City
leaders zero in on
zoning is a feast for the eyes
Photo by Dave Anderson
A number of property owners and local residents have expressed concern about the types of uses that should be allowed in the Logging Road Industrial Park. Canby Market Center (which occupies the middle portion of this photo) is the first phase of the proposed three-phase park. Voters will decide Sept. 19 whether an additional 300 acres of land southeast of Canby Market Center should be annexed into the city, allowing the second and third phases of the industrial park to proceed.
By David Howell
of the Herald
Discussions are progressing on the issue of allowed
uses for future industrial park land, as the Canby City Council, Canby Planning Commission
and Industrial Area Association members prepare to meet for a third time tonight.
The groups have already held joint workshops to discuss possible changes to zoning in the
proposed three-phase Logging Road Industrial Park.
In order for the 300 acres of land planned for Phases II and III to be absorbed into the
city limits, voters would need to approve a Sept. 19 annexation measure.
Local leaders and landowners have looked at the types of conditional uses allowed in the
city's industrial area, and debated whether any modifications need to be made to the
current list of allowed uses.
Some property owners and residents had expressed concern at earlier public hearings about
the potential for undesirable industries or businesses moving in to the southeast Canby
industrial park.
"People have aired concerns about what types of uses be allowed in the industrial
zone," said John Williams, the director of the Canby Planning Department.
"There have been concerns we might have loopholes in our codes. We're looking at the
codes, seeing if there are any (loopholes), and are taking care of them in case the
annexation does pass."
The city's comprehensive plan calls for three zones: C-M heavy commercial manufacturing;
M-2 heavy industrial; and M-1 light industrial.
Williams said a process defining "triggers" that would push a proposed
development in the industrial park to require meeting conditional use permit standards is
moving forward.
He said four triggers have been discussed and defined so far: (where the asterisks are,
there were boxes, but they didn't translate) * No one tenant could take up more than 60
acres.
* No tenant would be allowed to use, manufacture, store or sell significant amounts of
hazardous materials or substances.
* All tenants would be required to create a minimum of 12 jobs per acre. * If a tenant
uses a lot of public services, such as a computer chipmaker's need for water, the city
would have more discretionary power in allowing the development to move forward.
Currently, the city restricts development in the industrial areas only by use, but
officials feel more control over the size and impact of new businesses and industries is
needed.
If the triggers proved too restrictive, or not restrictive enough, modifications could be
made, Williams said.
David Eatwell, the director of Canby Business Revitalization, has warned against allowing
"big box" stores to come in and dominate the industrial park and local retail
landscape, proposing stores' square footage be limited.
Eatwell said such companies "take up a very large footprint, give comparatively few
jobs in return, and the jobs they do provide are mostly at or only slightly above the
minimum wage."
Williams said Aug. 28 meeting attendees suggested limiting the potential influx of big box
stores by requiring commercial uses in the industrial zone take up no more than 50,000
square feet per store.
"They are looking for a variety of kinds of jobs," Williams said. "The
focus is on attracting industrial jobs paying family wages, rather than minimum wage
retail jobs."
The group are due to make a list of outright prohibited uses to be added to the Industrial
Area Overlay Zone, and suggestions have been made.
"This list could be changed down the road at any time through another code
amendment," Williams wrote in a memorandum to the meeting attendees. ''However, until
then, it would keep any of these deleterious uses from trying to 'sneak in' under our
existing code.
''If we adopt all the (discussed) standards, particularly the prohibited uses list, there
should be no need to eliminate the Heavy Industrial Zone. This zone allows no uses
outright that are not allowed in the Light Industrial Zone.
''All additional uses are conditional, meaning that the city has flexibility to review
specific uses on a case-by-case basis."
Williams proposed rewording the current conditional use criteria, which he said may not be
as flexible as the city would like.
It currently states: "The proposed use will not alter the character of the
surrounding areas in a manner which substantially limits, or precludes, the use of
surrounding properties for the uses listed as permitted in the zone."
To give the city more discretion, he proposed adding: "Conditional uses in the
industrial park shall also meet the following additional criteria:
The proposed use is compatible with the industrial nature of the park and will have minimal impact on the development and use of surrounding properties;
The proposed use is beneficial to the overall economic health and vitality of the city considering the uses already in place.
For more information on the zoning issue attend tonight 6 p.m. workshop at Council Chambers, or call Williams at the Canby Planning Department at 266-9404.
It's 11 candles and
counting for Mollie
By David Howell
of the Herald
Mollie Hauck celebrated her 11th birthday Friday, enjoying a party with
her doctors and nurses in Portland, a day after jetting back from appearing on national
television with her surgeon in New York City.
And now a big birthday bash is being thrown for the Canby girl Saturday by a
Portland-based nonprofit foundation.
Phew, life is busy for Mollie.
And she's loving every minute of it - even a broken right ankle isn't slowing her down!
"She's still feeling really good," said Kathy Hauck, Mollie's mother. "She
broke her ankle while playing. In her eyes, having a broken bone is nothing. 'They can fix
it,' is how she looks at it."
