UTILITY COMMISSIONERS SET TO ADOPT BUDGET

The proposed 2005 budgets for Clark Public Utilities show no increase in rates for electricity, but water and sewer customers could face higher prices.

Adoption of electric, water and sewer budgets totalling about $325 million could take place Tues., Dec. 7.

Utility spokesman Mick Shutt said the cost of natural gas has driven the electric budget up from $310 million this year to a proposed $315 million in 2005.

While the federal Bonneville Power Administration has reduced its rates, the utility will pay about 40 percent more for natural in 2005 than this year.

The utility uses natural gas to fire its River Road Generating Plant which supplies as much as half of the utility's power needs. The remainder is purchased from Bonneville and other sources.

Shutt said the utility has signed contracts for the purchase of natural gas in 2005 at an average price of $6.905 per million BTUs. In 2004, the utility paid an average of 4.950 per million BTUs, said Shutt.

The utility paid about $89.2 million for natural gas in 2004, but has budgeted $125.4 million in 2005, an increase of $36 million.

Shutt said the utility will pay about $9 million less for power from Bonneville in 2005 as compared to this year.

Officials plan to shut down the River Road generating plant for up to six months in 2005 when electricity could be purchased on the open market at prices below the cost of operating the plant.

That calculation includes the resale of natural gas that the utility had contracted to buy.

Shutt said buying or generating power consumes about 72 percent of the utility's electric budget. Total labor cost at the utility is about $19.4 million or about 6 percent of the budget. Labor cost is budgeted at an increase of 3.2 percent over 2004.

Shutt said the utility will establish a "Rate Stabilization Fund" to help even out future changes in the price of power. The Fund will begin with about $5 million which utility officials expect to accumulate as a surplus from this year's budget.

Shutt said that, whereas Bonneville previously changed rates every five years, such rates are now adjusted twice yearly. And gas prices, said Shutt, can fluctuate month-to-month.

The Rate Stabilization Fund could be used to moderate the effects of frequent power and gas price changes.

The utility has added about 3,000 electric customers this year, and expects to add another 4,600 next year.

Water budget show deficit

The utility's draft water system budget shows a loss in 2005 of about $600,000, following a loss this year of about $460,000.

Shutt said the commissioners will consider a water rate increase to cover the deficit, but won't take up that matter until after the budget is adopted.

Similarly, the sewer budget shows a shortfall of about $174,000.

The utility operates the La Center wastewater treatment system. An increase in sewer rates in La Center will be considered to balance the sewer budget, said Shutt.

Commissioners of Clark Public Utilities meet most Tuesdays, 9 a.m., at 1200 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver. Public comments are taken at meetings.

Tree cuts power output

A falling tree on Hayden Island in Portland severed the power supply line that connects the utility's River Road plant with the Bonneville power distribution grid.

Shutt said the tree fell in the evening of Nov. 14, and the severed line was repaired 48 hours later.

During that time, the River Road plant could not be used because power could not be transmitted to the grid.

The River Road plant ties into a transmission line that connects Merwin Dam to the federal grid in Portland.

BIGGER SPEELYAI RAMP OPENS DEC. 2

Bill Myers, staff reporter

Boaters at Lake Merwin will launch from a new ramp and docks at Speelyai Bay starting Dec. 2.

PacifiCorp engineer Arnold Adams said the boat ramp

was extended by 45 feet, making it 115 feet long. New docks, 100 feet long and 8 feet wide, were anchored on each side of the ramp.

The longer ramp will add weeks of boating recreation time at Lake Merwin because boaters will be able to launch at water levels 6 feet below a previous low-water ramp closure point.

The addition of long docks on each side of the ramp will allow boaters to safely walk alongside boats to and from deep water.

PacifiCorp manages hydroelectric systems at Lake Merwin, Yale Lake and Swift Reservoir.

Cowlitz County Public Utility District manages a separate hydropower project on the Swift Canal downstream from the Swift Reservoir.

Both utilities are in the process of applying for a 50-year relicensing agreement from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

CHRISTMAS SHIPS SET SAIL ON FESTIVE WATERS

Heidi Wallenborn, news director

This year marks the 50th year the Christmas Ship Parade has set sail on the Columbia and Willamette rivers to the joy of area residents and visitors.

