The league reported the state Department of Land Conservation and Development and 1000 Friends of Oregon indicated last week they will appeal any city ordinances which contain waiver provisions, under the theory that if the ordinances are not appealed within 21 days of enactment they would become an "acknowledged" element of a city's comprehensive plan, and may be more difficult to challenge.

The league also reported Oregonians in Action stated it may challenge cities' Measure 7 ordinances, with or without the waiver position, because it believes the cities' lack the authority to draft any such ordinance.

As a result, the league is suggesting cities need not have ordinances relating to Measure 7 on their books until the legal waters are clearer, which may not occur until the Oregon Legislature convenes in January.

"Now that Measure 7 is temporarily halted, there is no need to have a Measure 7 ordinance in place," according to a league memorandum to city manager and attorneys.

"If your city has already adopted an ordinance and decides to now repeal it, it can always re-adopt the ordinance if the injunction is lifted. If your city has yet to adopt an ordinance, it can have a well-drafted and well-thought out ordinance ready for emergency adoption if the injunction is lifted.

''Because our cities were rushed in creating these ordinances, some of the ordinances may contain inaccuracies or omissions. Repealing the ordinances would allow our city attorneys additional time to consider important Measure 7 implementation issues.

''If your city decides to repeal your ordinance, adding the 'not effective until Measure 7 is in effect' language may assist you in negotiating a stay of litigation in the event your ordinance is challenged."

The Canby City Council is due to consider Ordinance 1063 on second reading at its Dec. 20 meeting at Council Chambers.

Measure 7 requires state and local governments to compensate land owners when regulations reduce the value of their property.

The voter-approved measure provides that a land owner, in order to receive compensation, must apply for compensation to the government whose regulation allegedly has caused a reduction in the fair market value of property.

According to Measure 7 language, as written, a governmental entity has 90 days from the date the application was made to deny or pay the claim, or to take action to remove the property from the application of the regulation.

If the amended Ordinance 1063 is approved Dec. 20, it would amend Title 1 of the Canby Municipal Code by adding a new chapter, adopting a procedure for processing claims made pursuant to Article 1, Section 18 of the Oregon Constitution, and declaring an emergency.

Councilors decided at the Dec. 6 council meeting that it would be better to have an ordinance on the books, rather than wait for the injunction to possibly be rescinded, and then have to scramble to quickly enact an ordinance. It remains to be seen whether they will change their minds Wednesday night.

American Medical Response has committed a "major breach" of contract by not responding to some emergencies in the time required, Clackamas County notified company officials last week.

But it's more of a contract compliance issue than a threat to public health, county officials said.

The contract specifies that AMR must respond to medical emergencies in urban areas - including Wilsonville and Molalla - within eight minutes 90 percent of the time.

If AMR fails to meet the 90 percent standard three months in a row, it is considered a major breach of contract. And that is exactly what happened in January, February and March 2000. In those months, AMR arrived within eight minutes 84.68 percent, 87.71 percent and 89.97 percent of the time.

Larry MacDaniels is the county's emergency medical service supervisor, in charge of compiling the monthly numbers and making sure that AMR complies with its contract. He said he is concerned about the months AMR was out of compliance. At the same time, he cautioned folks against overreacting to this news.

"This system is not really broken," he said. "People are not at risk because of what's going on. The difference in response between 90 percent and what they're doing is pretty small."

Why, then, the letter saying that AMR has committed a "major breach?" "The county is concerned that no one be at risk," MacDaniels said. "That is why we're taking this strong line."

MacDaniels noted that the ambulance service isn't the only one responding to 9-1-1 calls. Local fire departments also respond to stabilize patients until the ambulance can arrive and take over.

"People are getting care quickly," MacDaniels said.

AMR doesn't just serve urban areas in Clackamas County. It also serves areas deemed suburban, rural and frontier. The company must respond to suburban areas within 12 minutes 90 percent of the time, to rural areas within 25 minutes 90 percent of the time, and to frontier areas within 2 hours 90 percent of the time.

Phil Moyer is AMR's operations director for Clackamas County. He admitted having problems with response times last winter.

"Increased periods of darkness, adverse weather conditions and various road construction projects placed an additional burden on responding paramedic ambulance crews," Moyer said. "In particular, construction along Highway 224 impeded movement through the county both east and west, and in addition, increased the number of traffic problems."

Moyer also noted that AMR was just one call away from meeting the standard in March. And when the company missed the eight-minute standard, it often did so by just seconds, he added.

But he was quick to add that the company should have done better. "Regardless of the excuses, AMR's response time performance was not acceptable for the period in question," Moyer said.

To fix that, AMR made a number of changes.

"Additional ambulance unit hours were added to the county," Moyer said. In addition, the company changed its strategy for placing ambulances throughout the county.

"AMR has been in compliance with the urban response time standard in all times since March," Moyer said.

MacDaniels has noticed the improvement.

"From April on, they have met the requirement in the urban areas," he said. "Since July, they have met the requirement in all four areas - urban, suburban, rural and frontier."

AMR's contract with the county runs through July 2002. The county must decide by July 2001 whether or not it plans to renew the contract. The contract will be automatically renewed for one more year unless the county tells AMR otherwise.

If the county does not renew the contract, it could put out a request for proposals, or RFP. That wouldn't necessarily mean a divorce between the county and AMR. AMR could respond to the RFP suggesting new terms for a deal, and so could any other company interested in providing ambulance service in the county.

Both the county and AMR have expressed interest in rewriting the county's current deal with AMR.

"This contract was written in 1994," MacDaniels said. "There are things in it that some people would like cleared up."

Daniels said putting out an RFP may not necessarily improve ambulance service for county residents.

"The RFP system isn't a guarantee that you will have a series of qualified bidders," MacDaniels said. "Some areas of the country find, as Clackamas County did last time (it did an RFP), that you will have only one qualified bidder. It's even possible you could have an RFP and not have people bid. I sure hope that doesn't occur."

In the meantime, the county will continue to put pressure on AMR to improve its response times.

"We're pretty serious about making sure they meet those times," MacDaniels said.

Moyer agreed that those times must be met, but he noted that AMR has met the terms of its 65-page contract in every other way.

"Response time performance seems to draw all the attention, but other aspects of the contract, including qualification of emergency personnel, vehicles and equipment, training and quality assurance have met the applicable standards," he said.