Vol. 72 No. 8
SANDY. OREGON. THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 25. 1982
(IS P S 4SI-1M)»
Senior levy
said to offer
better funding
City reviews proposals
for new post office site
City officials last week reviewed
three sites offered by the U S. Postal
Service as possible locations for a
new Sandy post office
However, because it would jeopar
dize the City Council’s quasi-judicial
role in a conditional use process, the
city made no binding recommenda
tions to the Postal Service.
The three sites which the Postal
Service requested an opinion on are
1) the northeast corner of the
McCormick-Wolf Drive intersection
b. nd Scenic F ruit Company, 2) the
lot just west of Paola’s Pizza Barn,
and 3) the northern half of the Tupper
Park site which the city sold earlier.
City Attorney Jack Hammond, in
an opinion issued Feb 19, cautioned
the City Council and its members
against reviewing the proposed sites
outside o( he public hearing which
would accompany the conditional use
process. Any government building
constructed within the city limits
must obtain a conditional use permit
from the city.
"F or the City Council to par
ticipate in an evaluation outside of a
public hearing context would con
stitute improper ex parte contact and
would jeopardize the final condtional
use approval by the city of the
relocated post office site," Ham
mond said.
City staff members, however, are
free to review the proposed sites and,
based on a list of criteria established
last year, they did
Staff members also analyzed the
public improvements which serve
the properties.
by DAN DILLO N
The proposed three-year serial
levy to fund senior centers coun
tywide would help spread operating
costs around but there are other at
tractions. according to supporters
“ One thing we re constantly
fighting is institutionalization of
seniors and the fra il," said Sandy
Community Services Director San
dra Potter Marquardt,
"This levy would enable us to
reach and to provide more services,
including to those who are home
bound, to prevent early and un
necessary institutionalization ”
The three-year levy's total assess
ment would be approximately 14 4
million, of which $1.5 million would
be assessed annually to fund senior
centers in Sandy. Estacada, Molalla,
Canby, Gladstone. Lake Oswego,
Milwaukie, Oregon City and Wilson
ville
Monies would also aid centers at
Hoodland and Kendall which are not
affiliated with city governments cur
rently
While $3 2 million of the three-year
allocation would go directly to the
centers, the remaining funds would
provide health and in-home care for
the elderly.
County voters will be given the op
portunity to vote on the issue at the
March 30 special election
The levy would do a number of
things locally, Potter M arquardt
said.
The presently proposed city budget
would provide the Sandy Senior
Center with approximately $54,000
during the next fiscal year
Under the county wide system, the
local center would receive $67,585
during the first year, and $75,094 and*
$82,603 during the two succeeding
years
The local surplus from the senior
center budget would lead to a revised
local budget
"There would be no double taxa
tion for the operation of the senior
center,” Potter Marquardt said.
The e x tra m oney g en era ted
through the levy would enable the
local center to hire an additional full
time employee and a part-time
outreach worker, according to Potter
Marquardt
That would help ease the burden
created with the elimination of a
CETA worker position during fiscal
1980. she said
Local taxpayers wouldn’t have to
bear the brunt of the costs for the
center which is enjoyedby citizens
throughout the area
"Persons who utilize the center
would pay on an equitable basis," she
said. Currently, 40 to 50 percent of the
Sandy Senior Center’s participants
come from outside the city The new
equitability would spread the cost
around the county and lift the burden
from city taxpayers, she said.
The serial levy would stabilize
revenues fo r operation of the
county's 10 senior centers which now
depend on local money and the Older
Americans Act—a federal program
which doesn’t meet the centers’
needs, she added.
" It would give us a stable funding
source over the next three years, in
light of cutbacks in federal funding
sources," Potter Marquardt said
Each senior center would be
granted a yearly allocation based on
the percentage of senior citizens in
its service area, relative to the total
senior population in Clackamas
County
That would be added to a factor for
the percent of assessed valuation in
each city, relative to the total assess
ed valuation of all nine cities involv
ed
Currently, 31,000 Clackamas Coun
ty residents are older than 60 years
old Nearly 60 percent of t^ose who
are older than 70 years old are at or
below the poverty level, Putter M ar
quardt said.
M E E T IN G C R IT E R IA
None of the sites named by the
Postal Service are located within the
core area, between Bluff Road and
Wolf D rive and fronting either
Pioneer or Proctor Boulevards, as
the city requested.
Because Highway 26 is the prin
cipal route for traffic access in and
Photo by Dan Dillon
Duke (Eric Hadely) pleads his case with the catcher. Beanie (Stu Cabe), during a timeout in "Yanks—3
Detroit—0 Top of the Seventh," one of four one-act plays which will be presented at Sandy High School this Satur
day afternoon.
