2011年12月29日 星期四

Looking back at 2011

It was a close call, but West Linn voters approved a bond measure to fund a new police station in the Nov. 8 election. The new public safety facility will be located in the Willamette neighborhood at Eighth Avenue and 13th Street.

After citizens shot down a $10.8 million bond measure to fund a new public safety facility on Parker Road in May 2010, city officials credited the success of the latest bond measure to the efforts of the 16-member Community Police Facility Development Committee.

The group reviewed more than a dozen potential sites, alternative design and finance options and crafted an outreach and communication strategy for passing the bond measure. It presented its formal recommendations to the West Linn City Council in December 2010.

City staff said the $8.5 million bond will finance the cost of land acquisition and the building’s design, construction, as well as outfitting the new police department facility. During its Nov. 28 meeting, the West Linn City Council authorized the sale of $8.5 million in general obligation bonds with a 20-year term.

The current police station — located at 22825 Willamette Drive near the West Linn-Oregon City arch bridge — was built in 1936, is crowded but can’t expand past is current footprint, has little parking and isn’t seismically safe.

The Willamette neighborhood site required the city to acquire four parcels at the northeast corner of the intersection of Eighth Avenue and 13th Street, tucked on land between Les Schwab Tires and the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue’s Station 59.

Measure 3-377 will cost taxpayers about $46 a year for a $285,000 home over 20 years, or about $3.80 a month.

City council approved a motion to appoint members to a newly formed Police Station Steering Committee at its Dec. 12 meeting, which will act as a go-between for the contractors and the city council during the design and construction process, making recommendations along the way.

The oversight committee will then form a larger design committee with up to 20 neighbors,Accept credit cards with a third party merchant account, stakeholders, police department employees and other community representatives. This group will provide input on what the building will look like inside and out, as well as the surrounding landscaping.

The employee-owned Blue Heron Paper Company abruptly went out of business in February, shutting down its plant with 175 workers in Oregon City and stopping use of a 39-acre parcel with a lagoon in West Linn.Our company focus on manufacturing Plastic mould , The company couldn’t pull back since filing for bankruptcy protection in Dec. 2009 and attempting to produce less newsprint and more of an environmentally friendly, commercial-grade towel material.

Company president Mike Siebers said that mills like Blue Heron were “where the actual recycling of the collected wastepaper you set out at the curb” took place.

Metro has expressed interest in the old mill site and Water Environmental Services (WES) wants to take over its West Linn property. However, the deadline for submitting bids on the parcels passed Dec. 14, and no official announcements or transactions were made.

If WES secures the property, the city of West Linn may develop and restore the property as parkland, which was formerly used as a wastewater treatment and discharge facility. The property sits along Volpp Street in the Willamette neighborhood.

In June, Walmart, the world’s largest corporation, announced it would open one if its “neighborhood markets” in the space formerly occupied by Bales Marketplace off Willamette Drive in West Linn, spurring controversy among city residents.

Walmart’s “market” stores typically measure about 42,000 square feet and feature groceries, a pharmacy, paper goods, health and beauty products and pet and household supplies — a similar range of products to what is available at most Fred Meyer stores.MDC Mould specialized of Injection moulds,

West Linn’s store, which will likely open in 2013, will employ between 75 and 100 people, and hiring is tentatively scheduled to begin in summer 2012.

City of West Linn staff announced Sept. 19 that the building permits for the property at 19133 Willamette Drive had been approved and were available for the applicant — Walmart.

The city stated that it anticipates minor improvements will be made to the outside of the building as well, such as repainting and repairing cracked window trims. The square footage of the store will not increase. According to the Walmart website, the company does not have any of its neighborhood markets in Oregon yet, although it has permits filed for similar stories in Gresham and Beaverton. Another market is also planned for Lake Oswego off Jean Road. These stores will join Walmart’s 17 supercenters, 14 discount stores and a distribution center in Oregon.Bathroom Floor tiles at Great Prices from Topps Tiles.

Supporters for an aquatic and recreation center in West Linn are still optimistic they can get the job done with a November 2012 vote for a $22 million capital bond.

Having tabled the push for the pool earlier this year to make room for the police station measure, aquatic center backers started gearing up again in December.

The proposed pool and recreation center would be built on 7.5 acres off Parker Road near Tanner Creek Park and would include a recreation pool, room to add a competition pool, indoor sport courts, an elevated running track, a fitness center with studios and amenities such as patio seating, a snack bar and recreation space for teens.

The hope is to work with a financial or operational partner.

The city parks and recreation department is seeking requests for information (RFI) to identify potential partners.

The city of Lake Oswego plans to double the amount of drinking water treated at a plant it owns in West Linn’s Robinwood neighborhood, expanding its capacity from 16 million gallons a day to 32 million gallons, with the potential to handle up to 38 million gallons.

Neighbors have been vehemently fighting all year against an expansion of the West Linn plant, but the expansion could provide vital emergency water to the city of West Linn while servicing Lake Oswego and Tigard, which have partnered up to install a larger pipeline from the river to the plant and increase the size and capacity of the plant.

This plant expansion is one element in a $200 million water supply partnership between Lake Oswego and Tigard.

The timeline for the project includes submitting the application for the plant at the beginning of 2012 and submitting the pipeline application in April. Design and permitting is scheduling to extend into 2013, with construction from 2013 to 2015 and completion set for 2016.

West Linn cut cable television ties with Oregon City and the Willamette Falls Media Center (WFMC) this year, making a move to the larger Metropolitan Area Communications Commission (MACC).

After the city questioned the media center’s financial responsibility, the center temporarily shut down in the spring for an investigation. No wrongdoings or mismanagement were found, but that didn’t satisfy some officials’ concerns.

Both cities jointly share the public access facility in Oregon City, where public, education and government (PEG) shows are created, edited and aired. WFMC is governed by the Clackamas Cable Advisory Board (CCAB), which is composed of three volunteers from West Linn and three volunteers from Oregon City.Buy oil paintings for sale online. Backers of the the media center are working to keep the center open and running as a nonprofit.

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