On Aug. 30, Mollie and her physician, Dr. Ted Moore, appeared on ABC-TV's "Good
Morning America" show with Diane Sawyer.
"They talked about the stem cell transplant and about what a miraculous recovery this
child has made," her mother said.
"The disease has gone. It was a very educational trip for Mollie and her doctor.
She'll remember it for a lifetime . . . She did this for Dr. Moore. He's a God in her
eyes."
On Aug. 31, a day before her 11th birthday, friends and physicians gathered at Oregon
Health Sciences University's Doernbecher Children's Hospital, where she underwent the
pioneering procedure aimed at slowing or stopping Mollie's juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
in November.
As she hobbled on crutches or was pushed in a wheelchair around Doernbecher, she dispensed
lollipops and little pearls of wisdom to other brave children battling debilitating
illnesses.
Mollie is one of very few children in the world to have a received a stem cell transplant
for her particular form of arthritis. The difficult procedure was developed by doctors in
Holland.
Martha Brooks, a Kaiser Permanente pediatrician who has cared for Mollie since she was a
toddler, and the physicians who operated on her are delighted at her progress.
The little girl with the big smile is currently pain-free for the first time she was first
diagnosed with the debilitating disease eight years ago. "For only 10 months out from
the transplant, Mollie has done wonderful," Kathy Hauck said. "I would say she
has 80 percent more in life than she had before.
''Just walking and playing with no pain in joints that can now move - to me that's a
lot".
Mollie is looking forward to returning to school, and seeing friends she communicated with
by computer - complete with two-way cameras so the class could see Mollie, and vice versa
- during her time in isolation after her operation.
This year, Mollie will be a fifth-grade student in teacher Diana Calcagno's Trost
Elementary School class.
But, as fall approaches, Mollie and family can look back on a busy, but enjoyable, summer.
"She went fishing and crabbing with her dad, and went to a cancer camp in Rockaway
for a week," Kathy Hauck said. "They said Mollie ran the camp. With her bright
red hair, her camp name was 'sassy.' They thought that was quite appropriate, and she had
a great time with her counselor and new friends."
Mollie was also the grand marshal in the General Canby Day parade July 4, riding in a
1960s Ford Mustang and throwing candy to kids on the curbs.
"She's the best that we've ever seen her in her whole life," said father Samuel
Hauck, as Mollie toured the children's ward Friday, "and she's going to keep
progressing."
Even though her birthday was Sept. 1, Mollie will celebrate her birthday with invited
guests from Saturday, Sept. 9, at the Flower Farmer in Canby. The special party is being
thrown by the Alexandria Ellis Foundation of Portland, a nonprofit group which makes
wishes come true for ill or deprived children.
Kathy Hauck said during her daughter's long battle with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and
subsequent or related illnesses, Mollie's dream was to be a kid and have a great big
party.
On Saturday, her wish will come true, as Mollie and pals ride on the miniature railway,
eat lovely food, and have a great ol' time. Happy Birthday Mollie!
DirectLink workers
to retain jobs, MDM says
By David Howell
of the Herald
The company planning to buy the cable television service in Canby and
Woodburn is growing by leaps and bounds.
And that fact should spell good news for current employees' job security. St. Louis,
Mo.-based Millennium Digital Media intends to buy Canby-based DirectLink of Oregon Inc.'s
cable TV division for an undisclosed amount, pending franchise approval.
DirectLink, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canby Telephone Association, has 28 cable TV
employees in Canby and five in Woodburn, and operates cable TV systems in numerous
neighboring and nearby towns.
"All cable employees employed by DirectLink at the time of closing with Millennium
will be offered jobs," said Steven Weed, the company's Northwest region president.
"We are committed to hiring them. Any layoffs would be up to DirectLink, and we don't
expect any."
DirectLink and CTA President Richard Ares announced the proposed sale two weeks ago,
citing his firms' inability to "sustain the capital investment necessary to build and
maintain two separate delivery systems - telephone and cable - as we have done to
date."
The local cable TV service was established in 1982, and currently has 12,750 customers in
Canby, Woodburn, Aurora, Donald, Gervais, Hubbard, Oregon City, Beavercreek, Stafford and
outlying rural areas.
Ares said it would take many millions of dollars for DirectLink to invest in emerging
broadband technology for both its telephone and cable TV services. A large debt service
was also a factor.
Instead, DirectLink's board of directors decided to invest time, money and resources in
its telephone and Internet systems through the development of digital subscriber lines and
other new technologies, Ares added.
He said the offer from MDM was the best of two bona fide offers from among five interested
parties.
"We won't share the exact sale price, but DirectLink received a fair and reasonable
price for its 18-year investment in the cable systems," Ares said in mid-August.
"(The money) will be adequate for significant investment in our telecommunications
over the next few years."
The process of closing the deal could take three to five months, Weed said.
In order to be completed, approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the nine
franchises in which DirectLink offers cable TV services is needed, but both parties
anticipate approval will be forthcoming.