The two-week event features a fleet of about 60 boat enthusiasts from the Portland/Vancouver area who have decorated their vessels with angels, Santa Clauses, elves, trees and strings of lights that can be seen from both riverbanks.

Each boat owner designs and builds a lit Christmas display and pays their own operating costs to cruise the rivers.

Several displays never change year to year, but other boats join in, adding to the variety. Not all boats go out every night.

The Christmas floating parade began in 1954 with one sailboat from the Portland Yacht Club decked out with evergreen boughs and ribbon tied along the rails.

By the following year, the parade grew, and over the course of 50 years, has evolved into the brightly lit display that it is today.

The flotilla begins Thurs., Dec. 9, and will continue until Tues., Dec. 21.

Catch the holiday sights from here:

** Columbia River

Thurs., Dec. 9, 7 p.m., destination I-5 bridge, Columbia Shores Complex, Hayden Bay;

Fri., Dec. 10, 7 p.m., North Portland Harbor;

Sat., Dec. 11, 6 p.m., destination St. Helens, Columbia City RV Park on Washington side;

Sun., Dec. 12, both fleets 4:30 p.m., destination Scappoose/Multnomah;

Mon., Dec. 13, 7 p.m., destination I-5 bridge, Columbia Shores Complex;

Tues., Dec. 14, 7 p.m., destination I-205 bridge/Steamboat Landing Washington side;

Wed., Dec. 15, 7 p.m., destination North Portland Harbor;

Thurs., Dec. 16, 7 p.m., destination I-5 bridge, Columbia Shores Complex, Hayden Bay;

Fri., Dec. 17, 7 p.m., destination I-205 bridge/Steamboat Landing;

Sat., Dec. 18, 5 p.m., both fleets, destination Milwaukie, then downriver to Swan Island;

Sun., Dec. 19, 6 p.m., destination Camas/Washougal, return on Washington side;

Mon., Dec. 20, 7 p.m., destination I-5 bridge, Columbia Shores Complex, Hayden Bay;

Tues., Dec. 21, 7 p.m., destination 42nd St. boat ram/I-5 bridge area; and

** Willamette River

Thurs., Dec. 9, 7 p.m., destination Milwaukie;

Fri., Dec. 10, 7 p.m., destination Swan Island;

Sat., Dec. 11, 6 p.m., destination Lake Oswego Oregon Yacht Club;

Sun., Dec. 12, 4:30 p.m., both fleets, destination Scappoose Multnomah Channel;

Mon., Dec. 13, 7 p.m., destination Milwaukie;

Tues., Dec. 14, 7 p.m., destination Swan Island;

Wed., Dec. 15, 7 p.m., destination Milwaukie;

Thurs., Dec. 16, 7 p.m., destination Swan Island;

Fri., Dec. 17, 7 p.m., destination Milwaukie Oregon Yacht Club;

Sat., Dec. 18, 5 p.m., both fleets, destination Milwaukie, then downriver to Sawn Island;

Sun., Dec. 19, 6 p.m., destination Lake Oswego to Riverplace Marina;

Mon., Dec. 20, 7 p.m., destination Swan Island;

Tues., Dec. 21, 7 p.m., destination Milwaukie.

Schedules are subject to change in accordance with boating safety, weather or other reasons beyond control of the ship operators.

APPEALS FILED AGAINST STOREDAHL MINE DECISION

Marcus Brotherton, staff reporter

Three appeals have been filed against a Nov. 4 approval by Clark County land use hearings examiner Daniel Kearns to rezone a gravel pit located near the East Fork of the Lewis River.

The appeals mean new surface mining operations may be delayed or potentially prohibited at a site north of Daybreak Park owned by the applicant, J.L. Storedahl & Sons, Inc.

Over the next months, Clark County commissioners will review several years of records and arguments for and against the proposal to see if an error was made in Kearns' report. The commissioners are expected to decide the matter at a public meeting Thurs., Feb. 3, 10 a.m., Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin St., Vancouver.

Proponents of the mine believe the site will become a crucial gravel provider for state and area roads and concrete projects, as well as provide additional family-wage jobs in the area. Projections show about 40 jobs will come from the project.

Opponents, mostly environmental group representatives and neighbors of the mine, believe mining would irreparably damage fish habitat in the East Fork as well as harm groundwater resources in the area.

