SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 35
SECTION A
AUGUST 12, 2016
$1.00
Officers, $$$ needed in spotlight
By ERIC A. HOWALD
With property tax levels locked in as
Of the Keizertimes
a result of an amendment to the Oregon
“We’re not complaining,
A moment of gravity, but not survival.
constitution passed in 1997, city officials
there isn’t doom looming,
That’s how Chief John Teague, of the
are discussing adding a fee to utility bills to
Keizer Police Department, characterized the
increase the general fund. Police services are
but on a perfect day we’re
need for new public safety officers in Keizer.
funded through the general fund, and annual
After months of city discussions circling the
costs of providing public safety officers
hoping to add ive oficers.”
issue of new officers, the Keizer City Council
perennially exceeds the amount collected
Chief Teague
got a look at both Teague’s vision for the
from property taxes.
department and what it would cost to bring it to the department, but the price tag associated
To fund one officer, residents would have
with them will be hefty, an estimated $100,000 to to contribute an additional $10-$11 per year through
fruition at a work session Monday, Aug. 8.
“We’re not complaining, there isn’t doom $120,000 per year, which doesn’t include the cost of a fee added to the utility bill, or about $1.85. per bill,
looming, but on a perfect day we’re hoping to add department issued gear (about $5,000) and additional Wood said. To fund all five officers, the fee would
vehicles (about $100,000). Tim Wood, Keizer’s climb to $9.25 per bill.
five officers,” Teague said.
Those five officers would serve specific roles in finance director, supplied the estimated costs.
Please see OFFICERS, Page A7
A VERTICAL
VISION
Mayor wants to
take River Road
to new heights
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Talks of a vertical vision
for River Road North hit
a ceiling before getting off
the ground at a meeting of
the Keizer Economic De-
velopment
Commission
(KEDC) Tuesday, Aug. 2.
Commissioners
are
working to develop a re-
volving loan program to
encourage redevelopment
of River Road properties.
In the past, such programs
have paid for streetscaping
and sidewalk improvements
(the bowling pin sidewalk
in front of Town & Coun-
try Lanes is one example),
and Mayor Cathy Clark
is hoping to take the next
step.
“Looking
at
other
downtown cores, the proj-
ects are going up. If we’re
looking at property devel-
opment and the proper-
ties that are under-utilized,
what would it take to go up
and put workforce housing
on a second or third floor?”
Clark asked her fellow
commissioners.
Clark hopes to use mon-
ey from the sale of property
in Areas B and C of Keizer
Station to fund a revolving
loan program to support
and attract small businesses
to River Road.
Commissioner Rick Day
outlined a possible frame-
work for a loan program
including everything from a
vetting process to mentor-
ship for businesses taking
part but, without knowing
how much funding might
be available, the commis-
sioners were at something
of an impasse.
That’s when Clark rolled
out her vision for River
Road.
“I would like the land
LEVEL 2:
MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING
OPEN
LEVEL 1 : BUSINESS
to work more effectively
for us in terms of business
space and second-gener-
ation growth, and I want
to know how the city can
provide the activation en-
ergy to make a process like
that feasible,” she said.
AJ Nash, a KEDC com-
missioner and commercial
realtor, lowered the reality
hammer quickly. It boiled
down to needing subsidy
at the local level.
“You’re talking a gi-
ant chunk of money, not
$50,000 or $100,000, you
need $500,000 to $1 mil-
lion,” Nash said. “A busi-
ness that can’t afford sin-
gle-story renovation, can’t
afford redevelopment.”
He added that rental
rates along River Road
are also unlikely to re-
coup such a large invest-
ment. Current average
rental rates are about $1
per square foot on River
Please see VISION, Page A9
KEIZERTIMES/Andrew Jackson
Farmhouse
‘unsalvageable’
report says
PAGE A2
Trash rate
increase
gets
hearing
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Keizer trash rates are likely
to increase beginning in
October, but how they will
change will be a topic the
Keizer City Council debates
at its Aug. 15 meeting.
There will also be a public
hearing on the issue at 7
p.m. meeting at Keizer Civic
Center, 930 Chemawa Road
N.E.
Representatives of Valley
Recycling
&
Disposal
and Lorens Sanitation and
Recycling filed a request to
raise rates Monday, Aug. 8. The
request outlines three options
for rolling out increases.
The request to raise rates
is the result of a 30 percent
hike in tipping rates the
two
waste
management
companies pay Covanta Waste
to Energy, which incinerates
solid waste, and the Pacific
Region Compost Facility,
which handles mixed organics.
Tipping rates are a fee paid
by the businesses every time a
load is dropped off at the site,
they are calculated per ton.
The rate increases would help
the businesses offset the hike
in tipping costs.
If the council chooses
to adopt a rate increase,
most residential rates would
change by $2.05 or less per
bill. Assuming an increase is
coming, the main question
for members of the council
to decide will be how
to distribute the costs to
customers.
Under the first option,
residential and multifamily
cart rate, as well as extra
pick-ups, would increase 7
percent beginning October.
For a residential customer
with a 35-gallon waste cart, a
95-gallon mixed recycle cart
and a 95-gallon organic cart,
rates would increase from
$21.45 to $22.95. Customers
with a 65-gallon waste cart
would see their rates go up
$2.05 per billing cycle.
A waste truck can show up
at a private residence up to
12 times a month for regular
service, if the customer makes
use of all of those stops, the
cost is about $1.91 per pick-up
with the rates in first option.
Volunteer
needs reach
record
lengths
PAGE A3
Larry at
McNary
PAGE A5
Please see TRASH, Page A7
Forum shines light on racial
struggles, police responses
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The question was: when
you see a police officer, what
do you think?
Rev. Michael Weaver of the
Free Church of Oregon put it
to members of his congregation.
The answers he got back were
eye-opening for anyone who
thinks Salem-Keizer is immune
to the shockwaves of recent
officer-involved shootings of
black men.
“They felt uncertainty, they
wondered what or who will
be addressing me today, will he
or she be fair, will I be given
the respect I deserve based on
my interaction, should I be in
fear?”
Weaver was one of several
racial and ethnic community
leaders participating in a
community forum aimed at
“Bridging the Gap” between
cops and the members of a
New digs
Northwood
wins
All-City
PAGE A10
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary High School unveiled a new gym loor Monday, Aug. 8. See page A10 for the story.
Please see FORUM, Page A9
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