Image provided by: Friends of the Sandy Public Library; Sandy, OR
About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 1982)
Vol 72 No 2 SANDY OREGON THURSDAY JANUARY 14 1982 ( I S P S 4XI-IMO) Single Copy 25’ Revenue shortfalls snarl budget plans by DAN DILLON The Sandy Elementary D istrict plans to present district patrons with the smallest budget jump in several years, yet decreases in revenue w ill force a greater increase in taxes That comes despite more than 1277,000 which has already been pared from the 1982-83 proposal by the the district Budget Committee “ Every dollar (the budget com m it tee) reduced is a tax dollar,'* Superintendent Clark Lund said Tuesday. The biggest cut came in teachers' salaries and related fixed charges Some $142,000 were cut from that facet after the November 1981 Con sumer Price Index was released According to the teachers' agree ment, their raise for this year of the contract is the CPI minus 1 percent When the budget proposal was prepared, indications were that the CPI would be higher than it turned out to be. so the excess was eliminated Other cuts made by the budget committee included $10.692 from a modified sports program (only Cedar Ridge students would now par ticipate); Talented and Gifted pro gram, $37,946, a new bus, $28.500. an extra driver, $8.803, and the level of teacher s aide service, $18.000 Eor awhile, the budgeters con sidered discontiuing the hot lunch program, in favor of a m ilk program That idea was finally defeated Yet, the total savings could not o ff set the loss of revenues Those losses came from a lower cash carryover this year, lower earn ings on temporary investments and state Basic School Support. “ Basically, we've used almost all of our cash carryover just to make this year's operation go," Lund said As a result, this year there w ill be up p ro x im a te ly $196,000 less cash available The loss from tem porary in vestments was caused by a new policy of d is trib u tio n of state revenues As the state attempts to salve its economic woes, it realigned its method of money distribution from quarterly to monthly That eliminated investing leftover money after the monthly bills were paid in short-term investments The school district has earned as much as $175,000 a year by doing this. Lund estimates the district w ill now only be able to raise about half that amount. The state Basic School Support w ill not increase approximately $200,000 a year as it has in the past either. “ That hurts,'* Lund said As the district shifts to meet those economic responsibilities, u n fo r tunately the shift goes to the property tas payers This year, the district's tax jum p could be almost 30 percent for a total budget of $5 4 million. Unless something is done at the state level, Lund fears that this budgeting difficulty could become the trend, rather than the exception. “ I envision some drastic political action,’’ he said, “ drastic political action being tax levy limitations "Most districts are facing the same thing we are ." he said ‘ With that be ing a statewide problem, there is much more likelihood of one of these property tax limitatons occurring ” Because public education is re quired by state constitution, the state Legislature is going to have to come up with some innovative means of helping local taxing districts, but that move probably won’t come when the special session convenes later this year. But, Lund is convinced, it w ill have to come sometime soon “ I think we re going to see the Legislature looking at ‘How can we bail out local property tax payers,” ’ Lund said “ I think they have to ." Photo by Michael P Jones This Brightwood home, built in the 1940s, was destroyed early Tuesday morning when flumes swept through the log structure. Early-morning blaze destroys historic home by MICHAEL P. JONES Post Correspondent An early-morning fire gutted an historic Brightwood home Tuesday, near the Salmon River Bridge just off Highway 26. The Sherwood House on East Cannon Street, which served as a landmark and tourist attraction for many years, was completely destroyed after it was totally engulfed in flames when Hoodland Rural Eire Department crews arrived on the scene after a 3 30 a m alarm. Three engines, two tankers were used to bring the fire under control within 40 minutes after a rriva l at the scene, ac cording to Hoodland Eire Chief Don Arm introut He said that it took another three hours to completely extinguish the flames. The house, owned by Ted and Gertrude Johnson of Portland, was valued at approximately $112.000 Beverly Stonebrook, a next door neighbor, said she had a feelig something was wrong all day Sunday She said that at one time she went to the house and looked in the windows to see if there was anything unusual "M y gut feeling was that something was wrong,” Stonebrook said. "Above the house, in the trees, was what looked like fog or smoke.” She said that she figured it had to be smoke coming from the home's chimney because someone had been in the house earlier in the day Stonebrook checked the house twice more Sunday, using binoculars, before she went to bed, she said Dorothy Kemper, the Johnsons' daughter, said an Oregon State Police trooper driving west on Highway 26, also noticed something unusual and described the fog that seemed to hang in the trees above the house Mrs Johnson