New sewer
plant takes
shape in Aurora
Photo by Dave Anderson
Construction on Aurora's new sewer plant is under way, and the project is expected to be finished by January 2001. The $4 million plant, which will cover 14 acres, includes lagoons that are designed to break down sewage naturally.
By Linda McDonnell
of the Herald
AURORA - Volunteers are turning out, but more are
needed to help Aurora build its new sewer plant.
The plant is a major part of the new $4 million sewer collection and treatment system
Aurora is building with hands-on help from citizens.
The number of volunteers lending a hand on the project has probably risen above 50 by now,
said Tim Grossnickle, Aurora's public works superintendent.
But Patricia Heid, a coordinator for volunteers, said many of the same people are doing
everything. There's plenty of room for new faces, she added.
The volunteer labor is expected to shave $200,000 off the construction bill, and the
savings for taxpayers are thought to be worth the intensive volunteer effort.
Heid said the city learned about the "self-help" method from other cities and
states where citizens have helped on public projects.
"Everything has been done as well or better than it would have been done by
professional contractors," Grossnickle said.
Work that requires professional skill, such as electrical work, is being handled by
certified professionals, he said.
However, volunteers have been building fences, setting up forms, and other construction
tasks under the direction of Grossnickle and the city's project manager.
The treatment plant will cover 14 acres and will include lagoons designed to break down
sewage naturally.
>From the lagoons, liquid will go to a holding pond capable of storing 7 million
gallons, Grossnickle said.
>From there, it will be chlorinated to remove all microbes, then used to irrigate a
poplar tree plantation.
In winter, when stream levels are high, the decontaminated flow will be returned to the
waterways.
The lagoons are complete and ready to line, Grossnickle said. The building foundation has
also been laid, and workers are ready to pour floors, he added.
Citizens built the lagoons and will plant the trees, among their many other varied jobs.
The plant is scheduled to be finished by January 2001, with the lagoons ready to start
functioning by early spring.
Anyone interested in adding their hand to the effort should call Heid at 678-1234. She
said the project not only helps the community, but volunteers will get a lot of
compliments in return.
"Everyone has been very pleased with the quality of our effort," she said.
Woman improving
after riding accident
By David Howell
of the Herald
PORTLAND - Family, friends, county fair coworkers and concerned citizens
are raising funds for a born-and-raised Canby woman who was seriously hurt in a local
horse drill accident 12 days ago.
Sherri Vita was listed in critical condition with a traumatic head injury at Oregon Health
Sciences University Hospital intensive care unit, but her health is now improving.
Although she is still unconscious as a result of the head injury she suffered in the Sept.
9 fall, after almost two weeks of treatment and monitoring doctors are pleased to report
her condition has improved significantly and vital signs are strong.
"Sherri has been upgraded to fair condition," an OHSU spokeswoman reported
Monday morning. "She's doing a lot better.
"They are looking to move her out of the intensive care unit, and they are hoping to
move her out today (Monday)."
Her sister, Terri Schmelling, added: "She's doing really well . . . doctors have
informed family members that her condition is improving and very recoverable.
''Sherri and her family would like to thank everyone for all their support, best wishes,
words of encouragement and prayers. Your actions towards Sherri's well-being has helped us
all."
The family hopes she will soon be moved to Hope Village in Canby to undergo
rehabilitation.
The 30-year-old married mother of two had been rushed to the Portland hospital by a Life
Flight helicopter after two horses collided during a drill at the Clackamas County rodeo
arena.
Vita and her horse fell to the ground after the collision, and she was knocked
unconscious.
An ambulance and EMTs were on duty, as they are for all local rodeo events, but an
emergency helicopter was scrambled because of the seriousness of the accident.
Vita, a very personable and outgoing woman, was part of "The Cavalry" Pro
Pennant Rodeo Team performing in the seventh annual KUPL Wild Ride event when the accident
occurred at about 8:15 p.m. Sept. 9.
Sherri and Rick Vita live with their two young children, Chelsea and Rick Jr., and their
horses, cats and dogs on a rural Canby farm.
Her love for horses started at a young age, and grew even larger when she became a 4-H
member at age 8.
Vita, whose maiden name is Malone, continued showing horses through high school, and has
since been very active in all forms of horsemanship.
