Health Options Digest
December 12, 2004
Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES)
In This Issue
From the Editor
Week In Review
David Rodriguez painted a vivid picture of what could happen if the McKenzie River flooded around a new hospital.
John and Robin Jaqua are profiled in The Register-Guard. They are the chief opponents of a high-rise hospital at RiverBend.
The Springfield Planning Commission reluctantly recommended approval of PeaceHealth's latest proposal for a hospital.
EWEB is continuing to negotiate with Triad Hospitals, Inc., around selling their land for a new hospital.
The Wall Street Journal reported that many plaintiffs don't actually receive the big awards given by juries.
LTD is trimming the cost of the first phase of Bus Rapid Transit.
The city of Coburg is taking steps to trim its budget.
Over a week after it took effect, we offer more views and news on Measure 37.
Looking Ahead
As we approach the holidays, there are thankfully few public meetings scheduled. We hope that no or little news is good news. If so, "Health Options Digest" will take a week or two off. Look for us in early January.
Rob Zako, Editor
343-5201
rzako@efn.org
Calendar
Monday, January 10 -- Springfield City Council
City Hall, 225 Fifth St., Springfield
Contact: Amy Sowa, City Manager's Office, 726-3700
Regular Meeting
A. PeaceHealth Plan Amendments
PeaceHealth
David Rodriguez -- The River Ran Thru It
By David Rodriguez
The Springfield News | December 10, 2004 |
It's a pre-dawn morning during the winter of 2008. It has been raining heavily for a week straight. All the dams are filled to capacity. The McKenzie and Willamette rivers are flowing over their banks. At the new Sacred Heart Hospital along the McKenzie River, rising floodwaters have cut off vehicle access.
As in 1996, residents throughout Lane County are waking to find they are stranded and in need of help. Many have been injured and some are missing. Unfortunately, most regional rescue efforts must remain focused on hospital evacuation. Over two feet of water surrounds the hospital, and the rescue is hazardous.
What officials also don't fully realize is that the main river channel has changed course. It has cut across the neck of the oxbow-shaped bend in the river just upstream from Sacred Heart and is now forcing the current directly toward the hospital and the dozens of medical buildings. It has completely undermined the riprap bank. Within a few hours, it begins cutting right under the main wing. (more...)
River Guardians: A prominent couple politely but resolutely insist that PeaceHealth modify its hospital plan to better blend in with the McKenzie
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | December 12, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- In the Hollywood version of this tale, no one would ever cast John and Robin Jaqua in the starring role.
This is, after all, a story about a couple taking on a major corporation, and Hollywood likes to cast little guys for that part.
Now meet the Jaquas: John, a prominent retired lawyer with roots in one of the best-known corporations in history, and Robin, a Jungian psychologist with her own small movie production company. Both 84 years old and gracious to the point of courtliness, they are, by most conventional measures, very much a part of the establishment.
He's a former board member of Nike -- the meeting between one-time University of Oregon runner Phil Knight and UO track coaching legend Bill Bowerman that led to the founding of Nike was in the Jaquas' living room. He is a one-time president of the Oregon State Bar. In 1994, he was named Eugene's First Citizen by the Eugene Chamber of Commerce. The John E. Jaqua Law Library at the University of Oregon honors the couple's generosity.
And yet it's the Jaquas who have mounted the most serious challenge to PeaceHealth's ambitious plan to build a $380 million regional medical center on undeveloped riverfront land across the McKenzie River from the property where they've lived and ranched for more than 50 years. (more...)
Planning commission OKs rule changes for hospital
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | December 10, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- After deliberating for two and a half hours, the planning commission voted 5-1 Thursday to endorse a series of land-use rule changes to allow PeaceHealth to build a regional medical center in the Gateway area.
The commission had heard public testimony on the proposal in a joint meeting with the City Council last month.
The matter goes to the City Council for expected final approval on Jan. 10, along with a second recommendation from the commission that the public be allowed to testify about the project once again.
In endorsing the proposed revisions, the Planning Commission also sought to ensure that the land owned by PeaceHealth, next to the McKenzie River and dubbed RiverBend, could not be used for any other large commercial project should the medical center not be built. (more...)
PeaceHealth extends health care benefits to household partners
By Tim Christie
The Register-Guard | December 10, 2004 |
When Kate Hill, a psychiatric social worker at Sacred Heart Medical Center, first tried to enroll her partner of 23 years in the company health insurance plan, she was told: Sorry, you need a valid marriage license.
So last March, after Multnomah County began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex partners, Hill and Jennifer Meyer drove to Portland and got married. When Hill, marriage license in hand, again asked Sacred Heart to insure her partner, she was told: Sorry, we'll have to run this one by the lawyers.
But starting in January, Meyer will be covered by Hill's insurance because Sacred Heart's corporate parent has decided to offer insurance to employees' domestic partners -- or any other adult in the household. (more...)
McKenzie-Willamette/Triad
Rosie Pryor -- Fast and Painless Update
By Rosie Pryor
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center | December 8, 2004 |
EWEB Board Again Votes to Continue Property Sale Negotiations
At a regularly scheduled meeting December 7th, a majority of the EWEB Board voted to continue negotiating the sale of their property to McKenzie-Willamette. A motion to rescind the November vote failed. We appreciate the vote to keep the negotiations moving forward, and continue to be hopeful EWEB's analysis of its relocation costs will give all members of the EWEB Board the assurance they need to finalize the transaction.
McKenzie-Willamette Loaning Funds to City
McKenzie-Willamette Regional Medical Center Associates, LLC, the joint venture that now owns and operates the hospital (not Triad, as reported by the RG) has agreed to loan the City of Eugene $500,000 so design and engineering work can begin immediately on the transportation improvements necessary to make the EWEB site function safely for hospital use. Given the scope of the improvements required, begining work now could ensure underpass construction is complete by the time a new McKenzie-Willamette is ready to open on the site.
Response to New Cardiac Cath Lab Exceeding Expectations
Area cardiologists and vascular surgeons began using McKenzie-Willamette's new Cardiac Cath Lab this week. This fall, we installed state-of-the-art equipment including a digital imaging system that lets physicians see detailed, real-time images during procedures that require exacting precision. This improved capacity will help in treatment of disorders such as peripheral vascular, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, and other conditions, without major surgery.
