Image provided by: Friends of the Sandy Public Library; Sandy, OR
About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (July 22, 1982)
SANDY, OREGON THURSDAY, JULY 22, 1982 Vol. 72 No 29 (I'SPS tMl-lMtP Single Copy 25« City feels pinch on building Like hunting for a needle in a haystack, these youngsters scoured the straw for money at the annual Veterans of Foreign Wars picnic last Sunday at Obrist's Park. Septic tanks OK’d for lots with sewer on way The Sandy Q ty Council firmed up its policy Monday night for construc tion on septic systems, but two coun cilors feel the city may have overstepped its bounds approval of a septic system by Clackamas County Soils Department and participation by the homeowner in construction needed to bring the sewer system to the property. By a 4-2 vote, council gave its ap proval to a -set of conditions that would allow constructon on a septic system, even if sewer service is im pending One condition would require an agreement to connect to the sewer system when it is available in the future City Councilor Vern Richards thinks the policy places an undue hardship on the property owner who is trying to develop his land. In addition, the city would require “ I think it’s a bad way to say to the property owners of the town that this is the only way we will allow you to utilize your land. . . without any real rationale behind it,” he said Richards said he favors putting the criteria in the form of an ordinance or resolution, rattier than a policy. City Manager Roger Jordan said “ participation in the construction” means that the property owner won’t remonstrate against the city at the time of the sewer construction. Councilor Tim Ward, the other dissenting voter, said policies have a tendency to alienate the public even if they are universally applied The policy will apply only where there is an existing lot of record and no further divisions of property or subsequent development on septic tanks would be permitted, unless the conditions are such as to meet the ci ty ’s development standards for tran sitional areas where sewer service will be available in a short number of years. The two properties that have been allowed to hook up to the septic tank, rather than waiting for the sewer, are both in the Sandy Heights area. Sewer service will be available to that area once the line connecting the Papa Bear subdivision and the latter phase of the Knollwood Estates pro ject is completed to the city’s trunk line running up Tickle Creek. This area differs from the North Bluff area, because sanitary sewer service can be expected to be available within a few years' time, according to City Planner Don Wilson « Jordan said the purpose for establishing the policy, rather than passing an ordinance, is to let developers know the standards of the city so there will be no surprises when they apply for permits. Mountain water stystems ready to change hands by M IC H A E L P. JONES Post Correspondent The United States v. the Alder Creek Water Company took a major step last week toward resolving some issues on a growing list of problems that has plagued water users the last few years. At a hearing before U.S. District Magistrate George E. Juba, water users packed the courtroom and learned that Gene Ginther will be relieved of his duty as federal receiver of the water company on Aug. 1. The receivership will be transfered to the Alder Creek Water Authority, the board of the newly-created water districts serving the Alder Creek- Barlow, Sleepy Hollow, Country Club, Riverside and Wildwood Annex systems At that time Ginther will turn over to the board all records of accounts, records of each water system and the company’s assets and property that was acquired when he was appointed receiver in September 1980 The W ater Authority w ill be responsible for ad m in is tra tio n , management and operation of the five water systems, including com pliance w ith federal and state guidelines. Federal court will require the Authority and the U.S. Environmen tal Protection Agency to have agreed upon a timeline by Aug. 15 that will be followed to bring the five water systems up to the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water regulations. Engineering plans, specifications for improvements to each water system and a method for financing will have to be completed The court ordered that Riverside, Wildwood Annex. Country Club and Sleepy Hollow systems be in com pliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act by Nov I, 1983 Alder Creek-Barlow, which is reportedly in the worst condition of all the systems, has until Sept 15, 1984 to be in compliance. Prior to the hearing the attorneys representing the water users, Gin ther, the EPA and the federal court, reached agreement on the ownership of the company's five systems and the money reportedly owed the receiver for operating the company the past two and a half years. Ward Greene, Ginther’s attorney, told the court his client has agreed to be paid "a much lower figure” than the $157,000 that he claims the water users owe him for his services. Without disclosing the purchase amount agreed upon by Ginther and the Water Authority, Greene said the water users will pay the money to the court which will then dispense the money to his client. “ We are paying solely for the assets of the company," said at torney Edward Sullivan, represen ting the Water Authority,“ not for the receiver’s fees.” Still