Vol. 72 No 22
SANDY OR FC . f l N
The youngest rider led iheni dll Saturday, as 5-year-old Nikki Johnson, inset, raised the most
money in pledges for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the bike-a-thon under sunny
T M IlQ tn A V
Illfc iC 1
io a o
Hlioliih by Dan
(First in a series.,
Property tax rates in Oregon
jumped more than 20 percent from
1981 to 1982. according to the Oregon
Taxpayers Association
P ro p e rty
ta xe s
le v ie d
in
Clackamas County jumped a whopp
ing 30.1 percent, while assessed
valuations jumped 13 percent
Officials at the Clackamas County
Assessor's office say they have had
more challenges to assessments this
year than any year in the past.
To combat the rising tax rates, a
number of initiative petitions have
sprung up around the state seeking to
lim it property taxes One of the more
drastic of those, circulated by the
Oregon Taxpayers Association,
would lim it the amount collectable to
1 4 percent of the assessed valuation
and roll back assessments to July 1,
1979-80 tax year.
While some agencies may be able
to meet such cutbacks with increased
fees or outside aid, some agencies re
ly totally on property tax for their
livelihood. One of those is the Sandy
Fire District.
Sandy Fire Chief Bob Rathke
doesn't like to ta lk about the
possibility of the 1 percent lim ita
tion until it is closer to reality, but the
threat that such an initiative raises is
real to the district.
"The worst possible case” is a VI
percent reduction in the district *>
budget, he said, and a reduction in
the amount of services the district
provides.
By law, the fire district is required
to go to a patron s house only when
there is a fire Medical and first aid
calls are left up to the discretion of in
dividual fire districts
"Except for going to your house
and putting out your fire, the other
things we re just not going to be able
to do,” he said.
Sandy's board has seen fit to pro
vide the, medical services and the
public response has been overwhelm
ing Currently, Rathke said, 64 per
cent of the d is tric t’s runs are
medical-related
remaining an all-volunteer unit, im
proved training for volunteers and
" I f you’re talking about reducing
runs, that’s something you have to public education
Those commitments have paid off.
look a t,” he said. "As I read (the in
Rathke is proud of the district's
itia tive ), this is what it would mean,
but until the attorney general issues training program, calling it one the
an opinion, everything is such a best in the state. A h yd ra n t
guess.
maintenance program and good tur
nouts for alarms have all had their
“ I do», t l.ke to go overboard.”
That couki leave medical and first- effect on local residents’ pocketbooks
already
aid attention on a "pay for services”
basis. State statute currently pro
Sandy’s fire insurance rating is a 5.
hibits fire districts from such prac That means the city enjoys the best
tices.
residential rating it can get. Lower
The rollback to the 1979-80 tax year
ratings apply only to the commercial
would have a drastic effect of the
sector
local fire department. That year, the
With the reduced budget, one
district's budget jumped from ap possibility is an affect on the fire in
proximately $250,000 to some $500,000 surance rating, Rathke said
as the district began implementation
"Public education things would
of its comprehensive plan.
definitely be affected," he said,
The district passed a six-year tax
eliminating inspections and work in
base and Rathke anticipates the
fire safety education in local schools
district w ill be able to accomplish
that.
The money that is tied up in the tax
(Next week: The effect of a I i2
base and the comprehensive are
percent property tax limitation on ci
geared for long term commitments.
ty services.)
Postal service takes plan to council
The Sandy City Council gets its
first chance to voice an opinion on the
United States Postal Service's plan to
relocate its Sandy operation
The Postal Service w ill ask the
council to approve its conditional use
permit at a meeting this Monday,
June 7, at 7:30 p m at Sandy City
Hall.
Last Thursday, the local Design
Review Board gave its conceptual
approval for the building to be built
at 17590 Wolf Drive, behind Scenic
F ruit company
Since the Postal Service made its
intentions known the council has not
had an opportunity to speak out on
the relocation City staff sent a list of
requests for the federal agency to
consider in its site selection, but the
council had no official word in the
matter, other than endorsing the
idea
May 5, the Sandy Planning Com
mission recommended the new post
office be located at the Wolf Drive
D illo n
skies at Mountain Shadow Estates, near Kelso School. Doug Hooper, in the background above
pushing his bicycle, finished the 20-mile maximum, despite a tire blowout in his l»th mile
Tax limiting initiatives stir concern
by DAN DILLON
Single Copy 25«
site. That action came after two sites
were presented fo r co n sid era
tion—the other being near Tupper
Park
Michael McKeel, who submitted
the Tupper Park site, has indicated
to city officials that he w ill hold off on
his conditional use perm it request
until final action is completed on the
Wolf Drive site.
Thursday, the Design Review
Board approved the site plan and
structure with the stipulation that its
recommendation is for earth-tone
brick facing on three sides and con
tinuous lap cedar siding on the north
side, with the alternative of con
tinuous lap cedar siding on all four
sides The cedar w ill be stained an
earth tone compatible w ith the
brick’s color
Postal Service officials w ill submit
the landscaping lan at a later date
The Board stipulated that it was to be
adequately landscaped with buffer
ing where appropriate.
