The Umpqua Post
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Wednesday, October 15, 2014 | Serving the Reedsport area since 1996 | theworldlink.com/reedsport | $1.00
DEQ weighs next step as GSD says it can’t pay loan BY STEVE LINDSLEY The Umpqua Post
Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality has taken pause to consider a challenge from the Gardiner Sanitary District board that the district can’t pay a $215,000 “facilities planning” loan made to the district in 2009. That word came from the board to DEQ Western Regional Administrator Keith Andersen at a GSD board meeting in September. Dave Belyea is the regional environmental solutions manager for the DEQ and said they’re weighing their next step. “We will continue to communicate, and work, with the board to make payments on that loan,” Belyea said. “It was a loan so it
does need to be paid back. “Point number one. It does need to be paid back. Point number two is we’re looking to see, based on some amendments to the federal law, whether there are some abilities for us to work any kinds of nuances into the loan so that we can look at the payment period and the amount ... how the loan will be repaid.” The GSD board said the loan was made to a previous board for facilities that were never built. It appears the loan was for the district to investigate the feasibility of moving the district from the Reedsport wastewater system to a wastewater lagoon on the International Paper property north of Gardiner. That lagoon was never developed. The board told Andersen that paying back that loan will add $34 to each sewer hookup
and the community couldn’t afford that. A loan payment is already overdue. “The first payment due was on August 1,” Belyea said. “We did not receive that payment.” That payment was an interest-only payment of $11,227. A second payment is due February 1. Belyea said the DEQ does have some options if GSD doesn’t pay. “We do have some options and some requirements that are actually set in rule,” he said, “that, if Gardiner Sanitary District defaults and can’t, or refuses to pay us, that we can use. As an agency, we have not made a concrete decision what direction we will go, if that is the case.” He said he and Andersen will need to have conversations with “our financial folks, and
probably some of our leadership team, and say ‘what are we going to do if we don’t receive payment by whatever ultimate drop-dead date we set.’” Belyea says the agency was taken aback. “We have never had a community, or a sanitary district, default on a loan,” he pointed out. “So, this is new territory for us.” It was pointed out that the GSD board is a new one, after the recall of all five board members in June. The GSD board pointed out, in their comments to Andersen in September, that the DEQ made a $215,000 loan to them for a study on the IP site, but also made a $12.5 million loan to the city of Reedsport to upgrade their wastewater treatment plant, a plant that, by law, had to include the Gardiner system.
SEE GSD, PAGE A6
Parade could move to Sunday
Utilities reach out to customers STEVE LINDSLEY The Umpqua Post
THE UMPQUA POST Public Power Week was October 6 through 10. Presenters with Central Lincoln PUD met with customers in Florence, Newport and Reedsport. Reedsport’s day was Wednesday, Oct. 8. Wade Carey is the company’s energy services administrator. He came from Newport to answer customer questions about the company and public power. He also sat down for an interview with The Umpqua Post. He explained Public Power Week. “It’s a national week when utilities try to reach out to their customers to let them know what the difference between a public utility and an investor-owned utility,” he said. “It’s a chance to talk about anything new that we’re doing. For us, we have some new things we haven’t traditionally offered in the past.’ Some of those “new things” include online bill pay. “Where customers can sign up and look at their billing history, their (meter) reading history, make payments and things of that nature online,” he said. Want to know about your meter? “We’re also talking to cusBy Lou Sennick, The World tomers about ‘My Meter,’” Carey Shriners from Lincoln City parade down U.S. Highway 101 in Reedsport on Memorial Day all dressed up for the com-
munity’s annual Memorial Day Parade. For the first time in many years, a large portion of the route was on the state SEE UTILITIES, PAGE A6 highway.
Could the 2015 Memorial Day Parade in Reedsport be held on Sunday, instead of the traditional Monday? A Memorial Day organizing committee met for the first time of the season on Oct. 1 at Reedsport City Hall. Jim Wells facilitated the meeting, as he did last year. “The Monday parade was absolutely a crush on the highway department and on the people going home with their recreational vehicles,” Wells reported. “They strongly recommended that we move the parade from Monday to Sunday.” Wells said it was a “double-hit” on travelers going home. “Remember, the work on Interstate 5 was going on, too,” he explained, “and they met traffic problems here and traffic problems on I-5 and there were a lot of frustrated (drivers) and a lot of remarks to ODOT from these people.” Wells said moving the parade to Sunday still would not compete with a Coos Bay parade. “They have it on Saturday,” Wells said, “so, it still works pretty good because a lot of groups like to do both. So, they can do their Saturday and our Sunday and not have to stay an extra day and do ours on Monday.”
SEE PARADE, PAGE A6
State Land Board meets to discuss Elliott project BY KURTIS HAIR The Umpqua Post
By Amanda Loman, The Umpqua Post
State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, right, Legislative Director, Drew Johnston, middle, State Rep. Caddy McKeown, left, and a videofeed of Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, background, listen to comments from the public during the State Land Board Meeting concerning the Elliott State Forest Alternatives Project. Gov. Kitzhaber participated via videofeed during the meeting.
COOS BAY — Landowners, environmentalists, timber workers and elected officials voiced their concerns to the Oregon State Land Board over the ownership of the Elliott State Forest, and the majority want to keep the forest as public lands. The board met Wednesday, Oct. 8, at the Hales Performing Arts Center on the Southwestern Oregon Community College Coos Bay campus to get the public's input on the ownership and management of the Elliott State Forest Alternatives Project. The board, which consists of the governor, who was present via Skype, state treasurer and secretary of state, is in charge of managing the forest. Of the alternatives the board
has put on the table, the alternative of selling the forest was the main concern for the majority who spoke at the meeting. Selling the forest to a private owner would be possible. For three hours, about 60 people emotionally voiced their concerns over the negative impacts that could occur if the forest was sold to a private owner. Amanda St. Martin, a volunteer for the Coast Range Forest Watch, spoke at the meeting, and she said it would be a shame to see the Elliott Forest sold. “I camp, hike and swim in the Elliott regularly,” St. Martin said. “It’s my favorite place. It’s why I moved to Oregon.” Although many disagreed on how to manage the forest, the overall consensus was to keep the forest public.
Erin Grady, a Eugene resident, said she was surprised of all who were opposed to selling off the public lands. “This was a really empowering meeting,” Grady said. “It showed how many people from all across the board oppose privatization. We’ve been very afraid of privatization happening, and it was great to hear how many people don’t want to see that happen.” For State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, having a chance to hear from the public was extremely helpful, he said. “I think this is pretty much
SEE BOARD, PAGE A6
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