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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (July 31, 1960)
BUNDAY, JULY 01. 1060 MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFOHD, ORE. A3 Southwest Sewage Situation But A Part of Overall Problem Suggestions (or Solutions Made; Some Long-Range By JIM BOYD Mail Tribune Stall Wriler The m-wiiku problem In the milhwi'iitirii iiri'ii adjacent In Mi'iirnrcl are hut u pin t of thn pollution prnhlnnx which the Riilitin valley will fiica In the .future. , The flow of HewiiKo Into Ir rigation laterals In also fouiKt 4 other purls of the valley, Jireorrtlntf to J. A. Iloffhulir, ifc'fritliiry-niiiniiuei' of tha Med Juril IrrlKiitlon district, i' The prolilcin It acute In the area southwest of Mcdford iily becuumi of the nunihr bf people living there. The growth of sulnirbun reus In "a mushrooming sort T)f thing," Orle Moore, county eiinltiirliiii, sulci recently. "We Jut fust running out of soils lierc that lire ncceptiible for 4lie (llnpoaul of houncholri sew lie," he nii id, Severn! long-range augges Jloim have been nwide. Good County Planning Moore claims thnt good Tounty pliiiinlnii could pre sent mnny of theko situations. "We lire flndlni! that clone limislng like on Clover lane Just Isn't working out," he juld. Because of this, he mild Ithut he usually Insists that rural house have a one half rScro lot. The problem with planning. ic said, Is tho luck of con trol over the uetual construc tion of tho sewnxe facilities. .Subdivisions, FIIA financed And CI homes are reviewed toy his office, but there is no "Jirovlslon to Inspect privately J'onstiueU'd sewage facilities. 3l Is not until the problem Is present that It may be cllm Mnated, he said. Another Suggestion . Still another suggestion Is 4hc moderiiltation of the laws ft'hlch liovem pollution. Tom Itoeder, Jackson conn ly district attorney, suggest ed that the laws which he Avotild have to prosecute un Jler muy have been designed jwhen thero was lltllo concep tion of the modern problems tnf water and air pollution. Jdeally Suited Still another solution was -iuKKcstcd when the Bcrrydalc jtllslrlct was annexed to the f Ity. At that time there was n move to provide metropoli tan scwaiic facilities for the galley. a One city offlclul said rc cnlly that tho valley is "Ideally suited for a metropoli tan sewn p system. . Hero uiiiiln, the cost and 3 ' 3 -A : :.iX : fr . h : . '.v. OACriMNVIt.Lf. f'"'y-y I I " ' . ' , "tf iV I' . , A' i i f ' 1 : Hy m 1111 I ; . I ; U rfi I , I . y, o I i ' -..... V ' 1 n - I I A I w srtwAir Aye. f j POLLUTION AREAS Reports of pollution In irrlifatton laterals anil roadside ditches have caused residents in this area southwest of Mcdford to consider annexation. Diagonal lines marked above Indicate areas which have houses with pipes or ditches carrying effluent Into irrigation laterals. No bounda ries have been set yet around the area which may be considered for annexation. Annexation Action Must Be By People The city of Mcdford plans to neither encourage nor dis courage annexation of tho area southwest of Mcdford. ac cording to City Manager Rob ert A. Duff. This sort of action must come frum people of the area, he said. This is also the stand of most of the other government al agencies concerned with the problems of the aroa. All recognize that there is a problem, but do not want to the natural reluctance of pres ent governmental agencies to lose control would bs the limiting factors. The final solution will come only, as County Judge Karl Miller said Friday, "when enough people become con cerned and put through pro grams to keep this from occurring." suggest what the remedy should be. If the people should decide to annex, Mcdford can have sewerage to the area in about two years, Duff said. He estimated that It would take about 60 days for hear ings on the annexation after Die petition Li presented to Uic city council. After this, it would take about 60 days to circulute a petition for sewerage, a month for hearings, and if the petition was granted, about six months to complete plans and specifications. Following this, It would