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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2016)
Polk County News 2A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 6, 2016 Monmouth water to go up by 9 percent 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. By Emily Mentzer The Itemizer-Observer MONMOUTH — Residents of Monmouth will see their water rates increase by 9 percent, or about $2.80 per month for an average household. The two main drivers behind the rate hike are state-man- dated improvements to the filtration system of one of the city’s wells and the addition of new staff to the public works department, said Scott McClure, Monmouth city manager. “The key thing is we don’t have the cash on hand to fix the well,” he said. “When the cash is not there, we’re talk- ing about getting the rates up to where we can take on debt to make those improvements.” Three new employees were hired for the public works department, who will be paid partially out of the water fund because they will be working on water-related proj- ects, McClure said. “In this case, we absolutely have water needs, so we charge a portion of the new employees to the water fund,” he said. Monmouth Power and Light, and sewer rates will re- main steady because those funds maintain healthy re- serves, McClure said. “The wastewater fund … has very substantial reserves,” he said. “The operating cash is pretty tight, but the reserves are nice. The electric fund is in healthy shape and doing fine.” The city is working on getting a full rate study done this year for water and sewer, McClure said. “That will give us a better idea, a more comprehensive idea,” he said. “We’ve been doing it more informally at a staff level. This takes everything into account and will give us a pathway for five or 10 years or so.” Without a comprehensive rate study, rate increases — and decreases — have been determined by Monmouth city employees trying to balance expenses with reserves and revenues, McClure said. “It was a shock to our system when the well system came up,” he said. “We weren’t planning on that.” In 2014 and 2015, the rates for Monmouth Power and Light were decreased by 3 percent each year. No decreases will be provided this year. Week six of building your emergency kit POLK COUNTY — The American Red Cross has de- signed a 24-week calendar to build a two-week home disaster kit. The following is the fifth week. Week 6 A first aid kit which includes sterile adhesive bandages in assorted sizes, adhesive tape, gauze pads, sterile roller bandages, latex gloves, safety pins and sunscreen. Action Step: Identify storage area for your supplies. If using outside storage, ensure container is weather and animal proof. Furniture Upholstery All types: for homes, offices, equip- ment. Also, repairs, RV cushions, slipcovers, High Quality since 1966 Stephen Winters Sewing 503-838-4999 or 503-375-9266 Emmy Joseph 440 E. St • Independence, OR 97351 www.winterssewing.com Serving Polk County 16yrs EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer file Canned food, crafts, photography, fruit and vegetables and even a new Pinterest cat- egory are among the open class exhibits people can enter in the 2016 Polk County Fair. Fair entry deadlines approach 2015 fair exhibits were up and more are expected in 2016 By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer RICKREALL — OK Pinter- est fans, there’s an open class food competition at the 2016 Polk County Fair just for you. The rules are simple, just pick your favorite recipe off Pinterest, print it off with a picture, make the recipe and enter it at the fair. Judges will determine a winner in the following categories: appetiz- er, breakfast dish, lunch dish, dinner dish and dessert. “If it does well, which I’m sure it will, we want to do it crafts, with textiles, with every department,” Fair Manager Tina Andersen said. If a more traditional entry is more to your taste, those competitions still are offered at the fair. The fair runs Aug. 11-13, so deadlines are ap- proaching. You might want to consider now what pho- tography, crafts, fruit, veg- etables and other items are Open class exhibit entry deadlines: • Poetry — July 27 • Fine Arts, Photography, textiles, crafts, youth arts & crafts — Aug. 8. • Foods — Aug. 9. • Floriculture, grains, honey, forestry, fruit, nuts vegeta- bles — Aug. 10. Open class books are available local libraries, Post of- fices (except Independence), at the Polk County Fair Office (520 S. Pacific Highway, Rickreall) and online at http://www.co.polk.or.us/fair/annual/2016-fair-book. For more information: 503-623-3048. contest-worthy. Andersen and the fair crew are having to plan around an increasing num- ber of entries. “We actually did really well last year. We are making some more changes. We have completely refigured the main building, again, and part of that is to accom- modate those displays,” An- dersen said. “The photogra- phy was up, our youth arts and crafts were up.” That being said, Andersen is willing to make room for more, particularly those that represent Polk’s farming her- itage. “We would encourage our farmers and our local folks to enter their grains and veg- etables,” Fair board chair- woman Anna Scharf said. “We live in an agricultural county, so we know it’s out there. When you are harvest- ing your wheat, grab a sheath of it or grab a bag off the combine and bring it in and enter it.” County approves 2016-17 budget Itemizer-Observer staff report DALL AS — The Polk County Board of Commis- sioners adopted the 2016-17 budget on June 29 with just minor changes to what the county’s budget committee Solution on Page 6A approved in May. County Administrator Greg Hansen said the only changes were an increase in beginning balance for Public Works of $200,000 and a de- crease in the general fund beginning balance to pay for a vote tabulation machine that was delivered in June rather that July. The machine was budget- ed at $100,000 in the 2016-17 budget. It replaces voting equipment this is more than 10 years old and will first used in November’s general election. The 2016-17 total budget is $66 million. 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. The Itemizer-Observer is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Watch for breaking news, links to sto- ries, sports scores updates and more. WEATHER RECORDED HIGH LOW June 28............. 85 June 29............. 82 June 30............. 82 July 1.................. 83 July 2.................. 87 July 3.................. 80 July 4.................. 75 53 54 51 53 59 54 52 RAIN .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 Rainfall during June — 1.00 in. Rain through July 4 — 21.30 in. Visit us online www.polkio.com A Pleasant Place to Buy or Sell Your RV CALL TODAY FOR A NO-CHARGE EVALUATION. OPEN K! WEE 7 DAYS A • Sat 9-5 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 May 5 - Sept. 29 General Vendors 10:00 am - 3:00 pm Food Vendors 10:00 am - 6:00 pm (or until sold out) Featuring Growers, Producers & Artisans of the Polk County area & beyond! Special Event July 31 ~ Bounty Market at Art in the Park Live music each week 11 am to 1 pm Cash & Company July 7 & 21 Fiddler Truman Price July 14 & 28 New & Returning Vendors this month: Akha Farm (6th season) • Bermudez Family Farm (7th Season) Birdsong Farm • Black Rock BBQ (New) • City of Dallas (2nd season) Community Action Head Start • Critelli Sweets (New) Dallas Downtown Association • Edie’s Designs (3rd season) El Pique (6th season) • Family Building Blocks (2nd Season) Geovalue Organics (New) • Good & Bready (7th Season) Gramma’s Sewing Basket (New) • Hound Boy Bakery LLC. (New) Karl’s Birdhouses & Feeders (New) • Lakeside Berry Farm (7th season) Larson’s Lavender & Bees • Massage by Ty (New) Mrs. Sew & Sew (New) • OSU Master Preservers Perryhill Farm & Rustics (3rd season) • Rock Creek Organics (New) Rosie’s Scottish Goodies (7th season) • The Soap Store (3rd season) Tony Diaz Fresh Farm Produce (2nd season) Uniquely Done by Debbie (New) • We Bee Bloomin (New) Wizart Illustration (2nd season) New Vendors Each Week! 182 Academy Street in Dallas (Corner of Main & Academy) http://www.exploredallasoregon.org/bounty-market.html 503-623-2564 Facebook.com/bountymarket