The number of cath lab procedures is already exceeding projections, including unscheduled procedures for Emergency Room patients. One such patient who wound up in the cath lab Tuesday would have been transferred to PeaceHealth (common practice up to now), were it not for the new lab. This enhanced level of service for patients has long been a MWMC goal.
Access to McKenzie-Willamette
Beginning January 1, Regence BlueCross/BlueShield members throughout Lane County regain access to McKenzie-Willamette services, including these enhanced cardiac services.
Questions? Please feel free to give me a call. Happy Holidays!
Rosie Pryor, Director, Marketing and Planning
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center
1460 G Street, Springfield, OR 97477-4197
744-6164
rospry@mckweb.com
EWEB to continue negotiations over sale
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | December 8, 2004 |
A second attempt to put the brakes on a possible sale of the Eugene Water & Electric Board's downtown headquarters to Triad Hospitals Inc. failed by a familiar 3-2 vote Tuesday night.
Board Vice President Sandra Bishop sought to rescind a motion passed last month to accept a conceptual offer from Triad and continue negotiations. Texas-based Triad wants to buy 22 1/2 riverside acres now occupied by EWEB for a new McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center. The preliminary agreement, in which Triad offered $24.8 million for the land and administration building, leaves many details to be worked out over an eight-month review period.
Bishop, along with Commissioner Dorothy Anderson, voted Tuesday and on Nov. 16 to terminate talks with Triad, arguing the $24.8 million offer falls well short of the market values for the land and building.
The two officials said continuing talks would be pointless because Triad is unlikely to offer enough money to cover the utility's cost of relocating its campus elsewhere. All five board members have consistently said they will not allow a sale and relocation to impact ratepayers. Early next year, the utility will likely authorize the expenditure of $800,000 for preliminary design work for replacement facilities. (more...)
Editorial-- A no-lose deal: Triad's $500,000 will be put to good use
| The Register-Guard | December 8, 2004 |
Sooner or later, the Eugene Water & Electric Board will have to relocate its headquarters and operations from the banks of the Willamette River to a site better suited to the utility's long-term needs.
Triad Hospitals Inc., hopes it's sooner, so it can buy the land and build a new $85 million home for McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center on EWEB's riverfront property.
Eugene city officials are solidly behind Triad's efforts, but even if the Texas-based hospital chain can't reach a deal with EWEB, development of the city's riverfront will remain a high priority.
That's why a unanimous City Council on Monday saw Triad's offer of a no-strings-attached $500,000 loan to begin design work on a key access road to the EWEB site as a can't-lose arrangement. Triad agreed to lend the city half a million bucks for the road design work with the understanding that if the hospital development did not go forward, the city would not have to repay the money. (more...)
Talks will continue between EWEB, Triad
| The Springfield News | December 10, 2004 |
Negotiations between the Eugene Water & Electric Board and Triad Hospitals Inc. will continue after a motion to rescind the board's November vote failed 3-2 this week.
EWEB commissioners had voted 4-1 to approve moving forward with the conceptual offer in November, allowing both parties to begin an 8-month process to conduct detailed site inspections, planning, engineering work -- and for EWEB, a chance to update relocation costs.
Texas-based Triad has offered a little more than $24.8 million to EWEB for its 22.47-acre site. Triad wants to replace McKenzie-Willamette with a five-story, $85 million medical center on EWEB's property along the Willamette River in Eugene. But many details remain to be addressed by both parties. (more...)
Health Care
In Malpractice trials, juries rarely have the last word
Large awards grab attention but often aren't paid out; fodder for debate on caps; Pennsylvania's big three
By Joseph T. Hallinan
The Wall Street Journal | November 30, 2004; Page A1 |
Earlier this year, a New York state jury awarded Elizabeth and John Reden $112 million in a medical-malpractice case filed on behalf of their brain-damaged daughter.
But the Redens didn't get $112 million. They got $6 million.
In the debate over medical-malpractice lawsuits, multimillion-dollar verdicts have become an important rallying cry for advocates of legislation to curtail jury awards. From emergency rooms to state houses to the White House, the advocates point to the heavy cost of large malpractice awards.
Behind the big dollar numbers, the reality is more complex. Many plantiffs settle for less than a jury's verdict, to eliminate delays and the uncertainty of appeal. Sometimes, even before a jury rules, a plantiff has signed an agreement that limits how much money actually changes hands.
The Redens, for example, hedged the outcome of their case through a common device known as a "high low" agreement. No matter what the jury ruled, the two sides agreed to settle for between $2 million and $6 million. Such agreements protect plantiffs from a lengthy appela process and set the top end of any potential award close to the limit on the physician's insurance policy.
Proponents of tort reform acknowledge that verdicts for plantiffs are often reduced to amounts that are kept confidential. But even if the headline-grabbing numbers are never paid out, propoents of limits say, big jury awards create benchmarks that raise the costs of futre settlements.
Editorial -- Caps don't cut it: Damage awards aren't driving insurance rates
| The Register-Guard | December 6, 2004 |
Oregonians' whisker-thin defeat of a ballot measure that would have capped noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits left the underlying problem unresolved.
Malpractice insurance rates are soaring, and not just in Oregon. For physicians in high-risk specialties, and particularly for the patients who need care from those specialists, skyrocketing malpractice premiums constitute a genuine crisis that can't be ignored.
But recent data from several credible sources clearly indicates that capping damage awards -- the health care and insurance industries' preferred solution -- is a disingenuous and ineffective strategy for controlling insurance rates.
The nation's largest medical malpractice insurer, GE Medical Protective, admitted in a regulatory filing in Texas that caps on damage awards and other efforts to limit recoveries for injured patients have an inconsequential impact on insurance rates. (more...)
Health care council calls on professor's expertise
By Tim Christie
The Register-Guard | December 6, 2004 |
University of Oregon health policy professor Judith Hibbard has been chosen to serve on a national advisory panel charged with improving the nation's health care system.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson appointed Hibbard to a three-year term on the National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality, which strives to improve the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of health care.
The council advises the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, which funds research intended to inform health policy. (more...)
Medicare plan to cover 34 regions
By Robert Pear
The New York Times | December 7, 2004 |
WASHINGTON -- In the first big step to make prescription drug benefits available to the elderly, the Bush administration announced Monday that it would carve the nation into 34 regions to administer the new Medicare program, which begins in January 2006.
