Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 16, 2016 5A
Hotel: To bring $600,000 annually Voters say yes
Continued from Page 1A
Once up and running, the develop-
ment should bring about $600,000 an-
nually in revenue, Clyne said, includ-
ing $200,000 in lodging tax, a revenue
stream the city of Independence
hasn’t had much of before.
“It is our intention to use the rest of
the lodging tax to help the down-
town,” he said. “Hire a main street co-
ordinator, partner with IDA (Indepen-
dence Downtown Association), assist
in any way we can. We think that’s an
investment that will pay back as well.”
Clyne said making investments in
private-public partnerships has helped
make Independence what it is today.
“At the end of the day, you have to
say Independence is the place it is
today because the city took the bull
by the horns,” he said. “We built the
civic center that people don’t think it
gives back, but we think it did. It built
the parking lot of the movie theater; it
built a library. It put in a streetscape,
an amphitheater, a beautiful plaza
with a fountain — all these things
created the dynamic community
we’re sitting in today. I don’t know
how you measure a return on invest-
ment on those things, but I do know
we’ve got a great city, and I’d put it up
against any city in Polk County.”
The hotel should be finished in two
to veterans
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
TOKOLA PROPERTIES/ for the Itemizer-Observer
The boutique, four-story hotel is pictured on the far left in yellow.
years and start construction in fall
2017 or spring 2018.
It’s something the city has had its
eye on for a long time, Clyne said.
In addition to the development,
downtown parking should be created,
as well as a commercial area being
marketed to wineries.
“This creates a focal point for the
wine industry,” Clyne said. “Polk
County is the second largest producer
of grapes and vineyards. We’re a bit of
a secret.”
Clyne said the hotel will provide up-
scale rooms and more amenities at a
higher price point than anything that
can currently be found in Polk County.
The development also will include
extensions of trails through the apart-
ments and along the shorefront, con-
necting Riverview Park to the Inde-
pendence Civic Center.
Love: Pursuing plans for nonprofit
Continued from Page 1A
Love helped organize
community forums on bond
measures and political can-
didate races, Brandt said.
“Overall, she has im-
proved the positive percep-
tion and increased the value
of the MI Chamber and Visi-
tor Center as an important
community resource for
businesses, organizations,
residents and guests,” he
said.
Love gave nods to the
many volunteers and the
board of directors.
“It’s a collective effort,”
she said. “That’s definitely
not just me. That’s having an
engaged board, the ambas-
sadors, having more people
with more ideas. The num-
ber of people involved and
engaged has increased over
the years.”
WOU:
Student
safety
No. 1
Continued from Page 1A
Fuller said the state’s uni-
versity presidents will ask the
L e g i s l a t u re t o p r ov i d e
enough money to avoid large
tuition increases.
“We will be lobbying as a
group of presidents to sus-
tain the investment in higher
education,” he said. “A $100
million investment, if it is
successful, would limit tu-
ition increases to less than 5
percent.”
He said the reality is uni-
versities may have to resort
to a combination of tuition
increases, using reserves and
cuts to balance their budgets.
Safety also was on stu-
dents’ minds at Friday’s
forum.
Rebecca Chiles, WOU’s di-
rector of public safety, said
what she descr ibed as
“racially charged, racially
motivated” and “gender-mo-
tivated” speech that defined
part of the presidential cam-
paign has students worried
for their physical safety.
Chiles said there hasn’t
been any specific threats re-
ported, but in response to a
number of questions about
safety of students, she said
her office is “being more vig-
ilant.”
“We are being more open,
being more watchful,” she
said. “We will monitor social
media more than we ever
have done before.”
She added if students feel
threatened or uncomfortable
for any reason, they need to
report what they’ve experi-
enced or witnessed.
“We have to be told about
those things to start looking
for ways to address them,”
she said. “Safety is the No. 1
priority.”
Love is leaving the cham-
ber to pursue a passion in
nonprofits. Though she de-
clined to give specifics, Love
said the idea is something
that has been percolating in
her head for the last 10
years.
“It just feels like now is the
right time to research and
investigate this nonprofit
idea that I have and see if it’s
something that’s worth pur-
suing, and something that
this community can use,”
she said.
Board member Cec
Koontz said Love has done
amazing work with the
chamber.
“The level of service, the
responsiveness — it’s really
all her,” she said. “Of course
she’ll have the most organ-
ized transition planned in
the world.”
Brandt said Love has
brought integrity, leadership
and structure to enhance the
foundation of the chamber.
Beers & Ciders!
Local Wines!
The chamber is heading
in a positive direction, Love
said, including a 28 percent
increase in annual revenue.
“We’ve improved our rev-
enue; our financial position
is stronger,” Love said. “We
have a pretty good retention
rate for our membership. We
have people who want to
serve on the board, who
want to serve as ambassa-
dors. We don't have to beg
people to be involved.”
The board of directors will
begin an immediate search
with the intent of filling the
position by the end of De-
cember, Brandt said. The po-
sition will be posted on vari-
ous job boards this week.
SALEM — Measure 96 passed 83 to 16 percent statewide
and countywide. In Polk County, 31,636 people voted yes,
while 6,066 voted no.
Measure 96 will dedicate 1.5 percent of Oregon Lottery
dollars to veteran outreach services.
Rep. Paul Evans (D) and Sen. Brian Boquist (R) co-spon-
sored the bill to refer the measure to the ballot.
Evans said passage of the measure means 83 percent of
Oregon voters want a $19 million expansion of veterans
outreach and services in a two-year period.
“That’s a little under $10 million a year going to county
veteran service officers, outreach, housing,” he said.
“What that means for me and the co-chairing sponsors is
we need to guard against what is very likely to happen.”
Evans said he expects budget staff won’t support it and
may promote “budget harvests,” or “budget sweeps,” mak-
ing cuts to the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs with
the expectation to use the newly appointed Lottery dol-
lars.
“It was never designed to be a replacement, rather an
augmentation,” Evans said. “Obviously, if there are a
bunch of challenges the state has to go through, no de-
partment should be spared, but I want to be clear that the
veterans department should not be cut deeper than other
departments.”
Evans said it will be his job, along with co-chair spon-
sors of Measure 96, to ensure that doesn’t happen.
“Things change,” he said. “Sometimes things need to be
cut, but if it exceeds that and is clearly seen as a large,
massive supplanting, then that wouldn’t be allowed to
happen because it would not be what the voters wanted.”
OTHER MEASURES
Measure 97, a corporate tax that was expected to raise
$6 billion in tax revenue over two years, was struck down
by voters 59 to 40 percent statewide.
Measure 98, requiring money to be dedicated to high
school student education, passed 65 to 34.
Measure 99, dedicating Oregon Lottery money to pay
for Outdoor School, passed 66 to 33.
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