take about a month for bids and nine months for actual construction, . SECRET ARMS DEAL London-UPI-London Dally Express columnist William II I c k c y reported Saturday that Soviet Premier Nikltn Khrushchev has been secretly buying arms from Britain. Mickey claimed that they were double-barrelled shotguns made by London gunsmith James Purday. Boundaries To Be Set After Poll Tentative boundaries of the area desiring annexation to Medford will be drawn after the opinion poll is completed Wallace B. (Wally) Brill, chairman of the polling com mittee said Saturday. Three of the seven poll lists have been completed. Brill said, and the committee hopes to be finished within the next few weeks. After Ui is Is done, he. said, the committee will plot the locations on a map and then draw tentative boundaries around the areas desiring an nexation. Lee Hobbs, who has a peti tion with about 200 dissenting names on it. said Saturday that he would like to see the areas objecting to the annexa tion also plotted on the map. Several Solutions Suggested For Southwest Area Problem By JIM BOYD Mail Tribune Staff Wriler Several solutions for the dilemma confronting residents of the area southwest of Mcd ford have been suggested. But in spite of stiff opposition, annexation seems to be the answer most generally sup ported by the people of the area, . Residents now find them selves threatened with prose cution unless something is done to abate the sewage pol lution in the area. But a com bination of natural factors makes it impossible for many of them to improve their drainage systems. The committee conducting an opinion poll on annexa tion has gathered about 450 signatures, Wallace B. (Wally) Brill, chairman of the com- Reeder Reaffirms Earlier Decision Tom Rccdcr, Jackson coun ty district attorney, reaffirm ed his decision Friday to prosecute those people who have made no attempt to abate thir sewage pollution. "Basically, I think we arc faced with a situation where criminal prosecution is r.ct the answer. We are dealing with law abiding citizens who do not want to violate the law," he said. For those who have insur mountable drainage problems, Reeder said that he saw no solution other than a sewery system. "In these cases I feel they should be given the op portunity to seek a solution before prosecution," he said. "However, it is my view that I cannot turn my back on such violations and will do what I can to see that those laws are upheld." "I prefer general persuasion to outright prosecution, but must certainly prosecute where necessary," he said. mittee, said yesterday. Only 10 of these oppose the annex ation he said. Oppose Annexation Petitions circulated b y persons opposed to the an nexation have about 250 sig natures, Lee Hobbs said. The sewage pollution prob lem first came to light when Mcdford Irrigation district demanded ' an investigation Into the pollution of its irri gation laterals. A sheriff's deputy and irri gation man checked the area and found about 40 homes : with pipes or ditches carrying sewage into the laterals. No i attempt was made to deter- ' mine how many homes had seepage into Irrigation streams. These people were then given three months to take positive steps toward abating the situation. This time limit will fall due during the first part of next month. j Causa of Problem The cause of this problem I lies with the nature of the j soil and the growing popula- , lion in the area, according to Orie Moore, county sanitarian. The soil in the area is a I heavy clay soil which will not absorb sewage effluent. This j effluent then collects and has j to be piped into roadside i ditches, irrigation ditches, or I other mean, of elimination. I This, in turn, causes pollu- , tion and a situation "which could be very grave," Moore j said. There is little problem as long as no one in the area : has a communicable disease, 1 he said, but if one person should become diseased, then "it can be a very explosive ! situation." Other solutions for the problem have Included the formation of an independent sewerage district and the elimination of the problem through individual means. "It is possible