Medicare will rely on private insurers, subsidized by the government, to deliver drug benefits. Premiums for each drug plan will be uniform throughout its region. But premiums could vary widely between neighboring states in different regions.
The configuration of the regions will be a significant factor in the success or failure of the new law, signed by President Bush last December. The regional boundaries will, to a large degree, determine how many insurers participate in the new program.
Leslie Norwalk, acting deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the boundaries had been drawn to maximize participation by private insurers in each region. (more...)
Nearby Developments
Robert Emmons -- We should honor the river, not exploit it
By Robert Emmons
The Register-Guard | December 7, 2004 |
In his Nov. 14 guest viewpoint, Hugh Prichard says, "What we need to agree on is that it (Eugene's waterfront) is a lousy foundation for both urban amenities and natural habitats."
Most reasonable observers would agree that riverbanks composed of broken concrete and car bodies sprouting blackberry and ivy ill-serve both the commonweal and the common wild. Where we may disagree is with what would best serve both. Prichard contends that "we need to merge the best natural science with the best building practices to achieve a blend of urban amenities and healthy natural beauty.'' For him, this means "dozens" of "commercial establishments" and lots of "legal" places to park vehicles.
He's dismayed that much of this riverine area is accessible only to "those who walk or bike.'' And it is perhaps to these diehards that he refers when he smugly says Eugene is a town "remarkably stuck in old paradigms and old strategies.''
Yet the oldest paradigm, the one Prichard himself espouses, insists on driving its way to the river's edge. It's a postcard view -- a drive-to-and-sit-down, two-dimensional still shot of the river that has a lot to do with the viewer's instant gratification and little to do with the river's needs.
Disingenuously, Prichard pays lip service to "healthy natural beauty," while clamoring for more of the incursions that have degraded our riverfront since settlement. It's a common failing. But help is on the way. (more...)
Council votes to vacate street for call center
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | December 7, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- After an 11th-hour deal wiped out any public objection, the City Council agreed Monday night to abandon a public street in north Springfield to make way for a call center that could create as many as 1,000 new jobs.
Royal Caribbean had asked the city to vacate 435 feet of Sports Way, which runs through the property on which the cruise line wants to build a new $60 million customer service center.
With no discussion, the council voted 4-0 to vacate the right of way. Councilor Joe Pishioneri declared a possible conflict of interest and abstained from voting.
He did not elaborate on the possible conflict.
The planning commission last month unanimously endorsed the the street vacation. (more...)
UO set to buy bakery, but arena may wait: Officials trying to decide if replacement for aging McArthur Court is affordable
By Greg Bolt
The Register-Guard | December 7, 2004 |
The University of Oregon plans to spend almost $25 million to buy a site for a new basketball arena that it's not sure it's going to build.
UO officials said they are still trying to determine whether the university can afford a new arena to replace aging McArthur Court. But they are faced with the possibility of losing a chance to buy the Williams' Bakery property, their first choice for an arena site, if they don't close a deal by year's end.
The university first broached the idea of buying the site in 2002 and began negotiations with the landowner in earnest last spring. But Bob Albers, CEO at United States Bakery, said it was taking the UO longer than he expected to make a move and he recently gave the university a deadline. (more...)
UO Wants Bakery, With or Without Sports Arena
It's official. The University of Oregon signed a letter of intent this morning to buy the Williams' Bakery site, whether it builds a new basketball arena there or not. This is a non-binding agreement between the two parties. The University has to come up with around $25 million dollars before anything is final.
Allan Price, U of O Vice President says, "We're very confident that if a deal can be put together, the people will agree to it, and approve it." The approval is for the use of "F" bonds to pay for the bakery site. The University needs about $25 million in bonds, which will be repaid through revenues from the project so taxpayers don't feel the burden. (more...)
U of O and Williams Bakery Sign Deal
After two years of talk, The University of Oregon has agreed to purchase the Williams Bakery site for 25 million dollars. It will seek approval for bonds to cover the cost.
It's not clear at this point, whether the site will be used for a new basketball arena. It could be used for academic purposes, in which case, only 25 million dollars in bonds is needed. If an arena is built, that would increase the bonds to 27 million dollars. (more...)
Editorial -- Buy the bakery site: With or without arena, UO should own it
| The Register-Guard | December 8, 2004 |
While it's still far from clear if the University of Oregon will build a new basketball arena on the Williams' Bakery site, the acquisition of the $24.7 million site should be a slam-dunk decision for the Oregon State Board of Higher Education and the Legislature's Emergency Board.
The aerial photograph that accompanied Tuesday's Register-Guard story about the arena project shows clearly why this purchase makes long-term sense for the university, despite the hefty price tag. Like a missing piece of a puzzle, the bakery plant is perched on the northeast corner of campus, bordered on the west and south by university buildings and on the north by Franklin Boulevard.
Totaling nearly seven acres, the Williams site is a strategically located rectangle of real estate that university officials have long coveted. It has the potential for providing what the UO has long lacked -- a formal entry point or "front door" that greets visitors as they approach on Franklin.
The site appears well suited for an arena from several key aspects: It's located on a well-traveled street and the soon-to-be built Bus Rapid Transit Line. It's within easy walking distance for UO students and is near restaurants and motels. It's also only a few minutes' drive from downtown Eugene and the emerging new federal courthouse district.
From a design standpoint, the Williams site, when coupled with several smaller nearby properties, also offers more size and flexibility than the university's initial choice, the Howe Field site next to McArthur Court. (more...)
Oregon Research Institute back on board with building
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | December 12, 2004 |
Downtown Eugene may get something to cheer about soon after the holidays.
Oregon Research Institute is about to get $21 million in financing to put its much-anticipated downtown building project back on track, a city official said last week. The behavioral research firm wants to build a six-story office building on the former Sears store site, at West 10th Avenue and Charnelton Street, across from the Eugene Public Library.
With 250 employees in leased offices near the University of Oregon, ORI's proposed move is expected to be a shot in the arm for downtown, which is struggling with voids left by the closure or relocation of major employers, including Symantec and its subcontractor Stream. (more...)
Transportation
More Springfield Roundabouts
SPRINGFIELD -- More traffic roundabouts could be popping up in Springfield.
The city wants to build the structures on 42nd Street at Jasper Road and Mt. Vernon Road. Some city councilors are concerned about access for residents whose driveways would back up into the roundabout. But one neighbor is welcoming the project.
