Vol. 72
No. 3
SANDY OREGON THURSDAY. JANUARY 21. 1982
< l’S»»S »Ml -IMI >
Single Copy 25’
Alder Creek water problems resolved
by MICHAEL P. JONES
Post Correspondent
Customers of the Alder Creek
Water Company have voted to form a
self-governed special service district
(261 d istrict) to alleviate the water
problems of five residential districts
Jock Stewart, chairperson of the
Alder Creek Water Users Associa
tion, said the vote showed a promis
ing future for the five systems The
association has been engaged in a
battle with the Oregon State Health
Division. United State Environmen
tal Protection Agency and the com
pany's court-appointed receiver.
Gene Ginther, over the future of the
water company
Stewart said that of 440 ballots
mailed to customers in the Sleepy
Hollow. Riverside. Country Club,
Barlow and Wildwood Annex, the
m ajority returned favored the 261
district over a non-profit corporation
to operate the systems
He said that 112 customers voted in
favor of the '261 district, while only
eight favored the non profit corpora
tion plan
Stewart said the non profit had
drawbacks including the inability to
g e n e ra te
re ve n u e s
fo r
the
reconstruction or updating of the
systems
’ The vote gives each of the five
areas their own special d is tric t," he
said, “ w hich means th a t one
system's responsibility is not the
other four's ”
Each of the five areas would have
autonomy from the others which
essentially protects each from the
others’ financial or legal respon
sibiiities
"In the past, the common umbrella
ownership of all the systems lead all
the systems into near condemnation
through a health hazard hearing.”
The five special districts would
have their own five member board of
directors which, Stewart said, w ill
keep "a t least five people involved
and paying attention to what’s going
on "
John Huffman, manager of the
Health Division's water supply sec
tion, said, "The state's future role
w ill be to stand back and see what
happens with the water systems "
Huffman said the straw vote of the
customers shows progress and any
future actions by his office would
come after evaluating the steps the
people are taking to solve their water
problems He said the health hazard
proceedings that began last fall w ill
be postponed
of Commissioners and ask them to in
itiate the formation procedures for
the five special districts.
He said te county w ill have to draft
a resolution proposing th 262 district
so the association can appear before
the Portland M etropolitan Area
Local Government Boundary Com
mission at its mid-March meeting.
"As long as they are working and
attempting to come up with a
workable solution to the problem, we
w ill not push our health hazard an
nexation proceedings any further.”
Huffman said
At that meeting, the five districts'
legal boundaries would be defined
Edward Sullivan, attorney for the
users’ association, said his would
clients would now inform ally ap
proach the Clackamas County Board
Stewart said that after the five
districts are legally formed, the
receiver's $140,000 bill for operating
the company w ill have to be dealt
with, including the purchase of the
company from the system’s legal
owner, Gerald "R e d " Bennett, of
Portland
Mayor followed opportunities to dtizen-of-year
by DAN DILLON
Sandy Mayor Ruth Loundree just takes ad
vantage of the opportunities that open up to
her
Last F riday evening, following those oppor
tunities lead to her being named Sandy 's 1961
Citizen of the Year at the annual Sandy Area
Chamber of Commerce banquet.
"The opportunities have come to me and I
was lucky enough to take advantage of them ,"
she said Tuesday "E verything I did I seemed
to have a learning process and it's been a vital
education ”
After moving to Sandy in 1943 when it was a
"sleepy, little town" of 600, she and her hus
band operated a grocery store where meatcut-
ter Albert Hui, gave her a lesson she was at
first reluctant to learn.
“ I learned how to cut meat under h im ," she
said "T h a t’s how long 1 knew Oral Hull, from
the first couple of years we were here.”
Albert and Oral Hull donated 20 acres east
of Sandy for a park for the Oral Hull Founda
tion for the Blind
She then worked at the old Sandy Market for
three years, but when she m arried her hus
band, Carl. Loundree had plans
“ I was going to take life easy. But M artin
Clark (then editor of The Sandy Post) came
down and said, How about becoming society
editor?’
“ I told him, ‘I don't know anything about
w riting society news ’" But in her six years
with The Post, Loundree learned to w rite the
society news as well as operate a linotype
machine typesetting advertisements and tear
down the presses after the paper was printed
In 1958, then Mayor Ruben Hoffman came
up with a new challenge.