for the peo ple In the area to form a sani tary district with the approval of the Stat. Board of Health," Moore said. "But the costs are almost prohibitive for such a small section to handle." Moore also said that the ill- constructed drain lines could be redesigned, but that even good 'nstallations are having trouble. "Some form of community sewage is the only real answer to it," he said. Favor, Against Annexing Residents in favor of an nexation want it because of the sewage situation and be cause of the depreciation of property values, resulting from the situation. Residents opposed to the annexation appear to be rath er independent folks who do not want city regulation or are seriously concerned with the costs Involved. Increased taxes and the in evitable sewer charges art felt to be too high, they say. This U especially true, they say, for the retired people oil fixed Incomes in the aroa. 2 BARBERS at- PATTON'S BARBER SHOP FREE PARKING 1238 No. Riverside Across from Pulver's Mottl ON A SPARK OIL HEATER s20 TRADE IN YOUR OLD HEATER mall dep&tit lioldi SPARK oh laycuiMUf For Your Old Heater During August We Will Allow You . KENNEDY FUEL OIL 922 Boardman At Kennel Phone SP 3-5896 Swem's ANNUAL a 1 1 W V Store Wide! I Store Wide! BARGAINS IN ALL DEPT'S EVERYTHING PRICED TO SELL! Come Early -Stay of These TERRIFIC REDUCED PRICES! Notice!! More Sale Merchandise Added to Sale Tables Over The Weekend DON'T MISS THESE NEW BARGAINS. Late! Take Home Armloads BARGAINS at the GREATLY Doors Open 9 A.M. Daily USE YOUR "CHARGE PLATE" Charge Now Pay Sepr. 10th ENDS SAT., AUG. 6th Hrm.V1H.if.lKU MEDFORD, OREGON TELEPHONE SP 2-9331 FOUNDED IN 1911 FREE PACKAGE DELIVERY WITHIN REGULAR DELIVERY ZONES Cars Damaged in Crash; No One Hurt Two cars sustained "consid erable" damage Saturday noon as the result of a head-. on collision on Griffin Creek rd.. near Mud Springs rd., ac-1 cording to state police. There were no injuries. Police said one of the cars, ; operated by Albert Frank Dutton, 43, Jacksonville, was northbound on Griffin Creek rd. in the wrong lane of traf fic and collided with a south bound vehicle operated by Russell Franklin Kcmmcrcr, 22, route 4, Medford. Police Informed Dutton1 that he would be cited into : district court for failure to op-! erate on the right side of the : highway. Both cars were tow- j ed from the scene of the ac-, cident by wrecker. j Schrunk Asked to Form Water Group Portland-UPI-Mayor Terry Schrunk was requested Fri day to form a citizen's com mittee to educate Portlandcrs on the city's water pollution problem. But the mayor said such a committee was already being organized, and would even "carry some of the program Into the public schools." The request to Schrunk came from the Oregon Com mittee on Natural Resources, in the form of a resolution calling for a fiscal program that would cope with sanitary needs of the community. Hatfield, Wife Return to Oregon Salom-IUPU-Gov. and Mrs Murk Hatfield arrived home j Saturday, from the 1960 Re publican National Convention. The Hatficlds flew from Chicago to Seattle where the governor served as honorary grand marshal in the Seattle Scafnlr celebration Saturday morning. His plane was due at Port land International at 6:20 p.m. and tho Hntfields were to drive home to Salem, PUBLISHER DIES Stamford, Conn.-UPI-Rich-ard L. Simon, 61, co-founder of the book publishing house of Simon & Schuster, died at his home here Friday of a heart attack. Simon, who re tired in 1057 after two heart attacks, was noted as one of the first to employ the mod ern methods of advertising, promotion and merchandizing In the bookselling field, A FIML CLEARANCE mm, Open Monday Night Chairs Bronze, Green or Goldton Aluminum, Saran Webbing. Regular 6.95 NOW $048 0 Settees OSPQQ To Match O 00 Reg. 15.95 fl Chairs $E98 Reg. 11.95 Jj) ROUND, PATIO ' Tables $198 Reg. 3.95 EASY TERMS NO CARRYING CHARGES. Wt carry our own contracts. There is no ex tra charge added to your pay menli. At Weeks & Orr you pay ONLY for the merchandise. Shop and lave at Southern Oregon's Oldest and largest Furniture Store. WEEKS 114 West Main Street Phone SP 2-9351 T t
