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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2016)
MAY 6, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A9 BUDGET, continued from Page A1 at the entrance to the disc golf portion at Keizer Rapids Park, resurfacing the tennis court at Bob Newton Park, rebuilding the sports courts at Northview Park and Claggett Creek Park and replacing the old play structure at Meadows Park. “One concern is maintenance that needs to be done,” Lawyer said. “The budget doesn’t refl ect that need. We’re here to encourage the Budget Committee to evaluate that and to ask for a possible increase in funds for the Parks Board.” While appreciating the money currently spent on parks, Walsh emphasized the need for more. “We’re not anywhere near what we need,” he said. “Maintenance needs to be increased. Yes, we have a status quo budget, which means it is a deteriorating budget because we don’t have the funding to pay for maintenance. Ivy continues to grow in trees and roofs continue to crumble. There are things we can’t get to with our budget.” Walsh said that Woodburn has a smaller population and budget, but puts more into parks, with a similar story in McMinnville. “Their citizens want that and support that,” Walsh said of Woodburn residents. “They want that here, too.” Mayor Cathy Clark pointed out both of those cities have a higher tax rate than Keizer. JT Hager, another Parks Board member, was slightly more critical with his comments. “People and parks are synonymous,” Hager said. “When I fi rst heard about Keizer, I thought Keizer was a neighborhood of Salem. One thing I continue to hear is we want to be separate and unique. I have to come to you and be honest. It’s not against you personally, but you’re not living up to your uniqueness of doing a good job in the area of parks.” Hager gave examples of listening to his mechanic by doing maintenance on his car and doing work on his house. “I maintain the car. I pay money to maintain the roof on my house so that I don’t have to pay a bunch later,” Hager said. “I’m not saying take money away from the police. I hear the argument that not everyone uses the parks. Well, not everyone uses River Road or the police department, either. But please, do we have to beg? Our parks are not in good shape. We have guys doing yeoman work, but we’re not giving them enough. We’re falling behind on parks and it’s going to get worse. If I can’t maintain my car, maybe I should sell it to someone who can, but I don’t want to. I don’t want to sell LET’S HUSTLE to prevent hear t disease Saturday, August 13 2nd Annual Break out your bellbottoms & big hair, or short shorts & tube socks. Costumes encouraged! “We’re not anywhere near what we need. Maintenance needs to be increased... There are things we can’t get to with our budget.” — Richard Walsh, Keizer Parks Board our parks, either.” As he ended his time speaking, Hager got in one more jab. “Thank you for letting me scold you a little bit,” he said. “Now do the right thing.” WKNA board member Carol Doerfl er expressed disappointment on maintenance issues already cropping up on the Big Toy at KRP, the play structure built last summer by volunteers. Doerfl er recalled a recent outing to the Big Toy with her 9-year-old granddaughter, who along with her grandma was surprised to fi nd several parts broken. “As we left, my granddaughter said, ‘How come all of this stuff is broken already?’ I said, ‘I don’t know but I will ask. I hope they can fi x it.’ I hope you will fi nd it in your hearts to maintain a thing that was created to benefi t Keizer.” Budget Committee member Kim Freeman said she’d noticed the same maintenance issues and said Mark Caillier, who headed up the Big Toy project, was looking at setting up an annual maintenance event. “The people who donated money to the project will appreciate it,” Freeman said. “Kids will, too,” Doerfl er REGISTER AT: ActiveSalem.com/high-street-hustle Give your home the Encore Treatment W INDOWS & D OORS [S HOWER D OORS ] M IRRORS & S KYLIGHTS C USTOM T ABLE T OPS VISIT OUR SHOWROOM 1450 Front St - Salem 503.581.2559 www.encoreglass.co Encore Glass CCB #196078 CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT CLASS SATURDAY, MAY 24 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm at Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Rd NE Cash or check payment will be made at the class. A driver license is all you need to bring. 2 PERMIT OPTIONS: OREGON ($45) -or- UTAH ($80) Utah (valid 35-State, including WA), Oregon included no-fee. Pre-class movie starts half hour prior to class, a new video “NRA Personal Protection Outside the Home” (not required, just a great movie). 3 WAYS TO SIGN UP! CALL: 360 -921-2071 WEB: www.FirearmTrainingNW.com EMAIL: FirearmTrainingNW@gmail.com said. “A lot can be done by volunteers, but you get to the point where you volunteer your heart out, how much more can you give? It’s up to the city fathers to give a boost.” Budget Committee vice chair Joseph Gillis, a father of two young girls, referenced Keizer’s tax rate of $2.08 per $1,000 of assessed value, which is continually hyped as the lowest tax rate in the state. “This city is built on the volunteerism and the citizens within it,” Gillis said. “We do a great job with saving money. I don’t want to be the $8.48 (per $1,000) Roseburg tax, but I don’t view the $2.08 as a good thing, either. If we’re not maintaining things, we will lose the volunteer aspect.” Jill Bonney-Hill, KPIC chair, spoke about a request for funding to have fl ood history signs installed at KRP, in addition to markings on poles. “The signs and markings will serve as an educational tool for those that visit the park,” Bonney-Hill said. “We hope these are the fi rst steps in an outdoor museum where the Sternwheeler Jean paddle wheel could be displayed.” WKNA vice president Rhonda Rich asked for her funding to be renewed, while Jim Taylor asked for $5,000 for DUII patrols to pay for overtime for police offi cers to do 12 extra patrols a year. “Very possibly when an offi cer pulls over an impaired driver, that offi cer could very easily be saving that driver’s own life or the life of someone else,” Taylor said. “There are thousands of innocent people killed by drunk drivers each year.” Once public comments were done, all of the audience members left as committee members started going over the budget. By the end of the three-hour meeting, all budgets within Administrative Services and Public Works were approved. Based on the progress made at Tuesday’s meeting, it was possible the budget could be approved at Thursday’s meeting, which was past this paper’s deadline. The requests for maintenance money were interesting in that city manager Chris Eppley went over his budget message at the start of the meeting, which mentioned an area of higher CHARGE, continued from Page A1 the murder, Eric said the two had met the summer before, when Jerrid was working a construction job in Tillamook. As mentioned in the previous article, a search warrant affi davit showed Jerrid had set up a time to meet the suspects at Keizer Station. Witnesses told KPD detectives they saw two men arguing before one got into a dark sedan and took off, while the other lay on the ground. The death was believed to stem from a marijuana deal numbers this year. “One area of increased funding is to maintain the community center, which is getting a lot of use,” Eppley said. “We’re approaching seven years in this building. The community center is showing the wear the most. A lot of people come through, with food and beverages. In order to maintain it, we need to increase the funding to sink into the center.” Overall, Eppley said the $38 million budget is largely status quo. He pointed to the urban growth boundary as a big one. “It’s one of the most important discussions we’ll have over the next year, to go over the next 20 years,” Eppley said. “How much do we want to grow, if at all?” gone bad. Jerrid died at Salem Hospital due to injuries from a single gunshot to the abdomen, according to documents. The documents further noted a medical marijuana card and cell phone were found in Jerrid’s pocket, with the phone having a conversation about the victim selling the suspect an ounce of marijuana for $120. Eric expressed frustration with the KPD previously and talked at the time about his frustration with the case. “I hope something happens soon,” he said. “It’d be nice to at least have some closure. But really, there’s never going to be closure.” puzzle answers
