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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2016)
Polk County News Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 18, 2016 3A Indy leaders host last-minute Q&A 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. ADVERTISING DEADLINES Retail display ads — 3 p.m. Friday. Classified display ads — 11 a.m. on Monday. Classified line ads — Noon on Monday. Classified ads are updated daily on www.polkio.com. Public notices — Noon on Friday. CORRECTIONS The Polk County Itemizer- Observer is committed to pub- lishing accurate news, feature and sports reports. If you see anything that requires a cor- rection or clarification, call the newsroom at 503-623-2373 or send an email to ementzer@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. WEATHER RECORDED HIGH LOW May 10.............. 80 May 11.............. 86 May 12.............. 83 May 13.............. 82 May 14.............. 57 May 15.............. 62 May 16.............. 61 42 45 47 47 53 53 51 RAIN .00 .00 .00 .T .45 .05 .06 Rainfall during May — 0.61 in. Rain through May 16 — 19.74 in. By Emily Mentzer The Itemizer-Observer EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer Scott Herbert, Rich Miller, TJ Geise and Brock Wallace share a light moment while at work. FCR on the way to top Independence call center employs 240 and still hiring By Emily Mentzer The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — Potlucks, pirates, races around cones — at FCR, a call center in Independence, it’s just another day at the of- fice. “We try to be fun,” said Rich Miller, site director. “We try to be irreverent. We try to be quirky.” The atmosphere at the company is upbeat, with people coming and going, laughing and talking togeth- er. The environment is one reason FCR has been voted Best Place to Work by the Oregonian for four years. The company has been in Independence for about nine months. In that time, it’s hired 240 people, Miller said, and is still looking for colleagues to join the staff. FCR is a call center that serves other companies, and differs from other call cen- ters Miller’s worked at. “You have a lot of interac- tion with a client on a daily basis,” he said. “We don’t like to be the ‘outsourcer,’ we’re just a second outcropping of their own internal business.” When businesses grow, so do their customer service needs, Miller said, and that creates more jobs at FCR. “If we’re doing it right, the customer service is also be- coming more successful, then the numbers of oppor- tunities for customer sup- port expand,” Miller said. He has worked for FCR for about a year, and for three months as the site director for the Independence loca- tion. One thing he likes about the company is its unique vibe. “I went from handling one thing to handling different programs,” Miller said. “In a way, it’s their own business within a business, so that va- riety is very interesting to me.” Also, FCR is active in the communities they are based in, from March of Dimes to blood drives to cleaning up parks. “A lot of our colleagues know of charities going on, a place that supports pets, or we’ll get involved and see what we can do,” Miller said. He said he has enjoyed working in the Independ- ence and Monmouth com- munities. “Independence and Mon- mouth have been super wel- coming,” Miller said. “What’s unique about this is how well Independence and Monmouth work together. When we go to chamber events, you see the mayors working together to better both communities at the same time. It’s exciting to see the downtowns revitalized and grow here.” FCR will have a booth at the Discover MI Town event, which is on Saturday. Meanwhile, the company continues to accept applica- tions — and even will inter- view walk-ins, Miller said. For more information: gofcr.com. For more on Dis- cover MI Town: www.micc- or.org. INDEPENDENCE — A discussion on Facebook led Independence city leaders to hold an impromptu community meeting about the city’s water and sewer rates. About 25 people packed into a room to hear about the water system and how rates are set. According to a survey of cities, Independence’s rates are in the middle. Com- pared to neighboring Dal- las and Monmouth, rates are high. City Manager David Clyne said those rates differ depending on the needs and resources available to each community, including how water is available, or whether it’s gravity fed or pumped from a well. Citizens were upset that they have to pay a water bill, even if the property is empty. Some spent winters in warmer climates, such as Arizona, and are billed for water in spite of not using the service. Public Works Supervisor Ken Perkins said some costs are constant and must be spread out be- tween all users of the sys- tem. One such cost is daily testing for bacteria, chlo- rine and fluoride. Other citizens were angry that roughly 10 per- cent of their water bill went to pay the debt incurred by building Monmouth Inde- pendence Networks. A woman asked why water rates paid for cable, phone and data — nothing to do with water. Clyne said the water fund was put up for collat- eral for state bonds in 2004 by city leaders to build the system. The city prides itself on transparency, and all of this information is online, Clyne said. One lady said the city was not transparent at all, and should include more information in a line-item format on the bill about how money collected for sewer and water is spent. Clyne said the water rates would continue to go up, but he hoped at a slow, steady pace. He said one of the problems was during a time when the council did not increase rates at all, creating a need for big jumps to get caught up. To read the full coverage, see the Itemizer-Observer online: polkio.com. West Valley Housing Authority will hold their Work Session Meeting on Wednes- day, May 25, 2016 beginning at 11:30 a.m. at 204 SW Walnut in Dallas, Oregon. The Regular Meeting will be held on Wednes- day, May 25, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. at 204 SW Walnut in Dallas, Oregon. An Executive Session pursuant to ORS 192.660 will be held immediately following the Regular Meeting, if required. Agenda for the meeting is posted on the Housing Authority website at www.wvpha.org. The location for the meeting is handicapped accessible. Please advise the West Valley Housing Authority if you need any special ac- commodations to attend the meeting. For in- formation, please call 503-623-8387, TDD 1-800-735-2900.
