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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2017)
Polk County News 2A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 25, 2017 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. 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 city of Monmouth does not contract information technology services from the city of Independence. Mon- mouth uses services from Polk County. The I-O regrets the error. WEBSITE The Polk County Itemizer- Observer website, www.polkio.com, is updat- ed each week by Wednes- day afternoon. The Itemizer-Observer is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Watch for breaking news, links to sto- ries, sports scores updates and more. Sign up to receive our newsletter, sent to your email each Friday, with weekend reminders and a peak at the next issue. WEATHER RECORDED HIGH LOW Jan. 17............... 51 Jan. 18............... 56 Jan. 19............... 52 Jan. 20............... 51 Jan. 21............... 49 Jan. 22............... 51 Jan. 23............... 53 26 46 38 37 36 37 30 RAIN .90 .83 .03 .12 .23 .10 .00 Rainfall during Jan. — 5.37 in. Rain through Jan. 23 — 5.37 in. Taskforce revs economy Dallas to borrow Focus on marketing, business and building development By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — Mayor Brian Dalton wants 2017 to be the year Dallas started revving its economic development engine. Dalton laid out that vision in his state of the city ad- dress on Jan. 17. He’s hoping the city’s commerce growth will begin to match its resi- dential growth. “Folks are starting to call us by that ugly term, ‘bed- room community.’ Sadly, they have something of a point,” he said. “Since 2015, we have had 608 building lots approved or under ap- proval, and eight residential subdivisions in the planning process this last year.” While happy for the uptick in residential building, Dal- ton doesn’t see the same progress on the commercial side. From a purely tax-rev- enue perspective, that isn’t a good thing, he said As a rule, residential homes offer the city less in property taxes than their oc- cupants use in services. With businesses, the op- posite is true. “An adequate tax base to support livability occurs when there is a proper bal- ance between homes and businesses,” Dalton said. “We are losing that balance right now.” Dalton’s message wasn’t all gloom. Efforts of the city’s Economic Development Commission and Economic Development Roadmap process are working to change the trajectory of commerce in Dallas. “I think we’ve hit bottom on the no-fun run of our economic slide,” Dalton said. “The direction now is up.” The Economic Develop- ment Roadmap identified what citizens believed were the most important needs to be address on the economic front, and charged them with coming up with ideas $1.75 M to buy Mercer Reservoir By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer Several vacant business spaces dot downtown Dallas. to meet them. The Rural Development Initiative facilitated a series of town hall meetings, out of which three focus areas emerged, said Greg Ellis, a former economic consultant to the city. Those areas are: commu- nity marketing, business de- velopment and building de- velopment. Committees formed to address each of those needs, Ellis said. Community marketing fo- cuses on events that could bring people into town — and spend money while here. Ellis, who belongs to that committee, said the first event it wants to bring to town is a disc golf tournament. “We’ve been contacting people who can make that happen and help kind of coach us,” Ellis said. Tournaments have been held on Dallas City Park 18- hole course and former city re c c o o rd i n a t o r Da v i d Brautigam organized a “lawn games” event last summer using the course. The business develop- ment committee is charged with finding ways to bring in more customers to estab- lished business, while the building development com- mittee is looking for ways to fill vacancies. Dalton said there are a lot of spaces available for busi- nesses looking to open or expand. “We have 27 empty spaces in downtown and 300 acres of industrial land not being used right now,” he said. Ellis said the roadmap ini- tiative is off to a good start and hopes to incorporate more people and ideas. “I’m really excited about this continuing. With the enthusiasm I see now, I don’t think it’s going to go away,” Ellis said. “The peo- ple that are involved right now are really excited about it. I think you need to keep new people coming in.” The three committee will have a yet-to-be scheduled joint meeting in February. “More people are wel- come, because we would love to have people come into the committees,” Ellis said. “I’m sure that there’s a million great ideas out there.” DALLAS — The city of Dallas will borrow $1.75 million to pay for most of the purchase of property surrounding the city’s sole water source, Mercer Reservoir. The Dallas City Council approved the loan, offered through the Department of Environmental Quality’s Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund. Terms on the loan are 20 years at 1.6 percent interest. The city applied for the loan in 2015, and was recommended for funding. “It’s a 400-acre purchase that has been negotiated over the last year,” said Mayor Brian Dalton before the council took its 8-0 vote approving the loan on Jan. 17. Councilor Jackie Lawson was excused from the portion of the meet- ing during which the vote took place. The total cost of the purchase is $1.895 million. Engineering and Environmental Services Director Fred Braun wrote in a memo to the council that the city will be purchasing approximately 405 acres of land immediately surrounding the reservoir. “The purchase includes sites that were identified as ge- ologically prone to landslides as well as prime land that can be used for timber harvest and/or expansion of the reservoir,” Braun wrote. “The city will set aside (from tim- ber harvest) the areas determined to be geologically sensi- tive.” The purchase price will be divided among three land owners: Golden Pond Timberlands — $975,000; John Han- cock Life Insurance Company USA — $621,000; and Han- cock Timberland XI Inc. — $303,000. The remaining $145,000 of the purchase price not cov- ered by the loan will be drawn from the city’s water sys- tems development charges fund, which is set up to pay for expansion of the system. Braun said repayment of the loan was calculated into the new utility rates that will go into effect in February. Purchasing pieces of the Rickreall Watershed, which feeds the reservoir, was suggested in a detailed study of the watershed completed on behalf of the city in 2012. On other business, the council: • Heard Mayor Brian Dalton’s annual State of the City address. • Elected Councilor Micky Garus as its council presi- dent in a 5-4 vote. He will serve a two-year term as council president. At the Jan. 17 meeting, all nine councilors were present, though Councilor Jackie Lawson called into the meeting from Eugene. Lawson nominated Garus for the post, while Councilor Kelly Gabliks nominated Councilor Ken Woods Jr. Garus won on the first ballot — the previous attempt to elect a council presided ended in a tie — with the support of Lawson and councilors Jennie Rummell, Paul Trahan and Terry Crawford. He voted for himself. Woods voted for himself, along with councilors Jim Fairchild, Bill Hahn and Gabliks. Following the council president vote, Lawson was ex- cused for the remainder of the meeting.
