Polk County News
6A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 19, 2016
City council sends
registration back
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — After hearing
objections from local busi-
nesses, the Dallas City
Council decided to pause
progress on its business
registration proposal to re-
fine it.
Several business owners
attended a workshop on
the topic on Monday
night, before the council’s
regular meeting to express
concerns about the pro-
posal and a lack of com-
munication from the city
about it. They said the reg-
istration would be another
layer of red tape for busi-
nesses.
As proposed Monday, the
registration would have
had three categories. The
first is for most for-profit
businesses that would pay
the $25 initial fee and $10
annual renewal. Businesses
in operation by Dec. 31,
2016, would be exempt
from the initial fee.
The second category is
for nonprofit entities, such
as churches and charities.
They will be required to
register, but not pay the fee.
The last group of busi-
nesses already need to have
licenses or registration in
some form, such as taxi-
cabs, solicitors, itinerant
merchants, hotels and mo-
tels, garage sales and home
occupations. Those would
be exempt from the re-
quirement.
City officials say the pur-
pose of the program is to
provide the city with basic
information about busi-
nesses, including owner-
ship, location, manage-
ment, and the storage of
dangerous or hazardous
material. The latter will
help police and fire services
if they have to respond to
an emergency.
Councilor Jackie Lawson
said the fact that not many
business owners had heard
about the proposed regis-
tration illustrates a prob-
lem the program would
seek to solve: communica-
tion between the city and
businesses.
“I look back at when we
first started talking about
doing this and, first and
foremost, it was for com-
munication,” she said.
“What I keep hearing from
you is that you didn’t know
anything about it, which is
part of the reason we were
looking to do something
like this.”
She said whether it’s
through the registration
program or another av-
enue, that needs to im-
prove, she said.
Councilor Mike Holland
said that when consider-
ing the program, the
council needs to balance
the needs of individual
businesses and those of
the entire community. He
believed approving the
registration would benefit
the community by provid-
ing more information to
first responders and the
city.
“In this case we have a
proposed program that has
some very real safety com-
ponents, some very real
communication compo-
nents to it,” he said. “I just
want to make the point, as
we decide if we are going to
move forward with this,
let’s not forget the larger
community interests that
are at work here.”
The council voted 7-1, to
send the registration pro-
posal back to the city’s Ad-
ministration Committee to
revise it.
The Polk County
Itemizer-Observer
Your community news source
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
MaMere’s new owners have turned running the guest house into a family affair.
BE OUR GUEST
MaMere’s celebrates 125 years, new ownership, partnerships
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Emily
McNulty has fond memories
of working at a bed and break-
fast on Prince of Wales Island
in Alaska, where she grew up.
“For some reason, I just
could not let this idea of
someday owning a bed and
breakfast go,” she said. “It just
wouldn’t leave, so it’s been
percolating a long time.”
When she and her hus-
band, Mike, moved to Mon-
mouth, she reached out to
Terri Gregory, who owned
MaMere’s Bed and Breakfast.
“I wanted to learn more
about the business,” Emily
said. “She let me come shad-
ow her and work with her for
a little bit. It just seemed to
keep reiterating to me that
this was something I needed
and wanted to do.”
Once her daughter, Olivia,
was born, it sealed Emily’s
drive, even though it meant
quitting a good job to pur-
sue her dreams.
With the help of her par-
Be our guest
What: MaMere’s Guest House.
Where: 212 Knox St. N., Monmouth.
Of note: Mark your calendar for 2 to 6 p.m. on Sunday to
stop in and take a tour of the historic building. The Howell
House was built as a boarding home for women attending
Western Oregon University. This year marks the home’s
125th birthday. Now, the guest house can be rented by the
room or in its entirety. An apartment in the Carriage House
also may be rented. Rates start at $89 a night. Left Coast
Cellars will be on site pouring tastings.
For more information: mameresbnb.com.
ents, Bill and Sarah Altlund,
MaMere’s was purchased
from Gregory. Emily is the
on-site manager of this fam-
ily business.
MaMere’s — historically
the Howell House — in-
trigued Bill, he said.
“I liked the Monmouth
community: it’s size and lo-
cation within the state, as
well as the community’s
make-up,” he said. “I liked
the proximity of the busi-
ness location to the unique
downtown area, just a block
away, the Western Oregon
University campus just a
block away, the city park just
across the street, the histori-
cal significance of the house
itself, and the friendliness of
the folks in the Monmouth-
Independence area.”
Beyond the town, the re-
gion caught his attention,
with wineries, the river, sce-
nic backroads, mountains,
the coast and Portland all
within easy driving distance.
“In my experience, there
are very few locations within
the U.S. which have all of
these things going for
them — and I have been
across America multiple
times on motorcycle trips,”
Bill said. “I have visited
many other small communi-
ties in many other areas of
our country.”
The location is something
Emily hopes to capitalize on.
“We’ve talked about mov-
ing toward a vineyard
theme, but we’re taking
things slow and trying not to
rush into it too fast,” she
said. “That’s the other great
thing about it being a family
venture — good and bad —
everybody has ideas; every-
body has opinions — but
lots of good ones, so we’re
Solution on Page 10A
trying different things.”
Emily’s sister Katie helped
ink the deal with Gregory
and worked on details of the
business plan. Emily’s broth-
er Eli will work as the part-
time maintenance man, liv-
ing on site at the guest-
house. Younger sister Han-
nah will likely work during
the summers, Emily said.
“It was my dream, and my
parents really supported
that, but now it’s turned into
this family accomplish-
ment,” she said.
The family working to-
gether in a business is kind
of a tradition, built by Bill
and Sarah’s small pharmacy.
“Being an entrepreneur is
definitely in our blood,”
Emily said. “We all worked in
some way at that pharmacy.
We had positive experiences
doing that, so it’s exciting to
see where it might go here.”
The McNultys and Al-
tlunds see potential in
MaMere’s to fill a hole for the
community — with cozy
gathering spots for meet-
ings, small parties for busi-
ness or family, or music —
or even a home-away-from-
home for locals.
“That’s the vibe we’re
going for,” Emily said. “You
can just relax and hang out if
you want. Just really make it
what you need it to be as the
visitor.”