VOLUME 42, NO. 20
MARCH 5, 2021
SECTION A
$1.00
Boys soccer
wins 2-1 in
first outing
since 2019
PAGE A12
The cost of storm
$
recovery? 340K
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Hours for the fi nal
weekend are
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
each day.
Daysofdark
By MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
When a record-breaking
ice storm hit the Salem-
Keizer area last month many
were without power for just
a few days. However, others
around town weren’t nearly as
fortunate.
Seth and Natalie Ford,
along with their four kids —
all who are under the age of 10
— were without power for 10
days. To make matters worse,
two of their cars wound up
getting crushed by large trees
that fell due to the ice.
Despite the hectic week-
and-a-half the Ford family
maintains a posture of
thankfulness.
“We have a roof over our
head and we have each other.
We have a lot to be grateful
for,” Natalie said.
It was 1:30 a.m. on Saturday,
Feb. 13 when the power
went out at the Ford house.
Bill Lawyer, KPW director, at a meet-
ing of the Keizer city council Monday,
March 1.
The next largest expense for the city
as a result of the storm was cleaning up
of debris and tree trimming in Keizer
parks. The expected fi nal cost of park
clean-up is approximately $50,000
with an additional $2,100 in overtime
pay.
In the weeks since the storm, the
city operated a debris collection site
for nearly two weeks and then on
weekends.
Since the site was established, 144
30-yard containers have been removed
from the parking lot south of Keizer
Little League Park.
“That’s about 4,300 cubic yards of
debris and there’s still a pretty good
pile up there,” Lawyer said.
Debris from the collection site is
being dumped at Salem’s Brown Island
facility for free, but Keizer is expected
to rack up a $30,000 bill between
Please see COST, Page A6
Keizer family
recounts 10 days
without power
Peer court
director
will be
namesake of
permanent
funding
When they went looking
for a generator the following
day the Fords discovered that
all generators had been sold
out within a 40-mile radius.
Thankfully, they had a friend
from Sisters drive and deliver
them a generator on Tuesday,
Feb. 16.
“It was defi nitely a lesson
on how we could be better
prepared,” Natalie said.
Please see DARK, Page A9
A fi rst day like no other
PAGE A3
Submitted photo
Downed power lines near the Ford home were the source of 10
days of upheaval.
Park survey
results are in
Schrader
votes 'no'
on pandemic
relief
TRAILS, PLAYGROUNDS,
RIVER ACCESS MOST DESIRED
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KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Clear Lake Elementary School kindergartener Brooklyn says goodbye to her mom on
Tuesday, March 2, the fi rst day of in-person learning in nearly a year. More photos on Page A5.
PAGE A6
replies had been logged. The
By ERIC A. HOWALD
end tally was 1,729 responses
Of the Keizertimes
When it comes to parks, but it was later determined
Keizerites feel the main in- that more than 1,300 respons-
gredients missing are trails and es were submitted by an auto-
mated web-based program.
pathways.
Of the legitimate respons-
In late
- Trails
es
37%
2020, the 37%
connecting
put more
city con-
parks and
32% -
trails in
ducted a other places
Better
river
parks and
survey of
access
connect-
residents
ing parks
re g a rd i n g
as prima-
the
city
MISSING PIECES
ry missing
parks
in
piece
in
anticipa-
the current
tion of up-
parks. About
dating the
32% put better
parks mas-
31% -
river access as a
ter
plan.
Extraordinary
top priority and 31%
In the end, play features
responded that they wanted
Keizer re-
ceived just enough respons- more variety and extraordi-
es to qualify for an adequate nary features in the city’s play-
ground offerings.
sample of the population.
Keizertimes previously re-
Please see SURVEY, Page A6
ported that more than 1,400
Who's open
for dine-in
PAGE A9
on March 19
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Cha-Cha- CHANGES
th
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h
Keizer debris collection
site will close for good
Sunday, March 7.
The cost of removing debris and replacing damaged city property racked up
quickly in the wake of a two-day ice storm in February.
b
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CLOSING
TIME
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Recovering from a February ice
storm is expected to cost the city of
Keizer at least $340,000.
According to a damage estimate
Keizer Public Works (KPW) submitted
to Marion County offi cials, the bulk
of the expense ($225,000) can be at-
tributed to removal of fallen and hang-
ing branches from streets throughout
Keizer.
“We will be doing one more pass
this week and removing branches and
limbs from rights-of-way, but we’re
hoping that will be the end of it," said