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TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE HEADING TO THE PROS TRIVIA NIGHT JULIAN NICHOLS Page 5A Page 8A Volume 141, Issue 25 www.Polkio.com June 22, 2016 $1.00 Sheriff goes back to 24 hours By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer POLK COUNTY — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office will return to 24-hour pa- trols on Sunday after a year of hiring to replace deputies lost to budget cuts. “We’ve hired 29 people al- together between the jail and patrol,” said Sheriff Mark Garton. The public safety levy vot- ers approved in May 2015 provided for 12 positions in patrol and five in the jail, but Garton said a “slew” of de- partures left the department with a lot more hiring than anticipated. “That is all we’ve been doing, essentially, since last July 1,” Garton said. “It’s a long process.” The office graduated four officers from the police academy last week, making it possible to switch to two 12-hour shifts per day start- ing Sunday. Three more offi- cers were sent to the acade- my last week and a few more will attend later in the year. “It’s like a big chess game trying to put everybody in the right spot to get to where we are to be able to do 24- hour coverage,” Garton said. “We’ve hired good people. We’v e b e e n f o r t u n a t e. There’s a lot agencies that are having trouble all over the state hiring people and finding good people. We haven’t had any issue.” Sunday will be the first time the sheriff’s office has had someone on duty 24 hours per day in more than three years. Patrols were first cut to 20 hours per day in March 2013 due to funding shortages. Hours were subsequently re- duced to 10 hours per day. With hiring and training in full swing since July 2015, 20-hour per day patrols were restored in January. Deputies in the patrol di- vision say they are eager to see “off hours” disappear soon. Deputy Jason Ball has been with the sheriff’s de- partment for about a year. He said it’s been difficult knowing the office hasn’t been able to respond to all DALLAS Stewart resigns from Dallas City Council, leaving vacancy. »Page 3A FALLS CITY Falls City works to solve issues of pressure, brittle pipes in new water master plan. »Page 2A INDEPENDENCE The old Independ- ence library was rededi- cated as the home for arts, literature and edu- cation on Friday. JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer MONMOUTH JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer Polk County sheriff’s deputies will be on the road 24 hours per day starting Sunday.. calls that come in, and he is glad that is changing. “It’s a huge benefit, just to be able to provide that serv- ice to the community,” Ball said. “We still get a lot of calls in those off hours. Every call is important. We want to respond.” Full patrol hours isn’t the By Emily Mentzer The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — The city of Independence is accepting propos- als to design and build streets, and main sewer and water lines on the old Valley Concrete site, now called Independence Landing. The roughly 20-acre property was acquired by the city in November 2014 from Valley Concrete for $800,000. The city has spent roughly $600,000 improving the land for fu- ture developers. The city tentatively agreed to work with Tokola Properties, out of Gresham, as the developer in De- cember 2015, but no deal had been signed yet, said Shawn Irvine, eco- nomic development director. “We’re essentially continuing to 7 DAYS PLANNING FOR YOUR WEEK »Page 5A Deputies Thomas Hutchinson, left, and Jason Ball prepare for their patrol shift on Friday night. only thing returning. In early July, the Polk In- teragency Narcotics Team (POINT) will be reinstated with investigators from the sheriff’s office, Dallas, Mon- mouth, Independence po- lice departments, and even- tually Oregon State Police. Polk Sgt. Mike Holsapple will supervise the team, which will have officers who are new to working on a drug enforcement team. Holsapple is the only excep- tion. “He’s been running the team for years, so he can get those guys up to speed and do it the right way,” Garton said. He said the team won’t have a shortage of work to do, as drug complaints around the county remain high. “They will hit the ground running,” Garton said. Also in July, the sheriff’s office will pair up with Polk County Behavioral Health to provide one of two “mobile crisis” teams patrolling in Polk County. The teams will consist of an officer and crisis coun- selor who can respond to calls involving incidents more related to mental health than criminal behav- ior. County officials said the hope is to get people in cri- sis assistance sooner and without having to take them to jail. Yet another function of the