DECEMBER 1, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A11
School board talks
seismic upgrades
By HERB SWETT
Of the Keizertimes
Preparation for the Big
One was one of the topics of
a special Salem-Keizer School
Board meeting Tuesday.
Most of the school district
buildings were built before
many people knew what they
do now about the Cascadia
Subduction Zone, where an
earthquake of 9.0 magnitude is
expected this century.
Retrofi tting the buildings,
to allow for at least safe escape
from them, is one of the rea-
sons for the bond proposal that
will be on the May 2018 ballot.
Michael Wolfe, chief oper-
ating offi cer of the district, re-
viewed a study by MSC Engi-
neers, Inc., of Salem, the latest
of several seismic evaluations
performed for the district. The
process began with a 2005 as-
sessment by the Oregon De-
partment of Geology and Min-
eral Industries.
The engineers, Wolfe told
the board, used the rapid vi-
sual screening (RVS) method
initiated by the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency.
The method evaluates seismic
level, building structure type,
building irregularities, era of
construction, and soil type to
establish seismic hazard scores
of buildings.
The study assigned RVS
scores to all the school struc-
tures in the district, breaking
them down into fi ve tiers of
collapse potential: very high for
egress (exit) only, very high for
life safety, high for life safety,
moderate, and low. It estimated
construction costs without in-
cluding such costs as contrac-
tor overhead, insurance, and
project management fees, and
it recommended that for stra-
tegic planning purposes, the
district add 40 percent to the
engineers’ numbers. It did not
project costs for moderate and
low risk.
Total estimated costs are
$56,986,191 for “very high”
egress only, $69,097,278 for
“very high” life safety, and $92,
014,000 for “high” life safety.
District staff has recom-
mended “very high” egress
only as the only fi nancially
feasible way to prepare for the
earthquake, Wolfe said.
Following are the current
collapse potential estimates for
school buildings in the Mc-
Nary High School attendance
area.
• McNary: three buildings
rated very high, two moderate.
• Claggett Creek Middle
School: no ratings at this writ-
ing; three low in 2016.
• Whiteaker Middle School:
four high, one moderate.
• Clear Lake Middle School:
three high.
•
Weddle
Elementary
School: no ratings at this writ-
ing; three low in 2016.
• Cummings Elementary
School: three very high, one
high, two moderate.
• Forest Ridge Elementary
School: no ratings at this writ-
ing; three low in 2016,
•
Gubser
Elementary
School: two high, one moder-
ate.
• Keizer Elementary School:
two high.
• Kennedy Elementary
School: two very high, fi ve
high.
Another issue discussed was
possible relocation of special
education classrooms. Eric
Richards, district director of
student services, noted that 27
percent of the special educa-
tion students in the district are
attending classes away from
their neighborhoods. He said
this has caused fi nancial and
transportation problems and
discouraged those who have
special needs from participat-
ing in school activities.
Director Kathy Goss said
the quality of education should
be the fi rst consideration. Paul
Dakopolos, district council, was
asked what legal issues could be
raised and said federal regula-
tions give districts considerable
leeway over locations of pro-
grams. The board did not reach
an agreement on the matter.
SURVEY,
continued from Page 1
they volunteered in Keizer,
83 percent said they didn’t.
While the survey did not ask
about volunteering in other
areas, fewer people (41 of
827 responders) skipped the
question than any other in
the survey. The volunteering
numbers were 22 percent
and 78 percent, respectively,
in 2013-14.
Overall, do you feel
you are getting your
money's worth for
your City tax dollar?
YES
61
DON’T KNOW
23
NO
16
673 RESPONDENTS
Keizer Parks Supervisor Robert
Johnson talks with an attendee
at an information-gathering
session on Tuesday, Nov. 28.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
PARK,
continued from Page A1
The next steps in the pro-
cess will be to defi ne the spe-
cifi c amenities that will be in
the fi nal structure and then
put it out for bid in early 2018.
The city will also be invest-
ing in new, ADA-accessible
(Americans with Disabilities
Act) pathways at Meadows,
but that portion of the work
will be packaged with similar
work in other parks around
the city and put out for a sepa-
rate bid.
In addition to the Mead-
ows Park plan, Keizer is also
hiring two new parks employ-
ees to help the one-and-a-half
existing ones keep their heads
above water.
While he has yet to review
the 46 applications he’s re-
ceived for the two jobs, Law-
yer’s goal is to have the new
hands hired by February and
trained by March when the
busy parks season begins.
“I personally feel a lot of
pressure on the parks division
to perform with the collection
of the parks fee. The commu-
nity deserves to see something
and I’m taking an aggressive
stance so we can show them
what they are getting for their
money,” he said.
W rapped
W ishes
Road Closure Information
• Lockhaven Dr. CLOSED at 3:30 pm
• River Road CLOSED at 6 pm
• Use Cherry Ave. and Verda Lane as
alternatives to River Road
• Intermittent cross traffi c at Chemawa Rd.,
Dearborn Ave. and Manbrin Dr.
• River Road reopens at 9 p.m.
Saturday, December 2nd
10am – 5pm
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