Image provided by: The Willamina Museum; Willamina, OR
About The times of Willamina. (Willamina, Oregon) 1972-1974 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 1973)
Keith Lam son Kt I ß oö4 Robert J. Colton dies of stroke F riday Willamina, serving as police chief until he retired. Although police work became his career, it had not been his first avocation. In his youth, he had been a rodeo fan and spent some time as a rodeo rider himself. Colton first gained notoriety in 1949 while serving as police chief in Dundee. Because of his strict enforcement of the town’s traffic laws, newspapers dubbed him “ Cop Colton” and did numerous stories about the “ Famous Dundee speed tra p .” Colton quietly put up with a great deal of abuse from the press, but was eventually vindicated when it was found that prior to his arrival, cars and trucks would tear through the towns main street (where the schoolhouse was located) at speeds which made the street unsafe. Colton immediately began enforcing the town’s speed limit, gaining the ire of those who were caught and receiving much abuse in the process from the Oregonian and the Portland Journal. But as more and more drivers began to get the m essage that he wasn’t kidding and slowed down to avoid arrest, both the accident rate and the number of arrests went down. Finally, a Journal columnist who had been particularly hard on Colton, upon observing the results that th e potici; ctuei had achieved in making Dundee a safe place for pedestrians, wrote, “ Normally, I don’t especially like to eat crow, but in this case it’s a pleasure. ’ ’ ROBERT COLTON, 1913-1973 Robert Colton, 60, died Friday of a stroke while undergoing surgery. Colton was born in Mahema, Oregon, in 1903. His parents died while he was quite young, and he spent his youth growing up in a series of foster homes. He first cam e to Willamina in 1946, serving as chief of police for a year before moving to Dundee. He rem ained at Dundee until 1956, when he settled in His career in Willamina, while not as spectacular in the press, was a distinguished one. Highlights of his c a re e r h e re included a m assiv e m a riju a n a bust, se v eral life-saving experiences when he helped rush sick and injured people to the hospital (there was no ambulance in the area at the time) and emergency work when a large segment of South “ D” Street exploded. Funeral services were held Monday at Adamson’s Sheridan Funeral Home. F urther details about Robert Colton can be found in our Obituary column on page ll. Sheridan Council studies annexing The Sheridan City Council at their regular meeting on Monday the 24th, voted to study the feasibility of annexing an area west of Sheridan known as the West Main water district. Mayor Jordan appointed a committee consisting of himself, city manager Bob Hendricks, and councilmen Art Hebert and Floyd Wolfenbarger to make a contact and study the m atter. This area is already served by Sheridan water, but has no sewage hook-ups. Following a hearing to which no one came, the council also moved to amend the city budget to include $3,700 library funds. F red Spooner submitted a letter of resignation from the city planning commission on a term that ends on Dec. 31,1974. Winer Melonuk was appointed to fill the vacancy. Only one bid was received by the city for the installation of the second water main line across the Yamhill River. It was rejected by the council due to rains which have already caused a rise in the river flow, and it is doubtful if the job could be finished this fall. After considerable discussion, the council decided to take steps to prevent further deterioration of the city owned Flowers house just south of the cemetery. 51 sign up for Grand Ronde Water Association proposal The Grand Ronde Community Water A ssociation held an org an izatio n al m eeting a t the e lem en tary school Wednesday night with the hopes of ob taining a community-wide w ater system. Most Grand Ronde homes now use private wells for water. Fifty-one mem bers signed up at the meeting. At least 225 memberships will be needed by Feb. 1, 1974, for the organization to receive the $605,000 Farm ers Home Administration (FHA) loan needed to finance the w ater system. M em berships cost $10 w ith $140 required for w ater m eter hookups. Association president Don McGinnis said at Wednesday’s meeting that after Feb. 1. anyone desiring m em bership or system hookup would have to pay higher fees. A perm anent board of directors, consisting of the sam e persons serving on the tem porary board, was elected a t the meeting. In addition to McGinnis, they are Ted Smith, Vice President, Eloise H ulett, s e c re ta ry -tre a s u re r, Doug Campbell, Q. F. Knox, Lloyd Lewis, and Rodney Haak, directors. The board will m eet at 8 p.m. on the first Monday of each month at the Grand Ronde library. New m em bers can sign up at the meetings or by contacting Eloise Hulett, Valley Junction. A num ber of questions have come up regarding the proposed w ater system. In order to answer as many as possible, the Association has printed up a list of questions and answers including the following: ’ WHO WILL OWN THE WATER SYSTEM? | G rand Ronde D om estic W ater C ooperative w ill own th e system - Members of the cooperative who sign the W ater U sers A greem ents w ill be mem bers of this cooperative and will have one vote. Membership is on a voluntary basis and only those who sign Water Users Agreements are members. 