called the fire "a very unfortunate loss," because of the structures rustic architectural design and uni que furnishings The house was built in the 1940s by the Sherwood fam ily as a replica of a sim ilar home on the Oregon Coast Kemper said the coastal home served as an office and residence for managers of some beach cottages The home in Brightwood, according to Kemper, was design ed by the eldest Sherwood, a Portland educator. His son built the house to his father's specifications The finished product featured hardwood floors, a staircase with naturally curbed poles for its railing and a heavy wood- plank door The' house was built of seasoned tamarack logs from the Bend area The house also featured a 1.000-squa re-foot living room which was decorated with old guns, skins of cougars, bobcats and a large tim ber wolf, and stuffed owls All were lost in the blaze. Also destroyed was a 3- by 15-foot oak table which was brought around Cape Horn more than 100 years ago Armintrout said the blaze probably started two or more hours before his department was notified It is still under in vestigation. He said that it would be a few days before the cause could be established Commissioners deny Minikahda hydro project by MICHAEL P. JONES Post Correspondent The Clackamas County Com mis sioners last week denied the appeal to an earlier decision which stopped construction of a hydroelectric pro ject on Minikahda Creek in the Ixdo Pass area. l^ast Wednesday, Paul M Sanders, of Zigzag, appealed the hearings of fic e r's decision that his m in i- hydroelectrict project conflicted with C lackam as County ordinances Sanders had already been granted a loan from the state Energy Loan Pro gram on the stipulation that the coun ty approve his permit The hearings officer had denied the permit, citing ordinances which pro hibit construction on slopes greater than 35 percent Sanders told the county commis sioners that it is unfair to deny the perm it based on slope, because microhydro projects need the slopes to help move the water fast enough to generate electricity Ron Stangel, of the county planning department, told the commissioners that his staff considered the average slope to be less than 35 percent and did not feel the application violated the intent county’s comprehensive plan or zoning ordinances Sanders contended that the “ open space review " in the ordinance pro vides for a staff review of the project in order to resolve conflicts between development standards and develop ment and open space resources In this case, he said, the conflict is slope C om m issioner Ralph Groener agreed and said that because voters Sandy clerk assaulted in robbery try A Sandy store clerk was assaulted by two men early Sunday morning when he attempted to stop an ap parent theft of beer at a local grocery «tore Chu Yul Choi. 26, was attacked out side J im ’s Big Apple Grocery. 38636 Proctor Blvd , at 2 52 a m after he followed two customers outside after they had reportedly taken a ha If case of beer from the store. Choi was taken by Alpine Am bulance to Gresham Community Hospital where he was treated for a concussion after he was beaten in the head by blunt instruments He was released Tuesday Arrested and charged with first- degree robbery, first degree assault and carrying a dangerous weapon with intent to use were Steven I^ee James, 18. of Sandy, and William James Willis, 20, also of Sandy Investigation into the incident is continuing Sandy police issued a number of citations for driving under the in fluence of intoxicants over the New Years' weekend. M arkitta (xMiise Mantei, 30. of Bor ing. was cited Jan. I at 12:15 a m for DUII after she was stopped near the intersection of Pioneer Boulevard and Scales Avenue Dennis O rville Bennett, 25. of Bor ing. was cited for D U II and driving with a suspended license after he was stopped near the intersection of Proc- tor Boulevard and Shelley Avenue at 2 45 a m. Danny Britton. 30, of Sandy was also cited New Years Day for D UII, after he was stopped near the in tersection of H ighw ay 26 and Highway 211 at 3:48 a m Jeffrey Wayne Collins, 19. of San dy, was arrested and taken into c u s to d y on a w a r r a n t fro m Clackamas County on a parole viola tion last Friday Monday, Robery Oleny Gilliland, 54, of Sandy, was cited and released for D UII after the vehicle he was driving collided with a parked car near the intersection of Proctor Boulevard and Scales Avenue at 12:20 a m had approved small energy project development, it is necessary for the planning staff to address this in the comprehensive plan as well as in the zoning ordinances so these projects may proceed Henry Markus, Oregon Depart ment of Energy land-use specialist, told the commissioners that he is con cerned that the county's only preclu sion to hydroelectric projects was the 35-percent-slope criterion A proposed amendment to the or dinance regarding slop«* is scheduled to go before the Clackamas County Planning Commission later this month. A tto rn e y E d w a rd S u lliv a n , representing the Mt Hood Water Resources Coalition which oppos«*d the project, argued that existing county ordinances p ro h ib it the Minikahda project and that until the ordinance is amended, the proposal is a dead issue He moved fora dismissal of the appea1, based on the earlier hearings officer decision