SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 37, NO. 11
MHS boys b-ball
stays undefeated
in league play
Riley named new
MCFD chief
SEE PG. 2
KEIZERTIMES.COM
SEE PG. 16
JANUARY 23, 2015
Station proposal okayed
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
A proposal for new apart-
ments and a retirement com-
munity in Area C of Keizer
Station was approved unani-
mously Tuesday night by the
Keizer City Council.
Whether that means the
project was approved quickly
or not depends on the per-
spective.
The joint proposal by
Mountain West Investment
(with the 180 apartments)
and Bonaventure Senior Liv-
ing (the 154-unit retirement
community) was discussed by
councilors for the fi rst time
Tuesday. Following a public
hearing and public testimony,
councilors closed the record
and voted 6-0 in favor, with
Dennis Koho absent.
Representatives from the
two companies fi rst met with
city offi cials in September and
soon after started meeting
with neighbors.
From the perspective of a
large new project, getting ap-
proval at the fi rst meeting less
than four months after an ini-
tial pre-conference meeting is
quick.
On the other hand, the ap-
proval marked a key point in a
long-running issue. A previous
proposal to do commercial
building – a rumored 116,000
square foot Walmart was the
lightning rod – a few years
ago was vigorously protested,
in particular by Kevin Hohn-
baum and his Keep Keizer
Livable group. The plans from
2011 were hotly debated. A
revised plan from the fall of
2012 was eventually passed,
but nothing ever came of that
project.
The previous groundwork
in terms of a master plan for
the land was utilized as the
starting point for the current
proposal, with an amendment
deleting the previous medical
offi ce and substituting in the
retirement community.
The hearing for the pro-
posal started at about 7:30
p.m. Tuesday, with approval
coming shortly before 10.
Councilor Brandon Smith
returned to the council after a
two-year absence, having pre-
viously served from 2007 until
2013 and thus being familiar
with the topic.
“I hope it eventually gets
done,” Smith said of the pro-
posal. “It’s interesting to me in
my fi rst meeting back it comes
up again. I live off Area C. I’m
excited about having some-
thing fi nally happen. I like the
design; I voted to approve the
previous one. I’m looking for-
ward to good things coming
to Keizer.”
New councilor Amy Ripp
opined everyone involved
50 CENTS
in side
Al, Anne
Rasmus get
honored
(Page 9)
KeizerTV gets
new contract
(PG. 13)
MHS wrestlers
have tough
time (PG. 16)
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
had done their due diligence,
while fellow newcomer Ro-
land Herrera indicated a will-
ingness to vote on the issue
right away.
“I know you’re all sincere
in your passion,” Herrera told
the applicants.
Bonaventure's Ben Settecase
shows a Keizer Station Area
C proposal last week at a
Greater Gubser Neighorhood
Association meeting. Keizer
City Councilors approved the
proposal on Tuesday.
Exiting stage left
Please see AREA C, Page 11
Signal is coming to KTC
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Plans are moving forward
for the Keizer Transit Center
to look the way it was origi-
nally designed to.
Steve Dickey, director of
Transportation Development
for Salem-Keizer Transit, said
a new signal leaving the transit
center in Keizer Station’s Area
B should be done within the
next year or so.
Since the Keizer Transit
Center opened in the summer
of 2013, the only way to en-
ter has been via a right turn
off Keizer Station Boulevard,
just north of the intersection
of Lockhaven Drive NE and
Chemawa Road NE. Simi-
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
A Salem-Keizer Transit bus leaves the Keizer Transit Center on
Tuesday. Currently vehicles can only turn right to leave, but a
traffi c signal allowing vehicles to turn left is coming.
larly, the only exit is a right-
hand turn onto Keizer Station
Boulevard.
That wasn’t the original
idea.
“This was included in the
original master plan for Area
B,” Dickey said of the signal.
Please see SIGNAL, Page 5
Love: The best reason to attend Harvard Law
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
Former Keizer City Councilors (L to R) Jim Taylor, Lore Christopher and Joe Egli pose at the
retirement bash thrown in their honor last Saturday, Jan. 17. For more photos, see page 3.
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
When Jim Taylor and Lore
Christopher joined the Keizer
City Council, the Keizer Civic
Center was only a dream.
Last Saturday night, Taylor
and Christopher formally said
goodbye to public offi ce dur-
ing an event at the civic cen-
ter. Christopher had served
as Keizer’s mayor for 14 years,
while Taylor was on the council
for 12 years.
Also honored at the event
was Joe Egli, who served on
council for four years and also
emceed the event.
Each of the three gave
speeches, mixed in with
thoughts from several others
including new mayor Cathy
Clark, who spoke early but had
to leave for another event.
Egli recalled Richard Walsh
asking him to run for council
in 2010. Egli did so and won.
“I appreciate your faith in
me and this opportunity,” Egli
said. “Every one of us loves
Keizer. It’s about making the
best decisions we can. We love
our city.”
Egli referenced having more
hair in the past and joked that
played a role in him not run-
ning again last year.
“I still have some hair left af-
ter four years. Look at Taylor,”
Egli said, pointing to the bald
former councilor. “He ran for
12 years.”
Walsh was among those
speaking, along with fellow for-
mer councilors Mike Gaynor
and Jacque Moir, who gave an
in-depth look at Keizer’s his-
tory. Marion County Commis-
sioner Sam Brentano also spoke,
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Money continues to come
in for the Big Toy project, but
it’s been trickling in.
In a Keizertimes story last
August, it was noted $197,400
had been raised for the proj-
ect, or 47 percent towards
the goal of $416,509.80. Fast
forward fi ve months and the
raised amount has inched up
to $205,948.86, an increase of
a little more than $8,500. That
means 49 percent of the goal,
with $210,561 left to raise.
The Big Toy is scheduled to
be built at Keizer Rapids Park
by community volunteers
over a fi ve-day span, from June
10 to 14.
Marion County Commis-
sioner Janet Carlson, who is
co-chairing the Community
Build Task Force fundrais-
ing committee with Richard
Walsh, noted efforts to raise
money were put on hold until
two main things fell into place
in November.
“There are a couple of
dynamics going on,” Carlson
said. “One, the fundraising
committee wasn’t doing much
while the master planning (for
KRP) was going on. Every-
body agreed to wait until we
know where it is. The other
thing that slowed us down was
developing the website (www.
keizerbigtoy.org). We wanted
specifi c information on the
website about the different
levels of funding. We didn’t
have many fundraising com-
mittee meetings until Novem-
ber and December. We took a
break on it.”
The Big Toy project initial-
ly got rolling in late 2012 and
was to be built last September.
In part due to funding as well
as site location questions, the
project got pushed back nine
months.
Please see EXIT, Page 13
Big Toy funding needs kick
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Julia Fegles (far left), who plays Elle Woods in McNary's production of Legally Blonde: The
Musical, has a diffi cult time concentrating on her studies while sitting next to her former
beau in class. For the full story and many more photos, please see page 14.
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Please see BIG TOY, Page 5
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