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