the question of the legality of such a move and its effects on the company’s former operator, Gerald “ Red” Bennett, is not settled Ben nett’s attorney claims Ginther “ has no such authority to sell it." Portland attorney, Brian O’Brien, said his client prefers to see the receivership of the company in the hands of the people rather than G intler, but neither have ownership rights He charged that he could “ find no authority for Mr. Ginther to change the trust outside of the physical operation of the district.” Juba told O 'B rie n th a t the receivership will change hands and he will have 10 days to appeal. O’Brien also accused the EPA and Ginther of “acting in concert” to secure ownership of the company from the first day he was made receiver. He accused Ginther of a t tempting to carry out this objective by charging a $10,000 to $15,000 mon thly fee for operating the district. Greene, speaking on behalf of Gin ther, denied the charges. “ M r. Ginther has, at all times, acted within the order laid upon him (by the federal court),” said Greene. “The very fact we’re here today and very happily here to transfer the r e c e iv e r s h ip of the d is t r ic t demonstrates this.” Juba said he “agreed in principal" with the transfer of the company’s receivership, adding his "prim ary intension was to turn over the receivership and get it into the hands of the users of the systems," after the new districts were formed. “ I t ’s unfortunate the government has to get involved in these things," said Juba “ (Governments) are ask ed to run schools, prisons and, in this case, water systems. The court d o e sn ’ t know a n y th in g about operating water systems." Contract question finds architect, school at odds by MICHAEL P. JONES P ost C orresp ond en t Welches School District and Glyn brook Construction Company this week entered arbitration over con struction problems involving the $1.4 million school addition to Welches Grade School The arbitration proceedings in volve a disputed $100,000 which the Salem-based construction company claims the district owes for construc tion modifications That figure in cludes a $60,000 penalty fee the district imposed on them for con struction delays. The district maintains that it is withholding $200 per day in li quidated damages from Glynbrook for not having the three-wing addi tion completed by Nov. 34, I N I . Although neither party would answer questions concerning the issues before the arbitrator, the hear ing is expected to focus on a 26 per cent contingency fund agreement between the architectural firm , Richard T. Gessford A Associates of Portland, and the school district. In that agreement, the school beard signed an amendment to the originel $188,008 contract, which allowed Geoeford to administer a conunfency tuno which was to cover change orders in the project, soil and conrete tests, survey work, legal fees, a conditional-use permit fee, plan check fees, pencil sharpeners, flags and toilet paper holders and extra expenses that may arise Gessford told the board that if he saved the district money, at the end of the project the district and his firm would split the savings. His firm would receive 25 percent “ for ser vices and project control;” the district would keep 75 percent From that agreement three other issues emerged which will be dealt with in the proceedings They are the lack of a general contractor on the job site, the presence of organic fill beneath the excavated building site ant. the absence of soil tests which would have revealed the presence of the organic material, By agreeing to the contingency contract, the board thought Gessford would act as the project's general contractor, according to Superinten dent Kenneth Blackburn. That would have made the architect responsible for any problems that arose on the Job Gessford, on the other hand, said that the contract only meant he was going to try and save the district money. The architect and board agreed to the contract amendment Oct. 11, 1979 Tapes from that meeting reveal the c o n tin g e n c y fund deal was Gessford’s idea He told the board there would be “always extras and additional services that come up (d uring construction), such as testing, and on and on.” He said the board had asked him earlier to prepare an amendment to the contract which would cover any extra costs. “ ‘You prepare a contract for os with that stuff included,'” Gessford recalled the school board telling him. “ We don’t want any extra bills We don’t want a bunch of these chan"e orders. We want you to cover the whole merryanne Gessford said the board may have been joking but he took them as serious and “ felt obligated to attempt to put that kind of package together .” He told the school board that such a contract would be tough to do, but after talking it over with his partner, I^eon Hamblin, they decided to “to take the risk.” “ The discussion that we had that night was that you do this and we ll set up a contingency fund,” said Gessford “ You take it and you ad minister the contracts. If you can save us some money we ll split it with you. " I think the discussion was 50-50, but that's not fair We feel that if we got 25 percent of that we’d be doing super It's more than 'air and we’d even negotiate that.” Alan Jensen, then chairman of the board, asked Gessford if he felt com fortable taking on such a contract and w ith o u t fe e lin g he was “ hanging“ himself Gessford said he