Krista Baxter lives near the Mt. Vernon intersection and says she supports any roadwork that will slow traffic on 42nd Street. (more...)
Bus system planners trim costs
By Randi Bjornstad
The Register-Guard | December 8, 2004 |
The Lane Transit District still plans to inaugurate its first Bus Rapid Transit corridor -- linking the downtowns of Eugene and Springfield along Franklin Boulevard -- sometime in 2006, but changing conditions and rising costs mean scaling back some of the features originally envisioned for the line.
Mark Pangborn, LTD's assistant general manager, says the agency's advisory and technical committees have been mulling over ways to shave $2.2 million from the cost of the $20 million project. Their recommendations will go to the board of directors for a decision on Dec. 15. (more...)
New LTD line may start out free: Leaving fare boxes off the rapid transit line could save more than $500,000
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | December 10, 2004 |
Lane Transit District's first Bus Rapid Transit corridor may be free to ride -- at first.
Due to rising construction and operating costs and uncertainties about future federal funding, planned features of the EmX Franklin Boulevard corridor project linking the downtowns of Springfield and Eugene need to be revised and scaled back.
Recommended adjustments revise the project's price tag from $20.5 million to $18.7 million.
Under a proposal presented to the BRT steering committee Tuesday night, one design feature that would be temporarily put on hold is fare machines. That means commuters will be able to ride from one downtown to the other free of charge until construction of the Pioneer Parkway EmX corridor is finished. (more...)
Local Gas Tax Increase Draws Critisism
EUGENE -- A parade of Eugene residents voiced opposition to a proposal to raise Eugene's local gas tax.
They spoke out Monday night at a public hearing before the Eugene city council.
The city has been considering adding between two and seven cents to the current three cent per gallon local tax to pay for a backlog of street maintenance projects. (more...)
Council hears foes of gas tax increase
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | December 7, 2004 |
A proposed hike in Eugene's 3-cent-a-gallon gas tax drew a figurative, collective raspberry Monday night from people who distribute, sell and consume gasoline.
Gas station owners, fuel distributors and motorists complained about the proposed hike to the City Council, which is considering bumping up the tax in order to reduce a growing backlog of street repairs.
Eugene motorists now pay 45.4 cents in taxes on every gallon of gas. The city's levy of 3 cents a gallon compares to the state's charge of 24 cents and the federal government's tax of 18.4 cents.
Councilors are considering the boost at the urging of public works staff, who say the city needs more money to keep a $90 million backlog of street repairs from growing. In 2002 and then again a couple of months ago, councilors thought about imposing an assessment on homes and businesses in order to raise money for street work, but dropped the idea.
A tax increase would put Eugene's gas station owners at a competitive disadvantage with fuel outlets outside the city that don't collect the tax from motorists, service station owners told councilors Monday. When gas taxes are raised, the owners said, they lose customers, have to fire employees, and find it difficult to stay in business. (more...)
Gunning for Speeders: Neighbors go to great lengths to slow drivers, make streets safer
By Matt Cooper
The Register-Guard | December 5, 2004 |
David Cunningham hunts deer, but today he's bagging an even more abundant species: neighborhood speeders.
Parked in his driveway in south Eugene, the 65-year-old retired communications technician aims a radar gun at passing traffic and pulls the trigger.
The speed limit is 25 mph. Cunningham has clocked motorists as fast as 40 to 45 mph, but today people are generally minding; he gets readings of 28, 29, even just 22 mph.
Cunningham jots down license plates and sends the information to the city, and violators get letters imploring them to slow down.
Not everyone appreciates it. (more...)
Study finds state's bridges aren't so bad
| The Associated Press | December 7, 2004 |
SALEM -- A recent engineering study released by Oregon State University found that many of Oregon's state highway bridges will last longer than officials previously believed.
The findings have prompted engineers to reassess the condition of hundreds of bridges that are scheduled to be repaired or replaced in the next decade.
The study also means that repairs for some bridges will cost less than first estimated, and that the savings can be applied to fix other problem bridges.
The bridge repairs are part of Oregon's most ambitious highway program since the original interstate highways were built in the 1950s and '60s. (more...)
State workers quit amid kickback inquiry
An investigation into gratuities allegedly offered by a Florida firm for buying supplies at inflated prices spreads statewide
By Janie Har, Harry Esteve and James Mayer
The Oregonian | December 14, 2004 |
Four Oregon transportation workers have left their jobs in the wake of a kickback investigation, and dozens more are being questioned, state officials acknowledged Monday.
Some state employees allegedly accepted gratuities -- including gift certificates for a popular hunting and fishing catalog -- from Stone Cold Chemicals of Ponce Inlet, Fla., in return for buying its products at inflated prices, sources told The Oregonian.
The cases could go before a grand jury by the end of the month or sometime in January, according to a state Justice Department spokesman. Indictments could follow. (more...)
ODOT Kickback Investigation
PORTLAND -- Dozens of state transportation workers are being questioned in a widespread kickback investigation, a case that could go before a grand jury in the next month or two, The Oregonian reported in its Tuesday editions.
Four transportation workers have already left their jobs after the probe, which involves some public employees allegedly accepting freebies from a Florida company in return for buying its products at inflated prices, the newspaper reported.
Lisa DeBruyckere, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Transportation, said the company, Stone Cold Chemicals of Ponce Inlet, Fla., would call government agencies to sell cleaning and office products at hiked up prices. Employees were then allegedly offered gratuities of 8 percent to 10 percent of the total chemical purchase, DeBruyckere told the paper. (more...)
Other News
Letter -- Burge's letter was insulting
By James L. Park Jr., Springfield
The Register-Guard | December 6, 2004 |
As one of 38 Springfield maintenance division employees serving the entire population of Springfield, I find former Springfield City Councilman Stu Burge's letter to be insulting and misleading.
The wage I make as a Springfield employee does not seem unreasonable. I take home $33,000 a year to support a family of four -- pretty close to the average sum in take-home pay Burge quoted for the citizens.
As a tax-paying citizen of Springfield, I see my taxes rising to pay for a new police station and street improvements. But in addition, other costs continue to rise; for example, my health insurance is rising 19 percent this year and a projected 10 percent next year. Every time I get a 2 percent cost of living increase, it seems I get to watch it disappear.
