CELEBRATING COURAGE
DHS WRESTLING SENDS
DALLAS AWARDS 13 TO STATE
Page 10A
Page 15A
Volume 141, Issue 8
www.Polkio.com
February 24, 2016
75¢
American Gas, Tech to bring 900 jobs to Dallas
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — American Gas
& Te c h n o l o g y ( AG & T )
founder Ray Tate Jr. said the
company is developing the
“21st century gas station”
and its vision is as big as the
facility it’s remodeling to
build its dream.
AG&T, which specializes
in the development of lique-
fied natural gas fueling sta-
tions, bought the long-va-
cant Tyco building in Dallas.
Workers have been busy
for months fixing roof leaks
and tearing down walls to
prepare the building for its
new purpose.
“We had so many leaks,
we couldn’t count them,”
Tate said during a tour of the
building Friday.
Soon, roof leaks may not
be a concern.
Tate projects a high de-
mand for the company’s
technology as the United
States looks for cleaner alter-
natives to oil.
With an abundant do-
mestic supply, natural gas is
well-positioned to be a
major part of that move-
ment.
“We anticipate seeing the
U.S. getting off foreign oil
and cleaning up our cities,”
Tate said.
Tate said the remodel
should be finished in about
four months and, after that,
will build up to producing
40 fueling station units per
month out of the facility.
To begin with, the compa-
ny will focus on converting
fleets — such as police, am-
bulance and taxi services —
in several states, including
Oregon and California.
Tim Tight, the company’s
vice president of finance,
said he’s projecting investors
will be making a hefty profit,
some 13 times their invest-
ment within five years.
That figure moves to 18
times including potential
government subsidies sup-
porting the development of
alternate fuels, he said.
Tight projects AG&T will
bring back the jobs lost
when the plant went dark
nearly 10 years ago.
“Our goal is to bring back
the 900 jobs back to this
community that was hurt so
much by Tyco leaving,” Tight
said.
He said there are other
plans for investing in the
community, including de-
veloping a welding school
that will offer local students
internships to learn the
skill.
IN
YOUR
TOWN
DALLAS
Mr. and Ms. Dallas is
seeking nominations
for families or individu-
als in need.
»Page 17A
FALLS CITY
Falls City will put a
bond on the ballot to
pay for a new elemen-
tary school gym.
»Page 5A
BAD STREET, GOOD STREET
INDEPENDENCE
Students at Inde-
pendence Elementary
School were part of an
efort, along with Mon-
mouth Elementary
School, to raise money
to purchase Soccket
Balls.
»Page 17A
MONMOUTH
Dallas council approves putting $10 M, 10 year street bond on May ballot
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — After three years of re-
search on how to best maintain resi-
dential streets in Dallas, the issue is
headed to voters.
On Feb. 16, the Dallas City Coun-
cil voted to put a 10-year, $10 mil-
lion bond on the May ballot, the first
of possibly three steps to address
street repair in the face of declining
gas tax revenue.
“The road infrastructure is one of
those things we just end up taking
for granted,” said Dallas City Manag-
er Ron Foggin, calling streets anoth-
er city utility. “The fact of the matter
is, we haven’t figured out a way to
charge people to use them.”
All nine city councilors agreed,
which immediately took the “no ac-
tion” option off the table.
The other options included im-
plementing a street utility fee, which
could be used to finance a revenue
bond, and a 20-year bond using the
existing rate after Polk County’s road
bond expires in 2017.
Of those three, the 10-year bond
was the option two citizens’ com-
mittees endorsed.
It would cost about $1.09 per
$1,000 of assessed value on proper-
ties and would repair or rebuild
22.75 miles of streets. That would
cost about $18 per month for a
property with an assessed value of
$200,000.
Foggin added that currently gen-
eral obligation bonds are receiving
very low interest rates. He estimated
a 2.4 percent rate, making the actual
cost over the life of the bond
$12,312,800.
Passing the bond wouldn’t solve
Dallas’ street problem entirely, as
about 11.25 miles of streets wouldn’t
be repaired.
To address the whole issue, the
city would need to implement a
street utility or local gas tax to keep
fixed streets in good condition and
pass a second smaller bond in 10
years.
“This really is clearly a three-step
process,” Foggin said. “It’s not bond
for $10 million and life is good.”
Foggin said to just stay on top of
maintenance, the city needs to in-
vest about $650,000 per year. In the
current budget, about $270,000 is
going to streets.
At the council Feb. 1 meeting, it
was suggested the city look into im-
plementing just a utility fee charged
to each city sewer account for
streets and using that revenue, in-
stead of a tax, to finance a revenue
bond.
With just a few weeks to crunch
the numbers, Foggin provided an es-
timate on what that would cost and
how much work could be complet-
ed.
On the plus side, all streets would
be repaired and the city would al-
ready have a utility fee in place to
address future maintenance needs.
