Image provided by: Friends of the Sandy Public Library; Sandy, OR
About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 1982)
Thvr» The SVfndy Post Aufl I» 1902 tS*c I ) SANDY (Ore ) POST—$ People Home & Garden Area News Features Near Rhododendron Enola Hill logging studied by M IC H A E L P. JONES Post Correspondent Enola HUI. a 2.768 foot knoll snug gled above the town of Rhododendron at the base of West Zig Zag Mountain, is currently being studied by the U S Forest Service for logging The small mountain, its terrain e t ched with a lucrative history of an cient Indian pony trails, an old wagon road and the remains of two of the area's earliest known homesteads, was the subject of a meeting held F ri day evening between representatives of the Zig Zag Ranger D istrict and members of the Rhododendron Neighborhood Group The ranger district has proposed to open the area up for a tim ber sale in 1986. which would allow the removal of an estimated 1.5 m illion board feet of tim ber The RNG is opposed to the logging, fearing it could disturb the water quality of Henry Creek, which is the domestic water source for 350 households Joel Holtrop. the district's forester, told the small crowd in attendence that public input is needed in this sale, as well as in future sales, because logging operations “ are now beginning to move into more sen sitive areas ” He said he hoped the meeting would be a beginning for get ting the public involved. Holtrop, and Zig Zag Ranger Chuck Smay, say the E nda H ill tim b e r sale area has a lre a d y u n d e rg o n e e x te n s iv e re c o n naissance This area is comprised of roughly 600 acres, but not all of this w ill be logged In the near future an intensive reconnaissance w ill be conducted by a interdisciplinary team comprised of a silviculturist, a hydrologist, a geologist, a w ildlife biologist and a cultural resource person Once this has taken place, an en vironm ental assessment w ill be drafted and the boundaries of the specific units to be cut w ill be established, as well as the fragile areas identified Retired Colonel Jack Baker, a RNG representative who also serves on the board of directors of the R hododendron S u m m e r Home Association, a non profit corporation that operates the water system, ob jects to the logging operation. He claims by logging the mountain’s steep northern slopes the water system's source, Henry Creek, could be affected by the increased turbidity that would result. In this area of the Henry Creek watershed. Baker said the slopes average anywhere from 35 to 37 per cent. In one quarter mile there is a 400-foot drop. Baker told Smay and Holtrop that a new 100.000-gallon water tank, which cost each of the system's customers $175, was recently installed at the re quest of the U S. Environmental Pro tection Agency on account of turbidi ty. The tank would accommodate water users for up to two days during periods of high turbidity “ If that was to happen we’d be forced to dig wells,” said Baker. “ Of course we'd expect the Forest Ser vice to pick up the tab if we have to go to any extra expense on our (water) system.” Baker said since the trucks 7ould be using Zig Zag Mountain Road for hauling out the timber, he calculates the logging would be taking place one m ile or less from the water system's intake Mabel G riffin, a retired school teacher whose fam ily has lived on Henry Creek Avenue in Rhododen dron since 1941, had sim ilar con cerns G riffin said in 1951 Elsie and Walt Creighton had their fam ily's 160-acre homestead on Enola H ill logged A fter the logging had been completed the amount of water draining into Henry Creek increased substantially The result was high water, which eroded and threatened to wash out stream banks. “ If it's a bare, open slope, the water w ill just gush down and we w ill have problems.” said G riffin. P rior to the Creighton s logging operation, G riffin said the banks along the creek were quite stable “ There is no doubt that logging w ill have an impact on the ( Henry Creek) watershed,” agreed Holtrop “ There w ill be much more of a chance of soil in filtra tin g the stream ” Holtrop, however, said this pro blem would be mitigated by such things as planting grass to stabilize the slopes Another concern was the distur bance of numerous springs that feed Henry Creek from Enola Hill, as well as the potential adverse affect on the salmon, steelhead and resident trout populations that inhabit its waters. “ Henry Creek, in our terminology, is a class I 3tream ," said Holtrop “ By class I it get more protection ” Holtrop said the report of