Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 28, 2015 3A
Polk County News
Indy will decrease
reconnection fees
DEADLINES
NEWS DEADLINES
For inclusion in the
Wednesday edition of the
Itemizer-Observer:
Social news (weddings,
engagements, anniver-
saries, births, milestones) —
5 p.m. on Thursday.
Community events —
Noon on Friday for both the
Community Notebook and
Community Calendar.
Letters to the editor —
10 a.m. on Monday.
Obituaries — 4 p.m. on
Monday.
ADVERTISING DEADLINES
Retail display ads — 3
p.m. Friday.
Classified display ads
— 11 a.m. on Monday.
Classified line ads —
Noon on Monday. Classified
ads are updated daily on
www.polkio.com.
Public notices — Noon
on Friday.
CORRECTIONS
The Polk County Itemizer-
Observer is committed to
publishing accurate news,
feature and sports reports. If
you see anything that re-
quires a correction or clarifi-
cation, call the newsroom at
503-623-2373 or send an e-
mail to kholland@polkio.com.
WEBSITE
The Polk County Itemizer-
Observer website,
www.polkio.com, is updat-
ed each week by Wednes-
day afternoon. There, you
will find nearly every story
that appears in the print
version of the newspaper,
as well as some items, in-
cluding additional photos,
that do not appear in print
due to space limitations.
WEATHER
RECORDED
HIGH LOW
Jan. 20............... 49
Jan. 21............... 48
Jan. 22............... 51
Jan. 23............... 54
Jan. 24............... 64
Jan. 25............... 52
Jan. 26............... 53
33
29
39
43
43
44
41
RAIN
.00
.00
trc.
.04
.00
.00
.00
Rainfall during Jan. — 3.21 in.
Rain through Jan. 26 — 3.21 in.
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — The
city of Independence will
no longer charge $400 to re-
connect a customer’s sewer
service, but high connec-
tion fees remain for water.
Also, the $42.93 base rate
for sewer will remain, re-
gardless of whether or not
the sewer connection is
being used by a resident.
“We would eliminate the
option to disconnect
sewer,” City Manager David
Clyne said, “because you
can’t really disconnect the
sewer line. People would
continue to pay the base
rates.”
The change came about
by the Independence City
Council questioning the
high base rates of both
water and sewer when
compared to other cities at
Tuesday morning’s council
meeting.
Councilors Marilyn Mor-
ton and Tom Takacs both
expressed concern that In-
dependence’s overall rates
were at the top of the list of
10 cities provided for com-
parison by rate consultant
Ray Bartlett of Economic
and Financial Analysis.
Bartlett said the cities
were chosen by physical
proximity to Independence,
as well as a couple ex-
tremes, and was not sure
how meaningful the com-
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Family Building Blocks’ recently added play room at the Academy Building in Dallas is
just one of many services Sara Matthews, FBB outreach coordinator, hopes to promote.
Family Building Blocks
opens office in Dallas
By Jolene Guzman
Check It Out
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Family
Building Blocks, a Salem-
based child abuse prevention
nonprofit, recently opened a
Dallas office, offering play
groups and parent education
to families in Dallas, Mon-
mouth, Independence and
Falls City.
Family Building Blocks
(FBB) has an office in West
Salem, but saw a need to
open a more centrally located
facility in Polk County, said
Gabriela Maldonado Bell, the
program supervisor in Dallas.
The organization serves fami-
lies struggling to care for their
young children due to pover-
ty, domestic violence, drug
abuse, or mental health or
other issues.
FBB offers families with
children 5 years old or
younger home visits, play
groups and seminars for par-
ents. Maldonado Bell said
the focus is on parent educa-
tion, child development and
early childhood health.
“I think our goals are to es-
What: Family Building
Blocks open house.
Where: The Academy
Building, 182 SW Acade-
my St., Suite 210, Dallas.
When: Friday. Open
house from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m., with a ribbon cut-
ting ceremony from noon
to 1 p.m.
Of note: FBB hosts
monthly play groups in
Dallas and Independence.
