Industrial park is
key to city's future

The Canby Area Chamber of Commerce has a mission statement that says, "to promote a positive business environment and speak for our members business interests while supporting community activities."

A city's vitality depends on whether its heart continues to function efficiently. The heart of a city is its downtown (commercial core).

The chamber feels the present course change that has been indicated by the mayor will lead to the demise of downtown unless the promotion of new business within the industrial area is accomplished.

Canby needs good family-wage jobs in order to promote a whole community atmosphere where people can live, work and play in their hometown. At present, there are few family-wage jobs within Canby.

We can continue to obtain the "small hometown" feeling while providing jobs within our community. This can be accomplished through the development of the (Logging Road Industrial Park). To promote the light industrial park, Canby must make some initial investment in order to attract these good employers.

One of the main attraction points would be the inclusion and completion of Sequoia Parkway, as this is proposed as a main artery for the industrial area.

Without the presence of the light industrial park, our town will continue to work elsewhere in the Portland area. This, in turn, encourages the residents of Canby to shop and dine in other parts of the Portland area instead of in Canby.

Therefore, in the interest of the survival of our commercial core of business, it is essential that the light industrial park be encouraged and aided by our citizenry as much as possible.

Without the light industrial park, the commercial core of Canby is destined to become much smaller with the demise and death of many independent businesses.

Urban renewal makes good sense in Canby. Urban renewal agencies draw a boundary around a "blighted" area, freeze the property values, and then borrow monies to finance improvements, which spurs further development and private investment.

Property values eventually increase and the taxes are raised which, in turn, are used to repay the borrowed monies. Without the URD monies, special tax levies will need to be imposed for the "blighted" areas, which leads to tax increases.

The public investment that will be going into the infrastructure of the light industrial park will more than repay itself with the return investment in our citizenry so they may live, work and play at home and be part of a complete community.
Linda Runyan-Finden,  President
Canby Area Chamber of Commerce

Poor paint job is
driving us crazy

Traffic on Territorial Road and Holly Street continues to increase year after year. I have lived on Territorial Road for 19 years. I have seen our prime farmlands converted into housing developments along Territorial between Maple and Holly streets, when only five houses were there in the early 1980s.

Raising two children on this busy street has always concerned both me and my wife. When it was announced that a bike lane was going to be put in from Highway 99E to Molalla River State Park, I thought this would be a good thing for the whole community.

Once construction began I was concerned if they were going to meet the deadlines set for completion. One landmark which was lost through the construction process was the old fir tree on the corner of Maple and Territorial. It housed the Willamette Valley Country Club sign for more years than I have lived here, along with many others that were attached over the years.

Over the years, the property owners had asked the city to have the tree removed for safety reasons, but were turned down repetitively. However, upon approval of the bike path, it came down within three to four weeks.

A number of people's yards were in disarray for weeks, while others are still not back to normal. I am certain that between the county and the city bids were let out to do the work.

They must have awarded the contract to the lowest bidder, based upon some of the equipment that was used over the course of the project.

I understand that some equipment that looks old is quite functional, but if you spend more time working on the equipment than working with it, it appears a bit suspect.

I believe there are city ordinances which require all work to be stopped at 9 p.m., and not to start before 7 a.m. However, there were a couple of times when work continued until approximately midnight. I'm sure this had to be done in order to stay on schedule.

I have also noticed that the location of storm drains must have been well thought through. Due to the drains not being placed at the lowest point of the street, water will stand in front of people's driveways for days before evaporating.

The best part of this, however, was on a cold, wet day driving home to find the county had painted stripes on the road, and the paint was running all over the place.

They were very expedient about getting a crew of people out to spread gravel over the top of the paint to keep it from making a bigger mess, while their clean up crew used motorized sweepers to brush and vacuum up the mess. This sent gravel onto sidewalks along Territorial Road, which still exists.

Currently, between Holly and Maple streets there are seven different sets of lines visible on the road surface. Driving on this street daily I know within which set of lines I am supposed to keep my vehicle. However, once it gets dark, it can be a bit confusing.

I wonder what other people think when they drive this stretch of road. I would assume either the contractor, the county or the city will eventually come back and restripe the road when they deem it necessary. Until then, try to do your best by keeping your vehicle within the group of lines in front of you.