the hydrologist would be thoroughly studied before making the decision on the method of logging the area, determining whether it w ill be a clear cut or a partial cut. Holtrop said if clear cutting is decided upon for Enola H ill, it w ill be limited to an area 10 to 15 acres in size In sensitive areas there could be smaller tracts However, he added that due to the climate and species of trees in the district, clear cutting is considered the best method to employ for the best tim ber manage ment results Dale Lamoureux, a Rhododendron homeowner, questioned whether it would be profitable for the district to log Enola H ill He said the steep terr- rain would provide less of a return than logging a flat or rolling terrain. Holtrop responded that tim ber management has been mandated through legislation, and the timber on Enola H ill has to be cut sometime He said, however, the sale would have to prove to be “ an economically viable opportunity for a tim ber com pany to get involved. ” “ It is not (an) absolute that we have to cut it now,” said Holtrop. “ It is not absolutely impossible that we can’t go somewhere else and cut the tim ber But these somewhere elses are getting rare Eventually we’ll have to come back and log it.” “ Mother Nature has been manag ing it for thousands of years,” said Beth Baker, RNG secretary “ We didn’t begin to get into trouble until man started managing it. “ If you didn’t cut on the north side of Enola (H ill),’’ said Baker, “ then you wouldn’t have to be concerned about anything.” If it was just a little creek that horses and cows drank out of it would be another story, said G riffin. “ But we have a water system with real clean w a te r and it m ust be protected ” Feds close loan file on hydro project by M IC H A E L P. JONES Post Correspondent The loan application filed for a hydroelectric facility proposed for South Boulder Creek has been closed and the conditional use perm it ap plication for the project has been canceled, according to state and Clackamas County officials The project’s developer, Steven Sweitzer of Wemme, had sought a federal loan of $1.2 m illion for the construction of a 1,957 theoretical horsepower micro-hydro, located ap proximately one mile above the mouth of South Boulder Creek The proposal called for the con struction of a hydroelectric plant on a stream on Huckleberry Mountain that flows into the Salmon River near Brightwood. The hydro would have been the first project of its kind in Oregon to have been build with a federal loan The state is administering funds as an incentive for private developers to find alternatives to nuclear or coal- fired power plants The interest rate for the loans are currently 12 percent. It is expected it w ill be increased to 13.5 percent next year Dave White, of the small energy loan program, said Sweitzer's “ loan file " has been closed due to a lack of communication The developer had not responded to the letters sent to him by state officials In addition the answers to ques tions raised by a hydrologist at an Aug 12 hearing before the Board of Water Resources were not provided as requested F E A S IB IL IT Y Q UESTIO NED Testifying on behalf of the Sierra Club and the Environmental Com mittee On Suitability, Dr Robert L. EXPERT APPLIAKCE SERVICE R PARTS Authorized Service For: • Amana • Frigidaire Beschta, a forest hydrologist and water quality expert who teaches in the school of forestry at Oregon State University in Corvallis, questioned the economic feasibility of the pro ject. Such proof is required of any p ro je c t re c e iv in g sm a ll-e n e rg y loans Beschta disputed Sweitzer’s claim that his hydro would produce an estimated 2.3 m illion kilowatts. He said his own calculations showed 37 percent less energy production. He raised questions concerning the amount of water available for such power generation. The feasibility question raised by Beschta played a m ajor role in Sweitzer’s pursuit of his loan, ac- coridng to White White said he wrote Sweitzer earlier this year requesting informa tion on the stream's water volume, which he is supposed to be gauging in order to determine the financial feasibility of the project. After receiving no response, White said he wrote to Sweitzer a second time requesting the same inform a tion. Sweitzer was to have monitored the stream during the high-flow period this winter According to White, he was to take readings on the stream twice daily. The state requires a device that is p la c e d in th e s tre a m and automatically measures and records the stream’s flow, “ We wanted to know its instant c h a