SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 39, NO. 10
SECTION A
DECEMBER 8, 2017
$1.00
At what co $ t should Keizer grow?
Study
aims to
fi nd out
40,000
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
There’s an old adage that
states: if you’re not growing,
you’re dying.
It’s been applied to every-
thing from business to spiri-
tual enlightenment. However,
a new study commissioned by
the city through a grant from
Oregon Department of Trans-
portation, will set out to de-
termine what growing pains
residents are willing to endure.
“We’re looking at the im-
pacts of growing by a little
and a lot,” said Nate Brown,
director of community devel-
opment for Keizer. “My big-
gest fear is that city leaders are
going to make the decision
to expand the urban growth
boundary (UGB) based on an
ideology. If that happens, Riv-
20,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
City of Keizer
Population
Growth
Lady Celts
start 3-0
KEIZERTIMES/Andrew Jackson
PAGE A14
15,000
10,000
5,000
er Road could turn into Mis-
sion Street. If that’s what peo-
ple want, we can do that, but I
want everyone to be thought-
ful about how we decide.”
The UGBs throughout the
state dictate the amount of
sprawl cities are permitted to
have. Keizer shares its bound-
ary with Salem, and Keizer is
running out of developable
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with things as they are.
Expansion of the UGB at
some point is almost taken as
a given, but the role Keizer
retains in charting its destiny
will be up to city leaders and
have far-reaching impacts. Ex-
pansion of any size will require
additional infrastructure costs
and will generate more traffi c.
Keizer also sits in the middle
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property while Salem contains
enough for both cities for the
next 20 years. While leaders
in both cities have talked for
years about expanding the
boundary, nothing has come of
the talks. Brown is hoping that
the study can provide more
insight into whether the con-
versation is worth continuing
or if Keizer residents are happy
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of some of the most fertile
agricultural land in the world
and losing any portion of
that might be weighed heav-
ily against the expansion of
the UGB. In Keizer, the UGB
question is one that looms
large over any discussion of
the development code within
the city.
Please see GROWTH, Page A11
Parade
rolls thru
Saturday
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Until a few days after
Thanksgiving,
Danielle
Bethell wasn't sure that
the Keizer Chamber of
Commerce's Keizer Holiday
Lights Parade was going to
live up to her expectations.
“I think the holiday
crept up on everyone,” said
Bethell, executive director of
the Keizer Chamber. “We've
gotten about 75 percent of
the parade applications in
since Thanksgiving. Right
now, we have 54 entries and
we should easily make it to
the 55 we had last year. It's a
great reminder that we have
fantastic volunteers driving
Tree all
aglow
PAGE A3
Please see PARADE, Page A11
33 Years
KEIZERTIMES/File
Hector Blanco presents Randy Jackson with one of numerous
tokens marking his time with Keizer Fire District.
…of making “it all work”
said Jackson, who offi cially
retired from working full time
with the district on Thursday,
Nov. 30. “It's kind of hard to
do that.”
Jackson, a 1979 graduate of
McNary High School, started
as a volunteer fi refi ghter in
July of 1984. After getting his
EMT certifi cation, Jackson
was named a volunteer captain
in January of 1986 and then a
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
In the summer of 1984,
Randy Jackson went to the
Keizer Fire District Station,
located just two blocks from
where he grew up on Eighth
Avenue, to interview to
become a volunteer.
In the 33 years since, name
a task with the fi re district and
Jackson's probably done it.
“Talking about myself is
not my favorite thing to do,”
Please see WORK, Page A9
Artist paints the town with holiday cheer
By RANDOM
PENDRAGON
Keizertimes intern
Sandra Palmer rolled
through Keizer on Monday,
Dec. 4 to spread the spirit
of Christmas in a unique
way: holiday window-
painting. Palmer runs a
henna shop in Seaside, but
goes south every winter to
paint Christmas scenes and
slogans on the windows of
local businesses.
She’s been painting
windows since high school.
“A teacher asked me to go
out and paint a snowman
on a gas station, guy gave
me fi ve dollars and a fi ve-
dollar tip,” Palmer said. “I
was hooked right then. I’ve
been doing it ever since.”
This is Palmer’s fi rst
season painting in Keizer.
“There’s a lot of mom-
and-pop shops here and
that’s my kind of shop,” she
explained. “So I decided
to stay for the day before
heading to Lebanon.”
One of her favorite
subjects to depict is Frosty
the
Snowman,
often
adding a twist to fi t the
theme of the business it’s
painted on. She adorned
the Keizertimes offi ce
with a Frosty holding a
Santa
choppers
into Keizer
PAGE A4
Swimmers
sweep 200
free relays
PAGE A15
KEIZERTIMES/Random Pendragon
Sandra Palmer adds fl ourishes to a window at American Payroll
on Chemawa Road North.
rolled up newspaper. “Over
at Nancy’s, he’s holding a
burger and shake,” Palmer said,
punctuated with a laugh.
Her partner Greg Dyer,
who rides passenger in her
henna-advertisement-covered
truck, is happy to play the part
of helper. “She’s the artist,”
Dyer explained. “She just lets
me do the colors.”
The two have established
quite a rapport; Dyer buzzes
around, writing
receipts
and taking payments while
Palmer colors, highlights, and
Please see ARTIST, Page A13
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shapes her art. Dyer works as
a contractor back in Seaside,
so window-painting is new to
him. “I can put those windows
in, but I don’t paint ‘em.”
Palmer starts with a white
base for every window, a
technique she learned by
trial-and-error to help with
the contrast of her colors. She
goes back and forth along the
window, adding each layer of
color one at a time. “I don’t
fool around with too much
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