Sandy High stages one-act festival
by DAN DILLON
A wall separates the nymphs and the soldiers who
don't know of each other's existence. When they
The Sandy High School drama department will try
discover each other, the plot thickens
something different this week.
A man and woman spend their lives writing
Rather that presenting a single winter production,
drama instructor Mark Kuntz decided to stage four postcards which they mail by dropping out the window
in hopes someone will take them to the post office.
one-act plays to involve more students in dramatics.
The final production, "Postcards,” by James
"We decided to promote competition and get a lot of
Prideaux, deals with the couple's feelings when they
people involved in theater,’’ Kuntz said. The result will
discover they’ve written to everyone in the world and
be a unique competition among four student directed
productions this Saturday afternoon at 1 p m in the have no one left to write to.
Kuntz said the directors are students in advanced
school’s commons
Then next Friday and Saturday evenings, March 5 drama classes. The actors and actresses are students
and 6, the plays will be presented at 7.30 p.m in the who wanted to get involved in an extra-curricular ac
commons All performances, including the competi tivity and have some fun competing
SUHS teacher Richard Kennedy and Sandy Com
tion, are open to the public.
The students selected the plays themselves and their munity Players member Jim Wilhite will judge Satur
choices will provide something for a variety of tastes. day’s performances.
Tomorrow evening, Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m a second set
"Ways and Means,” by Noel Coward, tells the story
of a rich, young couple who run out of money while of one act plays will be presented
A scene from "Mad Women of Chaillot,” which took
staying at a fancy hotel. They have gambled their
second
place in the Timber Valley League-Wilco
finances away and must try to make a graceful exit
league one act contest, will be presented
because they have no means to pay the hill
Also on F riday’s bill will be two one-acts prepared in
" Y a n k s -3 Detroit-0 Top of the Seventh,’’ by
advanced
acting classes
Jonathan Reynolds, chronicles what happens when a
"David and Lisa’’ and "P aul’s Case” will not be
baseball pitcher takes a perfect game (with no hits or
haserunners ) into the top of the seventh inning All the making their dehut, but will be new to the general San
action takes place on the mound while the whole game dy theater going public.
The two one-acts have already completed a tour of
falls apart.
‘‘The Other Side," by Madeena Nolan, presents a elementary schools in the Sandy Union High School
district, Kuntz said
social study.
SECTION 1
Keeping Posted
Obituaries
School Lunch Menus
Senior Center News
Editorials, Letters
Sports, Recreation
I.
SECTION I I
Area News .............
........1
Hoodland Happenings .. ........1
Medical Advice
About People.................... ........4
Classified Advertising... .11-14
SECTION I I I
TV Revue
Inaide Tab
PUBLIC IM P R O V E M E N T S
Site 1 has the advantage of being
situated in an area which has the m a
jority of public facilities in place, the
city said There are water and sewer
service, and storm drains in place.
Site 2 is served by municipal water,
h o w e v e r, s e w e r s e rv ic e and
developed storm drainage are lack
ing The city has permitted private
sewage lift stations where there is no
alternative, although it generally
prefers gravity flow service.
A postal facility on site 3 could gain
sanitary sewer service and water
service from city lines in Tupper
Road. Storm water could be disposed
of in No Name Creek, the city said.
State investigating
mishaps on bridge
The state Highway Division is stu
dying the Salmon River Bridge to
determine what steps can be taken to
e lim in a te problem s which are
responsible for accidents that have
occurred there
Ronald Failmesger, region traffic
operations supervisor, said he is col
lecting data on accidents at the loca
tion on Highway 26 near Brightwood,
but he hasn't made any conclusions
yet regarding a solution to correct
the bridge's problems.
Failmesger said that three ac
cidents occurred on the bridge bet
ween Jan. 1, 1977 and Sept 1, 1980
Two of those accidents involved
"fixed objects," Failmesger said,
meaning the vehicles struck the
bridge. The third was a head-on colli
sion between two vehicles Seven per
sons were injured in the three ac
cidents
Recently, two persons were killed
in a Dec 30, 1981 accident that also
injured seven others
In that collision, the eastbound
vehicle slid on some ice into the west
bound lane and was struck broadside
by a pickup truck with a camper.
The bridge, which is 450 feet long
and located on a 5 percent grade,
"has problems which we can see
from the accident records," said
Failmesger But, bridges "tend to
ice-up quicker” that roadways, he
said.
Failmesger said the December
double-fatality indicates that there is
definitely icing problems on the
bridge. He added that reports of the
four accidents indicate that east-
bound vehicles will lose control and
slide into the westbound lane.
Two options currently being ex
plored by Failmesger are the in
stallation of a "jam ra il” or installa
tion of warning signs at the bridge’s
approach. He said these and other op
tions being considered will be limited
by expense.
