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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 1958)
14 MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Oregon, Sunday, November 23. 1958 Poirkninig, Cities Should Get Sites Nov for Park Program Purposes By ERIC WENTWORTH Mail Tribune Staff Wriler Cities with programs for parks and recreation should acquire land now even if they lack funds to develop it right away, officials at the League of Oregon Cities convention in Eugene last week were told. A second point stressed by speakers in the park and rec reation section at the conven tion was the necessity for co operation between cities and school districts for joint de velopment of school - park sites. Two discussion leaders des cribed what can be accom plished by voluntary efforts in creating recreational facili ties. "As your city grows," Frank . Shearer, Eugene city council man said, "you will need ev ery acre of park you can get." Urges Acquisition He urged the acquisition of potential park sites before their surroundings are devel oped and land values rise. "It can mean the difference be tween paying S500 and S5000 an acre," he said. Eugene does not require subdividcrs to allocate a por tion of their land or cash equivalent to the city for park purposes. Shearer said. But, he continued, subdividers in several cases have been sold on the idea of giving land. He said planning consult ants prepared sketches to show how facilities could be developed. Subdividers were told how such facilities could : increase the value of nearby property. ; Medford Proposal A subdivision ordinance proposal currently before the ; Medford planning commission would require the allocation I of land or cash. ' Shearer said Eugene's year- Iy parks and recreation budg et totals S200.000, devoted largely to personnel. He said $50,000 is raised annually by a 1-mill levy for capital im provements. Lee Murphy, chairman of the 11 -member Lane County Park and Recreation commis sion, discussed how a county group can assist and comple ment city programs. He agreed with Shearer on the need to acquire park sites in advance. "We are already acting 30 years too late," he said. County Could Acquire ; Murphy said a county could ; acquire and "hold" land just : outside the city limits until ; the city annexes the land in I the course of expansion and ' can then develop it. He said - cities hope the county will de velop such land itself before the annexation but this can not be done. Asked about the "suburban fringe" problem, Murphy said, "The metropolitan park dis tricts are a solution." Describ ing them as "one of the com bing things," he said they v could "cut expenses immeas urably" and prove an advan tage to all concerned. A metropolitan district can include the major city plus ";surrounding suburbs where voters agree to joint it. j; Lane county's current parks -and recreation budget, accord ing to Murphy, is an annual .-560,000. He said the county ;has 1,400 acres in parks, de- 'voted to such non-urban uses as camp sites, boat landings, -bridle trails and water sports -areas. "You don't want to forget "TrDrJlEGD" stum? Now for the first time, you can J the relaxing ingredients ire buy without prescription, the j slowly working to relax mind exciting "time-disintegrating" i and body. sleep aid capsules, Pronite . . . j YouH wake up refreshed and principle of which Lift mag. . happy ... "raring-to-jro" for a line praised so highly. full day s work . . . without any ' Pronite capsules slowlv re-; after-effect. Your mind will be lease their contents of hundreds f nt uny pellets of sleep-produc- ing aids ... so that you not only fall asleep quickly . . . but be cause of controlled release you sleep for hours the way nature intended ... all the while WESTERN 30 N. Central the tourists," he remarked. City-School Cooperation Speakers on city-school co operation afso stressed the nted for purchasing sites in advance of need. Prof M. C. Romney of the University of Oregon said joint efforts be tween school officials and city planners in designating such sites are "absolutely essenti al." Prof. Romney stated that the national tendency toward shorter work hours and more time for recreation will add to the burden of a fast-growing population. "We need to look for ways to more effectively use the tax dollar," he said. He mentioned savings in maintenance of facilities and in supervision requirements through joint school-park de velopments. Harry Buckley, superin tendent of Portland's bureau of parks and recreation, said Oregon law (O.R.S.. 190) sanc tions such cooperative use of properties. W. M. Ruff, professor of landscape architecture at the U. of O., said one maintenance arrangement is for park per sonnel to do all the work with the