|
|
|
|
|
345 SE 5th, Madras, OR 97741 | 541.475.2275
The children’s recreation program at Crooked River Ranch is in full swing, with over 40 participants.
By John Bowler
CRR Correspondent
Attorneys for the Crooked River Ranch Water Co., Oregon Public Utility Commission and attorney general all managed to agree at the last minute July 19 on postponing a hearing by the PUC scheduled to take place in Salem on July 20.
The subject of the hearing was to be the PUC's plan to resume oversight of water company operations.
The existing obstacle to PUC resuming that oversight had ostensibly been removed by a decision announced July 13 by Circuit Court Judge Gary Williams that the water company had failed to convert its corporate format to a cooperative as it claimed to have done several months ago.
Water corporations are subject to PUC oversight under certain conditions; water cooperatives are exempt from PUC's ministrations.
The stated reason for the unprecedented agreement between the parties named is that they are currently engaged in discussions to settle their differences without continuing the lawsuit against the water company by Ranch resident Charles Nichols and the attorney general.
No one was willing to discuss the nature of those talks or when they might conclude. The status of a settlement will be reported here when or if it occurs.
Commission meeting highlights
When the annual Jefferson County Commission meeting at the Ranch doesn't draw a crowd of Ranchers, speculation arises about what that signifies -- Rancher apathy or contentment.
One Rancher who regularly attends CRR Homeowners Association Board of Directors meetings claimed no notice of the commissioners' meeting appeared in the Ranch newsletter.
A follow-up search confirmed his point and did not uncover other visible public notices of the meeting's particulars.
At least the association board, which let the commissioners have their chairs and the floor for a little over an hour, engaged in a lively exchange of ideas and opinions with the county group, along with a handful of Ranchers normally present at board meetings. The atmosphere was friendly and informative.
Successive county staff and department heads, beginning with sheriff designee Jim Adkins, gave businesslike updates of priority issues being worked on including: a Neighborhood Watch program; nabbing local road speeders; the jail bond; code enforcement progress; road repair status; and how Ranch taxes are dispersed by the county.
The commissioners encouraged Ranchers to check their car registration and make sure it is listed in the county in which they live. Because of the split in the 97760 ZIP code between Deschutes and Jefferson counties, tax credits for road funds could go to Deschutes County that rightly belong to Jefferson because of clerical error.
Rancher Janice Cook took the commissioners to task for the disgraceful condition of the county's Panorama Park, which was constructed by the county largely from system development charges levied over the years on Ranchers by the county for just such purposes.
She emphasized her point by claiming three separate letters she wrote to all three commissioners describing the park's deplorable condition were never even acknowledged or addressed. Her statements were not disputed, and she was assured on the spot by the commissioners that the situation would be rectified in due course.
Ranch Association meeting
The board approved Cathy Nemitz's request for free use of the old fire hall for a farmers' market, to be held Saturdays beginning Aug. 7, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Vendors must be Ranch residents. Offerings can include: produce, eggs poultry, rabbits and homemade food products. To reserve 10-by-10-foot space at no charge or for more information, call Nemitz at 541-923-1462.
A board candidate forum was scheduled for Aug. 5 at 4 p.m. to meet and hear six candidates for three open board positions. They are Jim Martin, Tom Huspek, Vona Nichols-Huggins (incumbent), Kim Seely, Herb Parker and Tom Lekander.
The board also approved the concept proposed by the Revenue Resource Committee of hiring an events coordinator who would be paid from returns on events the coordinator instigated; a memorandum of understanding with the county on community clean-up funding; and disposal of surplus Ranch property.
Summer Recreation Program
This summer's children's recreation program is being run, as in past years, by adult Ranch volunteers led by Sylvia Kimberly, who is assisted by Fran Davis, Judy Brownson, Edie Williams, Tom Lekander, Barbara Brunk, Earleen Arthur, Amelio Leos, Sean Keith and Chris Sorenson.
