The
Vol 77 No 33
SANDY OREGON
THURSDAY A u g u st 13 1987
Single Copy 2S<
«l'SHS «Ml-IttOi
Timber sale foes
want scenie area
W ill cam paign to stop all logging
W EIA’HES — Opponents to the
proposed Enola H ill tim ber sale near
Rhododendron announced Saturday
a campaign (or an end to all logging
through form ation of a Mount Hood
National Scenic Area
The setting for the announcement
by "F riends of Enola H ill" was a
public meeting they organized to a ir
final concerns over a tim ber sale of
144 parceled acres proposed for 1989
Up to 40 persons turned out to have
their views tape-recorded as part of
public comment on the plan, said
organizer Michael Jones, one of the
F rie n d s o f E nola H ill and a
Rhododendron resident The com
ment period ended Wednesday .
Those
a tte n d in g
w e re
in
unanimous opposition to the sale.
Jones said. Several Zig Zag Ranger
D istrict personnel attended but did
not speak
The Mount Hood National Forest
supervisor is expected to decide
a m o n g fiv e
a lt e r n a tiv e s
in
November, said Maureen M cB rienof
the Zig Zag district.
laist month, the d istrict held public
hearings on alternatives proposed in
the sale’s environm ental assess
ment.
C om plaining about inadequate
tim e for public comment and that
documents were not available in tim e
for study before the hearings, sale
opponents succeeded in having the
deadline extended and decided to
sponsor their own meeting.
" I t's not very usual that we have
this intensity of public involvem ent,"
McBnen acknowledged
Preservation of Enola H ill means
enough to the group Jones represents
that it w ill appeal a decision to cut
any tim ber there as high up as the
Forest Service headquarters, he
said
The group would prefer to see the
Mount Hood corridor from Alder
Creek to the mountain's eastern side
and to Hood River approved by Con
gress as a national scenic area. Jones
said.
The idea for the scenic area was
the last of four proposals Jone
presented to the Forest Service.
He also proposed that Enola H ill be
rem oved fro m the c o m m e rc ia l
tim ber base and be placed inside the
Mount Hood Wilderness bordering it
to the north
His third recommendation was
that all Mount Hood National Forest
land w ithin sight of Highway '26 be
managed for tourism and not logg
ing
Jones suspects that the federal
agency w ill select the alternative
that he said calls for 6 34 m illion
board feet to be removed.
In that case, his group w ill demand
Turn to ENOLA H IL I.. Page 6A.
Commission changes
stance on ordinance
The Sandy Planning Commission
has joined other concerned parties in
w riting to the Sandy City Council
about a new zoning ordinance facing
possible adoption Monday
The commission voted unanimous
ly Aug. 5 to change its earlier deci
sion allowing conditional uses of
w a re h o u se s and d is t r ib u t io n
facilities in Sandy’s downtown, said
Chairwoman Kim berley Nelson.
It decided last week to recommend
that the council allow warehousing
only by small manufacturers who
could operate downtown under the
proposed zoning ordinance change
“ If you can’t warehouse, you have
to be shipping out every day," Nelson
said about combining the two uses.
The commission stated in a letter
to the council its new position, which
opposes warehousing or distribution
as a separate use but otherwise sup
ports the change, Nelson said
That letter was among five a rriv
ing at Sandy City Hall by the council-
imposed deadline of Aug. 11, Reber
said The w riters may address the
council on the issue before the or
dinance has its second and possibly
last reading Monday
The ordinance would amend San
dy's city code to allow in the
downtown area the assembly or
m anufacturing of small items or food
products if done indoors and if com
patible with core area businesses
It also would perm it development,
research, experimental or testing
fa c ilitie s , and w areh o using or
d istribution businesses to locate
downtown if approved by the com
mission and council
The commission was too late to
make its change of heart a form al
recom m endation to the council.
Nelson said.
“ We already approved th a t," she
said of the pending ordinance " I t is
up to the council in o w i to reject,
adopt or change.”
Nelson changed her opinion, she
said, after learning from Sandy City
Manager Tom Reber that a retail
chain could site its warehouse here
under the proposed ordinance
Issues raised by Dale Nicholls pro
mpted Nelson to study the m atter
further, she said
Yet, she contends that the new or
dinance overall w ill benefit Sandy.
Sandy must broaden its idea of
economic growth, said Nelson The
freeway changed the flavor of the
to w n
as
d id
th e
iS a n d y l
M arketplace."
Jim Wasson made three of the state’s best wines, the Hinot Noir, blai kberry and loganberry.