Of the three appeals, one was made by neighbors of the mine, Ridgefield residents Jane and Mike Traffalis. One is a joint appeal made by two environmental groups, Fish First and Friends of the East Fork. Some 1,600 members of the Southwest Washington Sierra Club sent a joint letter to commissioners stating their support of the appeal by Fish First and the Friends. The final appeal was made by Storedahl representatives who received a favorable decision from Kearns but are contesting a prohibition to wet-wash aggregate on the site.

Appeal content examined

The Traffalis' appeal centers around noise levels in certain areas adjacent the mine site.

Kearns' decision mandates noise-dampening berms be placed around the site, but the Traffalises contend a berm could not feasibly be constructed on a high bluff located near the south side of the site.

In a 21-page appeal document drafted by attorneys David McDonald, Svend Brandt-Erichsen and Catherine Chesick, joint council for the Friends and Fish First groups, the attorneys allege Kearns' report contains several critical errors.

Errors allegedly include treatment of Storedahl's claimed right to mine as a nonconforming use. Essentially, Storedahl representatives had argued that they had a right to mine at Daybreak because mining by other owners had previously occurred on site.

Kearns based much of his decision on interpretations of a 1996 decision by the Washington State Supreme Court that allows nonconforming uses under certain circumstances.

The law implies, wrote Kearns, that if Storedahl hypothetically had not proposed to expand operations, the company could still legally process material at the site and extract some amount of sand and gravel under current regulations.

The attorneys contend that Kearns treated the nonconforming use interpretation as a right to mine all the site, even though the scope of the nonconforming use has allegedly never been determined.

The attorneys also claim Kearns ignored the County's legal right to limit or phase out a nonconforming use to protect competing values such as the importance of the Lewis River's fish habitat and the sensitivity of the river's floodplain.

Alleged misinterpreted evidence regarding potential consequences of the mine is another reason the environmental attorneys brought their appeal.

According to the attorneys, too much risk is presented to fish habitat if the river were to change course due to potential flooding.

The attorneys also contend Kearns misapplied segments of the County's comprehensive plan, specifically those related to areas near the 100-year floodplain.

Storedahl vice president Kimball Storedahl wrote in his appeal documents that overall, "Storedahl is very pleased with the Examiner's final order."

Storedahl's appeal focuses largely on the prohibition of the use of wet washing on site. Wet processing has not occurred on site since February 2001 when the County issued a stop work order on Storedahl.

Once gravel is mined, it needs to be cleaned to remove finer particles of dirt. The cleaner rock is, the better it sticks together when mixed with other ingredients for its various uses, which produces, for example, longer lasting roads, say Storedahl representatives.

At the Daybreak site, water used for wet processing would be discharged into a series of ponds for treatment and eventually enter Dean Creek, a tributary of the East Fork.

Storedahl representatives contend the water from the last pond could be treated to safely mitigate impacts.

RIDGEFIELD DECIDES ON HIGH SCHOOL

Marcus Brotherton, staff reporter

Ridgefield school board members voted unanimously Nov. 23 to accept a citizens committee recommendation to build a new high school on land newly acquired by the District.

Deciding on a high school is the next step in a series of plans to meet area growth, say school officials.

About 68 percent of Ridgefield voters approved a $1 million bond proposal Sept. 14 to buy about 50 acres at 23800 NW Hillhurst Rd., formerly owned by longtime Ridgefield residents Bill and Bernice Bartel.

The property is located southeast across the road from the current Ridgefield High School.

Superintendent Mary Vagner said three options were considered at length for what to build on the site, but the plan for a new high school drew "overwhelming support."

The new high school will be designed to hold 1,200 students. No word is given on when construction will begin, but Vagner said the class of 2008 may be the first to graduate from the structure.

Plans are being formed to create a bond proposal to fund the new school. Voters will decide the issue, perhaps by late spring 2005.

Board documents show the price for the new school is estimated at $45 million, or about $170 per square foot. State average is $172 per square foot. An architectural firm will be selected by December or January.

If a bond passes, the current high school site will be renovated and used for middle school students, Vagner said. The current middle school site will likely be used for elementary space. Grade configurations for the schools are still undecided.

Reports show Ridgefield schools are currently above capacity. District-wide head count for November 2004 is 1,885 students in schools designed for about 1,625.

The District's two elementary schools, designed for 850 students, currently serve about 900. View Ridge Middle School has reached its capacity with 300 students. Ridgefield High School was designed for 475 students and serves about 600.

