2A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 10, 2015
Polk County News
P&L loan will help
pay for amphitheater
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — The city
of Monmouth’s Urban Re-
newal District will borrow
$500,000 from Monmouth
Power and Light to help pay
for the estimated $1.222 mil-
lion Main Street Park Am-
phitheater construction.
The money will be paid
back over 10 years with 2.54
percent interest. Monmouth
City Council approved the
move at its June 2 meeting,
with Councilor Royal John-
son voting no.
Johnson preferred a five-
year loan because the 10-
year loan will last right until
the end of the life of the
Urban Renewal District.
About $422,000 of the
project will come from parks
system development
charges. The project is ex-
pected to begin in the fall.
Before the project can
begin, the residential build-
ing at 150 Knox St. N. must
be demolished or removed,
said Mark Fancey, commu-
nity development director.
The building is too close
to a black walnut tree to be
donated to the fire district
for a controlled burn exer-
cise.
Other options include
selling the building with the
new owner responsible to re-
move it at his or her expense
or demolition.
The small building serves
as WIMPEG’s home base.
Western-Independence-
Monmouth public educa-
tion government public ac-
cess television station would
need to relocate once the
structure was sold or demol-
ished to make room for the
amphitheater project.
Sheriff: Wolfe decides
to retire starting Dec. 31
Continued from A1
Eventually he moved to the patrol side, where he has
served as a supervisor of the Polk County Interagency Nar-
cotics Team and of the detectives unit.
With the ability to begin rebuilding his staff and Garton at
the helm once he leaves, Wolfe said he feels comfortable
stepping away.
“It’s been very rewarding,” Wolfe said. “The last two years
have been the most challenging, but I will leave it in good
hands with some resources to get it (full staffing) back.”
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.
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Wayne and Melissa Wineland bring their boat into the launch at Riverview Park In-
dependence on Monday afternoon while a family swims nearby.
Stay safe on the water
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Head-
ing down to the Willamette
River for a day on the
water — or maybe just
swim or wade?
Take your life jacket —
and don’t forget to use it.
That is the No. 1 water
recreation safety tip from
state and local officials.
“We encourage people, if
they are near the water to
use a life jacket,” said Dean
Bender, Polk County Sher-
iff’s Office Marine Program
manager.
Also, if you are planning
for a day on the water, don’t
go alone and always let
someone else know about
your plans.
“Don’t swim alone, don’t
go near the water alone be-
GREENWAY
cause something can hap-
pen,” Bender said.
With near record-break-
ing temperatures last week-
end, it was busy on the
river. Bender was happy to
report that, for the most
part, people were following
the life jacket laws.
“I didn’t have to cite any-
body for not wearing a life
jacket,” he said. “Everyone
was wearing one or had life
jackets with them.”
Bender said the county’s
marine patrol won’t often
issue warnings for life jack-
et violations — boaters are
required to have them on
board. Most of the time, of-
ficers will write tickets.
“Those tickets aren’t
cheap,” he said. “It’s $60 for
life jackets.”
But even if you are not on
a boat in the middle of the
river, a life jacket is a good
idea, especially if you plan
on swimming for any
amount of time.
Air temperatures are hot,
but the water temperature
isn’t. Bender said diving
into cold water can be a
shock and may lead to peo-
ple inhaling water as they
gasp. Wearing a life jacket
will keep your head above
water if that happens.
Keep in mind, too, that
sections of shallow water
can suddenly drop off into
areas that are 10 to 12 feet
deep. Bender also suggests
putting a whistle on your
life jacket just in case you
run into trouble. You may
not be able to scream if
suddenly immersed in cold
water and screaming may
sound like someone having
fun on the water.
“By blowing a whistle, we
know things are not good,”
Bender said.
For boaters, this season
presents an unusual chal-
lenge. Water levels are ex-
tremely low for this time of
year. In fact, Bender has
never seen the river this low
in early June. That means
boats can potentially get
stuck on gravel bars or
other obstacles typically
not exposed until later in
the season.
“It’s pretty deceiving,”
Bender said. “The water
may be flat, but it could be
just a few inches (deep).”
For those who do run
aground, the sheriff’s patrol
may not be able to rescue
your boat — officers will al-
ways make sure passengers
are safe — for fear of dam-
aging the patrol boat and
having both vessels be out
of commission.
“We try not to tow boats,”
Bender said.
With hot days looking
like they might be here to
stay, floating down the river
may be the perfect cure, but
Bender reminds people to
plan for the unexpected. He
said pay attention to condi-
tions on the river — such as
floating into a headwind —
may make those unmotor-
ized journeys slower than
expected.
“Plan for early in the day
to go,” Bender said. “And
don’t wait until dark to call
for help.”
ADVERTISING DEADLINES
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p.m. Friday.
Classified display ads
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Classified line ads —
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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 nadams@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.
The Itemizer-Observer is
also on Facebook and Twit-
ter. Watch for breaking
news, links to stories, sports
scores updates and more.
WEATHER
RECORDED
HIGH LOW
June 2................ 66
June 3................ 67
June 4................ 75
June 5................ 88
June 6................ 91
June 7................ 93
June 8................ 96
54
52
53
52
56
55
59
RAIN
.03
.T
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
Rainfall during June — 0.67 in.
Rain through June 8 — 15.27 in.
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