Her dream is to show her colt, T3 Russell John (known as "Tuffy"), in the
American Quarter Horse Association World Championship, family members say. Vita has worked
for the Clackamas County Fair & Rodeo for two years, and is a hard-working and valued
member of staff, said fair manager Rayven Davis. She coordinates entries and exhibits
during the fair, among other jobs, and is also the coordinator for off season events.
During the 2000 fair, Vita worked hard to ensure the event was a great success. She
compared the Canby Area Chamber of Commerce's kick-off luncheon, organizing water balloon
launches and other festivities.
Over the course of the fair's six-day run, Vita could be found diligently attending to the
needs of exhibitors and contest entrants, one of the fair's many demanding and
time-consuming jobs.
A special account has been established to help the family offset the high costs of Life
Flight, hospital and medical bills, and future rehabilitation expenses.
Any donations to the Washington Mutual Bank's Canby branch account will be gratefully
appreciated by the family.
Donation cans are being displayed at businesses in Canby and Molalla.
People can make donations for the Vitas at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds, Fourth
Quarter Bar & Grill, Top O' Hill Restaurant, Sun Center, Molalla Tractor, Hubbard Inn,
Homestead Restaurant, Canby Ford, and the Canby Herald.
In addition, attendees of this weekend's KUPL-sponsored Chris LeDoux concert at the Canby
fairgrounds can make contributions in donation barrels.
LeDoux is due to take the stage at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, and Canby's own country
music star Joni Harms will open with a set starting at about 7:30 p.m.
Local men help contain
Oregon wildfires
By David Howell
of the Herald
Two members of local emergency services recently returned from fighting
wildfires in central and eastern Oregon.
Canby Police Department Officer John Douglas and Canby Fire Chief Ted Kunze helped battle
wildfires near Prineville and Hells Canyon, respectively.
Douglas and his Oregon Army National Guard colleagues tackled the Hash Rock wildfire in
the Ochoco National Forest, about 20 miles from Prineville.
The fire was caused by lightning strikes in late August, and about 130 members of the
National Guard's 2-218 Field Artillery unit worked 12-hour days to contain it from Aug. 28
to Sept. 2, Douglas said.
The fire had threatened several houses and a private boarding school along Highway 26.
Douglas was part of a "mop up" crew, after completing a five-day Level II
Wildland Fire Certification class at a Warrenton camp.
"We put out lingering fires, checking for 'hot spots,' digging out root systems which
can keep fires burning unseen, and smothering them with water," Douglas said.
"It was a lot of sweating and a lot of digging . . . I definitely earned my $90.71 a
day."
Workers woke at 5 a.m., ate breakfast and began the one-hour drive to the fire site at
about 6:30 a.m., he said.
They entered the fire zone armed with three types of cutting tools and a five-gallon
"bladder bag" on their backs. The firefighters worked 10 feet apart to stop
injuries being caused by other workers' cut and slash motions.
"A crew boss would assign us to work one grid at a time," said Douglas, 23, who
is approaching his fifth year with the National Guard.
"We would put out a fire, but had to watch for a few minutes because grass fires
would tend to flare up again."
One helicopter circled the fire, using Flir infra-red thermal imaging to look for hot
spots, while another used a pioneering "snorkel" to suck up 300 gallons of water
from lakes to drop on the fire. Meanwhile, vehicles monitored the potential for fires near
roads.
After 15,000 acres had burned, including about 2,800 acres burned to control the fire's
course and severity, the fire was 90 percent contained Sept. 2.
In all, about 1,250 people, including U.S. Forest Service officials and support staff,
camped out in a rancher's field as the fire was tackled.
About 600 remain there, checking for flare-ups, hot spots and renewed lightning strikes.
Oregon has been fortunate compared to some other states, and officials report more than 1
million acres have been scorched in the past two months across the United States.
The Eastside Complex fire in Hells Canyon, which saw four fires develop, has burned about
80,000 acres.
"They said we've been luckier than Montana and Idaho," said Douglas, Canby's
community service officer. "All the resources have been totally expunged nationally,
and they've really appreciated the help from the National Guard and other volunteers.
''But lightning is still a problem, and the fire season is expected to last until late
September or early October, or until the climate changes to the rainy season."
Douglas, a Beaverton High School graduate, said the idea of fighting fire with fire was a
theory he saw put to good effect in practice.
"That's the only way you can stop it," he said. "It's the only way to get
rid of the fuels than feed the fire. Water alone will not stop it."
