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.
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