The INDEPENDENT, July 20, 2011
Page 13
Banks City Council votes to put local option levy on Nov. ballot
by Jodi Boylan
The Banks City Council, at
their July 12 meeting, unani-
mously approved placing a lo-
cal option levy for law enforce-
ment on the November 2011
general election ballot. The
purpose of the levy is to contin-
ue law enforcement services
when the current levy expires
on June 30, 2012.
If this measure is approved,
the City will levy $2.35/thou-
sand-dollars of assessed val-
ue, each year for five years,
beginning in fiscal year 2012,
to continue a contract with the
Washington County Sheriff’s
Department for local police
services. If the levy fails, the
City will be without police serv-
ices. Services such as crime
prevention, work with youth
and school programs, investi-
gation of criminal activity, traffic
enforcement and many more
services will be eliminated. The
City has contracted with Wash-
ington County for these servic-
es since 2006.
Mayor John Kinsky pro-
claimed the evening of Tues-
day, August 2, as Banks Na-
tional Night Out 2011, and is
asking the citizens of Banks to
join the Greenville City Park
Management Committee, the
National Association of Town
Watch, and TARGET, Inc., in
supporting the 28th National
Night Out in our fair city. Na-
tional Night Out provides a
unique opportunity for the citi-
zens of Banks to join forces
with thousands of other com-
munities across the country in
promoting cooperative police-
community crime prevention
efforts. Crime prevention pro-
grams and citizen participation
are important in the reduction
of crime, drugs and violence in
all communities.
Deputy Todd Hanlon gave
the report on police activity for
the month of June. Total inci-
dents in the city were 134.
There were 36 citizen requests
for contact, six arrests, 43 traf-
fic stops, nine traffic citations,
and 19 reports filed. According
to Hanlon, theft of bicycles has
been an issue. Citizens who re-
ported bicycle thefts said they
have stored their bicycles on
their front porches without any
problems in the past, but now
find their bicycles missing.
Although Hanlon has been
the new contract deputy in the
city for a month, he has actual-
ly spent only five days on his
new assignment. Now that va-
cation and training are over, he
is looking forward to connect-
ing with the community. Hanlon
was given a warm welcome by
council.
Kinsky presented Christine
Fore with a certificate of appre-
ciation in recognition of her
support of the City of Banks by
serving for 10 years on the
Banks Library Commission and
Library Board.
Planning Commission Liai-
son Janet Towne reported that
the June 21 Planning Commis-
sion meeting was short. The
commissioners reviewed train-
ing materials, received an up-
date on the Urban Growth
Boundary and Urban Reserves
from KJ Won, and approved a
joint work session. There is
currently one vacancy on the
board.
City Manager Jim Hough re-
ported the following:
• City staff has begun pre-
disaster planning in conjunc-
tion with Servpro, a local fran-
chisee that does disaster re-
covery work with commercial
and municipal organizations.
The city will coordinate with
other entities such as Clean
Water Services, Fire District
13, and School District 13 to
ensure adequate pre-disaster
planning “cross-talk”.
• The city gave approval to
the Board of Directors of the
Banks Chamber of Commerce
regarding their Cell Phone and
Rechargeable Battery Recy-
cling Program. This is an op-
portunity to continue coopera-
tive “green” programs for the
betterment of chamber mem-
bers and citizens at-large.
• The 2nd Annual Beaverton,
Banks, and Beyond fund-raiser
for the Northwest Bicycle Safe-
ty Council will come through
Banks on Saturday, August 27.
This year, there will be an offi-
cial rest stop at Banks Log
Cabin Park. As part of the
council’s desire to have more
city-sponsored events, city
staff will be manning the station
with the assistance of a Forest
Grove Junior Girl Scout Troop.
The city hopes to set up a City
of Banks Sustainability booth at
the rest stop.
The next city council meet-
ing will be held on Tuesday, Au-
gust 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the City
Council Chambers.
Come find out what’s next for schools
by Debi Wagner
On Monday, June 27, while
the Banks School Board was
contemplating the future of the
district’s schools, the baseball
fields across the street from
Banks schools were packed
with students and parents en-
joying their summer break.
School board members gath-
ered at 6:00 p.m. for a work
session regarding problematic
heating, outdated lighting and a
bond issue.
With business manager Si-
mon Lavear, the board dis-
cussed a detailed plan outlining
the short and long term costs of
upgrading the aging schools
energy efficiency. After lengthy
study, the board decided that
more information is needed to
make an informed final deci-
sion. The plan will be reviewed
at the next board meeting.
A new program, Cool
Schools (HB 2960), was also
outlined. This state-run pro-
One tool
Many uses
gram will offer schools low-cost
loans to pay for energy efficient
technology retrofits. Support-
ers of the “Cool Schools” bill
say it will help districts pay for
high upfront costs of energy ef-
ficiency improvements. Accord-
ing to Senate Majority Leader
Diane Rosenbaum, a chief
sponsor of the bill, “This legis-
lation is a win-win for Oregon
that will help reduce utility
costs, upgrade aging facilities,
improve the learning environ-
ment for our kids, and create
much-needed jobs across Ore-
gon.”
The low-interest loans will
require no upfront outlay of
funds and will come from exist-
ing state funding that would be
paid back with energy savings.
Studies show that students
learn better in “green schools,”
so energy upgrades could also
help improve test scores! Cool
Schools was a centerpiece of
Governor John Kitzhaber’s
campaign and the Governor
signed the bill into law on June
23, after a unanimous vote by
the Oregon Senate.
The last item on the agenda
was the recurring issue of a
bond measure for the Banks
School District. The board de-
cided that, because communi-
cation and dialog with the com-
munity are very important fac-
tor for successful passing of
the much-needed bond, a pub-
lic meeting is needed.
“Community Summit, What’s
Next for Schools?” is open to
the public and will take place
on Saturday morning, July 30,
at 8:30 a.m. in the junior high
school gym. Everyone is en-
couraged to attend, as the
school board is looking for in-
put on what it will take to get a
bond passed on the November
Ballot. This is an opportunity for
everyone to weigh in and offer
constructive ideas on what’s
next for your district’s aging
schools and your children’s ed-
ucational futures.
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