I am certain all parties involved have received payment for a job well done, but as a concerned citizen, it would be nice to have one center line and the bike lanes marked appropriately for the safety of all pedestrians and motorists.
Jim Hostetler
Canby

Donate pennies
to Make-A-Wish

Our Girl Scout troop, along with the Canby School District, is raising money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. We wanted to remind Canby readers to donate pennies to this wonderful cause.

As you're probably aware, this fund-raiser will give terminally ill children in the Portland metro area a chance to participate in an activity they can only dream about.

Donations of pennies, nickels, dimes or other donations, such as refundable cans, would be greatly appreciated. Please help by participating either at our schools, through radio station K103 or by donations to any U.S. Bank.
Misty Forsman
Canby Girl Scout Troop 2221

Replacing culvert is
waste of tax dollars

Regarding your article in the Canby Herald about replacing the road culverts to ease the passage for salmon in Clackamas County, it is unfortunate that some common sense isn't being used.

The picture shown with the article is of the Dove Creek culvert on Dryland Road which, according to the article, is scheduled to be replaced. As soon as the spring rains stop this becomes a dry ditch. I live about 200 yards from this creek, and I have never seen a fish in it, let alone a salmon.

Furthermore, I have never heard of a fish spawning in an area of a stream that dries up in the summer.

Last summer, they replaced the culvert for the same creek on Highway 170. My point of view simply is, in streams like these, replacing the culverts becomes a waste of taxpayers' money.
Duane Shaw
Canby

Sweetheart Dance
was a great success

The second annual Sweetheart Dance, put on by the Canby Music Boosters with the help of many local businesses, was a great success. The Feb. 2 event was sponsored by Canby Carstar, Cutsforth's Thriftway, Oliver-Madeira Insurance and Wally's Music Shop of Oregon City.

Couples danced to tunes from the 1940s through the 1990s, played by the Canby High School jazz band and the CHS symphonic band and wind ensemble. The Canby Boosters, a group of parents and friends who support the music education program in the local schools, planned the dance and dessert as a fund-raiser for the bands. With the help of the band members, the Canby High School Commons was decorated with shimmering hearts and lights. Candlelit tables added to the romantic Valentine's atmosphere.

Businesses that sponsored tables were Canby Ford, Canby J & M Automotive, CTA/DirectLink, Dave's Prescription Shop, Ernie Graham Oil, Potters Industries, J.M. Smucker Co., and Willamette Nurseries. Donations were also made by Steven Hagler DMD, Millar's HiWay Tire and Steven L. Severeide, DMD. Coffee was provided by Starbucks.

A silent auction attracted attention between music sets and helped raise additional money. Auction items were donated by A Touch of Home, All American Frozen Yogurt & Ice Cream Shop, Blockbuster, Country Junction, the Enyart family, Hollywood Video, Jarboe's Grill, Andy and Helen Krzmarzick, Millar's HiWay Tire, Mona Dahl Piano Studio, Parsons Canby Pharmacy, Postal Annex and Starbucks.

Thank you also to Jim Trafton for ticket printing, Cutsforth's Thriftway for poster printing, Hiway 99E Mini Storage for advertising on their sign board, and all the members of the community who attended the event.
Lori Fitzgerald, Barb Jennings
Helen Krzmarzick and Dana Tyler
Canby Music Boosters Dance Committee

CTA can find the
right plan for you

In response to a letter from a concerned Canby Telephone customer, we wish to clarify a pricing issue related to our long distance telephone service.

Canby Telephone Association, through its subsidiary DirectLink, offers two long distance plans: 10 cents per minute with a monthly charge of $4.95; and 16 cents per minute with no monthly charge.

These rates are available any time day or night, anywhere in the U.S. CTA customers average 40 minutes of long distance calling per month, which calculates out to $6 to $9 per month. In addition, our SimpleChoice calling plan offers 25 free long distance minutes per month of DirectLink Long Distance.

There have been many instances when we have been able to save customers money with DirectLink Long Distance because many "low rate" plans from competing companies have unadvertised monthly charges, minimum calling times in order to get discounted rates, and/or times of day that calls have to be placed in order to receive the discounted rates.

CTA customers have a choice of who they want to be their long distance carrier. Our customer care specialists are more than happy to give customers a list of long distance carriers from which to choose.

Please contact the CTA Customer Care Center at 503-266-8111 for information.
Jeff Pearson
Canby Telephone Association