"We're really excited about it," Weed said. "We really want to improve the
system as soon as we can. Our goal is to offer two-way Internet access over cable, as well
as digital cable, over all our markets.
''But the first thing customers can expect is really no change - the service will be run
by the same management team and employees as it is now.
''We're going to work as hard as we can to get new products out . . . We've got the money
to upgrade, but it's going to take years, not months."
MDM currently has three cable regions, with 50,000 customers receiving service from the
Baltimore, Md., area, 42,000 from the East Lansing, Mich., area, and 70,000 in the Pacific
Northwest.
MDM has quickly grown to become a regional competitor of AT&T Cable, which has also
been ravenous in its appetite for consuming smaller cable systems, notably Paragon and TCI
in the Portland area.
"We see (the DirectLink purchase) as an opportunity to expand and compete with
AT&T in other markets," Weed said.
"Millennium's growth has all been by acquisition, and it has done a great job of
using the existing management and employee experience. This will be our fifth acquisition
in the region."
MDM bought Summit Communications of Bellevue, Wash., in April 1999, where Ward was the
firm's chief operating officer, inheriting its 42,000 customers.
Since then, it has purchased a cable TV system serving 5,000 customers in Depoe Bay,
Newport and Otis along the Pacific Coast.
MDM has also bought Cable Plus, a private cable firm serving 6,000 apartment complex
residents in the Portland metro area. Large amounts of venture capital has allowed the
company to expand quickly through acquisitions.
The company has about 58,000 customers in the greater Seattle area, serving communities in
Issaquah, Bellevue, King County and Snohomish County, plus 1,000 customers in Idaho.
"Although Millennium is new, it's really a group of established companies with very
experienced managers and employees," said Weed, a 19-year veteran of the cable TV
business who worked for Summit for 12 years. "We do very well focusing on the quality
of service and local programming."
If, and when, the sale goes through, DirectLink will continue to offer and operate
long-distance phone, voice-mail messaging, calling cards, toll-free numbers and Web-ster
Internet services.
MDM, which has also acquired many Internet companies in recent times, and DirectLink will
eventually become competitors in the local online market.
19 new
teachers
start year at CHS
By Linda McDonnell
of the Herald
Canby schools will open this year with 37 new faces among the teaching
staff.
Canby High School is seeing the greatest staff turnover, with 19 of the new teachers
assigned there. The district's six elementary schools will see 14 new teachers, while
Ackerman Middle School will see four.
"We've had a lot of retirements over the last two or thee years," said Sandy
Kundert, personnel specialist for the district. Many of the district's senior staff
members are at the high school, where turnover has been greatest, she said.
Most of the newcomers are classroom teachers, but three new administrators have come
aboard as well. At the high school, Todd Bowman will become associate principal, and
former Canby High School teacher Dennis Burke will become associate principal of athletics
and activities.
Ed Armstrong is a new face at the district's central office, taking over the position of
research and development coordinator.
Kundert said the district found many good candidates through the Oregon Educator Fair in
April, which draws prospective teachers from all across the country.
"We made contact with some really quality people," said Kundert. The on-line
Oregon Teacher Application System turned up another strong batch of national and even
international candidates. As a result, said Kundert, "We hired more than usual from
out of state."
Teachers to fill the English Language Learner Program (formerly English as a Second
Language) were among the most difficult to find, said Kundert.
Counseling proved to be another hard-to-fill area. One counselor the district hired is
still finishing up her academic program. Until she complete her credits, she'll be known
as an "educational adviser."
A final area that's been difficult to fill is special education. The district is still
seeking a half-time special education teacher for Ackerman Middle School, said Kundert.
Retirements and resignations were about equal among departing Canby teachers last year.
Most of the resignations come from teachers moving to a district that is closer to their
own home or offers a higher salary, said Kundert.
Others are moms who decide to leave the district for a while to spend more time with their
own children at home.
Canby's teacher compensation is about average, Kundert said. For teachers entering from
smaller districts, it looks good; but from the vantage point of larger districts with more
resources, it doesn't compare as well, she noted.
She cited the example of one counselor who resigned to take a position at a school closer
to his home. The new school had slightly fewer students, one more counselor, an
administrator that worked with the counseling department, and a higher pay scale.
"You can't blame somebody for leaving when the new job offers better working
conditions and more pay - and it's closer to home," said Kundert.
Canby maintains classes at 21 to 25 students per classroom teacher in the elementary
school; 30 per teacher at the middle school; and 24 to 28 students per teacher for core
classes at the high school. The higher student-teacher ratio at the middle school reflects
the choice to use a block scheduling format.
New teachers will make their debut when school opens Wednesday. Freshman orientation takes
place at the high school Tuesday, Sept. 5, and classes begin in earnest for all students
Sept. 6.
"It's going to be a great year," said Kundert. "We're thrilled that our
bonds passed and we could do the maintenance that was needed."
At Carus Elementary School, she said, brand-new siding makes the building "look like
they started over from the outside in."
