Polk County News
8A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 27, 2017
Charter to pass franchise fees to customers
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The city of
Dallas is considering estab-
lishing a utility license re-
quirement and fee for all util-
ities operating in the city’s
rights-of-way and a new in-
ternet modem license.
The city has franchise
agreements with Pacific
Power, Northwest Natural
Gas, Century Link and Char-
ter.
Those utilities are exempt
from the license, but it ap-
plies to all other utilities
who don’t have a valid
agreement with the city.
The ordinance also cre-
ates a new license require-
ment and fee on internet
modem services.
That portion of the pro-
posal is modeled after simi-
lar licenses established in
Gresham and Eugene.
Councilors conducted a
first reading of the ordi-
nance on Sept. 18, and two
utility representatives from
NW Natural and Charter
spoke before the council.
Bruce Anderson, NW Nat-
ural’s regional community af-
fairs manager, said he appre-
ciated that utilities with cur-
rent franchise agreements are
exempted, but said the ordi-
nance didn’t make clear what
happens when the agree-
ment expired.
“Once we get to the end of
our franchise agreement,
would the intent be to have
us renew that franchise or to
be rolled under this new reg-
ulation?” he asked.
Robin Smith, representing
Charter, warned that any
new fees would fall to cus-
tomers to pay.
“If the purpose of the util-
ity license ordinance is se-
cure fair and reasonable
compensation for its (the
city’s) residents, then realize
that any tax imposed will
most likely be passed on to
the customer as line items
on their bill,” Smith said.
She said if the city estab-
lish a 7 percent fee on
modem services, that would
equate an average $11 bill
increase for customers each
month. If the ordinance is
approved, the council would
separately establish fee rates.
“To the extent that the
city intends to impose any
new fees or taxes on Charter
customers, regardless of
service, we believe it is un-
warranted and unlawful,”
Smith testified. “If the intent
is to tax the internet, the city
should recognize the inter-
net as an important service
in today’s economy and
adding a tax to that service is
unwarranted and unlawful.”
She said the requirements
in the ordinance appear to
violate the Cable Communi-
cations Policy Act, a federal
law, and asked the city to re-
consider.
Councilor Micky Garus
asked if it’s true that the or-
dinance could increase cus-
tomer bills. City Attorney
Lane Shetterly said yes.
“You would need to adopt
a resolution setting the
amount of the fee on inter-
net or modem services,” he
said. “But her testimony to
you is absolutely correct that
would be a fee that the cus-
tomers don’t pay now on in-
ternet or modem services.”
Shetterly added that he
disagreed that the ordinance
is illegal, saying that it is
modeled after those in Gre-
sham and Eugene that have
been upheld by the Oregon
Supreme Court.
“I guess what I would say
is safe harbor,” he said. “The
supreme court has looked at
both the Gresham and Eu-
gene ordinances and we are
well within the tracts of
those two city ordinances.”
The ordinance will go to a
second reading and vote on
Monday.
OBITUARIES
Vernon Lloyd
Balsbaugh
June 13, 1929 – Sept. 17, 2017
Vernon Lloyd Balsbaugh
went to be with his Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ, on Sept.
17, 2017.
He was born June 13,
1929, near Flint, Mich., to
Lloyd and Ruth (Swisher)
Balsbaugh, the sixth of nine
children.
Their family moved to
Ohio when he was 12, and
then at age 15 he drove one
of the two family cars as
they moved to Modesto,
Calif. He graduated from
Modesto High School in
1947.
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Vernon accepted Jesus
Christ as Savior and Lord
and was baptized on June
29, 1947.
On Aug. 12, 1950, he was
united in marriage to Mari-
lyn June Landes, daughter of
Edgar and Eva (Gantt) Lan-
des.
In March of 1963, they
moved their family to Dallas,
where they resided for 49
years be-
fore mov-
ing back to
Modesto
in June of
2012.
Ve r n o n
spent his
working
life in sales
and design.
He was always working on
an invention of some kind
and owned several patents.
