Section
SANDY. OREGON THURSDAY JULY 22 1982
The Srfndy Post
Construction errors
cited by employee
by MICHAEL P JONES
Poet Correspondent
A construction supervisor, who will
be testifying in arbitration pro
ceedings concerning the $1 4 million
addition to Welches Grade School,
said that improper fill material is
responsible for problems that have
plagued the project
The cost, as well as the blame for
the construction problems, may be
resolved in the coming arbitration
proceedings
The arbitration is between the
Welches School District and Glyn-
brook Construction Company of
Salem At issue is an estimated
$100,000, which includes liquidated
damages and change orders in the
project, both of which were at
tributed to construction problems
The next round in the arbitrations
will involve the district and Havalick
Construction, a Scappoose-based ex
cavation firm that cleared and
prepared the site for the new three-
wing addition In dispute is 129.000
that is being withheld from the firm
by the district.
The district is withholding the
money because organic fill materials
such as grass, roots, logs, branches
and stumps, were left in the area
where cement slabs for the addition
was poured. It is feared that settling
problems could develop in the future
as a result of this improper fill.
The third proceeding could involve
a Portland-based architectural firm ,
Richard L. Gessford A Associates.
They were hired by the district to
draw the plans for the new structure.
Later, the district and Gessford
signed another contract that made
him responsible for administering a
1256,000 contingency fund Duties in
cluded such things as hiring the con
tractors and approving change
orders.
Any of the parties involved—Glyn-
brook, Havalick, any of the subcon
tra c to rs , or even the school
d is tric t—could s till file claim s
against Gessford.
Em il T Fahrenkrug, a former con
struction superintendent for Glyn-
brook who serves in a sim ilar capaci
ty with another company now, first
revealed the problems to the com
munity. He contends the school's pro
blem is being caused by the improper
organic fill and adds there were soil
tests that should have been taken but
were not
The soil tests, according to both
Fahrenkrug and G ary Yeam an,
Clackamas County building inspec
tor, were to be taken on every eight
inches of fill added to the building
site These tests would have revealed
th at unacceptable am ounts of
organic material was present in the
fill, according to Yeaman.
SETTLING DENIED
According to Leon Hamblin, vice
p re s id e n t
of
G es sfo rd
and
Associates, no fill problems exist.
“ No one says there is anything wrong
with the fill. They have taken some
tests and no settling has been proved
and no settling will take place,”
Hamblin said
Fahrenkrug arrived on the job in
the early fall of I960 as a replacement
for the original job superintendent.
At that particular point the slab for
“ A” wing had been poured and
workers were in the process of
plastering the walls The "C " wing
slab had also been poured and fram
ing had just begun No slab or wall
construction had yet begun on the
“ B” wing structure
During an interview taped on
M a rc h
26 of la s t y e a r at
Fahrenkrugs home in Almsville, he
said he first learned of the problems
with the organic fill almost as soon as
he took over as superintendent
He said that LeRoy Gossen, of
Gossen Excavation, called his atten
tion to some im proper fill he
discovered while digging out footings
for "B " wing He discovered wood
ashes, sticks, roots, stumps and other
organic materials that had not been
removed from the site
Fahrenkrug said he showed the
organic material to Leon Hamblin,
vice president of Gessford and
Associates. Hamblin reportedly in
structed him to have the footing dug
down until solid ground was reached.
However, a few feet down Gossen
struck a solid object. When dug out
he uncovered a stump that was two
feet in diameter and 10 to 18 inches
long
Beneath the stump was the re
mainder of a burn pile This was at a
depth of five and a half feet below
where the footing was intended to be
"in engineered fill.”
B e fo re
fo rm s
w e re
se t,
Fahrenkrug said he had Carlson
Testing Inc. of Tigard conduct com
paction tests in this area to deter
mine the severity of the problem
While these tests were taking place,
work on the footings continued and
more of the same type of “ rubbish”
was discovered
"The recommendation of Carlson
Testing was that it (the footing area)
should be dug out because it (the f ill)
wasn't suitable,” said Fahrenkrug
These tests, said Fahrenkrug, were
turned over to Yeaman, who claimed
they were the only tests he had seen
in which testing was done below the
first 12 inches.
"Meanwhile the building inspector
(Yeaman) is crying and raising hell
with m e,” said Fahrenkrug, "to get
those damn inspection reports on the
compaction tests, which were sup
posed to have been taken before they
were doing (pouring) those pads."
In August or September of 1980.
