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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2016)
Polk County News Polk County Itemizer-Observer • February 24, 2016 5A AgFest: Promotes education, commerce WELL TROUBLE Continued from Page 1A “I’m running out of room,” she said. “I’ve never been full.” The trains in the garden show has been moved to its own building, and is included as features at both the home show and the ag fest, according to the respective websites. Also at the ag fest will be nurseries, Master Preservers, Saturday markets from Independence and the Polk County Bounty Market, as well as demonstrations and information about the latest in ag tech, including a drone display. Each day will feature speakers and seminars on a variety of topics. Thomas said perhaps the speaker she is looking forward to the most is a seminar on protecting family farms. “It is ‘planning for productive fami- ly farm transplant,’” Thomas said. “What it is, a lot of families now lose their farms to taxes if they don’t have the right safeguards in place. They end up having their tax burden so high, and they have to pay cash for the taxes, so they have to sell the farm to pay the taxes when mom or dad dies.” Thomas has two main goals for the ag fest, which will benefit local FFA chapters and 4-H clubs. “One of the main components is to promote commerce and ag com- merce in Polk County,” she said. “The second focus is education of families and children — and this is very cliché — but the relationship of farm or soil to table, where their food comes from, the whole thing, it’s very important.” Thomas was raised in Salem and worked the berry and bean fields as a child. She participated in the FFA and has always known where her food comes from. But now, especially for those from urban areas, that knowledge has been lost along the way. “They have no idea what sort of is- sues the farmers face on a day-to-day basis and the lengths they go to get our food to us, to feed us,” Thomas said. The ag fest will have plenty of fam- ily friendly activities, from a petting zoo ran by the 4-H Achievers to face painting to animal balloons. The Yamhill Historical Society will bring a historical covered wagon to climb on and explore, and antique farm equip- ment will be on display. Vendors will have a plethora of shopping activities from farmers markets to artisan booths, pottery, plants and local honey. For those who wish to participate, a passport will be available. Once it has been stamped from all six build- ings, it may be entered to win a portable Traeger Grill and other prizes. Antique Powerland will provide a shuttle service to get from the Polk County Museum to the other build- ings, helping people get to seminars and presentations in a timely fashion. Streets: Bond would be first step Continued from Page 1A That option would fix fewer streets, but potential- ly wouldn’t involve a tax in- crease depending on if the county decided to pursue another bond. Three people gave testi- mony at the public hearing, all in favor of the 10-year bond. Citizens’ Advisory Committee for Residential Street Funding Chairman Pete Christensen also pre- sented information to the council. He said the condition of Dallas streets is steadily de- clining and will drop to a “p a v e m e n t c o n d i t i o n index” rating of 60 — on the lower end of “fair” — by next year. “The main thing you need to do, and what I would en- courage you to do, is think about a bond issue to get a lot of repair done on the streets right away,” he said. That is exactly what the council did, but not before a debate over considering a fee and revenue bond to pay for all or part of repair needs. Councilor Jackie Lawson proposed the city delay put- ting the issue on the ballot to research a combination of a general obligation bond (property tax) and a utility fee. She said that had the benefit of taking care of the problem at one time in- stead of in three steps. A majority of the council was in favor of proceeding with the $10 million bond, however. “I personally believe that we have listened to the committee. They worked for three years and they’ve done a due diligent job,” said Councilor Bill Hahn. Councilor LaVonne Wil- son, agreed, saying the op- tions have been weighed long enough and the city knows exactly what it is get- ting with a bond. “We’ve had this on our plate for a number of years,” she said. “This has got to be taken care of.” The council approved putting the bond on the ballot May ballot in a 7-2 vote, with Council President Jim Fairchild and councilors Kelly Gabliks, Hahn, Kevin Marshall, Murray Stewart, Wilson and Ken Woods, Jr. voting in favor. For more information: http://www.dallasor.gov/73 9/Street-Condition-Map. FC schools place gym bond on May ballot By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer FALLS CITY — The Falls City School Board approved a resolution placing a $2 mil- lion bond on the May ballot to build a Falls City Elemen- tary School gym. The vote was taken Feb. 16 following months of discussions about priorities for the project. If passed, the bond amount would be doubled with a matching grant through the Oregon School Capital Improvement Match program. The bond will cost approx- imately $1.30 per $1,000 of assessed value on properties. “We are looking at build- ing a new multipurpose gym and cafeteria with restrooms and storage space,” Superin- tendent Jack Thompson said. The project will provide gym space allowing stu- dents a place to have physi- cal education classes and recess when the weather is less than hospitable. It will also upgrade to the school’s Matinees are all shows before 6pm. New pricing for matinees are: Adult $7.25 Children $6.75 • Senior $7.00 Pricing does not reflect 3D showings. 