DALLAS, CENTRAL, FALLS CITY AND PERRYDALE
FALL SPORTS GUIDE
Volume 141, Issue 36
SECTION C
www.Polkio.com
$1.00
September 7, 2016
Minet
plans to
expand
IN
YOUR
TOWN
Company in
talks with city
of Jefferson
for services
daLLaS
New principal at Oak-
dale eager to shape
lives.
»Page 14a
By emily Mentzer
FaLLS CiTY
The Itemizer-Observer
Meet Andy Rommel,
Wagner’s new director.
INDEPENDENCE —
Monmouth-Independence
Networks may start pro-
viding services to the city
of Jefferson, said Don Pat-
ten, general manager of
Minet.
“We’re going to put our
beta test over in Jefferson
as early as next week,” he
said at Thursday’s board
meeting. “I want that rev-
enue coming in, and Jef-
ferson is just pummeling
me to get this thing mov-
ing.”
Patten said the Jefferson
city council has come to
consensus to move ahead
with business planning,
engineering, an intergov-
ernmental agreement and
setting up a beta test.
He said the city has
1,200 potential customers,
and has guaranteed Minet
would have 600 new cus-
tomers for internet along
with telephone hookups.
Patten estimated the an-
nual revenue at $265,000
to $295,000 from the ven-
ture.
Patten noted that Minet
would have to consider in-
creasing staffing to accom-
modate the agreement
with Jefferson, as well as
any other expansion op-
portunities.
According to the cur-
rent intergovernmental
agreement between the
cities of Monmouth and
Independence, dated
2009 — which is the gov-
erning document for
Minet — all new service
agreements must be ap-
proved by the Minet
board of directors with a
two-thirds vote.
The proposal with Jeffer-
son was not voted on by
the board at its Thursday
meeting.
Board member Scott
McClure said the board
needs to have a full discus-
sion on whether or not to
move forward with the
arrangement with Jeffer-
son — and any future ex-
pansions.
“We want to know what
projected revenues are;
what expenses are; what
staffing needs are,” Mc-
Clure said. “And also just
cash flow issues. Are we
now front-loading some
costs, and then that plays
into when the revenue
starts kicking in.”
McClure said the board
will be getting questions
and needs to have the in-
formation to answer those
questions.
See MineT, Page 5a
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
»Page 3a
indePendenCe
Buzz Brazeau works
double as Central’s
principal.
»Page 14a
COURTNEY MAY/Itemizer-Observer
Chris Lillegard, right, and legal assistant Linda Baker will retire from the law firm at the same time.
DEFENSE RESTS
MOnMOUTH
New BG’s Bar-B-Que
brings the smoke.
»Page 5a
Longtime Dallas attorney Lillegard retires after 40 years
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Friends have
been telling Chris Lillegard that
retirement will grow on him.
The longtime Dallas attor-
ney isn’t buying it yet.
“Everybody says I’m not
going to miss getting up and
going to work, but it just
sounds a little bit weird to me
right now,” he said.
On Sept. 25, Lillegard will
have been working for 40
years. He retires at the end
of this month, except for a
few projects he’s working to
finish around the end of the
year.
That may take some ad-
justment, so it’s a good thing
Lillegard plans to stay busy.
His primary home is in
Bend, where there’s a bevy of
outdoor activities to keep
him occupied. Also, he and
his wife, Marji, retired from a
career at Microsoft, have
eight grandchildren to spoil.
“That’s plenty to keep you
busy,” Lillegard said with a
smile and chuckle.
Lillegard spent his entire
career in Dallas, saying he
never had the desire to leave
“to go to the big city.”
“It’s a great place for chil-
dren to grow up,” he said, re-
ferring to his four children,
Nathan, Sarah, Susie and
Carissa. “I like that inde-
pendence I’ve had running
my own practice. I like the
Noble & Weiser before earn-
ing his law degree in 1976
from Willamette University,
according a 1996 Itemizer-
Observer story marking his
20th anniversary.