Wasson Bros, wine wins rare award
by CHRISTINE BIERMAN
for The Host
Award-winning win« maker Jim Wasson was
on the job Tuesday in Sandy consoling yet
another disappointed caller as news of his
w in e ry ’s latest achiev inent continued to
spread.
Unlike others, this caller was one of the fo r
tunate few who w ill taste the Wasson Bros
Winery 1975 W illamette Valley Pinot Noir that
earned a rare gold medal at the recent State I air
Conunercial Wine Competition
The caller was Mary Ross of Chicago, one of
the judges at that very competition and the wine
master for The 95th and Atwater s restaurants in
the Windy City.
But like all others longing to drink the dry red
winner, Ross is lim ited to two bottles
Word of the Wasson’s 1975 Pinot Noir, which
earned both a gold medal and Best of Show in the
state competition last week, has whittled sup
plies to 51 cases and prompted Wasson to raise
the price by $4
“ Everyone in the U.S. wants it, Wasson, a
form er Gresham resident, says. He is thinking
about dropping the lim it to one bottle so more
people can enjoy the wine
The wine that sells easily for $19.95 u txittle
now was $8 95 a bottle when 287 cases were
released in February.
Conversely, loganberry and blackberry wines
that claimed another two gold medals for
Wasson remain in far less demand, in plentiful
supply and at $6 a bottle.
The Hinot Noir enjoys more prestige among
wine lovers and means more to the industry
statewide, Wasson says
In winning the awards, Wasson’s I’ inot Noir
was rated superior in its class as well as among
all gold medal-winners in the vim fera division
J im accepted from Nell Goldschmidt Aug ti
the two Governor’s Trophies for Best of Show in
the viniferas for the l ’inot Noir, and in the fru it
and blackberry division for a non-vintage
blackberry wine
The third of five gold medals awarded went to
Wasson’s non-vintage loganberry wine.
Wasson's success "is a hell of an honor say s
Wasson, one of 62 wine makers entering 190
wines for judging.
I don't like to toot my own horn and say we re
the best winery in the state, but the awards
speak for themselves," he says.
Like David in the Old Testament, the winery
has slam its Goliath, he adds A tiny producer
such as Wasson Bros., run full-tim e by Jim who
learned commercial wine making at Clackamas
Community College, has outdone wineries hiring
doctorate holders in wine making and bottling 10
times as much wine a year
Wasson produces superior wine without a keen
taste of sense or smell Suffering from hayfever
much of the year, he turns to his wife, Mildred,
and sales clerks at Janz Berryland next door in
Sandy, to judge when a wine is of age
Jim shares the credit with his neighbor in
Oregon City, Bruce Weber, whose Lealand
Vineyards produced the award-winning Hinot
Noir grape*. The grapes were taken to the Wasson
Winery at 41901 Highway 26 in Sandy where they
were made into wine and bottled
"The wine maker can’t take a ll the credit You
have to have superior grapes," Wasson says.
The blackberries and loganberries come from
Townsend Farm s, Troutdale, and the raspber
ries. from Music Camp Ranch in Sandy.
Jim 's equal partner is his brother, John, also
of Oregon City. Project manager at the
W illam ette Falls Ixtcks, John relieves Jim at the
winery on Sundays.
Awards are almost routine for the pair, whose
',’ 4 state medals decorat* the wall behind the
counter of their tasting room at the winery They
captured three gold medals in the 1984 state fa ir
contest
Jim Wasson says he wished the awards could
1 m * translated into profits.
The winery is trapped between being too small
to boost production from 6,000 gallons a year and
too poor to buy equipment needed to do more.
We have less im oney) than what we came in
w ith " in 1982, he says. " I ’m going broke making
the best wine in the state."
Wasson says he would rather replace his 1973
pickup truck than spend $8,000 on 20 more
French oak wine barrels
M ildred earns three tunes more than Jim as
m edia specialist for H ollydale and West
Gresham elementary schools the last 23 years.
Wasson worked as a plumber until 1981 when
he left to raise blackberries and, the next year, to
start the vineyard. Wine making had been his
hobby.
Living in remote areas, the Wassons chose
Sandy as the site for their w inery sine«' they liked
the area, have relatives there and once lived in
Gresham
"T h is country was ripe for a w in e ry ," Wass«»n
said.
Business unproved after the winery moved
east of Sandy during construction of the Safeway
grocery store.
