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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2016)
Polk County News 6A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 16, 2016 OBITUARIES Continued from Page 5A Barbara Ann Gorman Jan. 3, 1944 – Feb. 26, 2016 Barbara Ann Gorman, 72, of Yuma, Ariz., died Feb. 26. She was born in Dallas to Clarence and Norma Thomas. A f t e r graduating from Cen- tral High School, she worked as an IV ther- apist at Salem Hospital until her re- tirement in 2006. Survivors include her daughters, Julie Buck and Joni Barnes; son, Jason Gor- man; and seven grandchil- dren. Service was Saturday at Farnstrom Mortuary in Inde- pendence, and interment was at Hilltop Cemetery. To send an online tribute: www.FarnstromMortuary. com. Obituary Information Obituary information must be submitted by 4 p.m. on the Monday before publication to be included in the newspaper. Most funeral homes handle obituary information and pro- vide it to the newspaper. How- ever, information can also be submitted directly from family members. Color and black-and-white photos can be submitted, but photos will only be published in black and white. The Item- izer-Observer uses a flag logo in the obituaries of people who served in the armed forces. Obituaries — like all infor- mation submitted to the news department — are subject to editing for style, content and length. Information can be brought or mailed to the Itemizer-Ob- server, 147 SE Court St., Dallas, OR 97338, or emailed to nadams@polkio.com. For more information: Nancy Adams, 503-623-2373. Neighborhood Watch comes to FC By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer FALLS CITY — With its options limited by financial constraints, Falls City may turn to its citizens to help fight crime in the city. Law enforcement was the topic of Falls City’s monthly “town hall” meeting, where city leaders and citizens gather to talk about issues facing the community. A number of creative ideas have been proposed, such as supporting legisla- tion that would have the state pay for law enforce- ment in small communities or establishing an agree- ment with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office to enforce city codes. The main topic at the Feb. 23 meeting was more tradi- tional. “We had a pretty good turnout, and we discussed law enforcement issues, real- ly focused on Neighborhood Learn more What: Falls City town hall meeting about setting up a Neighborhood Watch program. When: March 29 at 7 p.m. Where: Falls City Community Center, 320 N. Main St., Falls City. For more information: 503-787-3631. Watch,” said Mayor Terry Ungricht at Thursday’s Falls City City Council meeting. “The (Polk County) Sheriff’s Office is more than willing to set up a Neighborhood Watch, (and) do training.” Neighborhood Watch is a program of the National Sheriff ’s Association. It began in 1972 and trains cit- izens to work with police of- ficers to report and prevent crime. Ungricht said the option is effective and wouldn’t cost the city money. “I think it’s an excellent way with our limited funds to build a relationship with the law enforcement agency,” he said. The first thing needed are “block captains,” people willing to organize a watch in their area of town. Ungricht said city em- ployees wouldn’t have the time to recruit those volun- teers and was hoping coun- cilors would take on that role. Councilor Jenn Drill wanted to take that a step further. She said the topic of this month’s town hall will be information about setting up a Neighbor Watch. Drill asked that her fellow councilors and city staff help spread the word about the meeting. “So we can kind of have a group discussion and maybe form something from that,” she said. Prevention of cr ime wouldn’t the only positive outcome of the program, Ungricht said. “It’s something to think about. I know we get a lot of law enforcement questions” he said. “This is a good way to partner up with our sher- iff’s department, meeting and personalizing the offi- cers who are out here. They are here to help us find so- lutions. They aren’t always the enemy.” In other business, the council: • Voted 3-2 to install three pet waste stations in city parks. The cost for each sta- tion will be $110.17. • Voted to increase non- contracted bulk water sales rates to $5 per unit, bulk sale hookup fees to $80 and consolidate sewer hookup fees to one charge of $3,250. Purple toilet to raise money for RFL Linn County files timber lawsuit Itemizer-Observer staf report By Jolene Guzman MONMOUTH/INDEPENDENCE — Courtney Williams wants to put a purple toilet in your yard, or in the yard of someone you know. “I irst saw this fundraiser on Pinterest,” she said. “I think it is one of my favorites because it is interactive and gets the word out about Relay For