school charged a fee. Definite Plan Prof. Ruff said a city should develop a definite plan for the future even if it must be changed later. "Schools are designed as community centers," Harold A. Beall, school superintend ent of Springfield, said. He described how all-purpose rooms and lavoratories in a particular part of the school building could be designed for extra-curricular use. "Financial savings from joint planning and joint use are tremendous," Beall said. "We cannot afford the luxury of duplication." James L. Dickinson, super intendent of the River Road Park and Recreation district, Eugene, described how his dis trict had to seek the cooper ation of schools since it had only a nine-acre park and a $16,000 budget. He said that thanks to joint efforts the dis trict now offers a substantial program and improved facili ties. Meet Requirements Another point discussed by the speakers was that schools and parks could be combined to meet the state's minimum school acreage requirements. Joe B. Richards, president of the Eugene Active club, described how the club under took development of a city park site. Verne R. Thomas, city re corder of Drain, ran through the steps by which citizens of Drain and nearby communi ties developed the North Douglas Living War Memo rial, which now boasts a park, swimming pool and lighted ball field. Non-Profit Group He said the memorial is in corporated as a non-profit or ganization with its own board of control and officers. The memorial's two-acre tract next to the high school, he said, was deeded to the city and then leased back. Thomas cited donations of labor, materials an cash, mov ie benefit performances, an auction, a benefit choral pro gram and fund-raising drives as methods by which the me morial facilities have been realized. "All it takes is a little time I and effort and work," he said. clear . . . your body will be re freshed . . . thanks to Pronite. Guaranteed safe, effective, and non-habit forming. 24 capsules $2.50 ... 12 capsules $1.30. Sold at Western Thrift on a money-back guarantee. THRIFT Dial SP 3-5371 Pad ss 'No 1960 Plans Rockefeller Says New York - (LTD Governor-elect Nelson A. Rockefel ler returned early yesterday by plane from a post-election vacation in South America in sisting he has no plans to seek the presidency in 1960. "I am only interested ' in getting a job done well in New York State," Rockefeller told a press conference at the Idlewild Airport. He immediately left in his private plane for Washington for a meeting of the commit tee on government organiza tion, of which he is a member. Rockefeller said he hoped to meet there with Vice Presi dent Richard M. Nixon. Rockefeller has been label ed by political observers as Nixon's top opponent for the Republican presidential nom ination in 1960 on the basis of his spectacular victory over Democratic Gov. Averell Harriman Nov. 4 in the face of a, national Democratic sweep. NAVY INSPECTED Madrid -OiPD-Eight Ameri can congressmen inspected U.S. Navy activity in the Spanish capital yesterday on their annual two-week tour of duty in the reserve. The eight Navy and Marine reservists are: Capt. James R. Van Zandt (R-Pa.); Marine Maj. Jack R. Books (D-Tex.); Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Cham berlain (R-Mich.): Cmdr. Fran cis E. Dorn (R-N.Y.): Lt. Ed mund Edmondson (D-Okla.); Comdr. Henry J. Latham (R N.Y.): Capt. J. T. Rutherford (R-Tex.) and Cmdr. Albert C. Lullman (D-Ore.) Two Years Required to Build Model Railroad at Camp White Domiciliary By SID HOLLINGSWORTH Camp White Walter Hol man knows quite a lot about what pioneer railroad con struction men of the west had to contend with in building the transcontinental lines. He recently completed two years of labor in building a miniature railroad system in an upstairs room of the VA domiciliary. When Holman, with elec tronics as his hobby, arrived here in 1956, he was intrigued by a "pile of junk" which had once been a model system used 'for display in Tacoma, Wash. -Initial Effort Several railroad men liv ing at the domiciliary had looked over the equipment and made an initial effort to rebuild the line. They gave up after realizing that half the "pieces" were missing. MINIATURE RAILROAD Lelia Birch, VFW auxiliary and Polly Offutt, American Legion auxiliary representatives of VAVS, view the new attraction in arts and crafts at the VA Domiciliary. Scale model is the work of a veteran member. Many parts .j . :J(jrm u fee fe C?JI COMPLETED WORK Walter Holman turns on the light forhis completed work in building the model railroad for VA dom iciliary members. Billy Andrews. Mail Trib une agent at Camp White, is at the controls (left) in this scene overlooking the yards. DSssiuissedl Leo Authorities Review Off-Street Parking Measures, Aspects