Sewer plant expansion to be costly
Few Sandy residents see it or smell
it, but they could face a bill of up to
$2 5 m illion or more for additions to it
in the 1990s, city officials say
It is the city of Sandy’s sewage
treatm ent plant and it is steadily
reaching, and occasionally over
reaching, its capacity
The plant was built in 1972 two
miles west of town, where few would
see it or smell it and where treated
sewage could be dumped easily into
nearby Tickle Creek, said plant
Superintendent Bob Hornsby.
But the plant's favorable location
in a gully off of J. Jarl Road could be
its downfall should funding of im
provements to the sewer system be
decided by voters, Hornsby con
cedes.
“ That's rig ht I don’t think too
m any people know we’ re down
here," Hornsby said
Slowing growth trends, though,
could buy Sandy more tim e to study
the problem than originally thought,
said Hornsby and City Manager Tom
Reber Adm inistrative assistant Ken
Reinke could report to Sandy City
Council members Aug 17 on Sandy's
growth rate the past five years.
Hornsby and Reber say that a pro
jected deadline of 1990 for expanding
the plant could be moved to as late as
1994
Sooner or later, the city must
decide to build an additional plant
costing up to $2.5 m illion or more, or
to
agree
on
a
c o n s tru c tio n
Possible replacem ent systems
listed by Hornsby ar«' the S< hreiber
activated sludge system, estimated
to cost $1.53 m illion, or the Rotating
Biological Contactor RB( pro« ess.
which would total about $2 56 m illion
in two phases
Sandy's current activated sludge
system can handle 500,000 gallons a
day, the amount of sewage generateti
by a town of 4,500 persons. Hornsby's
report stated
The s u m m e rtim e d a ily flow
averages 350.000 gallons a day w ith
Sandy's cu rre n t population of about
3,800
Photo b> Christine Biermun
Plant Superintendent Bob Hornsby prepared a prelim inary report on replacement of Sandy ’s sewage treatment
system.
m oratorium , Hornsby said
A 14-member citizens task force
recently appointed to study city-
g o a ls , in c lu d in g c a p ita l im
provements and their financing, w ill
be eyeing the plant.
The council requested the growth
study from Reinke and added the
plant to the task force's assignments
after hearing the results of a six-
month-long study by Hornsby that
was presented to th«* < Tty < ouncil last
month
The council also asked city staff to
budget for a sewage facilities plan in
the 1988-89 fiscal year, Hornsby said
That plan could cost up to $50,000, he
said
Hornsby's report lists two a lter
m illion, the other, costing $2 m illion
to $2 5 m illion Both figures are based
on 1986 dollars
Those costs could more than double
if the state Department of En
vironmental Quality requires Sandy
to divert treated sewage from Tickle
Creek to land for irrigation or to the
Sandy or Clackamas rivers for
native systems, one costing $15
discharge
But the plant already exceeds the
sewage-creek water ratio in the sum
mer allowed by DEQ. Hornsby and
Reber said
Wintertime rains another problem
on the plant, one that is common to
cities west of the Cascade Mountain
range, they sani Storm water in
filtra tin g the system through leaky
pipes has amounted to as many as 3
m illion gallons and averaged 1
m illion gallons a «lay Excess w inter
tim e flow is rout«*«) into a second but
much larger pond for later treatm ent
and discharge, Hornsby said
The city has never been cited by
the state for those slips, Reber said
And, as long as Sandy regularly
meets DEQ standards, the city w ill
find few grant dollars available for
expansion, Reber said DEQ tends to
Turn to SEWAGE. Rage 6
A /tiffo p o r
m ay have
netc ow ner
Hanna Car Wash of Portland
could buy Multopor Ski Bowl
before C laikam as County sells
the assets at the ski area on
Mount Hood for back taxes, said
Jerry Norman of American
Guaranty Life Insurance Co. in
Portland
T he sale of Multopor to Hanna
Car Wash could be finalized this
week. Norman said Tuesday
lie works as the real property
assets manager for the in
surance company that is Ixith
the chief « reditor and court-
appointed receiver of Multopor
K irk Hanna of Hanna Car
Wash could not be reached for
comment in tim e for The Post's
deadline
Multopor owned the M irro r
Mountain ski area near Govern
ment Camp until the county-
s e ize d the p r o p e r ty la s t
November because of unpaid
taxes totaling about $200.000
The area stood idle during the
1986-87 ski season as negotia
tions with a few potential pur
chasers broke off
Am erican G uaranty hopes
th a t M ir r o r M ou n ta in can
reopen this year, Norman said.
I t previously attracted 70,000
skiers a season.