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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 2015)
SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 37, NO. 38 SECTION A AUGUST 28, 2015 $1.00 Mural pushed back to 2016 KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy Jill Hagen goes over her conceptual drawing for the upcoming public mural at Town & Country Lanes during Tuesday's Keizer Public Arts Commission meeting at Keizer Civic Center. The city's second public mural was originally going to be done next month, but has now been delayed until next summer. By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes Keizer’s next public mural will not be done next month. Former Mayor Lore Chris- topher, chair of the Keizer Public Arts Commission, has long been pushing for the mural, going up on the long north wall at Town & Coun- try Lanes, to be done this fall. However, realities pushed the timeline back. A signed contract between the city and Don Lebold, owner of the bowling alley, needed to be in place before any work was done on the building. Nate Brown, director of Commu- nity Development for Keizer, said at Tuesday’s KPAC meet- ing that contract wasn’t sent to Lebold until this week. “When the contract is in place, we can move forward with the prepping,” Brown said. “That is the key or the gate.” Christopher said once the wall is prepped with primer and any necessary repairs are made, a teaser will be put up about the upcoming project. “It’s for the mural that’s coming next summer,” she said. Commissioners discussed what the exact wording of the teaser should be. “We talked about some- thing that would make people inquisitive,” Rick Day said, re- ferring to previous meetings. “Considering recent events (at Town & Country), maybe keep it simple, like mural is coming.” All Ford car show PAGE A3 Please see MURAL, Page A6 Council waits on Farm bureau upset marijuana action over 25 fi elds claims By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes Wait and see. That’s the position of the Keizer City Councilors in re- gard to possible new rules re- garding marijuana in the city. City Attorney Shannon Johnson presented action taken by state legislators this year regarding Measure 91, passed by Oregon voters last year. The measure legalizes the sale of recreational marijuana in the state, with restrictions. Cities and counties around the state have been trying to fi g- ure out for more than a year what kind of rules to pass. Keizer has been no excep- tion, with the latest discus- sion taking place at last week’s council meeting. By and large, councilors over the past year have taken the stance of waiting to see what other jurisdictions do, from the state level down to other cities around the state. Such was the case once again last week. Johnson brought up four topics: the allowance of “early sales” in Senate Bill 460 of rec- reational marijuana in medical marijuana facilities; regula- tion of recreational marijuana; taxation of both medical and recreational marijuana and the allowance/ban/regulation of other marijuana facilities. “Only one of these is with serious time constraints,” Johnson said. “The question is whether council wanted to look at a ban of early sales and if you wanted to look at a per- manent ban.” Since regular recreational marijuana shops will not be opening until the latter part of 2016, SB 460 allows cities the ability to prohibit early sales of limited amounts of recreational marijuana – up to .25 ounces per person, per day for anyone 21 years of age or older – at medical marijuana facilities. A permanent ban would require an ordinance to be passed by the council and the matter would have to be sent to voters in November 2016. Please see COUNCIL, Page A6 Two fi res in Keizer By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes It turns out the agricultural community isn’t totally on board with plans by 25 fi elds for Oregon. More than once, Carrie Cool, executive director of 25 fi elds for Oregon, has indicat- ed support from the agricul- tural community for her plans to build soccer fi elds in the Keizer area for Oregon youth. In a recent article in the Keiz- ertimes, Cool emphasized the support her group has from the agricultural community. “We were looking for ag- ricultural stakeholders ties, but we didn’t realize to what extent we could really partner with them,” Cool said at the time. “We didn’t grasp what the agricultural community needed. This is big and really cool. We haven’t met a stake- holder yet that is negative on it. We have a positive impact on everyone we’ve met with.” Not so fast, according to the Marion County Farm Bu- reau. Jessica Carpenter from the MCFB said Cool’s comments misrepresent support from her bureau. “Our board has met with 25 fi elds, on more than one occasion, and suggested that alternate plans should be con- sidered in an attempt to lessen the impact on the agricultural MHS plays are set PAGE A5 Submitted Not everyone is happy with the 25 fi elds for Oregon proposal to use farm land for 25 soccer fi elds in the Keizer area. community,” Carpenter said. “The idea that Marion Coun- ty Farm Bureau has been overwhelmingly supportive of the plans that 25 fi elds is pro- posing is inaccurate.” MCFB board member Greg Bennett has land bor- dering the proposed area for the fi elds. “Carrie is a very aggressive lady, going at it pretty hard,” Bennett said. “She’s been hired by a group to push this through. The people I associ- ate with, the farmers in the area, they’re not against what needs to be done but they’re not thinking it’s a good loca- tion. I think we all agree it’s a great idea for kids, but they need to place it where it won’t have a negative impact on ag- riculture.” Bennett noted the land in question could be used for ha- zelnut trees. This isn’t a new stance for the MCFB to be taking. Last July, John Zielinski, president of the MCFB board, submit- ted a letter of opposition to the 25 fi elds project to Mar- ion County Commissioners. Zielinski referenced a 25 fi elds fl yer indicating MCFB was one of more than 30 stake- holders giving “overwhelming support” to the project. “By association, the fl yer’s message implies that MCFB supports 25 fi elds’ proposed use for the referenced prop- erty,” Zielinski wrote. “The fl yer is inaccurate and an un- fortunate misrepresentation of MCFB’s position as stated in our letter to you of last April.” Dedication of new fi eld at McNary PAGE A8 Please see MCFB, Page A3 Ready for a Big Party... Submitted Heavy damage was done to a house on Marino Drive North Aug. 21 due to a fi re. The Keizer Fire District responded to the report of a house fi re on Cade Street NE shortly before 4:30 p.m. Tues- day, Aug. 25. Smoke and fl ames were coming from the home when fi refi ghters arrived on the site. When they entered the home they found fi re had done ex- tensive damage to the second fl oor. The rest of the home suffered from smoke and wa- ter damage. Firefi ghters determined a cigarette that was improp- erly disposed of ignited the wooden porch at the front of the home. Damage to the residence was estimated at $10,000 and damage to the contents of the home was es- timated at $2,000. No injuries were reported in the incident. Fire offi cials remind resi- dents to always completely extinguish smoking material before discarding and always put the remains in appropriate ash trays. Smoking materials are the leading cause of fi re deaths and the third leading cause of home fi re injuries. Four engines, two medic units and two duty offi cers with 14 fi refi ghters responded to the incident. Salem Fire En- gine 2 and a Marion County Fire District Medic Unit as- sisted with the fi re. There was more damage to a Keizer residence four days earlier when KFD personnel responded to the report of a house fi re on Marino Drive North shortly after 3 p.m. Fri- day, Aug. 21. The Big Toy at Keizer Rapids Park will have a grand opening Saturday, Aug. 29 from 2 to 5 p.m. The play structure is located at Keizer Rapids Park. Recent changes have included new grass (above) and a weather vane made of scrap material (left). Volcanoes win in 10th PAGE A10 KEIZERTIMES/ Craig Murphy Please see FIRES, Page A6 SMOKED HICKORY RANCHER’S MESQUITE NORTHWEST APPLE COUNTRY CHERRY MOUNTAIN MAPLE GOURMET BLEND PACIFIC ALDER Gourmet BBQ Pellets 12 7 FLAVORS by PACIFIC PELLETS SPECIAL $ 99 20LB BAG EVERYDAY WHERE THEY MEET OR BEAT ANY PRICE! 4415 River Rd N Keizer • (503) 393-5450 • copper-creek.net