ra c te ris tic s , not its d a ily (characteristics),” said White The cost for such a device is high, admitted White The rental ranges anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000, or it could be purchased for about $20,000. Due to the unusually high amount of rain and snowfall this year, the in formation would not have shown the “ true” average volume of water. In the second letter, dated March 11, White said he warned the developer that if the information was not received the fate of his $1.2 m illion loan would be in jeopardy. When Sweitzer failed to respond to a third letter from White’s office the loan file for the Boulder Creek hydro was officially closed. White said he could not understand why Sweitzer had not responded to his letters as he had gone through the m ajor portion of the loan process, a task White admitted is not an easy one “ If he (Sweitzer) wants to pursue a loan someday on his hydro project,” said White, “ he'll have to reapply ” APPLICATIO N W ITHDRAW N Sweitzer’s pursuit of constructing his hydro fa cility on South Boulder Creek has been further complicated by the Clackamas County planning department withdrawing his applica tion for a conditional use permit. Gary Naylor, a senior planner for the department, said that Sweitzer has not requested a hearing and so after this long, it has in effect “ been withdrawn A ll communications concerning The Mt. Hood Citizens Planning Organization w ill meet Aug 23 at 7:30 p m at the Hoodland Women’s Club Topics include discussion of the Clackamas County Commissioners’ presentation of the Mt Hood Com prehensive Plan to the LCDC There w ill be a report on the sewer, When Sweitzer was finally reach ed, he refused to comment on his plans concerning the project. and selection ot a new CPO secretary The Ferndale subdivisionpartition application w ill be considered, as well as a zoning request from American Guaranty concerning the building of condominiums on the east side of the golf course below Salmon River Road. by M ICHA EL P. JONES Post Correspondent The conclusion of the contract dispute between Welches Grade School teachers and the district has been prolonged by the school board's unanimous vote to reject the recom mendations of an independent fact finder I^ast Monday, Aug 9, the school board rejected the recommendations contained in a factfinding report prepared by John H Abernathy The report was prepared after listening to both sides air their differences in a hearing July 1. E arlier that same day, the report was unanimously approved by the Welches Education Association, after much discussion. The bargaining team was compris ed of chief negotiator Tom Well, Je a n in e B o ld t and K a th le e n McDougall, who report 21 full- and one half-tim e certified teachers voted to approve the recommenda tion in attempt to avert a strike. D ick H offm an, school board chairperson and chief negotiator, said the findings were close to what district was seeking but not quite close enough He refused to specify what problems the board had with the report. Hoffman said for the next 30 days the district and the WEA are in a “ cooling o ff” period During this time the district's negotiator, Russell B. G range, a la b o r re la tio n s specialist with the Oregon School Board Association, w ill request the state mediator call the two parties back together in an attempt to reach a settlement Well said the negotiating team would happily meet with the board, but only to listen. He said the WEA w ill stand fast on its demands “ We w ill have n o th in g to negotiate,” said Well. “ We w ill listen to what the school board has to say but we’ve given up enough." This same concern was echoed by Boldt, who said the teachers have already compromised as much as they can. “ We have already given away more than we originally intended, and that is 1.2 percent of our own salary,” said Boldt. “ We accepted the factfinder’s report only with the hopes the school board would also ac cept it." In future negotiating sessions, Boldt said “ unless the school board wants to give us more than the fact fin d e r" it w ill be difficult to accept anything less. “ It seems the negotiations are get ting to a point of give and give and give from our side,” said Well. " It Call fo r A p p o in tm e n t PROFESSIONAL • STRESS • FEARS • SPORTS SOLUBLE PLANT FOOD J General Purpose 20-20-20 8oz $2 Live Country MUSIC • Mixed flower bouquets........... ’2.50 Complete local florist shop Outdoor plant & garden center Ffover Gat’dct’ 301 8. Rowell 39075 Proctor • Sandy 668-9767 • W HGH1 • MEMORY • SELF CONFIDENCE