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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2017)
SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 42 SECTION A JULY 21, 2017 $1.00 Police fee approved without dissent By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes With a unanimous vote, the Keizer City Council approved the city’s fi rst-ever fee for a city service other than a utility, $4 a month to create a dedicated fund for police staffi ng. The council addressed the matter in two parts, the PROPOSED $ 00 4 POLICE FEE $ 00 4 PARKS FEE Safeway Gas Station Story on Page A2 Movie Theater Story on Page A3 fi rst was an ordinance imposing the fee, the second was a resolution setting the amount. The fee will be added to monthly bills for sewer and water services, but the bills themselves might be getting a name change to something akin to a “city services bill.” Since utilities are billed bimonthly, the charge will appear itemized as $8 for police services COUNCIL APPROVED “ It’s going to lead to some tough decisions because the costs are going to escalate. I don’t know there’s any way to tell (by how much).” — Chris Eppley, City Manager beginning in November 2017. The $4 rate will be discounted for some seg- ments of the population and businesses. Multi- family dwelling units will be charged $3.45 per month to account for vacancies. Senior living res- idential facilities will pay a fl at $4 fee for the en- tire facility. Seniors and low-income households can qualify for a $1.12 per month rate provided they notify the city and show documentation. Copies of the documentation will not be kept by the city. Delinquent accounts will be charged a $37 fee after 14 days, but no residents will have their water cut off for failure to pay the fee. In a document provided by Keizer Finance Director Tim Wood, the city expects to collect Celts in 7-on-7 PAGE A11 Please see POLICE, Page A8 Rockier road to park fee passage By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes After lengthy deliberation, the Keizer City Council enacted a $4 monthly fee to pay for parks maintenance and improvements at its meeting Monday, July 17. It was the second fee enacted in a single night to pay for city services. The other was a $4 monthly fee for police services (see related story above). Both will begin with the November 2017 billing cycle. Where the police fee cruised to approval, the parks fee was met with opposition at almost every turn. Two residents in attendance, Bill Quinn and Jer- ry McGee, suggested starting out with a $2 month- ly rate. Jim Taylor, a member of the Keizer Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, offered the only testimony in support of the fee. “Parks and the police go hand-in-hand, with nice parks you have less crime. Two dollars gets us by but it doesn’t do the big ticket items, like the skate park,” Taylor said. “Four dollars will allow us to fi x the skate park. If we don’t, it goes away.” Woman disappears PAGE A2 Please see PARKS, Page A8 Developers may have to pony up for community beautifi cation By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes Imagine for a moment sitting atop one of the 100 largest private employers in the nation accord- ing to Forbes magazine. Last year, revenues for your company clocked in at $6.3 billion. On a local level, fans of your company launched social media campaigns hoping to court you to their city where only one other major competitor exists. When you make a decision and announce a new store opening it is – without hyperbole – the biggest story of the entire year for that town. But, when the city’s community development director sits down with you to discuss the designs for a $2.3 million remodel of the building, you tell him that putting trees in the parking lot is a “deal- breaker.” A similar conversation laid the groundwork for the most recent meeting of the Keizer Planning Commission. Along with city staff, the group spent almost two hours discussing the intricacies of the city’s landscaping codes as it relates to new and re- development. “When you have Taco Bell gut their building, there was no re- quirement for them to bring the site up to (landscaping) compli- ance. When Waremart comes in, they are doing interior remod- eling and there’s no requirement to do landscaping in the parking N. Brown lot. Our intent is to say if you are doing a remodel, you need to address the landscaping requirements,” said Nate Brown, Keizer community development director. Please see BEAUTY, Page A8 Blast off! A new look for River Road business PAGE A6 Swim meets PAGE A11 KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Sophie Schurr vaults over an obstacle during the Keizer Police Department annual BLAST Camp on Thursday, July 13. For more photos, see page A4.
