Polk County News
2A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 19, 2017
Polk Fire District No.
1 to upgrade loaders
By Stephanie Blair
The Itemizer-Observer
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Volunteers stock the Dallas Food Bank on Thursday. The food bank recently completed renovations.
Food bank renovation complete
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Clients of Dal-
las Food Bank can now shop
for items in their food boxes,
thanks to a recently com-
pleted renovation.
Paid for mostly with
grants, the remodel took out
part of a wall, installed new
shelving, carpet and paint.
The food bank is organ-
ized into food categories
such as rice and pasta; toma-
to products and sauces;
canned meats and chili;
canned vegetables; fruit and
bottled fruit juices; peanut
butter; milk, eggs, and dairy;
frozen or refrigerated meats;
and bread and baked goods.
Clients take a shopping
cart and select items with
the help of a food bank vol-
unteer.
The new process elimi-
nates the need for clients to
fill out a check list when
signing in.
Now the food bank uses
guidelines based on family
size that tell clients and
their volunteer “personal
shoppers” how many items
of each category they can
take.
Food bank volunteer Gary
Medsker said that after the
Dallas Food Bank
When: 9 to 11 a.m., Monday through Friday. Lobby hours
8:45 to 11:30 a.m., Monday through Friday.
Where: 322 Main St., suite 180, Dallas.
Contact: 503-623-3578.
Of note: Clients can receive a full food box once per
month. Bread and fresh fruit and vegetables are available in
the food bank lobby for people to take on any day. More
volunteers are needed. To sign up to help, call 503-623-
3578.
renovations, service is faster,
more personable and less
wasteful.
“As soon as they sign in,
we get a little information
and they are ready to shop,”
Medsker said.
He said the changes give
the food bank an opportuni-
ty to serve more clients each
day.
“I’m guessing that we
won’t have any trouble fill-
ing up to 25 orders between
9 and 11 under the new sys-
tem,” Medsker said. “What
we hope to do is not to tell
people that we’ve reached
the maximum and they have
to come back tomorrow.”
He added telling people
to come back a different day
means they use time and re-
sources they can ill afford to
spare.
“Some of these people
live as far away as Falls City
or Salem … tell them to
come back tomorrow,
there’s another few gallons
of gas,” Medsker said. “They
could have spent that
money buying food instead
of gas for an extra trip.”
Volunteer Sue Goin said
another benefit is people
can select what they take,
making it more likely they
will use everything in the
box instead of throwing
away unwanted or unfamil-
iar items.
Goin, who has volun-
teered at the food bank for
about a year, was working
the “cold room” Thursday.
She makes a habit of
showing items to people
so they can choose what
they want.
“Before, we had a bunch
of something that we were
giving to everybody,” she
said. “This way they just pick
out what they want. I think it
makes them feel good to be
able to pick out food instead
of just getting what we give
them.”
Medsker said he’s been
surprised at some of the se-
lections people make, but is
happy to see the food isn’t
going to waste.
“Since we started, we’ve
given away sauerkraut,
we’ve given away beef
tongue,” he said. “Some of
the things you’d think no
one would ever want, some-
body does.”
Grants came from the
Oregon Food Bank, $2,000,
Marion-Polk Food Share,
$500. Money from the Dave
McGuffey Memorial Fund,
which was set up to benefit
the Dallas Food Bank, cover-
ing some expenses. Volun-
teers painted and re-orga-
nized the food bank after the
work was completed.
Medsker said people
using the food bank have
noticed the changes.
“The clients love it. They
like how it looks, how neat
things are, how fast it is, that
they get to choose their own
food,” he said. “The other
big advantage is we get ac-
quainted with people a little
better.”
INDEPENDENCE — On
Thursday, the Board of Di-
rectors for Polk County Fire
District No. 1 approved Fire
Chief Ben Stange’s request
to purchase two E-Z Load
systems and one new gur-
ney to reduce the risk of in-
jury for both patients and
paramedics.
The installation of these
systems would replace the
last remaining mechanical
load systems and move the
station to all electric load-
ing.
This item was brought
before the board because
of the district’s policy to
gain approval from the
board before making a pur-
chase more than $20,000 —
regardless of whether the
purchase has been budget-
ed for, such as in this case
or not.
The chief’s report fol-
lowed, which included in-
formation about a second
water leak which recently
occurred at Fire Station No.
90, a smoke detector PSA
which is running on Minet
and at Independence Cine-
ma 8, the near drowning
which occurred at
Riverview Park in June, the
events and fires that oc-
curred on July 4 and the
Polk County burn ban.
The Board of Directors
also swore in two new
members to take the place
of outgoing directors Terri
Gregory and Joost Vander-
have.
The directors inducted
that evening were Dennis
King and Freeman Stutz-
man, who swore “to sup-
port the constitution of the
United States and the State
of Oregon, laws thereof and
the policies of Polk County
Fire District No. 1, and that
(they) will faithfully dis-
charge (their) duties as a
board of director according
to the best of (their) abili-
ty.”
Following the induction,
the board elected new
board leaders. Tom Snair
and Joe Franko retained
their positions as president
and secretary, respectively,
and Mike Lippsmeyer was
elected to the position of
vice president.
The board then proceed-
ed to decide the regular
meeting date, time and lo-
cation. Meetings will carry
on as usual, on the second
Thursday of each month at
the Central Fire Station in
Independence, beginning
at 6 p.m.
Board of Directors meet-
ings occur monthly and are
open to the public. The
next meeting will be on
Aug. 10.
Watershed purchase complete
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The city may fi-
nally have the last piece of the
Mercer Reservoir watershed
property purchase completed.
City Manager Ron Foggin
said property line adjustments
required before the sale could
be final took longer than ex-
pected, but are now finished.
“All of the property line
agreements and adjustments
have been made and have
been submitted to the coun-
ty,” Foggin said. “The huge
hurdle has been overcome
and now it in the hands of the
county to finalized. Based on
where we are, as soon as the
county work is done, we
should be ready to close on
the property.”
The city has been pursuing
the purchase for years and ap-
proved financing for the ap-
proximately $1.9 million pur-
chase in January. About 400
acres are part of the purchase.
The purchase price will be
divided among three land own-
ers: Golden Pond Timberlands
— $975,000; John Hancock Life
Insurance Company USA —
$621,000; and Hancock Timber-
land XI Inc. — $303,000.
“It been a difficult haul on
the property adjustment,”
Foggin said Monday.
POLK COUNTY
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