Fahrenkrug said, plumbers and elec
tr ic ia n s s ta rte d in on th e ir
underground work in the kitchen
area, and they too kept digging into
roots and other organic fill.
When a contractor began putting in
the sewer line from the office and
gymnasium area to connect them to
the lift station, the problem became
more apparent. An eight-foot-wide
trench, which he estimated to be
around nine feet deep, revealed more
of the same insufficient fill. He said
there were pieces of wood, boulders,
rocks and what he referred to as
“just garbage” present
As the contractor began covering
up the hole, Fahrenkrug said he told
them they’d better put in good fill and
compact it. He said although he had
no jurisdiction over them, he was
worried because he was to be the one
who was going to pour the floor and
place the footings.
Please turn to Page 2.
Area News
People
Home & Garden
Features
Rim market considered a success
The T im b e rlin e R im C raft
Market went "real w ell,” accor
ding to Ann Green, who was co-
coordinator of the event along with
Marylin Petersen
“ The beautiful weather really
helped us out,” Green said
There was an "even flow of traf
fic,” though overall attendance
this weekend may have been down
a little from last year “ I t ’s a sign
of the times," Green said
Most of the participants were
happy with the number of sales,
according to Green. Barbara
Wilson and Betty Douthit of
Portland sold kites, one of the
popular items. Patterson Rock, a
Rim resident, also reportedly did
well selling watercolor paintings
for different artists
The craft market, an annual
event in its third year, gets better
every year in Green's opinion It is
also getting easier to organize, she
said
A raffle, registration fees and a
r a s p b e rr y s h o rtc a k e booth
resulted in $450 being raised for the
Rim lodge and swimming pool
fund
Helen Ladd, a Rim resident,
caught the eyes of many as she
worked on paintings Ladd is a
former buyer and director of social
departments for the J. Thayer
Company, where she won two na-
tional awards for the store in m er
chandising and display She is now
retired and spends her time cap-
tunng scenes of the Northwest
She developed the Loft Gallery in
Beaverton and the Skylight Room
in Hillsboro for the J Thayer Com
pany, showcases for the works of
Northwest artists.
Photo by Scoli Newton
Helen Ladd
Aschoff elected Boring board chairman
by GWEN BOGH
Post Correspondent
School board members elected
Carl Aschoff to act as chairman for
the Boring School District. Suppor
ting him, board member Stu McKen
zie said, “ I feel Aschoff has the ex
perience from working on the board
quite a while.” The unanimous ap
proval was reached without hesita
tion.
Following Aschoff's nomination,
the board approved a motion for Stu
McKenzie to serve as vice chairman.
Linda Shaw took the oath at last
week’s board meeting as the newest
member to the Boring School board
She's a parent and has been an active
participant during board meetings.
She will serve two years, until June
30, 1984
Joe Taylor, Boring superintendent,
read a letter from Wendell Curry,
specialist from the Child Develop
ment Commission. He evaluated the
Title I program at Boring last April
22. Taylor said that the letter was, "A
good plus for the Title I program and
the staff that conducts it.”
Bob Boring, vice chairman of the
Sandy Union High School board, at
tended the meeting. He wanted to br
ing attention to the Aug. 10 operating
levy proposal and asked that the
SUHS district be supported
According to the state law a "con
sent agenda” listing items of
business that require action from the
board can be approved in total by the
board. If there are questions with
regard to any item listed, it is pulled
from the consent agenda and ad
dressed.
Clackamas County board
considers testimony on plan
The Board of Clackamas County
Commissioners held over a decision
on the proposed changes for the Mt.
Hood Community Plan until next
Monday, July 26.
Dominic Mancini, director of the
planning department, said the com
missioners tabled making a decision
until they have had an opportunity to
review the testimony and evidence
presented at the hearings.
They have scheduled a work ses
sion for 9 a m today, July 22, at the
Department of Environmental Ser
vices building, 902 Abernethy, in
Oregon City.
Mancini said it is expected that the
work session will last all day.
Once the proposed revisions are
adopted, said Mancini, it will be sent
back to the planning staff, which will
prepare a new planning document.
That document will be submitted to
the state Land Conservation and
Development Commission prior to
August 13.
The LCDC will hold a public hear
ing on the revisions, as well as
discuss a number of other issues,
which will involve wetlands and
riparian systems, both within and
outside of the Hoodland Service
District. That hearing is tentatively
scheduled for August 13.