"Ruben asked me if I would be interested in
running for city recorder," she said She ran,
was elected to the first of seven consecutive
terms, which included duties as city judge,
and began her long string of service to the city
of Sandy
When the city changed to a city manager
form of government in 1972, Loundree stayed
on as executive secretary until her retirement
in 1978 and the beginning of a new
challenge—a run for mayor
" I basically felt that with the fellows who
had their hats in the ring, they needed a
choice,” she said " I did very little campaign
ing "
She won and was re-elected mayor in 1980.
running unopposed
The biggest obsi Me facing the city, she
Photo by Dan Dillon
Mayor Ruth Loundree listens as master of ceremonies George Morgan reads the plaque honoring her as citizen of the year in Sandy.
said, is "the hassle with the budget because
we don't have an adequate tax base We don't
have any set amount that we can fall back
on.”
That makes for a tough budgeting process
"W ithout an adequate tax base, we can pro
ject revenues,” she said "B u t with the
downtrend in the state you can only make a
guess.”
Sandy's tax base, established nearly 50
years ago, guarantees the city only about
$13,500 per year income.
In her 22 years of city service. Mayor Loun
dree has seen Sandy grow from the "sleepy,
little town” that greeted her to one of 3,300
residents with a full slate of city services.
“ One of the first big issues was the inade
quate water system,” she said. " I t ’s been cor
rected over the years with a series of bond
issues, each bigger than the one before.”
During the firs t couple years she worked
with the city, there was a pro: ’em with
beavers getting into the c ity ’s water source,
Brownell Springs. But the system has over
come those problems and grown.
The city has built a substantial water and
sewer system, she said, with much help from
former City Engineer Martin Boatwright.
In the 1960s the state presented Sandy
residents with three options: make Proctor
Boulevard a four-lane highway, establish the
two one-way couplets, or see the highway be
taken out of town.
"The arguments rose hot and heavy to the
point where an election was called by the city
council," she said. The couplet system was
chosen and walkways and planters were plac
ed along Proctor to narrow the road.
About that time, the city renamed the
streets. Pioneer names were chosen, but Main
Street was a point of contention.
The county said there were already too
many Main Streets in the county, luundree
said.
The new name was debated heavily. "So I
made a remark to the city council, ‘Why don’t
you just forget it and just name it Pioneer
Boulevard.* I still think that's a pretty good
name.”
Another big issue early, was the institution
of the zoning ordinance, Loundree said. " I t
was after that that the city started to grow, not
by leaps and bounds, but it gave it some direc
tion.”
In the late 1960s, the city passed a bond issue
to build the current city hall. Not many people
knew it at the time, Loundree said, but the old
city hall had been condemned.
"The roof leaked so bad in the old city hall,
we had cans sitting around catching drips
because we c o u ld n 't re p a ir i t , ” she
remembered.
The city has come a ways since the leaky
roofs and beavers in the water supply with the
help of a citizen who's always tried to answer
when opportunity knocked.
‘Butterflies’ raises curtain on busy theater year
by DAN DILLON
" I t ’s a long, rocky road to get
recognition from the theater com
m unity," Jim Wilhite of the Sandy
Community Players said Tuesday.
"W e’ve come a long ways and we’re
starting to gei recognized.”
When " B u tte rflie s Are F re e "
opens tomorrow evening at the Sandy
Community Theater at 8 p m., it w il.
kick off a five-month stretch that w ill
see the Community Players produce
four plays, a record for the local
group
"We went through a period where
it was tough to go from show to
show," Wilhite said. “ Now we’re see
ing overlapping rehearsals .”
That is a step closer to what has
become the SCP d re a m -liv e theater
in Sandy nearly every weekend. " I t ’s
not just an ethereal dream We can
point all over the United States to
cities that have done it,” Wilhite
said. "Performing arts act as a
magnet to attract a lot of other things
to a community—positive things.”
Wilhite pointed to the pluralism of
the performing arts as an attractive
force.
"Butterflies Are Free" illustrates
that point.
The production features Sandy
High School drama teacher M ark
Kuntz, a veteran of Portland Civic
Theater, Pauline Stafford, making
her first on-stage appearance; Sandy
High School student Suzanne Jones,
and J R Knotts, an experienced ac
tor nominated for a "W illie s " award
last year for his performance in "Bus
Stop "
A wide variety of talent has always
made SCP productions interesting,
because of the range of experiences
and the dedication the amateur ac
tors bring to their roles
Kuntz had to learn to play a convin
cing blind person on stage and to
play the guitar for his role—no small
task.