Billie M cNutt PHD C ertified Union Hypnotheropist FRIDAY SPECIALS -pG t ’ VV • SMOKING • BEDWETTING • NAILBITING Coll 668-422 1 A favorite for general use wifh all house and garden plants Made to professional stan dards to give you professional results at home > 0^ g • Jenn-Air • KitchenAid • Maytag 686-4168 At a later date, said Naylor, if Sweitzer wishes to re-submit his pro ject for a conditional use permit, it would be processed without an addi tional $250 application fee due to the planning department's error which resulted “ in in su fficie n t public notification and an improper hear ing.” “ As far as I know," said Naylor, “ the project w ill be resubmitted sometime in the future.” Welches board rejects factfinders report HYPNOSIS • Weekly outdoor plant specials! Soles and Service A t the first conditional use permit hearing, held on July 16, 1981, the hearing required close to three hours of testimony. However, after the hearing the planning division learned that a property owner w ithin 250 feet of the proposed hydro had not been notified This was in violation of the requirements of the county’s zoning and development ordinance, as well as state law Mt. Hood CPO meeting set eG.E. RiECELmonrtr Sweitzer's intent to pursue the pro ject, according to Naylor, have not been responded to. He said he did not wish to withdraw the application, considering all Sweitzer has been through, but was forced to. U . Steven Maryck, left, played by I)an Brown, and Lt. Barney Greenwald, his attorney, played by Rick Matter, perform a scene from “ The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.” On Aug. 21 the Mountain Players will serve dinner along with the performance. Aug. 28 is cabaret night. For more information call 622-3150. OPEN 10 6 Tues Sat AT Zig Zag Inn Every Fri.-Sat. 9:15*2:15 Music by "The Special Edition" featuring Clarence ft Mickey. Aug. 2 0 — Fifties Night Prizes for dance contest, best costumes from 1950s 622*4779 Hwy. 26 Rhododendron Come earfy 4 enjoy dinner . . then donee the ntghf owayf " seems the board doesn’t want to give a little on what they are negotiating.” The WEA was seeking a three-year contract with a 6 percent increase plus increments. The factfinder recommended a 4.8 percent increase with only a two-year contract. Beginning in the second year the salary schedule w ill be tied to the Portland consumer price index Based on the factfinders recom mendations, Well said the salaries for the Welches teachers, as com pared to the rest of the school districts in the state, would have still been low, even if the district had ac cept the recommendations. The average settlement reached this ye !r was 6.2 percent of base pay. Well said the average teacher’s salary in the state is $20,000. The 4.8 percent increase would have raised the average teacher’s salary at Welches from $16,127 to $17,100 This would still put them $2,900 below the 1981-82 statewide average When school opens Sept 7, the teachers could be entering their 69th day without a contract. The orignal contract expired on June 30 after numerous negotiating sessions bet ween the WEA and the board failed The WEA anticipates the teachers taking a vote on the course of action they wish to take, either on Sept. 1, 2 or 3, when they return for in-service. At that time, said Well, if a settle ment has not yet been reached, the teachers w ill make a decision based on one of three options available to them. The negotiating team reports the first option would be to continue working without a contract for an undetermined period of time. The second option is a teacher slowdown What this actually means no one on the negotiating team would specify. “ Option three, if worse comes to worst,” said Well, “ is a teacher's strike ” Well said the board’s decision to re ject the factfinder’s report is a ploy to see how fa r the WEA can be push ed. He said they are determined to stand their ground and secure a good contract so the teachers can begin earning a salary comparable to those being paid in other districts. “ The board is really pushing us,” said Well. “ Whatever w ill come out of this push, whether it be a slowdown or a strike, w ill have the greatest im part on the kids if a settle ment isn’t reached soon.” ’ t ’s “ too bad we have to get into this position," added Boldt “ The school board has said for the past seven months we re so close, and that a settlement is right around the cor ner.” Scott Cuddeford VI DEO I M PRESSIO NS Video TajMS Recording Service Home Inventory and Special Occasions Days: 668 9200 Evenings P O. Box 582. Sandy. OR 97055 668-5728