Like Burge, I believe that qualified, productive, hardworking and dedicated people deserve appropriate salaries. I am one of those people, and I think Springfield is getting a great deal for its tax dollar from the maintenance division.
Coburg Short Half Its General Fund
Coburg's a small town, with a small city hall. It's attached to the police department, and inside one roon, is the planning department; public works director; and finance department.
Which is why you wonder how such a close-quartered group could make such a huge mistake. (more...)
Coburg shake-up goes on as police chief steps down
By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard | December 7, 2004 |
COBURG -- Police Chief Mike Hudson will step down from his job as this small city's top cop effective Friday.
After a closed meeting Monday night, the City Council and Hudson agreed to a "mutual parting" of ways, according to a city official.
In Hudson's open-ended contract with the city, there is a clause that allows the contract to be terminated when both parities agree to end it, interim City Administrator Jamon Kent said. (more...)
Coburg to cut jobs to plug budget holes
By Karen McCowan
The Register-Guard | December 8, 2004 |
COBURG -- With nearly 50 worried city residents and employees looking on, City Council and budget committee members punched calculator buttons and debated staffing cuts Tuesday night as they struggled to plug a 2004-05 budget gap now approaching $800,000.
By the time the three-hour meeting ended, the panel had identified nearly $250,000 in spending reductions for acting City Administrator Jamon Kent to pursue. They included eliminating up to three of the city's seven police officer positions and one position in its public works department; cutting back several other employees' hours; switching to an employee health care plan with deductibles and higher co-pays; and requiring city employees to assume a state retirement system contribution equal to 6 percent of their salaries, a benefit now paid by the city.
Among the police positions getting the ax was that of the department's top post, in the wake of this week's resignation of police chief and former City Administrator Mike Hudson. (more...)
Coburg Budget Cuts Detailed
When you only have about half the money to cover your budget, you crunch.
In Coburg, that's Acting City Administrator Jamon Kent's job.
Kent will present his plan to city councilors, on how to dig Coburg out of a $666,000 budget hole.
His plan includes: staff cuts to public works, police, the planning department, and the court, for a total of 4.25 city positions.
But that's not it for the small town of Coburg. (more...)
Cuts in Coburg
COBURG -- Coburg City Councilors will be making some tough decisions Tuesday night. They're trying to balance out a $667,000 dollar budget deficit.
Don't expect those Coburg cops to be pulling off the freeway anytime soon. Six out of the seven officers are being kept in the belt-tightening budget that will be recommended to the city council.
New figures show a little less of a budget shortfall for the city of Coburg, but still plenty that needs to be made up. Acting city manager Jamon Kent is recommending about $250,000 in immediate cuts and short-term borrowing to cover the rest, to make up the $667,000 dollar deficit.
There are still questions about how the city's finances fell so far into the red. (more...)
Governor, senators call for better roads, schools, technology
By William McCall
The Associated Press | December 7, 2004 |
PORTLAND -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., joined his Republican colleague, Sen. Gordon Smith, to open their third statewide economic summit on Monday with reassurances about funding for schools, roads and new technology.
But they warned of the challenges of global competition.
Wyden, who announced during the summit he will join Smith on the Senate Finance Committee next year, said they will push hard to expand the nanotechnology industry in Oregon as part of the effort to create new products and find new international markets for a state that depends heavily on exports.
Wyden also said the state can expand its role in other high-tech industries, and is poised to take the lead nationally in some areas, such as energy technology and production. (more...)
State lures select businesses
| The Associated Press | December 7, 2004 |
PORTLAND -- When Gov. Ted Kulongoski flew to Northern California to lure Amy's Kitchen to Oregon, he may have suspected California's top man wouldn't take his advances to a California company lying down.
In retaliation, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger not only dialed the founders of Amy's Kitchen at home and urged them to stay put, he also launched a statewide marketing campaign to attract jobs to his cash-strapped state.
But last week, Amy's Kitchen announced it planned to open a 200-employee production plant near Medford -- the sixth California company to relocate or expand in Oregon since 2003.
Its recruitment typifies Oregon's economic development strategy under Kulongoski. The governor and his staff are selectively recruiting California businesses -- most of them small in size -- that fit Oregon's industry base and livability ethic.
The cluster approach stands in contrast to the recruitment strategies of other states neighboring California, which are using a far more aggressive blanket approach.
Both Nevada and Arizona have erected billboards in California and gone on extensive recruiting treks through the Golden State.
Oregon's recruiting victories in California reflect the tastes of Oregon's economy. (more...)
Measure 37: Views
Editorial -- Playing defense on Measure 37
Setting fees to capture costs is only prudent, but setting them to discourage all comers will inspire a backlash
| The Oregonian | December 6, 2004 |
Property-rights Measure 37, which went into effect last week, pretends that aggrieved property owners live in a vacuum. They should be compensated if a regulation reduces their property values. Boom. End of story. And if money isn't available, the offending page in the rule book should be plucked out.
The measure is silent on everything else. And everybody else. It spotlights fabled "property owners." But it treats as huge fields of white space all the surrounding neighbors, taxpayers and the wider community.
Yet grievances filed under the new law are sure to spawn hard feelings among neighbors and provoke counter-grievances. And guess what: These noisy neighbors who pipe up and object to Measure 37 claims are going to be property owners, too, not to mention taxpayers and citizens.
That's why the state, working with the League of Oregon Cities and the Association of Oregon Counties, should help local governments establish uniform fees and procedures for Measure 37 claims. That's the only logical, credible way to determine what's reasonable and what's exorbitant. (more...)
Editorial -- Governments should cooperate on Measure 37
Local officials should wait for the state to clarify the law
| The (Salem) Statesman Journal | December 14, 2004 |
Think the government owes you something for restricting the use of your land? Step up to the counter and file a claim under Measure 37.
You can do that for $250 in Keizer. In Multnomah County, it'll cost you $1,500. In Josephine County, the bill is zero.
Those wildly varying application fees are just one indication of the crazy-quilt of approaches that the state and hundreds of local governments are developing to deal with Measure 37. The new law says that if regulations lessen the value of land, governments in some instances must pay the owners, modify the rules or waive them completely.
Voters resoundingly approved the measure last month, and it took effect Dec. 2. That doesn't mean governments should pull out the checkbook just yet or start tossing land-use requirements aside.