He was an avid hunter and
garage sale enthusiast.
Most of all, he loved the
Lord, was a student of the
Bible, and loved serving his
church family in Modesto,
Dallas and Perrydale.
He was preceded in death
by two grandsons, Zachary
David Balsbaugh and
William Lloyd Balsbaugh;
one great-granddaughter,
Olivianna Grace Grover;
brothers John, Ray, Carl,
David; and sisters Esther
and Doris.
He is survived by his wife
of 67 years, Marilyn; son
Brian and wife Laurel, of
Escalon, Calif.; daughter
Connie Grover and husband
Phil, of Modesto; daughter
Jeanette Danielian and hus-
band Robert, of Dallas; son
Michael and wife Melodie,
of Fullerton, Calif.; 10 grand-
children and 12 great-grand-
children. He is also survived
by sister Mary Gish and hus-
band Roger, of Modesto; and
brother Hubert Balsbaugh
and wife Janet, of Engle-
wood, Ohio; and sister-in-
law Loveda Balsbaugh, of
Brookville, Ohio.
Services were as follows:
Viewing: Saturday, Sept.
23, 4 to 6 p.m. at Deegan-
Ripon Memorial Chapel, 111
Palm Ave., Ripon, Calif. In-
terment: Sunday, Sept. 24,
1:30 p.m. at Wood Colony
Cemetery, 3511 Dakota Ave.,
Modesto. Memorial Service:
Sunday, Sept. 24, 3 p.m. at
Big Valley Grace Church,
4040 Tully Road, Modesto.
In lieu of flowers, dona-
tions may be sent to Restore
My Soul Ministries, P.O. Box
341, Dallas, OR 97338, or on-
line at restoremysoulmin-
istries.org (Nonprofit min-
istry of daughter Jeanette
Danielian).
David D.
Edmonson
1933-2017
David D. Edmonson, 84,
of Warrenville, Ill, passed
away Wednesday, Sept. 20,
2017, at the Illinois Veterans
Home in LaSalle, Ill.
Private memorial services
will be held at a later date.
Full military rites will be
conducted by the LaSalle-
Oglesby
Ve t e r a n s
Memorial
Group in a
private
service at
Mueller-Pagani Funeral
Home in LaSalle.
Mr. Edmonson was born
July 25, 1933, in Elmhurst,
Ill, to Kenneth and Dorothy
(Harris) Edmonson.
Mr. Edmonson was a vet-
eran of the U.S. Coast Guard,
serving from 1954-1960. He
received an MBA from North
Central College and was em-
ployed in extrusion machin-
ery sales for 45 years. He was
a member of Evangelical
Bible Church in Dallas.
He enjoyed photography,
fishing, real estate and
woodworking.
Survivors include two
children, Jim (Meghan) Ed-
monson, of Sugar Grove, Ill,
and Mary (Jon) Safiran, of
Warrenville, Ill; six grand-
children; three great-grand-
children; his sister, Susan
Hoyt, of Columbia, S.C., and
a special friend, Ellie Mae
Kendall, of Dallas.
He was preceded in death
by his parents.
The online guestbook
may be viewed and remem-
brances shared at
www.MuellerFH.com.
Vivian Bethell
Oct. 17, 1915 – Sept. 12, 2017
Vivian Marie Elder was
born in West Liberty, Iowa.
Her mother was Adna Es-
telle Green and her father
was Frank Thomas Elder.
She was raised on a farm
and had a beautiful life as a
child full of happiness, rid-
ing horses, going to the
country fair, was a 4-H girl,
and was very active in the
Methodist church activities.
She graduated from West
Liberty High School, then
married Wilson Hildebrand in
1939, and had one son,
Richard. They moved to
Springfield in 1953, and later
moved to Medford. Vivian
was employed at the Rogue
Valley Hospital where she was
assistant director for 16 years.
Vivian loved her work; she
loved helping people and
making them happy. In
1974, she retired.
She enjoyed fishing, hunt-
ing, and traveling with her
husband Wilson until he
passed in 1991.