By ERIC WENTWORTH Mail Tribune Staff Writer Voices of experience dis cussed municipal off-street parking measures at the League -of Oregon Cities con vention in Eugene last week. D. Jackson Faustmann out lined general methods for ci ties seeking to solve parking problems. Faustmann, a con sulting traffic engineer from Sacramento, Calif., has re cently completed a parking study for Klamath Falls. Floyd L. Wynne, city coun cilman from Klamath Falls, described the "tremendous amount of difficulty" that city is encountering in its ef forts to establish off-street parking facilities. Succe ful Measures Eugene Marsh, McMinnville city attorney, told of success ful measures in his commun ity. "It's probably a little eas ier in a town like McMinn ville," he said. McMinnville's population is about 7.000, just over a third that of Klamath Falls. Mayor George Christopher of San Francisco said in a press conference that the vot ers of his city approved a mu nicipal off - street parking measure in 1947 because "they were just fed up with congestion." Faustman emphasized the need for a specific plan of ac tion before seeking to arouse Holman studied the prob lem and then started in sys tematically to plan and as semble the road. He decided first that every part and all elements, including scenery, road bed, buildings and inci dentals to railroading should be in exact scale, with nothing overlooked. It was to be a model in every sense of the word, and railroad men who have seen the job, marvel at the infini tude of detail incorporated into the project. Several of the railroad men at the dom have offered suggestions that Holman has adopted. First Difficulties One of the first difficulties encountered was the building of the mountain and the lake in the scenic portion of the plan. It didn't look real after it was made of plaster and painted. Holman thought of public support. Parking Survey This plan, he said, should be preceded by a parking sur vey designed to develop it. It should also be preceded by decisions on basic policy mat ters, he continued. The survey, he explained, should include a study of the community's economy and fu ture growth, a review of cur rent parking facilities and practices, determination of land available for off-street facilities and probable costs of acquisition. , It should also include, he said, the selection of specific sites, the functional design of parking facilities and an esti mate of earnings and expens es from operation of these fa cilities. Five Small Lots Faustmann's study for Klamath Falls recommends establishment of five small lots at specific locations, pro viding 212 spaces at an esti mated total cost of $297,650. Basic policy matters to be decided include, according to Faustmann, the type of loca tion, the type of facilities, re sponsibility for the program. method of financing, who is to operate the facilities, how to determine parking rates and what are the possibilities of developing a cooperative public-private program. With reference to financ obtaining rocks from the sup ply brought in by the "rock hounds." These he placed along the right of way to create a natural atmosphere. Then he found trees were needed. He went to Sims store in Medford and bought a few trees and the lichens for mak ing extras, including fruit trees for an orchard. Extra parts including track, switch es, spikes and additional cars were obtained here. Holman has worked . on many construction projects and is familiar with engineer ing problems. The lake, he found, could not be built up on the table. It had to be sunk to be realistic topographically. No Small Job It was no small job to place the tiny pieces of track in line on the many ties that had to be made so that they were built from materials' contrived for ef fects created. The railroad measures 250 feet of track and is set up on a table length wise in a special room of the domiciliary. (Sanford Byne Photo) Assembly and construction of numerous de tails involved two years of effort. The Am erican Red Cross recovered the parts three years ago and had them shipped in for the members to reconstruct. (Sanford Byne Photo) ing, Faustmann said several California cities have issued reveneu bonds and redeemed them with revenue from park ing meters and the off-street facilities plus a pro-rated as sessment on benefiting prop erties. Revenue Bonds Revenue bonds cannot be paid off by money from a general tax levy. General ob ligation bonds, on the other hand, can be paid off by such a levy if revenue from other sources proves insufficient. Faustmann said general ob ligation bonds are not used in California since in that state a two-thirds vote of city resi dents is required to authorize them. Revenue bonds, he ex plained, can be authorized there by the