Take a deep breath, everyone. Property owners have at least two years to file claims. Governments have 180 days to respond.
This is a time for government officials to accept claims with courtesy, graciously explain the uncertainties and start the clock ticking. Period. (more...)
Edward P. Fitch -- Governor, Legislature must address problems
By Edward P. Fitch
The Oregonian | December 13, 2004 |
I recently attended a conference in Portland regarding the implementation of Measure 37. A general expectation by land-use advocates and Measure 37 supporters appeared to be that neither the governor nor the Legislature would likely address many of the profound implications throughout the state that the measure will have.
That would be a mistake.
Certainly Oregon's land-use system has its problems. Land use is too heavily entrenched in legalese and bureaucratic red tape. It is now an arena in which those with wealth and influence can succeed, while those without are often unable to receive similar treatment. The system has especially fallen hard on those who have owned property in Oregon for many years and refrained from dividing or developing it.
Measure 37, however, is not the panacea that Oregon deserves. Too many opportunities for excess exist under the measure.
The following revisions to Measure 37 must be addressed by the governor and by the Legislature: The measure needs a sunset clause. Right now, the opportunity to go back and get waivers from regulations will run indefinitely and will also apply to new regulations adopted after Dec. 2. The Legislature needs to protect our prime commercial forest and farmlands, particularly farmland in the Willamette Valley, from development. The Forest Practices Act should not be exempt from Measure 37. Our state's prime agricultural lands, particularly Classes I and II (and possibly Class III) soils that lie more than one mile outside of an urban growth boundary, also should not be subject to a waiver of regulation on compensation. These resources are at the heart of land-use regulation, and their continued preservation is critical to the state's economy. Local governments should be able to implement a system of transferring development rights from a property owner who is entitled to a waiver to other property that might be more appropriate for development. That other property owner could "purchase" the development right and enable the local government to compensate the Measure 37 owner. Local governments should be given some degree of flexibility to negotiate development with Measure 37 claimants so that it is not an all-or-nothing proposition. The law should be clarified so that development under a Measure 37 waiver is legal and transferable. The procedures adopted by local governments need to be uniform and reasonable.
Since Nov. 2, some local governments have taken steps to undermine the law passed by the voters. Besides being legally questionable, these efforts will certainly make it more difficult to reach a reasonable compromise in the Legislature.
What is even more ominous, however, is that many land-use advocates appear to be hoping for a train wreck out of Measure 37 rather than trying to have it implemented in good faith with protective measures against excess.
The governor and Legislature must move forward with responsible legislation so that the prime resource lands and sensitive environmental areas in Oregon will be preserved for generations to come. At the same time, longtime property owners who have been adversely affected by our existing land-use system need to be given the ability to develop their property reasonably.
The challenge is here. The time is now. The governor and Legislature must act quickly.
Edward P. Fitch is a lawyer with the firm Bryant, Emerson & Fitch in Redmond. He previously has served as city attorney and mayor of Redmond and as a land-use-hearings officer for Deschutes County and the city of Bend.
Charles Grant -- We should maximize aggregate land value
By Charles Grant
The Oregonian | December 13, 2004 |
The conclusions about Measure 37 of Dave Hunnicutt of Oregonians in Action ("Sky is not falling under Measure 37," Nov. 24) -- that by relieving property owners of land-use regulations they will be able to increase the value of their properties to everyone's benefit, including the government through higher tax revenues -- is no doubt the main reason why it was approved by a significant majority of voters.
However, to understand the fallaciousness of this approach, you need only ask why so many private developments have covenants, conditions and restrictions -- CC&Rs -- that restrict the uses of individual owners' properties.
The aim of CC&Rs is to support maximum aggregate property values in a development. If one favored owner were allowed to do as he or she wished with a single property -- think any height, size, shape or color -- that possibility could adversely affect the neighbors' property values, perhaps decreasing them by more than the increase in the favored property's market value. This commonplace notion in economics is known as a "negative externality."
Moreover, if other nearby properties were similarly favored, their owners would likewise have an incentive to alter the use of their property, leading to the paradoxical result that not only the nonfavored but also even the favored properties' values could be lower than if all owners adhered to the CC&Rs.
This goal of maximum aggregate value is mirrored in Oregon's public-sector regulation of land use. Our development codes are an attempt to make sure that all property owners, and citizens generally, share in the goal of raising aggregate property market values while avoiding uses that decrease these values.
Likely everyone who drives understands this principle when it is applied to, say, traffic regulations, without which we would face daily traffic chaos. But it seems harder for many of us to grasp the same concept when it comes to other governmental rules and regulations, although I would certainly agree that these rule-making processes are not perfect.
Of course, supporters of Measure 37 might say that in the case of private developments the owners are agreeing to abide by the rules voluntarily, in the form of a private contract, whereas the people of Oregon are forced to follow rules involuntarily. In a sense that is true, but so is stopping at traffic lights.
The fact of the matter is that through a democratic process we the people agree to abide by laws that almost always restrict our individual freedom of action. This is the social contract of 18th-century Enlightenment philosophers and is the basis on which our Constitution is founded.
Charles Grant is a city councilman in St. Helens with reponsibility for planning. He also is an adjunct professor of economics at Portland State University.
Flora Barone -- Stand behind Oregon's land-use traditions
By Flora Barone
The Oregonian | December 13, 2004 |
If opening farmland and its surrounding towns to auto-oriented development is a ticket to prosperity, let property-rights advocates point to just one place in the United States where this has occurred. One enduring place, not simply a boom-and-bust locale that uses public subsidies to suck the life out of the central city and dries up in a few decades as sprawl creeps farther outward?
We must remind ourselves that the entire nation, not just Oregon, is going through a recession and job losses. Middle-class families nationwide continue to lose income in real dollars, according to a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute, not only from unemployment but also because of reduced federal services from revenues lost to tax cuts and war payments and increased health-care costs.
Thanks to our visionary land-use laws, Oregon is a leader nationally, by a number of economic, academic and business assessments, in the transition to a genuinely prosperous economy. The source of the wealth on which to build the good life -- which previous generations knew well -- is good farmland. And we are blessed with some of the best farmland and most favorable growing climates in the world.
