have been in cluded in the county’s $4 7 m illion ‘B ’ levy, passed by he voters in February, they said A tto r n e y G e n e ra l D ave E rohnm ayer’s office has indicated in form ally that the county w ill probably not be able to levy the $365,000. accor ding to existing state law, said Carole B erggren, county budget analyst. E ither a new law or special election may be required County commissioners have cried foul play, because both the Department of Revenue and the attorney general's office approved the county’s estimates before the November 1980 election. They have vowed to fight the issue in tax court if the crisis cannot be resolv H r r t t g h u r . from ,h . Boring H r . D istrict ron.inom, mopping op K r ^ w . , M .n o f.rio r.n g Co. .hnmghoo, ,Kc d .y Tuesday f. iio .in g ro riy-m o rn in g blaze which „ „ n a iv e l y d o n rn g ^ ph ed The amendment approved last Tues day by the House Revenue Committee would allow the county to levy the $365,000, but it would probably be con sidered part of the ‘B ’ levy, according to a tax analyst for the Legislature by DAN DILLON That would mean the sum isn't eligible board feet of lumber they lost," he Eire D istrict clean'd the scene at ap fire Hagar, was treated for smoke in fo r state property tax re lie f, but said The sawm ill collasped in the proxim ately 3:15 p m Tuesday With water in short supply a, the A three alarm blaze early Tues halation at Gresham Community flames. analysts estimate that homeowners w ill The biggest problem, according to scene, seven tankers hauled water to Hospital and released day morning nearly destroyed the pay only an additional 1.7 cents per Rykken said the fire was reported Rykken, was the delay in the begmn the scene from Sandy's Industrial R eedway M a n u fa c tu rin g Co s Seventeen pieces of apparatus $1,000 valuation by a passerby and by the time the ing of the fire and the tim e it was Park where engines were hooked up saw m ill and lumber yard at 15370 were used in the battle against the first firefighters arrived on the HB 2175 is expected to reach the phoned in “ When we go, there, all to hydrants to fill empty tankers S E Orient Drive flames Called in to assist the Boring scene, the sawm ill was totally in House for a vote sometime this week we could do was control it from E lames from the fire were visible Bob Rykken, assistant fire chief Eire D istrict were firefighters from volved in flam es E ig h ty three Rep Ed Lindquist, D-Gladstone, in spreading," he said “ If it had lx*en up to 15 miles away “ The guys took for the Boring Eire D istrict, said the the Sandy, Hoodland, Estacada, firefighters from six fire districts troduced the amendment to the com the afternoon, with an east wind, we a heck of a beating that were up 1:48 a m . f ir e c re a te d an Happy Valley and Multnomah Coun battled the blaze for nearly two mi,tee last Saturday. would have had a real problem " there on the front lin e ," Rykken “ u n o ffic ia l" loss of approxim ately ty No io fire districts Clackamas hours before it was contained The While the amendment received m a The stillness of the nigh, air, said IhiO.ouo “ I don', know how many County Eire D istrict 71 stood by a» last firefighters from the Boring jo rity support from the committee, the however, was an asset in fighting the One B oring fire fig h te r, R ick the Boring main station b ill co n ta in s some c o n tro v e rs ia l m aterial which may slow its progress through the Legislature, according to Joyce Thorbeck. legislative assistant to Lindquist If the b ill does not pass, the county may have to ask voters in September to approve a $365,000 - money it though, by MICHAEL P. JONES home subdivision at Brightwood, had She added that she and the En fish or w ild life ," but admitted that it already had Post Correspondent Those were concerns stressed by also been ruled illegal due to improper vironm ental Committee on S uitability 'somewhere down the line you have ,0 ECOS. notification (ECUS 1 w ill “ fight on" because "they give and take a little ’’ The Clackamas County Planning want al the mountain residents to "W e w ill w eigh the in v ita tio n That meeting was postponed after it Commission last week ruled that the He realizes that he and his opposition cautiously." said Andna Cabral of realize tha, we need to preserve this was learned that Bob and Judy Decker SECTION I Boulder Creek hydro-electric project have ,0 sit down and talk before the las, refuge outside the city for all peo ECUS She said tha, her organization of Mt. Country Lane had no, received Keeping Posted ........................2 hearing was illegal due to im proper Boulder Creek project turns into a would evaluate the pros and cons of the pie to enjoy notification It was also discovered that Inside Business ........................3 n o tific a tio n of a d ja ce n t p ro p e rty lengthy legal battle He has extended conference with patience and “ no, rush those property owners who were Obituaries 4 owners “ We re in the same spot as the an invitation to ECOS. the Sierra Club, into anything, even on this short notified, had no, received their notice Senior Center News.......... 5 w ild life who loves the wilderness and Gary N aylor. Clackamas County the Oregon Department of Fish and notice " w ithin the 20 day tim e period required E ditorials. Letters .............. 6 untamed la n d ," she said “ W e re planner, said last Thursday that his of W ildlife and land-use attorney Ed by Clackamas County ordinance Sports. Recreation ......... 741 gradually jus, getting pushed off of it fice had been notified July 22 at 2 30 Sullivan to meet and work out any pro She said she would refer the invita But no, after a fight ’’ p m by a "D octor H olm an," who com blems they may have w ith his hydro tion to Sullivan. ECOS's counsel, and he Greg Fritz of the planning depart SECTION II plained of no, receiving a hearing electric project. w ill make the final decision on whether men, blamed the problems on a com The hydro-electric plant's developer, Area News.................................... 1 notice A check of the records revealed or no, to accept p u te r at the tim e N a ylo r said, Steven Sweitzer. takes a different tack Around the County ........... 2 tha, possibly three other Io, owners “ If they wan, ,0 lie environmentalists however, the problem was human er “ Somewhere along the line, someone About People 3 Tomorrow . July 31. the Water Policy were not notified. and have a role in shaping this moun ror has to think p ra ctica l," he said " I f we Hoodland Happenings ......... 4 Review Board w ill conduct a public "N o tifica tio n of property owners for tain, fin e ." he said "B u , don', go tak can't have nuclear or coal power, and it Public Notices ........................... 8 hearing on the project A, issue w ill be a a hearing is a very vita l part of the ing sniper shots at me Let's sit down Marthat Torson, a resident of Coun we can't even have small hydro plants, Home and Garden .....................10 p re lim inary perm it which, according to and ta lk ." syste m ,” N a ylo r said " I t ’s very try Club I^ane who has played an active then what can we use for our energy Classified Advertising ........ 11-14 staff person Tom Kline, would allow mechanical and repititious. bu, ye, im role in the Boulder Creek hydro-electric needs9" Sweitzer wants ,0 show his opponents Sweitzer up ,0 two years to study the portant to those living w ithin 250 fee, of controversy, said, " I t seemed like they SECTION III that he w ill ac, in good faith by in sta ll creek and the feasibility of the project the said p ro p e rty." were grasping for tim e because we Sweitzer M id he is "an environmen Television D ire c to ry .. Inside Tab ing a fish ladder, replanting the logged It would not allow any construction Naylor added that another recent really surprised them w ith all our peo talist to some extent" and added " I off area, m aintaining the road and The hearing w ill begin at 10:30 a m. hearing, involving a 192 unit mobile pie and evidence against the project ” wasn't going to do anything to harm the clearing the creek of obstructions at the Sandy Community Center Early-morning blaze damages Orient Drive sawmill Hydro project controversy heading to negotiation