The program, free to Ranch youths, is paid for by the Ranch Homeowners Association. It started last week with over 40 participants and continues this week with about the same number.
An added event this year is the teen swim and pizza party at the community pool for four Friday evenings from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The teen event started July 16 and will continue Friday, July 30, plus Aug. 13 and 27. Reportedly, about 16 teens showed up at the first session and had a ball. The cost is $2 per session.
The younger children start each day with a swim in the pool from 9 to 10 a.m., break for a snack in the Ranch Chapel Community Center until 10:30 a.m., and have varied activities each day until 11:45 a.m., except Friday, when there is a picnic for them at MacPherson Park.
Activities include crafts each day in the chapel supervised by Judy Berg, golf Monday courtesy of the Men's Club, tennis Tuesday with Leos and Keith, softball Wednesday coached by Sorenson and gardening Thursday with the Mariposa Lily Garden Club.
Before the picnic on Friday, the kids can climb over Ranch Fire Department trucks, National Guard Humvees, or pet llamas courtesy of Betty and Gene Moe. It's a full week and they apparently love it.
Alternate exit update
Sixteen Ranchers attended a meeting at the home of Sara Leigh and Marty Wilson last Friday to learn more about the proposed wilderness designation of Bureau of Land Management land that borders Ranch property overlooking the Deschutes River canyon. The attendees live close to the property under consideration.
The meeting was conducted by Gena Goodman-Campbell from the Oregon Natural Desert Association, which is supporting the designation and which sent letters of information out to Ranch owners of property adjacent to the land involved.
The questions and comments posed by the attendees during the hour and a half meeting centered on concerns about increased threat of fire and restricted access resulting from the proposed wilderness designation.
Among the attendees was Hal Robbins, a veteran firefighter and longstanding member of the Ranch Fire Department Board, who assured the group that the fire department had a working agreement with the BLM, custodians of the wilderness area, naming the Ranch as a first responder to any fire in the subject area that posed a threat to Ranch safety and property.
Marty Wilson said after the meeting that Robbins' point would be firmed up in a subsequent public meeting between BLM and the CRR Rural Fire Protection District, to be arranged by ONDA.
The issue of controlled access will also be taken up with BLM in a public discussion prior to any official wilderness designation being affirmed.
There also is a potential for swap of some Ranch property that BLM would like to have that is within the proposed wilderness area. BLM has indicated a willingness to explore an exchange of its property at the south end of the Ranch already being used as an unimproved emergency exit out to Lower Bridge Road.
The same property was involved in an attempt to negotiate its purchase from BLM and gain access rights to Lower Bridge Road from Deschutes County by an ad hoc Ranch Alternative Exit Committee several months back. It sputtered to an inconclusive end from lack of support.
This prospect was discussed briefly again at the board meeting last week. According to several directors, such a swap would have to be approved by a two-thirds majority vote of association members.
Over the years, that majority has proven unattainable to gather at a vote in several attempts to change the bylaws, which requires the same size majority.
The solution to this dilemma was not apparent in the time remaining at last Monday's meeting and no plans were set to take it up again.
Speeding on Ranch roads
A meeting to discuss speeding on Ranch roads has been called by Rancher Walter Miller and Sheriff Jim Adkins for 6:30 p.m. July 29 in the Ranch Juniper Room.
The meeting is primarily for residents living on Steelhead, Perch, Salmon, Fawn and Ground Hog roads, but all interested are welcome.
The meeting's purpose is to find ways to identify, discourage and apprehend drivers who speed on those roads as they attempt to get ahead of school buses mornings and afternoons during the school year.
The speed limit of 25 mph on Ranch gravel roads is being seriously exceeded, causing excess dust to be raised and impacting residences along those roads. The speeding also poses a serious a threat of collision on the same roads. Adkins will be in attendance, if his duties permit.
Call Miller at 541-923-9758 for more info.