Life and the American Cancer Society.” Homeowners may pay $10 to have the toilet removed, $20 to have it sent to a friend, or $30 for toilet “insurance,” to make sure it doesn’t come back. Money raised will go toward Williams’ Relay for Life of Polk County’s team. Relay for Life will be June 4 and 5 at Riverview Park. For more information or to have the toilet placed in someone’s yard: Courtney, 541-510-4483. The Itemizer-Observer Recycle for a better future SALEM — Linn County has followed through on the promise to sue the state of Oregon and the State Forestry Department due to what it claims is misman- agement of Forest Trust Lands. Harvests off those lands send revenue to the 15 counties that have trust lands, which were deeded to the state starting in the 1930s in exchange for a cut of the harvest money after State timber revenue Polk County: 2011 — $115,798 2012 — $66,566 2013 — $369,401 2014 — $244,365 2015 — $39,769 10-year average — $148,251 Source: Oregon Depart- ment of Forestry. the state takes a manage- ment fee. The suit alleges the adop- tion of a new management plans that slashed harvest revenues by approximately $35 million per year and prioritized other uses is a “breach of contract.” Ac- cording to the suit, the state’s responsibility upon taking the land was to man- age them in a way that max- imizes the revenues going to counties. Polk County, along with 14 other counties and at least 130 other government bod- ies, would be a beneficiary of that suit. The payout to the county would potentially be about $160,000 per year. According to the 13-page lawsuit in 1998, the state adopted a “greatest perma- nent value” or “GPV rule,” which in addition to priori- tizing sustainable harvest, also emphasized “properly functioning aquatic habi- tats;” habitats for native wildlife; productive soil and clean air and water; protec- tion against floods and ero- sion; and recreation. The suit claims trust land counties didn’t agree to that rule. In the 2015 Council of Forest Trust Land Counties Annual Report, the ODF said its management focus on the lands “is to actively manage them in a sound environmental manner to provide sustainable time harvest and revenue to the state, counties and local taxing districts.” The report states in 2015, $54.9 million was distrib- uted to counties, including $39,769 to Polk County. The class-action lawsuit, filed Thursday, is seeking approximately $1.435 bil- lion. According to the suit, that amount represents the difference between what the counties received and what they believe they should have received if the lands had been managed according to the original agreement, plus interest. It also includes future dam- ages of $35 million in per- petuity. Linn County sent notice on Jan. 13 that it intended to file the suit. Polk No. 1 seeks to up numbers Ben Meyer, AAMS ® Bob Timmerman Kelly K. Denney Financial Advisor Financial Advisor Financial Advisor 503-606-3048 503-623-5584 503-623-2146 193 E. Main Street Monmouth, OR 97361 159 SW Court Street Dallas, OR 97338 244 E. Ellendale, Suite 2 Dallas, OR 97338 Fire Chief looks to recruit volunteers, reopen Station 40 By Emily Mentzer The Itemizer-Observer PEDEE — Polk Fire Dis- trict No. 1 is looking for ways to increase volunteer fire- fighters at its rural stations. “Currently, we have one station closed in Buena Vista and the others minimally staffed in Airlie and Pedee,” Chief Al Alcalde said. “In 2000, we had an agreement with the Pedee Women’s Club to use a dedicated spot in their facility to allow the fire department to attend drills and training sessions.” Alcalde said that never happened, but efforts are underway to make it happen now. “We are in discussions, but I believe they will allow us to use the facility for, not only training, but possibly to house personnel,” he said. This will especially be im- portant during the summer when there is potential for large-scale fires in the rural areas, Alcalde said. “Having a quicker re- sponse would make sense for that scenario,” he said. Personnel with Polk No. 1 also will make a bigger push in coming months to reopen Buena Vista Station 40, Al- calde said. “We just applied for a grant to help us with im- proving our recruitment process,” he said. “The name of the program is Volunteer of the Future Pilot Program.” Alcalde is planning open houses at Station 40 for vol- unteer recruitment and the fire board will hold meetings in the rural areas in the com- ing months. For more information: polkno1.org. A Pleasant Place to Buy or Sell Your RV CALL TODAY FOR A NO-CHARGE EVALUATION. OPEN K! S A WEE 9-5 Y A D 7 • Sat Mon-Fri 9-6 -4 Sun 10 Rick 503-437-5398 Ruben 503-915-2080 4075 NE Three Mile Lane, McMinnville, OR www.macrvsales.com Next to the Spruce Goose Aviation Museum macrvsales@gmail.com Solution on Page 3A