Lawsuit hits developer
over sales practices
by MICHAEL P. JONES
Post Correspondent
A m ultiple-plaintiff suit has been filed against American Guaranty
Life Insurance Company and Welches developer Carl Bright
’’ho suit eh.'<rges that misrepresentations were made about sewer
assessments .‘ hat pertained to land sales at Rippling River in Welches
Fiv< lu-viduah and two Oregon corporations filed the $7l(i,(*?9 94 suit
alleging that American Guaranty and Bright w illfu lly misrepresented
facts about the Hoodland Service D istrict's sewer tieatment plant while
selling lots at Rippling River prior to 1980, which "constitute violations
of the Oregon Unlawful Trade Practices A ct."
Bright was subsequently appointed to the Hoodland Service D istrict’s
budget committee in 1980 by the Clackamas County Board of Commis
sioners.
The plaintiffs allege that Bright told prospective buyers that lots in
the subdivision "would not be subject to assessment for the sanitary
sewer system or the cost of constructing the sewer treatment plant and
sewer lines except for a sewer connection charge.”
The suit, which was fijed in circuit court in Multnomah County on
Feb. 12, 1981, says the plaintiffs were furnished with a copy of the sub
division’s Public Report which had been filed with the Oregon Real
Estate Division. That action is required by state law
The report, dated March 28, 1978, "contains representations that...
American Guaranty would pay in cash the cost of all on-site im
provements, except that lots served by sewers would be subject to a
’connection fee
The plaintiffs charge that Bright and American Guaranty "w illfu lly
failed to disclose” that American Guaranty did not intend to pay the full
cost of constructing the sewer syste
They also claim that the company had no intentions of paying the
federal share in the event a federal grant was not obtained to pay a por
tion of the construction cost
A fter “failure to disclose these facts,” according to the complaint,
coupled with the representations in the Public Report and statements
by Bright, which "were false and misleading." each of the plaintiffs
purchased single-family residential lots at Rippling River.
The suit alleges that the plaintiffs "did not learn of the falsity of the
defendants' representations’ until June 1980 when they were notified
by the service district that their lots were being assessed for the new
sewer facilities
A Oct. 11 tria l date has been set.
Spokesmen for American Guaranty, president James Anderson and
company attorney Milfred Ford, were unavailable for comment
Sandy firm gears up for solar panels
by DAN DILLON
Harnessing the sun s energy to aid
the wood products industry is about
to give a shot in the arm to the local
economy.
Employees at North Amer can Dry
Kiln A Energy Systems. Inc. are
gearing up for the day when they will
see production begin again in the old
Timberline Trailer building in San
dy's Industrial Park
Index
SECTION I
Keeping Posted .......
2
Senior Center News
2
School Lunch Menus
5
Obituaries ............................... 5
Editorials. Letters
6
Sports Recreation
7-8
SECTION II
Area News
Hoodland Happenings........
About People
1
2
7
SECTION III
Classified Ads
Inside Tab
TV Revue ............... Inside Tab
I
The company, a wholly-owned sub
sidiary of Globe Machine of Tacoma.
Wash., expects to begin some
manufacturing within 60 days, accor
ding to sales manager Dusty Allison.
" I t ’s our intent to produce high
quality dry kilns, solar-powered
kilns, and energy systems, such as
boilers and combustion systems,”
Allison said
Eight people have been at North
American Dry Kiln in engineering
and sales for the past six months
"w arm ing up the tire s," Allison said,
during the legal entanglement left
when the building’s former occupant,
Hildebrand North America, filed a
Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sept 11,
1981
Hildebrand had set up shop in San
dy Industrial Park in February 1981,
for production of lumber drying
kilns, wood waste burners, fo r
maldehyde treatment chambers and
microprocessor control systems
The firm employed approximately
100 persons at the time it shut its
doors in late August.
Allison anticipates that the firm
w ill employ 25-50 employees when
production begins.
The company is in the research-
and-engineering stage, looking at the
solar panels and a method to harness
wave power on the open seas to bring
electricity to Third World nations.
Recently, engineers at the plant
have been experimenting with solar
panels, p rim a rily for industrial use,
that could have a dramatic effect on
the wood processing industry.
The solar panel testing has includ
ed copper tubing and a rubber mat
finish called Sola Rol With the black
rubber mat finish, the firm found a 25
percent gain in efficiency over the
copper tubing design
The next step should see an even
greater jum p in efficiency.
North A m erican Dry K iln A
Energy Systems w ill begin tests
shortly with four inch Pyrex tubing.
"The latest state of the a rt,” accor
ding to works manager Dean Arnold,
w ill be self-tracking as it follows the
sun, thanks to a highly polished
aluminum backing that w ill heat the
tubing
While it is the most expensive
alternative, Arnold said, "the return
is going to far outweigh the cost ”
“ We’d like to offer the solar panel
concept to the industrial sector, as
well as the private sector,” Allison
said. The concept w ill be mainly
heat producing this time, rather than
generating storable energy.
Please turn to Page 3.
Ptioto by Dan Dillon
Sales manager Dusty Allison, chief engineer Clark Hofmann and works manager Dean Arnold inspect a solar panel that
they hope can be adapted for use with kilns in the lumber industry. Thr trio hopes to have production underway in the
next two months at North American Dry Kiln A Energy Systems, Inc. in Sandy’s Industrial Park.