Looming on the horizon are students from several housing developments now underway around Ridgefield.

Reports vary, but as many as 1,000 new students are expected in Ridgefield by 2010.

Ridgefield planning director Kevin Snyder offered a progress report on city growth at the Nov. 23 school board meeting.

City officials expect 300-400 new homes to be built in Ridgefield annually for the next four to five years, Snyder said, or about 20 percent annual growth. By 2023, some 12,000 people could call Ridgefield home.

"The city is going to grow majorly," Snyder said. "We're very much in a growth phase."

MORE BUSINESS COMES TO RIDGEFIELD JUNCTION

Alice Perry Linker, staff reporter

A two-story, 20,000 square-foot building will go up near Ridgefield Junction.

The Port of Ridgefield recently announced that 1.3 acres were sold to Flightpath LLC, owned by Nanette and Ned Walker of Ridgefield and Weldon and Carole Burton of Vancouver.

The property was sold for $365,000, said Allison Shultz, Port spokeswoman.

Ned Walker's other company Scarpelli Construction Inc., will be the contractor for the building. Construction will begin next spring.

"We will start as soon as the weather permits," Nanette Walker said. "The city has told us we should have our building permits by February."

The building will house retail shops on the first floor and offices on the second. Walker plans to locate her certified public accountant office there.

Flightpath LLC will own the building, Walker said.

"We named our company Flightpath because we're next to a refuge, and the birds fly over the building on their way to the refuge," she said. "We have a beautiful view--a view of the mountains."

Walker said Flightpath will contract with a leasing agent soon.

"This project will bring more jobs to the area," said Brent Grening, executive director of the Port. "It's important that the greater Ridgefield area balance its rapid residential growth with job growth. This particular project will not only provide new jobs, but will also provide retail services."

The sale leaves the Port's 75-acre industrial park on Pioneer St. near the junction with only one 3-acre parcel remaining, Shultz said.

The Port also owns the 75-acre Discovery Pointe Corporate Park at NE 269th Street and I-5. The Port is going through the process of having the new corporate park annexed to the city.

VETERAN CLUB OPENS NEAR BATTLE GROUND

Alice Perry Linker, staff reporter

The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) has formed a new Post in Battle Ground.

Post 12011 headed by commander Dennis Moore has met since May and has 54 members.

The Post recently found a place to meet, a vacant former carpet store behind the Dollars Corner Tavern. The tavern owners will lend the building to the Post, said adjutant-quartermaster Frank Gallaher, post spokesman.

The veterans need donations of furniture, rugs or other amenities for their new meeting place.

The group meets at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month. The veterans have been meeting at the Dollars Corner Fire Department, but the Tues., Dec. 21, meeting will be the last one there, Gallaher said.

Several members have moved to the Battle Ground Post from other areas. Moore was a member in Camas.

Gallaher said the VFW has Posts in Vancouver, Kalama, Woodland and Camas, as well as Battle Ground.

A poppy drive in early November brought funds for the Post to donate to the Vancouver Veterans Hospital Grant a Wish program.

The VFW also sends phone cards to service men and women in Iraq.

"I just sent 345 international phone cards to Iraq," Gallaher said.

Along with the cards, service men and women receive a year's free membership in the VFW, he said.

"We also work with the families who are left behind," Gallaher said.

In one case, volunteers painted a baby's room for the wife of a soldier serving in Iraq.

Gallaher said he hopes that when Post 12011 opens its new doors, maybe in January, "more people will become active."

In addition to Moore and Gallaher, VFW officers are James Deuvall, senior vice commander; B.W. Garren, junior vice commander; Glenn Lindquist, judge advocate, and Michael Wright, chaplain.

For information about meetings and membership, call Gallaher at 687-8996.

ARMED ROBBERS HIT WOODLAND SHELL

A man armed with a knife reportedly robbed the Woodland Shell Station Nov. 24, taking an undisclosed amount of money.

Woodland police officers responded to the Shell Station, 1519 Pacific Ave., about 8:30 p.m., where a white male, about six feet tall, thin build, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, black ski mask and leather gloves, had demanded and been given cash.

The man reportedly displayed a knife, took the money, and left on foot traveling west toward Beechwood Street.