Henry Em rich who has appeared
in SCP productions such as "The Odd
Couple" and "Im aginary Invalid”
makes his debut as a director
Jones is in her first major role,
although she appeared in the SUHS
production "West Side Story ”
Police seek
identity o f
dead woman
The nude body of a woman was
found Sunday along Highway 26
above Rhododendron, state police
said.
At 9:20 a.m. a passenger aboard a
ski bus spotted the body lying face
down in the snow as he was wiping
steam from the window He told the
driver what he had seen when the bus
stopped a few miles up the road to put
on chains
The driver then flagged down a
passing Oregon State policeman who
went to the scene with the witness
The body was discovered about 10
feet north of Highway 26, about one-
quarter mile above Camp Creek
Campground
OSP trooper Les Frank released a
description of the victim Tuesday,
seeking assistance to establish her
identity
Frank said the victim is a white
female, 20-30 years old, between 5’ 4"
and 5' 5” tall, and weighs 115-125
pounds
She has shoulder-length hair that
had been dyed blonde or reddish.
Frank said that all but three or four
inches had grown out.
Frank said she has a scar on her
abdomen which indicates she gave
birth to a child by Caesarean section.
The victim wore a black emerald
ring on her right ring finger, and
wore gold post earrings Three en-
dants were tangled in her hair: a gold
crucifix, a gold monogrammed " L ,"
and a silver-colored, heart-shaped
locket.
Clackamas County Deputy D istrict
Attorney Dennis M iller said Tues
day, "The woman’s death could be
accidental, but we don’t know right
now.
"The death was suspicious and oc
c u rre d u n d e r su sp icio u s c i r
cumstances,” he said, "so we are
treating it as foul play."
P re lim in a ry in v e s tig a tio n In
dicated that no footprints lead up to
where the body was found, M iller
said, "which didn’t mean that there
wasn’t.”
Cause of death had not been deter
mined by late Tuesday afternoon, ac
cording to OSP Trooper Al Corson,
who said there were no bruises or
wounds on the victim
How long the victim was at the site
before she was discovered is
unknown. The body was frozen and
no clothing was found at the scene,
Frank asked that anyone having
any information about the v ic tim ’s
identity or concerning the incident
contact Oregon State Police im
mediately.
Illness claims
Sandy realtor
L ongtim e Sandy businessman
Charles "Chuck” Baker died Tues
day following an illness
Baker, 63, was a realtor for 25
years and wa3 one of the organizers
and served as first chairman of the
board of the Independent Bank of
Sandy.
Born Sept. 8, 1919, in Conrad,
Mont., Baker was a sportsman,
businessman and investor. He
delighted in taking friends from San
dy out fishing on the Pacific Ocean,
according to Bruce Cook, co-owner of
the boat,
Baker is survived by his wife
Catherine; two sons, William Baker
of Sandy, and Gary Ray Molen of
Sandy, Utah; his mother, Mary C.
Baker of Portland, and three grand
daughters.
Funeral services w ill be held F ri
day at Sandy Funeral Home Time
for the services is pending
The fam ily asks that memorials be
given to Mt Hood Hospice in his
name.
Index
SECTION I
Keeping Posted...................... 2
Senior Center N e w s ................3
Inside the Church................. 4
The production will be staged Jan
22, 23, 29 and 30, and Feb 5 and 6 at 8
p m each evening
Tickets are available from 9 a m
to 6 p m. at Sandy Country Florist,
39010 Pioneer Blvd. Prices are $4 for
adults, $2.50 for senior citizens and
students
Obituary ............................... 5
School Lunch Menus ........... 5
Editorials, Letters ............. 6
Sports and Recreation....... 7-8
SECTION II
Area News.............................. |
Hood land Happenings ......... 3
For reservations and information,
call 661-0219 Of 868 7737
Classified Advertising . . . 8-10
l’e lio by Dan Dillon
See page 3. section I for a related
story.
Suzanne Jones and Mark Kuntz enjoy an impromptu picnic during the first scene of the Sandy Community Plovers*
"Butterflies Are Free.”
sacnoN m
TV Revue................ Inside Tab