SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 13
SECTION A
DECEMBER 30, 2016
$1.00
Winco (sort of) comes to Keizer
When 2016 began, Keizer
had been reduced to one gro-
cery store.
The sale of the Albertsons
to Haggen in 2015 rapidly
devolved into store closures
throughout the Washington-
based chain and lawsuits fl ew
in both directions. It left Keizer
with only Safeway within the
city limits.
In January, Rep. Bill Post
convened a town hall to dis-
cuss a way forward and it drew
a large crowd including Amy
Lietz, who complained about
the price of cereal and other
items without more options.
“I don’t want to pay $4.69
for Cocoa Puffs when I can
pay $1.98 for them at Winco,”
she said.
In March, a representative of
the Northwest Grocers Associ-
ation suggested that Keizer had
made its own bed by choosing
to shop elsewhere when the
city had as many as three gro-
cery stores along River Road.
Thousands of local residents
took to Facebook to voice
their support for bringing a
Winco to Keizer. In October,
the employee-owned com-
pany announced plans for a
smaller-scale store, Waremart
by Winco, in the old Albert-
sons location. The news was
viewed by more than 67,000
people on the Keizertimes
Facebook page (30,000 more
than the actual population of
the city).
Waremart by Winco is ex-
pected to open in the fi rst half
of 2017.
2016 YEAR
IN REVIEW
KEIZERTIMES/File
Keizer
mural
fi nisheF
MAK
cleans up
PAGE A2
After more than a year of prepa-
ration including choosing designs,
holding workshops and nearly three
months of actual painting, Keizer
had a new mural dedicated to the
city.
The mural, which includes imag-
es of the Keizer Iris Festival Parade, is
located on the north side of Town &
Country Lanes. It was a joint project
of the Keizer Art Association and the
city’s Public Arts Commission.
The fi nished 1,400 square foot
project includes 27 identifi able like-
nesses and the handprints of nearly
200 local kids.
The next major public art project
in Keizer is tentatively expected to
be a trio of story poles carved into
the trunks of trees in front of the
Keizer Civic Center.
Please see REVIEW, Page A9
KEIZERTIMES/File
PAGE A3
Keizer mural project coorFinator Jill Hagen at the public FeFication in September.
Salem mayor-
elect shares
vision for
Salem-Keizer
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. HowalF
Chuck Bennett, Salem's mayor-elect spoke at the recent Rotary
Club of Keizer luncheon.
ballot measures have largely
By ERIC A. HOWALD
gone down in fl ames, and
Of the Keizertimes
Salem’s mayor-elect, Chuck Bennett said it is indicative of
Bennett, stopped by the week- a lack of conviction to have a
ly Rotary Club of Keizer lun- transit district in the Salem-
cheon Thursday, Dec. 22, to Keizer area at all.
In January, Bennett is hop-
talk about the ways Salem and
ing the Salem City Council
Keizer can work together.
Topics ranged from the acts on approving ride-sharing
future of the Urban Growth services, like Uber and Lyft,
within Salem
Boundary
and
Keizer
(UGB)
to
to follow suit
transit
and
shortly there-
homelessness.
after.
Bennett
“Right now,
reserved
his
the
average
harshest cri-
wait for a taxi
tique for the
is 45 minutes.
Salem-Keizer
Transit
Dis-
— Chuck Bennett (Ride sharing)
trict.
Salem mayor-elect will be one
more transpor-
“I’m con-
tation option
vinced
that
for the area,”
we need to sit
down and fi gure out where Bennett said.
He also touched on recent
we want to go from this slow,
unrealistic service with buses talks about a possible third
traveling around town mostly bridge over the Willamette
empty on odd routes that River.
“Right now, we’ve pro-
don’t seem to be serving our
gressed farther than we have
residents well,” Bennett said.
Recent attempts to add in 40 years of talks. Salem,
funding to the district through
Please see SALEM, Page A8
“Right now
the average
wait for a taxi
is 45 minutes.”
Celts buy
Christmas
gif ts
Parks survey hitting mailboxes
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
About half of Keizer resi-
dents are going to be receiving
a thicker utility bill this week.
It’s because a survey about
Keizer parks is being included
with the regular mailing.
The remaining utility cus-
tomers will receive the survey
with their January bill. Keizer
residents can also fi ll out the
survey online at keizer.org
where additional informa-
tional videos and materials will
also be made available.
The questionnaire requests
residents’ feedback regarding
Keizer’s parks and asks if they
would support a fee attached
to their regular utility bills to
create a dedicated parks fund,
options range from no fee to
$8 per month.
While the inquiry is be-
ing billed as a “survey,” mem-
bers of the Keizer Parks and
Recreation Advisory Board,
who have spent the better part
of nine months planning its
launch, are hoping respondents
treat it more like homework.
“As we began to talk about
this, we realized there was a lot
we didn’t know. For people to
understand what the survey is
about, we had to give them
some information about the
context of funding available
through the city,” said Donna
Bradley, a parks board member.
“We want the responses to
be educated, not just emotion-
al,” added Matt Lawyer, anoth-
er member of the parks board.
To that end, here are some
of the basics regarding park
funding at the city level:
• Parks receive about 2.5
percent of the city’s general
fund. That’s the minimum and
funding over and above that
level is rare. The general fund
also pays for police services
which make up the bulk of
its expenditure.
• The city has about
$800,000 in system devel-
opment charges (SDCs),
paid by developers when
new residential facilities and
homes are built, waiting to
be used on parks improve-
ments. However, it would
need to come up with an
additional $6.1 million from
other sources to spend all of
it down. A dedicated parks
fund would be one way to
unlock SDC money.
• Parks also benefi t from
rental fees paid for the or-
chard and residence at
Keizer Rapids Park and for
a cell tower at Bair Park. It
amounts to about $50,000
per annum, but only $10,000
per year is earmarked for im-
provements.
In the meantime, ex-
penses are overrunning the
city’s ability to maintain the
parks. Last month, when a
slide and bridge on a play
structure in Wallace House
Park were vandalized, it left
Robert Johnson, Keizer’s
parks and facilities supervisor
scrambling to come up with
$3,500 to fi x them. Sections
of the play structure were
blocked off while Johnson
fi gured out how to cover the
unexpected expense. (See
Case Study No. 1)
Please see SURVEY, Page A8
Case Study No. 1
A barricaFeF play structure
In November, a play
structure at Keizer's Wallace
House Park was barricaded
after vandals struck.
The connection point
of a slide to larger structure
was damaged and a slat on
a bridge was broken. The
estimate to fi x the problems
came in at $3,500.
“It looks piddly on paper
– $3,500 shouldn't keep the
problem from being fi xed,
but it is a huge hit to us. We
have to ask ourselves if we
can afford it,” said Robert
Johnson, Keizer's parks and
facilities supervisor.
Part of the repairs were
covered under warranty,
while others had to come
out of the parks budget,
which is typically stretched
thin no matter the time
of year. Labor alone cost
$1,900 because a licensed
installer had to be contracted
so the warranty wouldn't be
voided.
There is no excess within
the parks budget. The general
fund, which the city uses
to pay for police and parks
among other expenses, does
but fi xing a play structure
using those reserves falls far
down on the list of priorities.
If Johnson cuts back on
hours for seasonal hires,
it will mean he and Don
Shelton, the city's only other
full-time parks employee,
will have to scramble to
make up the difference
when park usage kicks into
full gear next spring.
Another option is holding
off on equipment purchases.
Johnson was hoping to get
a new mower, blower and
trimmer in June 2017 with
any funds he managed to
save during the rest of the
year.
Celts fi nish
Classic strong
PAGE A12