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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 2017)
Polk County News Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 8, 2017 5A Changes JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer file The Dallas School District may seek a new bond in 2021. Bond Continued from Page 1A Three members of the dis- trict’s citizen’s oversight committee — the group that oversees and makes recom- mendations on projects paid for by bond proceeds — at- tended the Oct. 31 special board meeting. They asked if it’s necessary to run another bond campaign. District officials say, yes, there will be plenty of work left after the $17 million runs out. Kevin Montague, the dis- trict’s facilities director, said when he put together a list of all the maintenance needs in the district’s five buildings, he ended up with 308 projects, some high-pri- ority, others not so much. He attached cost estimates to each, but stopped with about 50 items left. The cost at that point added up to $45 million. “Either we spend it on an on-going basis out of the general fund or we do it on a bond basis, but the bot- tom line is it’s about $2 mil- lion a year,” Montague said. “The reality is, our oldest building just turned 42 this year. We’ve got a lot of things that need to get done that are just end-of-life, es- sentially.” He said that doesn’t in- clude unexpected issues, such as testing for and re- ducing lead in drinking water, which arose in 2016. Montague said he’s con- cerned about approval of fu- ture bonds because the projects completed in the last two — approved in 2009 and 2014 — fixed noticeable problems, such as leaking roofs and failing boilers. A new bond would pay for items that most people don’t see, like plumbing. He said that in locations in the district, no hot water is available because pipes have rusted closed. “We’ve got to do those things,” he said. “Replacing plumbing, it’s not sexy. No- body sees it.” Gary Suderman, a mem- ber of the citizen’s commit- tee, said it’s important to let voters know the baseline cost to keep buildings working — and to be clear about how the bond fund- ing is used to do that. He said the last two bonds haven’t had any trou- ble passing and he thinks that is because the district didn’t deviate from how it said it was going to spend the money. “We are going to have to be very mindful of that,” Suderman said. “I don’t think it’s going to be a prob- lem if we have to go for an- other issue for the stuff that they don’t see if we build that trust and maintain it.” Continued from Page 1A Last year, Dreier served as the events and programs manager, adding being the lead organizer of all visitors center events to her duties. She said she was stretched too thin to manage all events well on top of what she was already doing. Kahl, hired to be an ad- ministrative assistant last year, has taken some of that responsibility off Dreier’s plate. “I think this transition for my job title is really just to alleviate some of Bonnie’s stresses, some extra stuff she took on when the organiza- tion shifted a year ago,” Kahl said. “I think this shift, me being director and her being coordinator, really plays to each of our strengths. I mean, I could not look at ap- plications and enter in data- bases. I would rip my hair out, but she loves it and is great at it. She doesn’t want to get up and give a presen- tation, and I love it. It works out very, very well.” With the role shift in place, the pair is tuning up the events on the 2018 schedule. The downtown part of Summerfest will be two days instead of three, with a stronger focus on family friendly fun. Freedomfest is slated to move all events to Roger Jor- dan Park, instead of having some events at Dallas City Park and fireworks at Roger Jordan. Sounds of Summer will have monthly rather that weekly concerts, Kahl said. “The goal is to have one really quality concert each month,” Kahl said. The upcoming Communi- ty Award Ceremony will be held at Eola Hills Winery in Rickreall this year, with the return of the Junior First Cit- izen Award. “We brought back Junior First Citizen, but we tweaked it to be someone 18 and younger,” Kahl said. “We’re really excited about that change and being able to offer that award to highlight a special youth in our com- munity. We are still looking JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer Changes could be coming to several events, including the Morrison Halloween event. for nominations.” Another change is the possibility of partnering with an organization to run the annual Halloween Trick- n-Treat event — or handing it off entirely. This year’s event was a success with about 950 people streaming though for candy and games offered by 13 businesses and organizations in Morrison’s gym. Though nothing is final, Kahl said she wants to see Trick-n-Treat continue and even expand. “If we do end up passing off Halloween, it would be to someone who is a really good fit for it,” Kahl said. “The reason being for us to pass it off is so we can hone in on certain events that do promote tourism.” Kahl said she anticipates some negative reactions to the changes, particularly shortening events or holding fewer, but said it’s being done with the objective of making those on the sched- ule better. She added events may grow in the future. “We hope that people can understand and respect that we want to make the events really great, rather than just a string of mediocre events,” she said. “I think Dallas de- serves better than that. That’s really our goal, and we are making that our mission for 2018.” Visit the Estate during Thanksgiving Weekend for our Open House in the Winery! Our famous wood-fired pizza will be available for purchase at our Tasting Room. November 24, 25, & 26 12-5pm Tasting Room & Café open daily 12-5pm 503-831-4916 leftcoastcellars.com 4225 N Pacific Hwy 99W, Rickreall, OR