Woodland police, assisted by Cowlitz County sheriff's deputies, Longview police K-9 unit and Kalama police and set up a containment area but were not able to locate the suspect.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Woodland police department, 225-6965, or 24-hour dispatch, 225-8981. Officer Terry Casey is investigating the case.

RIDGEFIELD ORDINANCE EXPLAINS OVERLAY CHANGE

Alice Perry Linker, staff reporter

An amendment to a Ridgefield land use ordinance will allow an industrial developer to put a commercial business adjacent to I-5.

The mixed use overlay ordinance, approved in 2003, was amended in October to allow developers a method to tie properties together, mixing comercial and industrial land in a more flexible way.

Pioneer Estates LLC, an arm of the Schuck Corporation of Colorado, owns 280 acres west of NE 10th Ave. and east of the Interstate, and another 50 acres on the west side of I-5.

Industrial development has begun on the east side property with a Dollar Tree warehouse and an industrial condominium complex.

The corporation's land on both sides of I-5 is zoned for employment mixed-use overlay, which allows 20 percent of the property to be zoned commercial, according to the city ordinance.

Up to 20 percent may be zoned residential, and the remainder must be in industrial zoning.

City council members have said that their goal is to provide family wage jobs in the mixed-use overlay.

John Crist of Pioneer Estates has said that if entire Schuck holdings can be considered as one parcel with no property or barriers dividing them, the land west of I-5 will have a greater opportunity to be developed for commercial use.

Community Development director Kevin Snyder said Crist asked the city to consider amending its mixed-use overlay ordinance to allow properties separated by roads and other land to be developed as a unit.

If the 50 acres west of I-5 were to be considered as a separate parcel, the acreage permitted for commercial development would be too small to be viable, Crist has said.

Crist also said that most inquiries into the west side piece have been for commercial use and the corporation may have a commitment by spring 2005.

After the Pioneer Estates request was made, Ridgefield Planning Commission members held a public hearing and voted 5-1 to recommend that the city council approve the change.

Snyder prepared a staff report explaining the request and presented the report to the council in October. The council approved the amendment to the 2003 mixed-use overlay ordinance.

Snyder said the city's policy is for staff to make a recommendation to the city council on land use planning issues.

"We don't advocate for any party," Snyder said.

The change means that Pioneer Estates and other developers who qualify under the regulations may treat all of their Ridgefield properties as one continuous parcel, as if there were no other property, interstates or barriers between each piece.

Snyder said there have been no development requests under the new ordinance.

Several restrictions apply to non-contiguous development, according to the ordinance amendment. The properties must be within one mile of each other and must be joined by a pedestrian path, allowing easy movement between the properties. Other restrictions require buildings, landscaping, parking and other amenities to be of compatible style and layout.

The amendment does not automatically allow any developer to leap over other properties to apply the mixed-use feature. Each developer must present a plan to the city to be approved by a hearings officer.

Snyder said the hearings officer's ruling is final unless there is an appeal to Superior Court.

During city council discussion in October, council member Tim Thompson said that I-5 represents a barrier. He said that a hearings officer could conclude the barrier was too great to cross.

Other council members, however, agreed that the developer could be required to build pedestrian walks across the interstate, an amenity that would benefit all walkers.

Council member Dave Standal said that Ridgefield prides itself in being a community that walks, and a sidewalk or path across I-5 would enhance that image.

When the original employment mixed use overlay ordinance was approved in 2003, the city council voted against the non contiguous amendment.

CLARK GROWTH PLAN FACES LEGAL CHALLENGES

Battle Ground school enrollment is key to one appeal

No one seems to be satisfied with the update of the Clark County comprehensive plan adopted in September by the county commissioners.

The Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board received 10 appeals by the Nov. 24 deadline.

The Clark County Natural Resources Council argues that the school construction money is not in place to accommodate increased enrollments in the Battle Ground School District that will occur as a consequence of the plan.

The City of Battle Ground contends that its growth boundary was reduced without consultation with city officials and that the larger boundaries should be reinstated.

A business group including the Building Industry Association of Clark County and the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce argues that several erroneous assumption were included in the growth plan that underestimate population growth and overestimate lands available to accommodate growth.

The Hearings Board will likely conduct a conference with all those who appealed the growth plan and consider consolidating the appeals into one hearing.

The appeals may not be resolved until spring or summer.