Those items listed which were
adopted included authorization of
one signature on district checks less
than $15,000; authorization of salary
payments and payments of claims
against the district according to
budget, policy and state and federal
laws; designatation of the second
Tuesday of each month at 8 p m in
the Naas building library as day,
time and place of board of directors
meetings; and authorization for the
county treasurer to invest funds for
the district and approval of grant ap
plications for federal funds
Discussed by members at the
board meeting was the probable visit
from state officials to evaluate the
special education program at the
school. Taylor said, “ We’re an
ticipating state monitoring of special
education this fall.” Taylor com
mended Carolyn Phones for the ex
cellent work she's done with the
special education program.
Another concern that faces the
board is the problem of holding onto
former students’ records Files on in
dividual students must be kept and
maintained at the school. “ I t ’s a
tremendous amount of time the
records have to be kept," said Bor
ing. He said in some situations they
must be kept 700 years. The possibili
ty of using microfilm may be an
alternative to the problem. A cost
estimate may be researched.
Three positions were filled on the
budget committee They were Grant
Richardson, Bob Boring and Richard
Bailey. Applicants for the available
positions were required to send a let
ter to the board stating thei2
qualifications and why they wanted
to be on the committee.
Kent & Snow, auditors of Boring
School for at least four years (that
Faith Wilson, deputy clerk, recalls)
have done a good job for the school,
according to Taylor, but some saw a
need for new auditors. "We need a
fresh look at budgeting from new
auditors,” said Jerry Cannon, budget
committee chairman. No action was
taken
McKenzie expressed his views on
forming a committee that would be
responsible for developling long
range goals for the school. Some of
the questions which might be ad
dressed, he said, include. “ What are
the needs of the students? What are
the frustrations of the teachers?
Does the school as a staff have some
goals they are working toward?”
He added, “ I feel a need to get
everybody involved It should start
some momentum and improve com
munication.” A planning committee
will meet July 27 at 7 p m at the
school to formalize a “ special”
meeting
HoodlandHappenings
Celebrity Golf Classic
set at Rippling River
THURSDAY, JU LY 22
The
C la c k a m a s
C o u nty
Bookmobile will be at the Hoodland
Plaza Shopping Center today from 4
to 7 p.m.
SATURDAY, JU LY 24
The first Celebrity Golf-Tennis
Classic will be held today and tomor
row at the Rippling River Resort
The tournament will begin at 10 a m
today and continue through Sunday,
finishing at 5 p.m. The tournament
will benefit the Mt. Hood Kiwanis
Crippled Children's Camp and the
Deaf-Blind People of Oregon Inc.
Call the resort at 622-3101 for com
plete details.
SUNDAY, JU LY 25
The Welches Community School
aerobic dance class will be held to
day beginning at 9 a m at Welches
School in the covered area next to the
school playground Babysitt.
will
be available for a small fee
Vacation Bible School, sponsored
by Hoodland Lutheran Church,
begins today at 9:30 a m. Children
age 3 through those in sixth grade are
welcome to attend the school from
9:30 a m. to noon today through F ri
day, July 30. The Bible School will be
held at the Hoodland Women’s Club
building, and is free Call 622-3916 for
more information.
WEDNESDAY. JULY 20
Aerobic dance class will continue
today at Welches School beginning at
9 am
Welches Community School hikes
continue throughout the summer
with Lou Tipton leading Meet at the
Hoodland Women’s Club building to
carpool
To place an event in Hoodland Hap
penings. contact Dawn Morrison at
622 3538.
Environmentalist praises
county for hydro ordinance
A small line formed Sunday afternoon for rides down the new Alpine Slide at Multorpor Ski Bowl
V
An ordinance addressing the siting
of hydroelectric and water diversion
facilities in Clackamas County was
approved July 12 by the Board of
County Commissioners
The com m issioners, however,
amended the proposed siting stan
dards to prohibit such facilities in
open-space management areas, fear
ing there could be a conflict with the
comprehensive plan
Open space, according to the 1976
Mt. Hood Community Plan, covers
such areas as schools, parks, slopes
with scenic values in excess of 25 per
cent, stream corridors, flood plains,
wetlands and marshes
At an earlier hearing Liz Frenkel,
representing groups as the Sierra
Club, Oregon Wilderness Coalition
and Oregon Environmental Council,
applauded the county for what she
called a “ landm ark” ordinance
Frenkel said environmental groups
all over the state were w itching the
progress Clackamas County was
making in its attempt to recognise
the p ro blem s associated w ith
hydroelectric facilities