city charter or by a simple majority vote. In Oregon, general obliga tion bonds require but a sim ple majority as well. Faustmann referred to the Oregon statute passed last year that authorizes cities in this state to finance off-street parking programs with reve nue bonds and the establish ment of special assessment districts. Believes Some 'Bugs' This statute, he remarked, roughly parallels the author ity on Californias' books. But, he said, the city attorney of Klamath Falls believes there are some "bugs" in the Oregon law that should be corrected at the next legisla tive session. He did not speci fy what these "bugs" were. "To date no parking facil ities in Oregon have been fi nanced through any type of bond issue," Faustmann said. He mentioned an attempt in Eugene and 'Medford's ill-fated 1956 measure as programs involving general obligation bonds that have failed in the past. Councilman Wynne of would be "true." Dan Dyer, an expert in building model ships, was here at the time and he cut the ties and helped in other minute details at this stage. The track was finally laid, 250 feet in all, bridges, cul verts and tunnels were built. A large trestle was construct ed from drawings, with at tention to stresses and strains. And then the special equip ment was laid along the right of way just as it is found on any full sized railroad water towers, stations, tiny water barrels on the trestle, and signal facilities. Nothing was overlooked to contribute to the reproduction in detail. Smoke smudges were daubed on approaches to tunnels. Next Big Job Then came the next big job, the wiring and the con struction of the operating con trol system. Three transform ers were installed. A dual control block system was built in, so that two men can operate the trains from the control board simultaneously. Perhaps the most authentic setting is found in the indust rial end of the line with the yard where a turntable is in stalled at the round house and a diesel house has been built. There is a power house nearby and a grain elevator. Further down the track is a ranch house and barn which Holman made out of card board as an exact reproduc tion of one nearby. During the past year most of the little details were work ed out with painstaking ac curacy ."Ashes and gravel were used for grades and banks along the highway and the tracks. Tiny pieces of fruit were attached to the orchard trees. Straws were made into tiny pieces of pipe. All of these units were made and assembled in place so that the overall picture could be com plete. Holman credits two- rail road men at the domiciliary, Pat Merrigan, switchman and Malcolm Badger, telegrapher and train dispatcher, for aid in arranging facilities of op eration. The final touches were add ed with the boathouse togeth er with dock and boats on the lake, little automobiles for the highways, grass and sand for the ground. "There is still some work to do before the trains start running," he says. "Some re adjustments of track are need ed and the locomotives and rolling stock have to be put in shape for smooth opera tion." Special Services Chief Frank Glonning announces that at the first opportunity, an "open house" will be held for school children and others who may be interested, to view the completed project. Klamath Falls said off-street parking is that city's most pressing problem. He said it must be solved if the central core area is to survive, and be revitalized. He said the downtown mer chants' association there is "poorly supported" and ""not very active." He said the downtown area is in danger of losing out to a new shop ping center just outside the city limits. Main Problem The main problem at pres ent, Wynne said, is developing a workable assessment dis trict. He said the proposed district was recently reduced in size to eliminate residential properties since the owners of these properties oppose the plan even if they are not to be taxed. He said Faustmann present ed at public hearings the re sults of the survey he had been invited to make. But, he said, "We haven't gotten very far since." There are questions, Wynne said, on the legality of the Oregon statute. Like Faust man, he did not mention spe cific points. He said only that Oregon's law was "not exact ly like the California law." Wynne said another obsta cle is the state bond commis sion's refusal to indicate in advance whether it will ap prove the bonding of the Klamath Falls program. He said the commission had been asked for some prior .hint of its decision. But, he said, it re plied it would decide only af ter the final project is pre sented with the bonds. Wynne said he would like to ask the League for help in dealing with the state agency. Other Problems Still other problems, Wynne related, have developed with