felt comfortable because his firm had had enough ex perience administering projects in that way. His firm had sim ilar con tingency agreements in McMinnville and two school building projects in Sisters, “ What it does (the 25 percent con tract», it forces us to be darn careful of our original bond,” explained (iessford. “ And that’s the way you get the best price for /o u r project “ It puts a monkey on our back to have great cost control. We’re really gonna be on top of the thing We’re still gonna have to answer to the school board, of course We’re not gonna waste anybody’s money, but the more we can save, the better off everybody ” If the board didn't agree with the revised contract, Gessford told the board they would have to stick to the terms of their original contract. That would mean that every time a change order was needed he’d have to give the contractor a field order to fill out When he got the field order back showing the extra cost, then he'd prepare a change ordtr and the board would have to call a m "ting to take action before anything could be done. This, he warned the school board, could slow down the project’s con struction and problems could not be dealt with immediately. ‘“ If you don't go for this amend ment, it isn't gonna change our a t titude about the job,” ' Gessford told the board. “ We're still gonna bust our butts to do the best job possible because this is how we get the next job somewhere else '” The board unanimously agreed to the terms of the contract. In return, Gessford would receive 25 percent of the money he saved the district which could amount up to an estimated $65,000 “ I t ’s a heck of a contract,” said Gessford at the time of the contract signing “ I ’ve always wanted to do one like it but I ’ve never had an op portunity to even talk to a board about it It's a challenge on one hand, but it could be a real exciting project.” With housing starts in a slump the “ little things" are keeping the Sandy Building Department busy, but the outlook for the rest of the year isn’t bright. “ We’ve been busy with remodels and additions,” Building Official Tom Day said. “These little things just keep you going.” A recovery, however, “ is not going to happen until the prime interest rate comes down to a stable position and stays there,” he said. The effect of the prime interest rate is reflected in Sandy's construc tion starts. Halfway through 1982, the Building Department has handled $914,571 in total valuation. Doubled, that would fall short of the high-water mark the department established in 1980 when more than $6.1 million valuation was handled by the department. Last year, the department handled nearly $5 million for the city. Day, who recently prepared a report on the department’s progress during his nine and a half years as building official, remembered 1980 as a big year. Tw enty-eight con dominiums were built at Park Crest, the Mormon Church built a new addi tion and some larger projects were in the works This year permits for mobile homes in Knollwood Estates have “ been carrying us,” Day admitted, but even that could be coming to an end as just 15-16 vacancies remain. But things may not necessarily be all that bleak Last month, the city issued its first two housing permits since March and Day is optimistic. “ Maybe the building will pick **p a little , next month the post office may be in for permits,” he said. “ I t ’s kind of amazing we generated over a quarter million dollars in per mit fees,” he said “That never even cost the taxpayers a dim e.” Also shocking to Day is that the department has handled more than $31 million worth of valuation. If the housing industry comes back to life in the spring, as some experts are saying it will, then the past nine years will be just the foundation of a growth pattern that local officials ex pect to skyrocket Sandy’s population to some 15,000 by the turn of the cen tury. City tells lot owners ‘Cut weeds1 The city is getting tough on weedy lots, Monday night, the Sandy City Council declared 86 lots in the city to be public nuisances And at its next meeting the council is expected to act on a proposed or dinance that will put more teeth into the fight against the eyesores and fire hazards By declaring the lots nuisances, the council gave the go-ahead to City P la n n e r Don W ilson to send registered letters to the property owners advising them to clean up their briar patches or the city will do it for them—and put a lien on the pro perty until the clean-up fee is paid. Wilson and Building Official Tom Day have spent the past two months surveying the weed situation But, this late in the year the damage may already be done So, at the suggestion of Councilor Jim Duff, City Attorney Jack Hammond will prepare an ordinance that wouid set a date when the weeds would have to be eliminated and kept eliminated during the summer months That, it is believed, will make policing the growing weed nuisance easier Index SECTION 1 Keeping Posted ......................... 2 Senior Center New«...................3 Inside Business................... . . . . 3 O b itu a rie s ............... r ................3 Inside the Church.................. .1 Editorial, Opinion ................... • Sports, Recreation................. 7-1 SECTION II Area News.................................. I Hoodland Happening* ............1 SECTION HI Classified Ada.......... Inside Tab T V Revue.................. Inside Tab