It was Douglas' first time fighting wildfires, but his National Guard unit previously
helped stem the flooding in Lake Oswego in January 1997.
Kunze was appointed six weeks ago by the state Fire Marshal's Office to be the deputy
incident commander for an overhead team.
He was sent to the Hash Rock fire to see firefighters tactical positions and to observe
and discuss how the overhead team functions.
"I've been on strike teams or task forces as a leader five times, but this is first
time I had gone as the person responsible on the overhead side," he said.
"I thought it was great. When I went to Hash Rock, I went to observe and learn. But
it's not too often you go to 'class' and are then immediately able to use what you have
learned.
''I was finishing up class on Monday, when I got sent out into the field to do it for real
on Tuesday."
Kunze returned to Canby on Aug. 31 after six days fighting fires. He was sent to the
Eastside Complex, Oregon's largest wildfire, in Hells Canyon and the Snake River Canyon.
"Originally, it was 10 fires, and then it became five major fires," he said.
"It was huge."
Kunze said about 1,000 people were assigned to the Eastside Complex, and 900 people to the
Corral Creek fire.
"We had to protect 86 structures in the community of Imnaha and around Imnaha River
Canyon," he said.
"We sent a lot of time triaging it, working out if we could defend them by looking at
what they were built of, keeping the brush from being too close to buildings."
Kunze said regular patrols of the fires parameters was an essential job. "For our
folks, it wasn't the same as it was for wildland fire fighters," he said. "They
were suffering a lot more injuries to ankles and knees on the steep terrain . . . and had
to deal with some cougars and rattlesnakes."
State workers
tackle
unwelcome kudzu infestation
outside Aurora
Officials from the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Oregon
Department of Agriculture confronted the kudzu growing on a big maple tree near Highway
99E between Canby and Aurora with chemicals last week.
Three workers sprayed the one-quarter-of-an-acre-sized kudzu outbreak along the state
right of way with a systemic herbicide for three hours Wednesday, Sept. 13.
The deep-rooted and fast-growing kudzu was found July 28 near southbound 99E, on a steep
bank halfway up Top O' Hill, as ODA weed control workers surveyed for a parasite of
clover.
The kudzu was completely overgrown, and its massive and strong root system had choked the
life out of nearby trees, plants and berry vines. Workers used an elevated truck to get to
the rising vine's tentacles.
"It was treated with Transline, which is a systemic herbicide," said ODA
spokesman Bruce Pokarney.
"The herbicide gets chemicals into the root system and, basically, kills the plant
that way.
''We're dealing with something new in Oregon, but the herbicide has been used in the
South, where kudzu is everywhere, and it is reported to have a 96 percent success
rate."
Additional spraying sessions are expected to be needed, but the timeline is unclear.
"(The spraying) went very quickly along the highway, and then they went along a back
road to get to the other part of the infestation," Pokarney added.
Twenty-three ounces of Transline were mixed with 300 gallons of water. The herbicide
sprayed has a low toxicity, and poses no threat to human health, he said.
Another small amount of kudzu has also been found near a residential area of southwest
Portland, and another as yet unconfirmed report said kudzu was growing at a location in
Douglas County.
The kudzu in Portland was found on a one-eighth of an acre site between Barbur Boulevard
and Terwilliger Boulevard in late August.
"It's pretty small, but it belongs to a city of Portland right of way," he said.
A plan has yet to be devised for the Portland outbreak, Pokarney said. "It's a little
more complex than the Canby case because we have people living right there, so we need to
consult with residents before we proceed with a management plan," he added.
Kudzu has large, nicely shaped leaves and a sweet-smelling blossom, but it is a noxious
vine with a massive appetite.
The semi-woody perennial vine in the pea family is native to Asia. It was introduced to
the United States as an ornamental plant in the 19th century.
The plant spreads rapidly through its vine, which can grow daily by a few inches to up to
one foot. It can cover a tree in rapid fashion, and its roots - which grow as deep as 12
feet - take control of an area.
The vine was introduced into the U.S. in 1876 as an ornamental plant, but in 1953 kudzu
was recognized as a weed, and was no longer planted. It is illegal to bring the plant or
seeds into Oregon.
The two small kudzu infestations located in Oregon are the first to ever be detected west
of Texas, Pokarney said.
For more information, or to report possible kudzu or gypsy moth sightings, call ODA's Weed
Control Program at (503) 986-4621.