2. HOW MANY VOTES DOES EACH MEMBER HAVE? One m em ber has one vote regardless of number of connections. Man and wife - have just one vote between them. 3. ARE THERE ANY ASSESSMENTS . AGAINST THE LAND? No, F arm ers Home Administration will hold a m ortgage on the w ater system but there is no assessm ent against the land nor can "the association levy any taxes. The system is paid for by the water users paying their monthly bills. 4. CAN ASSESSMENTS BE LEVIED AGAINST THE MEMBERSHIP? No—However, in the event that the income from the sale of w ater is in sufficient to meet theobligations of the corporation the w ater rate can be in creased by the Board of Directors. 5. WILL FHA HAVE A MORTGAGE. ON THE PROPERTY OF INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS? No, FHA requires a m ortgage on all property and assets owned by the cor poration but not on property of the members. This little stream is only about half the supply that is available. The actual source of surfacing is hidden deep in the brush, but here, in the morning sun it bubbled and gurgles as it splashed it’s way down the mountain side toward it’s eventual destination, the Pacific Ocean. The sparkling w ater was clear ànd sweet to the taste as we sat on our haunches, cupped our hands to catch natures nectar, and lifted the cool w ater to our lips. It seemed incredible that in the 15 minutes we sat and watched the water tumble by, that some 3000 gallons was gone, wto.VSÿ to. suppiy an average household Soi a month. Ac cording to the Association Engineer the spring will be tapped under ground, will not be required to be chlorinated, and will rem ain about the same 46 degree tem perature the year around. 6. CAN MEMBERS BE ADDED LATER? Yes, so long as the system has suf ficient capacity to serve additional users. However, members who come on the system after the deadline set by the Board of Directors m ay have to pay an increased fee. 7. WILL I HAVE A METER? Yes, all water sold by the corporation will be metered. 8. CAN ONE METER SERVE MORE THAN ONE HOUSE? No, a single m eter can serve only one farmstead, one residence or business establishment. 9. CAN A MEMBER HAVE MORE THAN ONE WATER CONNECTION ON HIS PROPERTY? , Yes, additional w ater connections can be purchased but each such connection shall be m etered and carries with it an obligation to pay minimum charges even though the additional w ater is not used. 10. WHERE WILL THE METER BE LOCATED? The m eter is normally set ap proximately at the property line of the customer. If the main is passing in front of your house the m eter will be placed as near as possible to your preferred location. 11. WILL THE WATER CORPORATION RUN THE LINE FROM MY METER TO MY HOUSE? No, the corporation runs the line to the m eter only. It is your obligation to carry the line on to your house. 12. HOW MUCfl WILL THE SYSTEM COST? The estim ated cost of the Grand Ronde System is $605,000.00 based on the p relim in ary engineering feasibility study. 13. WHAT DOES A MEMBERSHIP COST( A payment of $150.00 is required to p a rtic ip a te . This includes a $10.00 membership fee and $140.00 for the m eter hook-up fee which provides a m eter and hook-up a t your property line when the system is installed. 14. WHAT IS TO BE DONE NOW BY INDIVIDUAL PERSONS WHO DESIRE TO BE MEMBERS? Sign the Water Users Agreement. The association must have 225 mem bers signing Membership Agreements and paying membership fees before a loan can be closed with FHA. 15. HOW WILL THE SYSTEM BE FINANCED? Farm ers Home Administration, an (continued on page 2) «¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿•i Circus comes to The Wallace and Rogers Circus, sponsored by the V.F.W. boxing club, came to Willamina Monday and Tuesday. Originally planned to be held at the IGA parking lot, the show was moved at the last minute to toe other end of town. I Featuring clowns, acrobats and acts from the “ Circus Circus” casino in Las Vegas, the show had something for kids of all ages. Above, trapeze artists show off their skills while children in the audience sit spellbound a t their feats. ¿y I 4