Coincidently, he met a
person who would become a
key staff member, Linda
Baker — his “work wife” —
while at the Shetterly firm.
The pair will make their
career exit together, Baker
retiring after more than 29
years of working as a law
clerk for Lillegard.
“I always figured when
Linda wanted to retire, I
would retire,” Lillegard said.
“I don’t know what I would
do without her.”
See LiLLeGard, Page 12a
friendships I’ve built with
the people at the (Polk
County) Courthouse and
people I work with.”
For all his love of being a
small-town lawyer, Lillegard
hadn’t planned on going to
law school until after taking
a friend’s advice.
“I didn’t have a clue in col-
lege, and a friend suggested
I take the LSAT (Law School
Admissions Test). I did that
and did real well on it,” he
said. “I didn’t have anything
else in mind. I was working
in the woods logging in the
summertime. I knew I didn’t
want to do that full time.”
Lillegard began his career
in 1975 as a law clerk in the
in the firm Hayter, Shetterly,
JOlENE GUzMAN/Itemizer-Observer
First grade teacher Stephanie Hofferber helps dehvin Brumley-allison with putting crayons in a container at Ori-
entation day at Lyle elementary School on Tuesday morning. First through third graders were introduced to their
teachers and dropped off supplies during Orientation day. regular classes begin on Wednesday (today).
thu
Grab your dictionary
and put your
spelling to the test
in Scrabble with
Betty, Independ-
ence Public library.
1 p.m. Free.
Get involved in the
business commu-
nity through the In-
dependence
Downtown Associa-
tion.
8 a.m. Free.
Mostly cloudy
Hi: 74
Lo: 50
Partly cloudy
Hi: 76
Lo: 46
fri
Show your boss
some appreciation
by celebrating Na-
tional Hug Your
Boss Day!
Sunny
Hi: 81
Lo: 50
Central’s girls soccer
team finds its stride
against North Salem.
»Page 8a
eLeCTiOnS
Central and Falls City
school bonds.
»Page 2a
Firefighters
respond to
blaze at
Chase Grill
itemizer-Observer staff report
Welcome Back
wed
SPOrTS
INDEPENDENCE — Polk
County Fire District No. 1
responded to a commer-
cial structure fire at Chase
Bar and Grill on Thursday
morning.
Fire crews responded
at 4:09 a.m. to 1083 Mon-
mouth St., Independ-
ence.
Smoke was visible from
Monmouth Street as per-
sonnel arrived on scene
and fire was present on
the back side exterior of
the building.
Firefighters remained
on scene for approximate-
ly two hours while search-
ing for fire hot spots and
conducting an investiga-
tion.
Independence and
Monmouth Police Depart-
ments, the Polk County
Sheriff’s Office and South-
west Polk Fire assisted on
the call.
The cause of the fire re-
mains under investiga-
tion, though the fire ap-
pears to have started on
the outside of the build-
ing and extended into the
walls and onto roofing
materials, according to a
release.
Property loss is yet to
be determined.
No civilians or firefight-
ers were injured.
sat
sun
mon
tue
Independence pilots
in EAA Chapter 292
will give Young
Eagle flights in
planes to youths
aged 8 to 17.
9-11:30 a.m. Free.
Happy Grandpar-
ent’s Day! Celebrate
by giving them a
call, or take a trip
through memory
lane if they are no
longer with us.
Hear about retrac-
ing the steps of the
Oregon Trail at a
presentation at the
Independence Her-
itage Museum.
7 p.m. Free.
Dallas’ Tuesday on
the Square in
downtown will
have art and wine,
and celebrate 100
years of Rotary.
4-7 p.m. Free.
Sunny
Hi: 75
Lo: 49
Partly sunny
Hi: 73
Lo: 47
Sunny
Hi: 79
Lo: 53
Sunny
Hi: 84
Lo: 54