6:50 7:30 Sunday February 28 RACE(Digital) (PG13) KUNG FU PANDA 3 (Digital 2D) (PG) HAIL! CAESAR (Digital) (PG13) ZOOLANDER 2 (Digital) (PG13) EDDIE THE EAGLE (Digital) (PG13) GODS OF EGYPT (Digital 2D) (PG13) DEADPOOL (Digital) (R) RISEN (Digital) (PG13) THE REVENANT (Digital) (R) HOW TO BE SINGLE (Digital) (R) THE WITCH (Digital) (R) (12:50 3:50) (11:25 1:30) (3:35) (5:50) (11:50 2:20 4:50) (1:25 4:15) (11:30 2:00 4:30) (11:45 2:15 4:45) (1:10) (4:25) (1:00 3:10 5:20) 6:50 8:00 7:10 7:05 7:00 7:20 6:55 7:30 Monday - Thursday Feb 29 - March 3 RACE(Digital) (PG13) KUNG FU PANDA 3 (Digital 2D) (PG) HAIL! CAESAR (Digital) (PG13) ZOOLANDER 2 (Digital) (PG13) EDDIE THE EAGLE (Digital) (PG13) GODS OF EGYPT (Digital 2D) (PG13) DEADPOOL (Digital) (R) RISEN (Digital) (PG13) THE REVENANT (Digital) (R) HOW TO BE SINGLE (Digital) (R) THE WITCH (Digital) (R) (3:50) (1:30) (3:35) (5:50) (2:20 4:50) (1:25 4:15) (2:00 4:30) (2:15 4:45) 9:35 8:00 7:10 7:05 7:00 7:20 6:55 6:50 10:15 9:25 9:45 9:30 9:40 10:00 9:35 The Itemizer-Observer MONMOUTH — In 2012, an untreated water sample from a Monmouth well came back positive for E.coli. The Marion County well has been used as a primary source of water for Mon- mouth since it was built in 1980 and has a long history of clean water samples, said Russ Cooper, public works director. But in November of 2012, the Willamette River was near flood stage, allowing river water to mix with the aquifer around the city’s well. In May 2014, as a result of additional testing, it was de- termined by the state that the well is under the influ- ence of surface water and further steps are needed to bring the well in compliance with surface water treatment requirements, Cooper said. An agreement between the Oregon Health Authority and the city of Monmouth outlines steps the city must take to be in compliance with the rules. That agree- ment was approved at the Feb. 16 Monmouth council meeting. Citizens should not worry, Cooper said. “Is Monmouth’s drinking water safe? Yes,” he said. “Do I drink Monmouth’s water? Yes. Does my family drink Monmouth’s water? Yes. We test 132 times a year. That 2012 E.coli sample was a raw water sample, not a treated water sample.” Still, regulations from the health authority require more safeguards to prevent raw water from getting into the system. A couple of different op- tions presented themselves, but did not work as planned. Digging up a new well was impractical, Cooper said. Using an ultra violet disin- fection was not feasible. The city was left with in- stalling a filtration system on the well. It would cost about $700,000, which would near- Government ly drain the water fund’s re- serve of $900,000. The city would consider taking out a loan to cover the costs of the filtration system, City Manager Scott McClure said, but it would be some- thing the council could dis- cuss at a later meeting. The system would take a couple years to get installed. Just using the water fund’s reserve would leave it too low — $200,000 — to fix any emergencies in the water system that may come up, McClure said. The city has been looking at other sources of water, such as the Willamette well field, a joint project with the city of Independence, Coop- er said, but that is still unde- veloped. Whatever road the council takes, Monmouth residents likely will see increases in their water fees to help pay for the filtration system, as well as possible increases in franchise fees to help cover a forecasted deficit in the budget relating to increased retirement costs for public employees. “Another cost on the hori- zon is public works,” Mc- Clure said. “We think it is very understaffed right now. There are potentially new positions in the works, which also will mean a cost im- pact — and a rate impact.” The question remains how the council will proceed with any rate adjustments, McClure said. “Do you start building to- ward that, moving rates up slowly?” he said. “Or the other option is wait until we know what that cost is and possibly do a more signifi- cant jump.” 9th Annual www.polkio.com (12:50 3:50) (11:25 1:30) (3:35) (5:50) (11:50 2:20 4:50) (1:25 4:15) (11:30 2:00 4:30) (11:45 2:15 4:45) (1:10) (4:25) (1:00 3:10 5:20) By Emily Mentzer See Pages 8-9 For Full Details! Friday - Saturday Feb 26 - Feb 27 RACE(Digital) (PG13) KUNG FU PANDA 3 (Digital 2D) (PG) HAIL! CAESAR (Digital) (PG13) ZOOLANDER 2 (Digital) (PG13) EDDIE THE EAGLE (Digital) (PG13) GODS OF EGYPT (Digital 2D) (PG13) DEADPOOL (Digital) (R) RISEN (Digital) (PG13) THE REVENANT (Digital) (R) HOW TO BE SINGLE (Digital) (R) THE WITCH (Digital) (R) small kitchen and cafeteria. “That is sorely needed,” Thompson said. “It’s pretty amazing what they are able to do in such a confined space.” The new building will be on property adjacent to the elementary site and is de- signed to have the gym on the ground floor and the cafeteria in the basement. Monmouth needs to install $700,000 filtration system 8:00 Polk Home & Garden Show 2016 Feb 27 & 28 Sat 9am-5pm Sun 10am-5pm FREE Admission Come Support Local Businesses FREE Parking! Located at the Polk County Fairgrounds 520 S. Pacific Hwy, Rickreall, Oregon 7:10 7:05 7:00 7:20 6:55 Mid-Valley (4:25) (3:10 5:20) 7:30 Winter Agfest 2016 Feb 27 & 28 Sat 9am-4pm Sun 10am-4pm Pencil us in! www.polkio.com Admission: $5 Adults, 18 & Under Free Cash Only. Proceeds benefit local 4H and FFA.