Commissioner Robert Schumacher concurred and formalized a motion and added. " M r Sanders be given leave to file for that conditional use without change" if the slope amend ment is approved Groener said he concurred with Schumacher's motion only because he felt the Coalition would file a lawsuit He said he is concerned that "obstructionists" w ill defeat sim ilar energy projects like the Minikahda proposal Carolyn Smith, of Rhododendron, a Coalition member, disagrees She said in a recent interview that a com prehensive study of streams in the Mt Hood area must lx* done to see which is suitable for hydro develop ment and what kinds of problems would be encountered “ We were not disputing the fact that hydro may be an important energy component, but that there were a lot of unanswer«*d qu«*stions regarding cost-efficiency, proved need and effects of stream diversin and erosion," Smith said "Even the county admits that there are problems associat«*«! with it and ideally we should have a comprehen sive plan just for hydros," she added Commissioner Stan Skoko . said Tuesday, “When a project affect one property owner only, and he wants to develop a mini-hydro on his own land, that's OK "But when other people are adversely affected, i t ’s a no-no," he said Skoko said that if by disturbing the soil and if the laying of the penstalk line would disturb others, the project should be denied He said a good pro ject would bother no one -either above or below the system. “ We must not forget about the comprehensive plan," Skoko said, "ju st for the sake of somebody's poeketbook " SUHS moves forward with arts center by SCOTT NEWTON The Sandy Union High School Board of E ducation in stru cte d Richard Gessford and Associates, a r chitects for proposed renovations and the performing arts center, to keep working on the project. However, they postponed the March 30 election indefinitely “ With the economy the way it is right now, and until we figure out our budget for next year, I think we ought to put it on the back burner," said Pete G riffin, board chairman, e bout the $3.5 m illion arts center project Board Member Gary Cleland agreed, “ M r Chairman, I ’m going to make a motion. I would like to see us table this thing indefinitely until economic conditions get better “ I agree with Richard (Gessford), I hate to lose the momentum we have going, but if the economic conditions turn around. I'm sure we can get that momentum back very quickly." Board Member Robert Boring seconded the motion, agreeing that it would be difficult to get the public to approve of a performing arts center at this time, but adding that he would regret not continuing with the pro ject. Cleland said that he does not ex pect the economy to turn around until the spring of 1983 About putting a serial levy before the public, he said, “ I think it ’s absolutely suicide." Board Member Wayne Johnson took a different stance. “ This board is charged with the responsibility of providing students with classroom space," he said. " I f we do not provide those kinds of spaces, and if we're providing a space that is, (as) Dr. Peters pointed out, deteriorating daily, how soon does that become a hazard? "Maybe it won't. I don't know at this point. But what if we determine tomorrow that it is a hazard” And we close up three or four classrooms because we can not use the building9 Then what’ll we do?" Johnson was referring to a crack in the wall of the agriculture room that “ has suddenly been growing " There is also a crack in the shop area “ We’ve got some real problems, and we have to look at them,” Johnson continued “ I don't think we can just shove this thing on the back burner and forget it." Gessford pointed out another pro blem in postponing the project. “ Historically, in the last 20 years, ( b u ild in g ) h a s n 't g o tte n any cheaper," he said “ And I don’t suspect i t ’s going to turn around and get cheaper the next 12 or 14, or 24 months.” “ Sometimes I wonder if this per forming arts complex should have a different name," Paul Tucker, board member, said “ I don’t know if that would work or not. It doesn't bother me, but some people don't like the performing arts. “ But anyway, that's just a thought. I won’t charge you anything for it,” he joked, The board voted 3-2 against Cleland’s motion to table the project indefinitely, with Cleland and G riffin voting yes and Boring. Johnson and Tucker voting no Gessford was instructed to con- tinue working on the project under terms of a $10,000 contract with the board In other business, Dennis Crow, assistant prin cip a l, discussed a survey sent to 440 parents The return rate was 47.3 percent. Almost 50 percent said that they support the goal of a focus on general education Thirty-seven percent said that they favor a goal with a focus on vocational education, and 16 percent said they favor a goal with a focus on college preparatory work Index SECTION I Keeping Posted ................. 3 Senior Center News ............ 3 Inside the Church 5 Obituaries ...................... 5 School Lunch Menus 5 Editorials, Letters ............ 6 Sports and Recreation ... 7-8 SECTION II Area News ............................ 1 Around the County ............ 2 Hoodland H appenings........ 2 Home and Garden ........ 9 Classified Advertising 10-12 SECTION III TV Revue............... Inside Tab