respect to administration of the proposed assessment dis trict and the effects of such assessments on the downtown economy. - He said it would cost the city S5,000 a year to pro rate the assessments and collect them. He said it is yet to be decided who would keep the district's books. He pointed out that varying property va lues would make this book keeping a complicated proce dure. He explained that while property owners would be as sessed directly, the city in most cases would be dealing ultimately not with them but with the merchants leasing the property. The property owners could be expected to offset their as sessment losses by . seeking higher leasa rates. The ques tion then, Wynne said, is whether the merchants would renegotiate these leases. . Burden Would Shift If the assessed value of the district should drop, he warn ed, then the tax burden would shift to the property owners in residential areas. This would hasten an exodus of residents to the suburbs. City Attorney JVIarsh of Mc Minnville described how his city has recently converted a vacant used car lot and - an ancient garage into an off street parking lot. He said a group of down town merchants went to the city council and asked the city to acquire the properties for parking purposes. The city was able to do so with a reserve built up from parking meter revenue. He told how a small assess ment district was form e.d without objection. "Don't get your district too big," he warned. Many, many thanks for your ' '' j generous support both in the f rmar m emra eeCtln' i ' ' Carlos W. Morns ' The merchants group, Marsh said, sold others on the project. He said it was decided to issue 4 per cent warrants, rather than bonds, to finance development of the facility. The warrants, he said, would be paid off half from parking revenue and half from assess1 ments. "Our bank doesn't go look ing for legal opinion," he re marked. Marsh described the dis trict as comprising four zones with different assessment rat es based on distance from the facility. "Some are ready to pay their assessments al ready," he said. He said merchants appear agreeable to any adjustments in rent asked by the land lords to counterbalance the assessments. , Revenue from Lot Revenue from the new lot would possibly be derived through an "honor system," Marsh explained. He - stated there were no plans to install meters, but that perhaps coin boxes would be placed at cer tain locations about the lot. He said establishment of the lot has already resulted in steps by adjacent business es to remodel and improve their stores. Mayor Christopher said San Francisco in 1947 had to ov ercome opposition from pri vate garage owners in getting voters to approve a $5 million general obligation bond issue for off-street parking. "Since that time," he said, "we have built a half dozen facilities in excess of $30 mil lion." Development of these facil ities has encouraged private investment so that today the situation is competitive, he said. Mayor Christopher describ (CaimaDIe Dinner Hours IT " " For home, for food For friends, for love, We humbly thank The God above. And may our lives, In all we do Prove loyal to His Love so true. May-the spirit of Thanksgiving Dwell within us on this day. IHIoteD Medford fining Room Hours 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ed San Francisco's establish ment of a municipal Darkine authority after the initial bond issue. This authority, set up as a non-profit cornora- tion, has since floated bond is sues on its own at a 5 per cent interest rate, he said. "Banks eat these ud." he stated. He explained that when all bonds have been paid off, the corporation will revert to the city. San Francisco will see an increase in parking meter rates Jan. 1, Mayor Christo pher said. The increased rev enue, he said, is to be allocat ed to more off-street parking facilities. The half-hour rate is to be increased from S to 10 cents, he added. He said the new revenue- can mean extension of facil ities to benefit merchants in outlying areas as well. He es timated the increase at ?1 million a year. Class Hears Talk on Public Relations Ashland Mrs. Dorothy Gustison, first vice president of the State Congress of Par ents and Teachers, and Mrs. Jessie Fitch, past president of the Lincoln school PTA and member of the county board, addressed Dr. Alva W. Gra ham's graduate class in pub lic and professional relations at Southern Oregon college Thursday. Explaining Ihe basic objec tives of the PTA, the two leaders said the organization now has 11 million members with 43,000 units comprising the largest volunteer organiz ation in the country. The or ganization is non-sectarian, non-partisan, and works with the schools without seeking to direct or control them. US: 2 to 10 p.m. u . 1