By protecting our farmland for the past 30 years we now are seeing a flourishing of small independent farms, ranches, vineyards and woodlots that have tapped into farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture, grocery stores, restaurants, supper clubs, online sales and other marketing avenues such as the statewide "Oregon Bounty" campaign to become more profitable. And as these locally owned ventures grow and thrive, they will support related enterprises in the time-tested model that lifts all boats.
The framers of Oregon's land-use policies understood that there are private rights and public rights, and a wise society is one in which the interests of all are balanced to benefit the community. It would be a tragedy to unravel that legacy just as its benefits are becoming evident.
For now, we owe it to ourselves to take a close look at the facts behind the political spin of vested interests. Take a look at the companies that provided the funding for the Measure 37 campaign and what they stand to gain on the public dole. Consider the self-serving smokescreen that says the only way to prosperity is to sell out to cookie-cutter, auto-dependent, sprawling development courtesy of out-of-state financiers. Pay attention to the news about the chaos, expense and inherent unfairness of Measure 37.
Then ask yourself: If you had another chance to vote, why would you not choose to repeal it?
Flora Barone is a writer who recently moved to Portland after co-founding the Michigan Land Use Institute, which advocated for Oregon's land-use laws to support wiser growth.
Letter -- Measure 37 restores balance
By Tom Martin, Noti
The Register-Guard | December 8, 2004 |
Regarding the Commentary article by Heather Henderson (Register-Guard, Nov. 28) discussing New Zealand and Oregon land use systems:
It is a lie to constantly preach that Oregon's land use system is a good thing and should be defended rather than despised. The system all of us currently are living under, introduced by that famous phony, Gov. Tom McCall, in the very early 1970s, is nothing more than a ruse devised by city lovers.
By declaring that citizens living outside a city limit were forbidden to develop their land in any way, shape or form unless it was a farm or forestry endeavor, these city slickers then declared urban growth boundaries around their respective towns. Lo and behold, land prices increased more than tenfold, housing and development costs went through the roof and the miracle of miracles was realized -- the city tax bases tripled. City government was able to grow and grow, while at the same time private enterprise was being slowly regulated to death.
Now, almost 35 years later, these same city slickers are crying crocodile tears over the passage of Measure 37. They are even saying they may pass new rules to make it hard for rural folks to execute their rights under this law.
Well, take heart rural Oregon, for all you have to do is write these slickers a formal letter telling them what you want to do with your land. If they don't answer you in 180 days, you have a perfect court case, without having to pay these bandits a fee.
Send it certified mail, of course.
Letter -- What about increased values?
By Charles H. Nations, Florence
The Register-Guard | December 8, 2004 |
With the passage of Measure 37, cities, counties and the state are reported to be scrambling to find a way to manage and to pay for any demands for compensation for reduced property values.
I hope all the committees also consider how much to charge these folks for the value of the improvements the government has caused during those periods, as well.
Anything that causes a property to become more valuable, such as a new road, a sewer, a new water system or upgrading fire protection, police and ambulance service must be considered when reaching a decision. It's only fair, isn't it?
Letter -- Measure 37 confusion begins
By Norm Maxwell, Lorane
The Register-Guard | December 10, 2004 |
I attended the Lane County Board of Commissioners work session on Dec. 1 to witness the implementation of Measure 37 in Lane County.
For those of you who thought that you'd vote for the measure and cut up your real estate and make a lot of money, guess again.
Apparently, most people read and liked the ballot title (you were supposed to) but didn't bother with the actual text.
There are a lot of problems therein. County counsel advised the commissioners that the way it was worded, it appears that while offending land use regulations may be waived for current property owners, the waiver doesn't carry over when the current owner wants to sell the newly created lot or other development.
Obviously, lending institutions are not going to issue mortgages on such shaky ground.
Then, too, it looks like Oregonians in Action didn't consider the concept of counties waiving state and federal land use laws and regulations too deeply. There is much, much more.
Anyway, don't figure on creating a subdivision on the family farm and running away with a huge bag of money just yet.
Letter -- Does measure protect all land?
By Mike Brooks, Coburg
The Register-Guard | December 12, 2004 |
I have a serious question about Measure 37.
I am a fly fisherman and recently was fishing the upper Fall River in Eastern Oregon. On the opposite bank of this small river, a number of expensive homes have been built.
The homeowners or developers have pushed dead trees, grass clippings, brush and excess dirt into the river, filling up holes, killing underwater vegetation, destroying spawning grounds and otherwise ruining this fishery. Worse, some fishermen there told of being chased at gunpoint from the river because one of those homeowners claimed they waded across some imaginary center line down the middle of the river that the home owner claimed was his property.
Now, as an owner of this river -- at least I think I am an owner, because the state holds this in public trust for me -- can I sue these homeowners, the developers and others who damage my rivers and lakes and destroy my fisheries?
Measure 37: General News
Ready or not, '37' in effect
By Mark Engler
The Capital Press | December 3, 2004 |
SALEM -- Measure 37 became Oregon law this week, but state natural resource management agencies and regulatory officials aren't yet offering definite directions or solutions for how to deal with it.
While the measure could impact government farm and forestland protection policies and other regulatory efforts like those undertaken by the state Department of Forestry, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Land Conservation and Development, the initiation of formal policies for addressing Measure 37 compensation or regulatory waiver claims is still well off in the future, say agency officials.
The Forestry Department won't have answers "until we really understand what Measure 37 might or might not require, and what people with claims will choose to do," said assistant state forester Ted Lorensen. (more...)
Oregon's vistas may get less scenic
Long a model for protecting rural areas, the state faces a property-rights backlash that could ripple nationwide.
By Brad Knickerbocker
The Christian Science Monitor | December 3, 2004 |
ASHLAND -- When voters in Oregon recently approved significant changes in the state's unique land-use law, many property owners won an important victory. Now, local officials must either compensate owners for regulations that reduce a property's value or waive those restrictions.
But approval of the controversial ballot measure here also signals what is likely to be a nationwide examination of government efforts to prevent sprawl, preserve farmland, and protect vistas. This is especially true since Measure 37, as it was called, parallels the growing effort to change the federal Endangered Species Act in order to give more slack to farmers, developers, and other private property owners. (more...)
Agriculture officials examine fallout of Measure 37
They refuse to draw conclusions about repercussions
By Michael Rose
The (Salem) Statesman Journal | December 10, 2004 |
Oregon's new era of land-use regulation, in which governments have the choice of ponying up money to property owners or allowing them to ignore rules restricting development, could mean big changes for agriculture.