The Dallas group meets
the third Tuesday of each
month at the Academy
Building; the Independ-
ence group meets the
third Friday of the month
at St. Patrick Catholic
Church in Independence.
Both groups meet from 10
to 11:30 a.m. and are open
to families with children 5
years or younger.
For more information:
503-623-9664; www.fam-
ilybuildingblocks.org.
tablish this facility and this
office as part of our greater
Family Building Blocks relief
nursery and continue to ex-
pand services to as many
children and families in Polk
County as possible,” Maldon-
ado Bell said.
The Dallas office is holding
its “grand opening” Friday,
inviting anyone wanting to
find out more about FBB.
The organization moved
into the Academy Building in
September, joining several
other agencies and service
organizations — including
Mid-Valley Parenting, Com-
munity Action Agency Re-
source Center and The Salva-
tion Army — in the county’s
“co-location” model.
Under the model, several
organizations and county
agencies all providing assis-
tance to at-risk families in
one form or another are situ-
ated under one roof.
Sara Matthews, FBB’s Polk
County family outreach co-
ordinator, credits those part-
nerships for helping find
more families in need.
“Working together has re-
ally helped increase our re-
ferrals that come in,” she
said.
parisons were.
Each city charges for
water and sewer services
differently, depending on
what the needs are, Bartlett
said. While some cities
charge higher base rates,
others charge based on
usage.
“Most of your costs are
fixed,” Bartlett said, “so if
use goes down, revenue
g o e s d ow n . G e n e ra l l y
speaking, small communi-
ties tend to have high base
rates. Those communities
that are heavily indebted
have higher base rates.”
Those fixed costs include
fire protection and annual
flushing of water lines and
fire hydrants, Bartlett said.
Capital projects, debt
service, depreciation, insur-
ance and compliance also
are all fixed costs, he said.
“If the city decreases
rates for some customers, it
must increase rates for
other customers,” Bartlett
said.
Morton and Council-
woman Nancy Lodge both
said they own vacant prop-
erty downtown and pay
base charges for water and
sewer and understand the
impact of paying money for
something they are not
using.
“But I understand the im-
pact to our community,”
Lodge said. “I want the toi-
lets to still flush 10 years
from now.”
KATHY HUGGINS/ Itemizer-Observer
Independence water and sewer rates top the charts in
the surrounding area, including Salem.
These trucks come with 6 Year/100,000
mile extended warranty at no extra charge!
NEW
OCK
IN ST
2015 S9F0 Transit
Connect XLT Wagon
2015 Fiesta 5-Door
Hatch SE
2.5L DOHC Engine, 6 Spd Auto
Transaxle with O/D, 7 Passenger, 28
MPG HWY. #184427
0% for 60 months available. No payment for
90 days! #118383
LIST PRICE $18,100
Discounts - 772
Rebate - 1,000
First Time Buyer - 500
SALE PRICE $29,331
Rebate - 500
SALE PRICE $28,831
2013 Ford F-150 Lariat
SuperCrew ® 4x4
2013 Ford F-150
Platinum SuperCrew ® 4x4
Was $51,560 MSRP
Was $53,930 MSRP
Limited Time Sale Price! Limited Time Sale Price!
$41,397
SALE PRICE $15,828
$45,163
Joe’s End of the Month Clearance Sale on These Select USED Vehicles.
2013 Ford Mustang
2013 Toyota Corolla
2006 Kia Spectra
2002 Nissan Altima
#42145
#20555
#50700
#288714
#06575
$19,870
$16,870
$7,870
$4,870
$17,870
2004 Mini Cooper
2007 Toyota Camry
#79557
#25742
#45293
#08111
#37715
$14,870
$10,870
$8,870
$28,870
$8,870
2007 BMW 328 XI
2008 Hyundai Entourage 2004 Volkswagen Beetle 2006 Dodge Ram 2500
All vehicles under 100,000 miles come with a 6 month, 6,000 mile engine and drive train limited warranty at no additional cost.