Drawbacks include having to
delay repairs a few years while the
city collects enough revenue to con-
vince investors the fee will pay for a
revenue bond. Foggin said based on
his calculations, a revenue bond
would be more expensive, costing
between $29.70 and $31.77 per ac-
count.
Foggin said to get exact numbers,
the city would need more time.
“We are probably talking about at
least six months’ worth of analysis
and maybe an outside consultant to
help put it together,” Foggin said.
He offered another alternative
which he said represented a “middle
ground.”
Polk County’s road bond will ex-
pire in 2017, and Foggin suggested
Dallas could propose to voters to
renew the 50 cents per $1,000 of as-
sessed value currently charged for
the next 20 years.
See STREETS, Page 5A
All things ag to come to Polk Fairgrounds
Mid-Valley Winter AgFest to make its debut with family, fun and farm activities
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
RICKREALL — When the
attendance at the annual
Polk Home and Garden
Show more than doubled
last year, organizer Deb
Thomas realized it was in
part because of the Oregon
Poultry Swap that ran con-
currently with her event.
Usually, Thomas said at-
tendance has been about
800 people on Saturday dur-
ing the home show. Last
year, it soared to 2,200, most
of them coming through the
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
back door.
“I realized I needed to do
something ag related,” she
said.
The poultry swap, in need
of more space, ran the sec-
ond weekend of February,
leaving the rest of the fair-
grounds for Thomas to add
t h e Mi d - Va l l e y Wi n t e r
AgFest, which will run in
conjunction with the home
show Saturday and Sunday
at the Polk County Fair-
grounds & Event Center.
The event has been 20
years in the making, Thomas
said.
Check it out:
What: Mid-Valley Ag Fest.
When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Where: Polk County Fairgrounds & Event Center, 520 S.
Paciic Highway (99W).
Admission: $5, cash only.
Of note: At the same time, the ninth annual Polk Home
and Garden Show will take place. There is no admission to
the home show, which will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on
Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information: Ag Fest, mvwagfest.com; home
and garden show, www.polkhomeandgardenshow.com.
“We’ve been talking about
it for years,” she said. “We
just weren’t quite sure how
to do it.”
After seeing the interest in
agriculture from the Poultry
Swap, Thomas said she
started working on the ag
fest the day after the home
show last year.
Thomas said the home
show and the ag fest are two
separate events, but they
share the same location.
The home and garden
show will still be free, with
free parking. The ag fest
costs $5 cash only admis-
sion for those 18 years and
older.
Thomas said the response
for the agriculture fest has
been tremendous.
See AGFEST, Page 5A
Monmouth must in-
stall a $700,000 water
iltration system to be
in compliance with sur-
face water treatment
requirements.
»Page 5A
SPORTS
Perrydale’s boys bas-
ketball team will play at
Triangle Lake Wednes-
day (today) in the irst
round of the OSAA
Class 1A state playofs.
»Page 15A
Celebrate Dr.
Seuss’ birthday
Itemizer-Observer staf report
POLK COUNTY — Li-
braries and schools
throughout Polk County
will celebrate Read Across
America, in honor of Dr.
Seuss’ birthday on March
2.
Events will take place
all week to honor the fa-
mous children’s author
and artist.
Seuss, who died Sept.
24, 1991, would have
been 112 this year.
What better way to cel-
ebrate the man who
changed how children’s
books were written — and
read — than to read to-
gether at a whimsy party?
Seuss wrote and illus-
trated 44 children’s books.
For more information
about Dr. Seuss:
www.seussville.com.
For details on reading
events at local libraries
during Read Across Ameri-
ca: www.ci.mon
mouth.or.us, www.ci.inde-
pendence.or.us,
www.ci.dallas.or.us.
Find all of Polk County’s
libraries on Facebook, in-
cluding Falls City Wagner
Library.
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
Join others at St.
Thomas Episcopal
Church for its
Lenten service, in-
cluding worship and
a soup supper.
5:30 p.m. Free.
Listen to new and
old love songs at
the music jam at the
Dallas Senior Center.
Bring a snack to
share.
6:30 p.m. Free.
Check out the outra-
geous comedy
“Leading Ladies” at
Dallas High School,
which runs Thursday
through Saturday.
7 p.m. $5.
Calmlee’s Bookstore
in Dallas will host its
irst book club
meeting. Join others
in determining the
reading list.
7 p.m. Free.
Take a stroll in
downtown Inde-
pendence for Last
Sunday at River
Gallery and see the
Wild Woman exhibit.
2-4 p.m. Free.
Happy Leap Year
Day! Feb. 29 is added
to the calendar every
four years to make
up the time it actu-
ally takes the Earth
to rotate the sun.
James2 Community
Kitchen serves
meals on Tuesdays
to all who are hun-
gry at St. Philip
Catholic Church.
4:30-6 p.m. Free.
Partly sunny
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Lo: 41
Mostly sunny
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Lo: 44
Showers
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Lo: 45
Partly Cloudy
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Lo: 42
Cloudy
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Lo: 42
Showers
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Lo: 44
Showers
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Lo: 43