SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 25
SECTION A
MARCH 24, 2017
COMING
$1.00
APART
AT THE SEAMS
Matching grants jettisoned for skate park repairs
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The immediate future of
Keizer’s Carlson Skate Park was
on the line at a meeting of the
Keizer Parks and Recreation
Advisory Committee Tuesday,
March 14.
The board was faced with
a decision of suspending a
matching grant program to
cover much-needed repairs at
the park or a looming closure
of Carlson if it continues to
deteriorate.
After a lengthy discussion,
board members decided to
suspend the matching grant
program in favor of repairs at
Carlson. Reaching a resolution
meant moving forward under
the assumption that the parks
department would receive no
additional funding in the city
budget in the coming fi scal
year and that no fee would be
created to establish a dedicated
parks fund.
“I think we’ve done great
things with the matching grant
program, but we’ve had two
“ With size
comes a much
higher cost for
the repairs,”
— Robert Johnson
Keizer parks supervisor
failed (matching grant) attempts
with the skate park and we
have skaters in the parking lot
because (Carlson) is not fi t
for use,” said Robert Johnson,
Keizer parks supervisor.
O NE - OF - A - KIND
Carlson Skate Park was built
with majority-volunteer effort
and opened in July 1999. At the
time, the total estimated value
was $360,000 and the city
only provided about $20,000
of that cost. It would be worth
about $530,000 today adjusted
for infl ation, but it’s suffered
serious depreciation over time.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald, Andrew Jackson
Please see REPAIR, Page A6
Keizer's Carlson Skate Park is showing its age and the city's parks supervisor fears that the
deterioration will accelerate if something doesn't happen soon.
Derby girls
PAGE A13
Put on the
BRAKES
PAGE A2
Commishes want more on Safeway fuel proposal
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The
Keiz-
er
Planning
Commis-
sion
opted
to continue a
public hear-
ing on a pro-
posed Safeway
fueling center
on River Road
North at its meeting
Wednesday, March 15.
Representatives of Safeway
requested a continuation of
the process while they deter-
mined how to deal
with a prohibition
on sales of other
merchandise
in a proposed
amendment
to the city’s
development
code.
But
commissioners
also wanted to
hear more on other
issues brought up during
a public hearing. Concerns
about traffi c, especially in re-
gard to the Keizer Fire Dis-
trict’s ingress and egress, were
at the forefront for the com-
mission (see sidebar Page A9).
Continuing the public hear-
ing delays the commissioners’
decision regarding whether
the fueling center should be
permitted. The Keizer City
Council, however, will have
the fi nal say on the matter.
In most other areas along
River Road, a gas station
would be a permitted use.
But, even before Keizer had a
development code, the then-
city councilors decided to put
an “overlay” zone in the area
between Claggett and James
streets on River Road North
and Elizabeth Street and Bai-
ley Road on Chemawa Road.
The overlay still prohibits sev-
eral types of development (see
sidebar, Page A9) and one of
them is a fuel station. Safeway
needs the restriction to be
modifi ed for the fueling cen-
ter to move forward. The fuel
center would be placed on an
undeveloped spot in the Safe-
way parking lot.
Commissioners were given
four options for a decision:
doing nothing and keeping
the restrictions in place; elimi-
nating the restrictions en-
tirely; backing a text amend-
ment proposed by Safeway
that wouldn’t allow the city
to place conditions on traffi c
mitigation and other issues; or
allowing the fueling station as
a conditional use so long as
Safeway committed to other
improvements and traffi c miti-
gation efforts.
Please see FUEL, Page A8
Burglary underscores
need for more offi cers
Claggett becomes
AVID demo school
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
After 18 months of coaching and a day full
of evaluations, Patrick Briggs, AVID State Di-
rector for Texas, didn't make Claggett Creek
Middle School wait any longer.
“I congratulate you for being named an
AVID Demonstration School,” he said on
Wednesday, March 15 to applause from
CCMS faculty and staff.
Claggett Creek is just the third AVID
Demo middle school in Oregon, following
Parkrose in Portland and Stephens in Salem,
which received the distinction just the day
before.
AVID validates schools for one-, two- and
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
Claggett Creek Middle
administration and AVID
teachers stand with a
banner after being named
a National Demo School
on Wednesday, March 15.
three-year terms. CCMS received three and
will be re-evaluated in 2020-21.
“The longest I can leave you with is three
and I feel very comfortable doing that based
on everything I saw,” said Briggs, who visited
AVID classrooms and tutorials in all three
grade levels.
Briggs complimented Claggett Creek's
culture.
“I love your vision,” he said. “When I saw
your vision this morning, it really touched me
from the very beginning. Your vision that you
believe all students, that means 100 percent of
them where I come from, all of them are go-
ing to graduate high school ready for college
and career.”
Please see AVID, Page A9
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
A 42-year-old Salem man,
found stuck in a window and
bleeding, is in cuffs after alleg-
edly attempting to burglarize
Keizer’s One Stop Smoke
Shop in the wee hours of
Thursday, March 16. But it
wasn’t Keizer Police offi cers
who responded to the call.
At 12:51 a.m., the Keizer
Police Department were con-
tacted by a private security
offi cer who responded to a
burglary alarm at the store
located at 3926 River Road
North in Keizer.
When the security offi -
cer arrived on the scene to
check the business he found
a burglary suspect stuck in a
window on the north side
of the business. The security
offi cer reported the suspect
was moaning in pain and re-
quested paramedics respond
as well.
None of Keizer’s three
night shift offi cers were avail-
able to respond, but Salem
Police Department offi cers
and Keizer Fire District both
did.
Six minutes prior to the
report of the burglary at-
Civic Center
clean-up
PAGE A3
J. Alvarado
tempt, KPD’s three night shift
offi cers responded to a report
of trespass and menacing at
Smoker Friendly Market,
5135 River Road N.
The suspect at Smoker
Friendly had been asked not
to return to the business af-
ter a prior encounter and the
9-1-1 caller reported he had
just pulled a knife.
“This was a serious call
with a report of a subject
that was armed with a knife,
therefore sending three po-
lice offi cers was prudent and
justifi ed,” said KPD Deputy
Police Chief Jeff Kuhns.
Please see BURGLAR, Page A8
Lady Celts
start with
10-0 win
PAGE A12