NOVEMBER 1, 2019, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A7
MCFD1 eyes new levy Sails up!
District wants to add staff to meet rising demand
Marion County Fire Dis-
trict #1 (MCFD#1) wants
to hire two fi refi ghter/para-
medics to respond to increas-
ing call volumes.
Doing so would require an
operating levy increase from
taxpayers, and the district is
holding two meetings to take
public input on the issue.
The meetings will be held
on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 5 p.m.
at the MCFD Four Corners
location (300 Cordon Road
N.E. in Salem), and Nov. 21
at 5 p.m. at the Brooks Train-
ing Center (4910 Brooklake
Road N.E. in Salem).
The public is invited and
encouraged to attend. Those
who would like to provide
input but are unable to attend
are encouraged to contact
Fire Chief Kyle McMann at
(503) 588-6535 or kylem@
mcfd1.com. All comments
are appreciated and become
part of the public record.
The operating levy in-
crease is proposed at 28
cents per $1,000 of assessed
property value or $4.67 per
month ($56 per year) for the
owner of a home assessed at
$200,000. If approved by the
board of directors, the mea-
sure would be included on
Holiday
dinner talk
can be more
tolerable
after CCC
workshop
Chemeketa
Community
College will host a Better An-
gels Skills Workshop on Nov. 5.
The community event is de-
signed to teach attendees skills
for having productive conver-
sations across the political di-
vide.
A limited number of seats
are available for this event,
which is scheduled from 1:30
– 4:00 p.m. on the Salem cam-
pus of Chemeketa Communi-
ty College, Building 8, Room
215. To request a ticket for the
workshop, email: mike.evans@
chemeketa.edu.
Launched in 2016, Better
Angels is a bipartisan citizen’s
movement to unify Ameri-
ca. By bringing red and blue
Americans together into a
working alliance, Better Angels
is building new ways to talk to
one another, participate togeth-
er in public life, and infl uence
the direction of the nation.
BOY,
continued from Page A1
process of turning south on
River Road from Sam Orcutt
Way when she collided with a
7-year-old boy.
The boy was crossing River
Road on a bicycle at the time.
The boy sustained a head in-
jury as a result of the collision
and was treated by medics at
the scene and transported to
Salem Health.
At approximately 6:20
p.m., the boy was fl own by
Life Flight from Salem Health
to Legacy Emanuel Medical
Center in Portland for further
treatment.
The driver remained on
scene and cooperated with in-
vestigators. Anyone who wit-
nessed this incident is asked to
contact Offi cer Martin Powell
at 503-390-3713.
the ballot for the May 2020
primary election.
McMann said that the dis-
trict started to see response
times increase and developed
a strategic plan to address that
concern. The strategic plan is
available on the website at
www.mcfd1.com.
“The fact is that we have
an aging population requir-
ing more emergency services,
and we don’t have enough
personnel to respond,” said
Chief McMann. “An incre-
mental increase to our oper-
ating levy will help us meet
this demand.”
The district also is con-
tending with an increase in
emergency calls that happen
back-to-back, and a sharp
decrease in the number of
volunteer fi refi ghters serv-
ing the area. Volunteer par-
ticipation has declined 52.4
percent, from 84 response
volunteers to 40 since 2013.
These issues impact the dis-
trict’s ability to get an effec-
tive response force on scene.
“Two more full-time fi re-
fi ghters in the immediate
future will help,” said Mc-
Mann. “We will need addi-
tional personnel, but want to
increase staffi ng gradually to
minimize the impact to our
taxpayers. This is the right
way forward.”
A portion of the operat-
ing levy increase also would
be used to replace aging ap-
paratus and equipment. Re-
liable apparatus is necessary
to respond to calls, and also
to maintain the Fire Dis-
trict’s insurance rating which
is linked to what home and
business owners pay in pre-
miums.
Witnesses sought
in hit-and-run near
Keizer Station
Keizer police are looking
for anyone who might have
witnessed a vehicle-on-pe-
destrian hit-an-run incident
Friday, Oct. 25, near Keizer
Station.
Police were summoned
to the intersection of Sta-
dium Drive Northeast and
Chemawa Road Northeast
where a 30-year-old, legally
blind woman was struck by a
passing vehicle.
The victim told police she
was crossing the street inside
the crosswalk at that inter-
section when she was struck.
The woman told offi cers a
man, who she presumed was
operating the car that hit her,
briefl y stopped and asked if
she was OK, but left before
she was able to respond.
The woman walked to a
nearby business and the em-
ployees there called for med-
ics who responded and treat-
ed her before she was taken
by private vehicle to Salem
Health for treatment of mi-
nor injuries.
Investigators are seeking
the identity of the driver who
struck the woman. Anyone
with information is asked to
contact Offi cer Jorge Miran-
da at 503-856-3475.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Shade sails were being installed at the Keizer Rapids Park Big Toy earlier this week. The city
plans to keep the sails up for a few weeks before taking them down for the winter.
One death in I-5 crash that
backed up traffi c to Keizer
Numerous
local
law
enforcement
agencies,
including
the
Keizer
Police Department (KPD),
responded to a fatal car crash
near Woodburn on Interstate
5 Saturday, Oct. 26.
About 4 a.m., Oregon
State Police (OSP) troopers
and emergency personnel
responded to the report of a
four vehicle crash on I-5 at
milepost 269.
A preliminary investigation
revealed that a black 2019
Mazda sedan, operated by
Valeria
Villasenor-Sibrian,
age 23, from Salem, was
traveling southbound on I-5
when it rear-ended a silver
2013 Toyota Scion, operated
by Artemio Jaen Davila, age
24, from Beaverton.
Davila’s vehicle left the
roadway, went underneath
the cable barrier in the
median, and was struck by
a northbound gray 2013
Hyundai Santa Fe, operated
by Vanessa Underwood, age
55, from Salem.
Davila
suffered
fatal
injuries and was pronounced
deceased at the scene. A
passenger in Davila’s vehicle
left the location on foot and
was not located.
A fourth vehicle, a white
2017 Dodge Ram pickup,
operated by Theresa Peters,
age 52, from Salem, was
traveling northbound and
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struck the Hyundai Santa Fe.
Five
passengers
were
transported to the Salem
Hospital, three with serious
injuries.
I-5 northbound and one
lane of I-5 southbound were
closed for approximately
six hours. At times during
the investigation, traffi c was
backed up to the Keizer exit
on I-5.