After his
passing,
she moved
to Salem to
be closer
to her son
Richard.
She later
met an old
friend, Jim
Bethell, and they married in
1993.
Vivian and Jim had a
beautiful life together enjoy-
ing family, camping trips,
fishing, hunting, and travel-
ing.
Vivian is survived by her
son Richard (Donna) Hilde-
brand; her grandchildren
Shana, Greg, and Debra; and
her numerous great-grand-
children; as well as her step-
daughters Sheryn, Terry, and
Cindy.
She was preceded in
death by Wilson Hildebrand,
James Bethell, and Sandra
Baylan.
Vivian loved life and the
Lord and will always be in
the heart of her friends and
family.
Services will be held on
Friday, Sept. 29, 2017, at 1
p.m. at Restlawn Funeral
Home in Salem. www.rest-
lawnfh.com.
Leona May Brooks
Celebration of life will be
from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sept. 30
Myrna J. Braziel
Myrna J. Braziel, 85, of In-
dependence, died Sept. 19.
A visitation will be from 2 to
7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27,
at Farnstrom Mortuary.
Darrel Leroy
Mercier
Darrel Leroy Mercier, 87,
of Grand Ronde, died Friday,
Sept. 22. He was born on
Sept. 23, 1929.
Viewing will be from 4 to 7
p.m. on Sept. 26 in the Dallas
Mortuary Tribute Center.
Recitation of the rosary will
begin at 7 p.m. on Sept. 27 in
the St. Michael Catholic
Church. Funeral service will
begin at 11 a.m. on Sept. 28 in
the Grand Ronde Tribal Gym.
Private interment will follow.
Finger foods and desserts are
welcome at the dinner fol-
lowing the services on Thurs-
day. To leave an online trib-
ute: www.dallastribute.com.
Solution on Page 3A
Jerris M. Vaslev
Jerris M. Vaslev, 67, of
Monmouth, died Sept. 23.
Farnstrom Mortuary is han-
dling arrangements.
Anne V. Krupa
Anne V. Krupa, 86, of In-
dependence, died Sept. 24.
Farnstrom Mortuary is han-
dling arrangements.
Susan Matthies
July 11, 1949 – Sept. 21, 2017
Susan Louise Matthies
passed away in a tragic acci-
dent in Dallas on Sept. 21,
2017, at the age of 68.
Susan was born in Port-
land to Gordon and Rosa
Neal. She spent most of her
life in Portland and graduat-
ed from Cleveland High
School.
Susan married Rodger
Matthies in 1969, and they
were mar-
ried for 48
years be-
f o r e
Rodger
passed
away May
of 2017. To-
gether they
raised two children, Michael
and Paula. Susan loved
spending time with her fam-
ily. Later in life she pursued
her degree from Portland
State University and gradu-
ated with a degree in Me-
chanical Engineering. She
enjoyed using her degree at
a job designing forklifts at
Hyster-Yale. Her hobbies in-
cluded fixing up old houses,
landscaping and gardening.
She loved camping at Ore-
gon parks, especially the
Oregon Coast.
Susan recently retired to
Dallas. Susan and Rodger
became “snowbirds,” spend-
ing winters in Arizona and
summers in Oregon. After
Rodger’s passing, she be-
came active in volunteering
at the Delbert Hunter Ar-
boretum. She loved walking
and just learned how to play
pickleball.
Susan is survived by her
two children and their
spouses, Michael and Dawn
Matthies, Paula and Russell
Port; two granddaughters,
Re b e c c a a n d Mi c h e l l e
Matthies; brother and his
spouse, Kenneth and Mary
Neal; and many extended
family members.
A gathering will be sched-
uled later in October to cele-
brate Susan’s life. Remem-
brances in lieu of flowers
may be sent to Delbert
Hunter Arboretum, P.O. Box
604, Dallas, OR 97338-0604.
The Dallas Mortuary Tribute
Center is caring for the fam-
ily. To leave a message or
m e m o r y, p l e a s e g o t o
www.dallastribute.com.