The jam rail would be built of con
crete and would prevent vehicles
from sliding into oncoming traffic. It
would be expensive compared to the
installation of signs which would
warn motorists of dangers caused by
ice and inclement weather.
The problem with the bridge will
have to be compared with other pro
blem spots on the state highway
system, he said, and fixed on a priori
ty basis
" If we decide on a solution, we’ll
have to get financing," Failmesger
said, "and priority will depend on
where the money ges ”
Following a meeting with District
M ain ten an ce Supervisor H a rry
Woodward, Failmesger expects a
solution within two weeks.
Commissioners want first-hand look at site
The controversial 192-unit Alder
wood mobile home subdivision was
appealed to the Clackamas County
Board of Commissioners Monday
but, after hearing the testimony, a
decision was postponed until March
7-8
out of Sandy, the city asked that ac
cess be easy to the highway.
City staff members determined
that site I best meets that criterion
because of the traffic light at the in
tersection of W olf D riv e and
Highway 26 While site 2 is adjacent
to the highway, it doesn't have a con
trolled left turn, necessary to cross
the highway. Site 3 is removed from
Highway 26 and only partial im
provements are due Tupper Road.
The city asked that the new post of
fice be close to the downtown
business district. Site 3 is closest in
term s of actual distance, but
pedestrian walkways are lacking, the
city staff said, and no provisions for
an access have been shown.
Site 1 is next in terms of distance
and is best situated with developed
sidewalks
All three sites are located on
streets designed to handle the traffic
the post office would attract. Both
sites 1 and 3 would use predominant
ly residential streets, but site I would
not require traffic through the actual
residential area
Site 1 is said to h<* e the greatest
number of existir. on-street parking
places.
Alderwood decision delayed pending visit
by M IC H A E L P. JONES
Post Correspondent
Index
Single Copy 25«
In the meantime, the commis
sioners will visit the site near
Brightwood for a first-hand look.
what our intended use of the land was
a t th a t tim e (a n d ) s a tis fie d
themselves that it would apply to
their rules and regulations," Njust
said
After the preliminary plat was sub
mitted to Clackamas County, "there
was was extensive investigation by
planning staff and their recommen
dation was to recommend approval,"
he continued.
Lowell Njust, one of six developers
of the project, contended that an
earlier denail by the County hearings
officer did not make sense because
three prim ary government agencies
had been involved and given their ap
proval.
Prior to the hearings officer's Oc
tober decision, “ the Mt. Hood Plan,
which had been worked on for 10
years or more . . was approved
down in Salem. . . by the LCDC
(laind Conservation and Develop
ment Commission) as it realted to
this particular property and Cedar
Ridge," Njust said
"The Boundary Commission an
nexed this area knowing well aware
He said the proposed subdivision
m eets a ll County zoning r e
quirements, Boundary Commission
requirements and the goals of LCDC.
"The position I take, in effect what
LCDC did, was render the decision of
the hearings officer moot,” said
Njust. "He said it did not comply.
They (LCDC) said that it did "
Oregon City attorney Jack Ham
mond, representing the Environmen
tai Committee on Suitability in the
appeal, contended. "The hearings of
ficer's report and his findings are
based
p r i m a r i ly
upon
the
standards . . of the recreational-
residential zone standards of the Mt
Hood Community Plan (and) stan
dards of the subdivision ordinance
which are still fully applicable
Hammond questioned the density
of the project He contended that 192
units on the 48 acre parcel is too
much and would have major impact
on the winter range for deer
He said maximum densities for
such areas, as outlined in the
Clackamas County comprehensive
plan, indicates that the density can
only be "one dwelling per 30 acres, or
one dwelling per 40 acres ”
H a m m o n d a rg u e d th a t the
southwest portion of the parcel "a
significant portion has standing
ground water throughout the year,
with a water table from zero to 12 in
ches below the ground "
He said there was a standing pond
fed by a stream "that flowed right
directly through the trailer park into
that area "
Ron Stangel, of the county planning
staff, noted that there is a distinction
between wetlands and areas with
high water tables
He said that, based on information
supplied by the county soils engineer,
the areas does have drainage pro
blems, "but it's not designated as a
wetland area," as Hammond had
argued
" I'm enough of a realist to know
that you're going to have a hard time
with (the winter range issue)," said
Hammond
"Maybe it's an issue that should be
addressed somewhere else But,
what I'm saying is you don't have to
directly reach that issue in order to
deny this thing and support what the
hearings officer recommended. All
you have to do is simply apply the
standards that are clearly set forth in
the recreational zone."
Njust contends that the commis
sioners should approve the develop
ment based on the conditions set
forth by the planning staff He said he
and hia partners are aware of the
conditions and are "comfortable liv
ing with them "