Prompted by the passage of Measure 37, the Oregon Board of Agriculture and the Land Conservation and Development Commission held their first joint session Thursday.
State agriculture and land-use officials outlined the system Oregon has built during the past 30 years to protect farmland, but they refused to draw conclusions about Measure 37's repercussions. (more...)
Measure 37: Claims
Measure 37 Impacts
EUGENE -- The Lane County Land Management Department has been flooded with calls since Measure 37 passed in November.
Measure 37 allows some people who are impacted by land use laws to seek compensation or a waiver of the restrictions.
Two local residents have already turned in claims but both did not include all the information needed.
According to Lane County Planning Director, Kent Howe, "In order for Lane county to process a claim we need some substantial pieces of information, appraisals and title reports, and the nature of the restriction that is devaluing the property."
Starting Monday the Land Division is making the applications and helpful information accessible on line.
Log onto http://www.lanecounty.com and click on the Measure 37 link.
Landowner claims may be on the way
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | December 11, 2004 |
Measure 37 claims haven't exactly flooded Springfield City Hall since the new law received overwhelming voter support in last month's election.
"We haven't had any claims officially," Springfield Development Services Director Bill Grile said on Friday. "We have had three of what I would characterize as inquiries. Whether or not those materialize and become formal demands for compensation remains to be seen."
The ballot measure requires local government to compensate certain landowners for financial losses incurred because of government restrictions on the use of property.
Grile mentioned the three inquiries at a Planning Commission meeting Thursday night, leading Planning Commission Steve Moe to remark that a "fourth" inquiry about claims might be forthcoming.
Moe, who could not be reached Friday for elaboration, owns property in Glenwood, within Springfield's urban growth boundary.
Measure 37 claim brings dream home back in view
But much uncertainty remains about details of controversial law
By Barney Lerten
Bend.com | December 2, 2004 |
BEND -- Four years ago, almost to the day, in the identical Deschutes County building next door, Barbara Prete wiped away tears, as once again the retirement dream home she and husband Gene had planned for so long, on their 20 acres out Cloverdale Road, was snatched from their grasp by a post-election court ruling that eventually killed a voter-approved property rights initiative.
"I can't believe our country would treat us this way," Prete said after a Deschutes County Commission meeting back in December 2000 (www.bend.com/AR-623). The very next day, a judge in Salem did as many had expected and headed off enactment of Measure 7, claiming the constitutional amendment was unconstitutional for dealing with too many issues; the state Supreme Court later would agree.
The Pretes had bought their farm-zoned land back in 1990, before Gene retired and they could move north from Southern California. But then, four years later, Oregon land-use rules were changed, and to build a farmhouse, they would have to generate $80,000 in farm revenue most years -- pretty much impossible.
The law aimed at heading off the sprawl of "hobby farms" had exploded their dream. They tried, instead, for a non-farm dwelling, but were denied by a county hearings officer. And so, they moved to a smaller parcel, closer to town, and raised hay -- but not a home -- on their 20 acres.
But back in late 2000, a day before the Marion County judge blew Measure 7 out of the water, then-county Commissioner Linda Swearingen had urged the couple to apply for their home, under the new procedure the county had established.
"Your type of situation is what this was intended for," she said. "There are homes next to you on 20 acres, and you can't build a home -- that's ridiculous."
Fast-forward four years, to a sunny but frosty-cold Thursday morning, one month after voters repeated their private property rights message of 2000 by approving, on a strong 60-40 percent ratio, the so-called "Son of 7," a statutory (not constitutional amendment) initiative called Measure 37.
This time, the Pretes were not just supporters of the move by Oregonians in Action (www.oia.org) -- they were two of the three chief petitioners, along with 92-year-old Portland resident Dorothy English, with a similar horror story to tell of her family's land in Portland's West Hills that she couldn't divide and give to her children to build on, due to land use laws that came along far later than her ownership of the parcel. (more...)
Measure 37 claims seek millions or development
Bend, Deschutes County property owners seek rezone, subdivisions
By Barney Lerten
Bend.com | December 5, 2004 |
BEND -- As Redmond's former mayor and city attorney, and a former Deschutes County and Bend hearings officer, attorney Ed Fitch has some problems with the Measure 37 property rights initiative. But he's still quite willing to employ it on his clients' behalf, filing three compensation claims aimed at allowing the owners to rezone or develop their land in ways that Oregon's land-use system have blocked over the years.
Last Thursday, on the day that the measure took effect, Fitch filed one Measure 37 claim with the city of Bend and two with the county, each seeking more than $1 million for a parcel's lost market value for his clients -- but in reality, actually seeking zone changes or subdivisions that the landowners could not obtain previously.
The Bend claim -- the first filed against the city -- involves a 4-acre parcel just east of Pilot Butte State Park and north of Highway 20, along Arnett Way. In his letter to the city, Fitch said the parcel, zoned for high-density residential use, has been owned since 1968 by ARJO Enterprises Inc. of Terrebonne (Gary Arnett and Time Eide) and/or family members -- at a time when the property was not inside the city limits. The firm also has owned and developed Central Oregon Health Care, a nursing home located to the east along Highway 20.
On a claim information form, Fitch said the land, with a current fair market value of $1.19 million, would be worth $2.21 million, if it could be developed for commercial uses. "Based upon information and belief," he's seeking about $1.1 million for the loss of fair market value of the property, or a waiver of "the offending statute(s), regulations(s), and/or ordinance(s)," in order to "develop the property with a commercial development."
The two other parcels that are the focus of the county Measure 37 claims are zoned for exclusive farm use, and lie just outside Redmond's urban growth boundary, to the north and south. A 110-acre parcel at 5792 NE Fifth St. has been owned by John Arnett and/or a family member since 1967, Fitch wrote. The other, an 80-are parcel at 5170 SW Wickiup Ave., has been owned by Marie and Alice Henry and/or family members since 1917.
Tom Anderson, interim county Community Development Department manager, said Arnett wants to split the 110 acres into 5-acre pieces, while the Henry sisters -- the two survivors of five sisters, according to Fitch -- want to create eight 10-acre parcels. Arnett is seeking $1.2 million in compensation for loss of fair market value of his property, while the Harrys are seeking about $1 million. (more...)