office has been restored recently. Staff in the Polk County Jail has rebounded to the point where court security has been increased, answer- ing a request of Polk County Circuit Court judges and at- torneys. See PATROLS, Page 10A City braces to build streets, sewer at Indy Landing THE NEXT IN YOUR TOWN ensure that these parcels are shovel ready while we discuss and negoti- ate with that developer,” Irvine said. “Frankly, we hope by continuing to make these parcels shovel ready, we hope that will help with some of these negotiations.” By building basic roads and sewer and water systems, the city is getting the site more “shovel-ready” than it was before, Irvine said. In the city’s last public-private partnership, the development of Riverplace Apartments on Deann Drive, the developer built the streets and connections. This property is different because of the magnitude, Irvine said. “We expect this to be two to three times bigger than Riverplace in terms of investment,” he said. “The more money being asked to put into wed thu Want to get more involved in the MI Chamber? Join the new ambassador program with a kick- off party tonight. 6-8 p.m. Free. See what’s in season at the Polk County Bounty Market near the Academy Build- ing on Thursday af- ternoons. Mostly sunny Hi: 74 Lo: 53 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Free. Showers Hi: 63 Lo: 49 a project, the harder (developers) look at it.” The city will accept proposals until the end of June, with hopes of beginning construction in the fall. Irvine said money to pay for the project will come from the Urban Renewal District fund. He didn’t say how much it would cost because he hasn’t received all the bids yet. “The design services will be over $100,000,” he said. “That’s why we’re going out for public bid. That’s the only real estimate we have right now.” The project will provide one main road to serve the site, including main sewer and water lines, Irvine said. “We’re essentially creating the pri- mary access to city utilities for this fri Bring friends and dinner and enjoy the evening listen- ing to the Dead- Beats at Emerson Vineyard. 6-9 p.m. $7.50. Partly cloudy Hi: 69 Lo: 49 site,” Irvine said. “It will be up to the developer if they want to do some- thing else.” The area is part of the enterprise zone, which allows some companies and businesses to apply for three to five years of property tax forgive- ness, but Irvine said he doesn’t ex- pect businesses in Independence Landing to qualify or take advantage of that zone. “Even though it’s a great site, great community, we’re still off the beaten path as far as the develop- ment community is concerned,” Irvine said. “That is increased risk,” he con- tinued. “The more we can do to de- crease risk variables, the better the property looks and the easier it will be to get financing and get a devel- oper to do something there.” The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking access to Monmouth properties to search for unexploded ordnances. »Page 11A SPORTS Catch up with Tyrell Williams’ progress with the San Diego Chargers. »Page 8A Fire board to seek inside chief options By Emily Mentzer The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — The Polk County Fire District No. 1 board of directors de- cided to seek the next fire chief internally, differing from the external process the board has taken the last two times it has searched for a new leader. The chief’s job descrip- tion and salary were ap- proved at a special meet- ing Monday night. The job description for fire chief had not been up- dated, nor approved by the board, since 2001. The new list of duties and re- sponsibilities was created through members of the board, a staff of volunteers and a representative from the Special Districts Associ- ation of Oregon, as well as Deputy Chief Neal Olson and Fire Chief Al Alcalde. The Special Districts As- sociation of Oregon is per- forming the search and running the process on behalf of the board, under a contract for not more than $2,820, plus expens- es not to exceed $1,000. Alcalde gave 30-days notice to leave the posi- tion on April 25. He agreed to stay on board as chief beyond the 30 days, but July 5 will be his last day. See CHIEF, Page 3A sat sun mon tue Need a doctor but don’t have insur- ance? Check out the Polk Community Free Clinic on the fourth Saturday. 7-11 a.m. Free. Today is National Chocolate Pudding Day, so enjoy a cup chilled on the back porch with friends and family. Learn about all things gardening at Dallas Garden Club’s monthly meeting at the Evangelical Bible Church. 6:30 p.m. Free. James2 Community Kitchen offers free meals for anyone who is hungry at St. Philip Catholic Church. 4:30 p.m. Free. Sunny Hi: 82 Lo: 53 Sunny Hi: 83 Lo: 53 Sunny Hi: 79 Lo: 54 Sunny Hi: 80 Lo: 54