Battle Ground seeks growth

Battle Ground's appeal seeks adoption of the growth boundaries contemplated in early 2004--boundaries to which both the city and county had agreed.

In the Battle Ground appeal, city attorney Brian Wolfe contends that Clark County unilaterally excluded areas around the city, and did not consult with or reach an agreement with the city in doing so.

The appeal states that Battle Ground's estimation of the area needed to accommodate anticipated growth is different from Clark County's.

The appeal states that cities, as well as counties, have discretion in their comprehensive plans to make choices about accommodating growth.

Battle Ground contends that the county adopted its growth plan even though the city had not done so. Wolfe said that cities cannot be required to make their plans consistent with the county plan.

The Battle Ground appeal also contends that the county attempted to alter the city's plan with certain county-wide planning policies, primarily its "no net loss" policy. The city argued that state law requires joint county and city planning for lands in urban growth areas.

The city also argued that the county demanded Battle Ground's capital facilities plan to be prepared before its new urban growth area was defined, a violation of planning goals in state law.

Resources Council says school money not ready

The Clark County Natural Resources Council seeks to invalidate the county growth plan because it would allow enrollment increases in the Battle Ground School District without providing funding for new schools.

The appeal also contends that the plan allows growth without a plan to build new transportation systems

John Karpinski and Keith Hirokawa, attorneys for the Natural Resources Council, said the county plan should contain at least a 6-year financing plan for Battle Ground schools. They contend that planners could show no available funding for any additional schools in the Battle Ground District.

Karpinski said the growth plan would allow Battle Ground enrollment to increase by more than 50 percent. He said voter approval of school construction funds is "highly unlikely given past voter history and other factors."

Karpinski said the county plan does not deal with a state road fund deficit, while allowing service failures on SR-503 and other routes.

Karpinski said the county could raise millions in new taxes to solve transportation problems, or the county could lower levels of service (speed), or slow growth. And, said Karpinski, the county does not have the authority to lower state-prescribed levels of services.

Building industry sees land shortage, high homes prices

The Building Industry Association of Clark County asks that the growth plan be remanded and the county directed to reassess unrealistic planning factors that would underestimate growth and drive up home prices.

The Building Industry Association was joined in the appeal by the Clark County Association of Realtors, the Responsible Growth Forum, and the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce.

The Association appeal, prepared by attorney Glenn Amster of Lane Powell Spears Lubersky in Seattle, states that the growth plan is based on erroneous and faulty data that combine to underestimate growth.

The appeal says the county used a growth rate of 1.83 percent, but at the last minute and without substantiation lowered the rate to 1.69 percent.

The appeal says the county estimated infrastructure would require 38 percent of development lands, and then, "without provocation or substantiation," reduced that rate to 27.5 percent. The lower rate results in insufficient land to accommodate growth and therefore violates the Growth Management Act, the appeal says.

The appeal says that the county used Urban Holding Areas to "thwart planned growth rather than to accommodate it."

The appeal makes similar claims about the county's assumptions on market factor, under utilized lands, critical lands, vacancy rate, jobs growth, and population per household. In each case, states the appeal, the county's data underestimates population growth and overestimates the amount of land available to accommodate growth.

The appeal states that the county's plan puts a significant portion of commercial development in mixed use areas, whereas "there is no evidence in...Clark County's history to suggest that mixed use development...could accommodate a significant portion of growth."

The appeal also claims that most parcels zoned for mixed use are too small to realistically support mixed use development.

The appeal states that the plan fails to provide enough land to accommodate commercial growth, a violation of state law, and fails to provide enough residential land to accommodate growth which not only violates state law but will also push up the cost of housing.

The appeal asks not only that the plan be sent back to the county for reconsideration, but also that population projections be increased to reflect likely growth.

EDITORIAL:

GOVERNMENT HEAVY IN RIDGEFIELD

Alice Perry Linker, staff writer

The weight of government fell heavily last week -- but thankfully it didn't fall on anybody's foot.

The Ridgefield City Councilors were bowled over by an 11-pound agenda packet more than three inches thick. The packet included information on four public hearings and 11 city ordinances. The councilors lugged their packets into City Hall on Thurs., Nov. 18.

"It was too heavy for the postal meter," said Chief Financial Officer Kay Kammer.

The city used 10 reams of paper putting together the packets for councilors, staff and the press. Ten reams equal 5,000 sheets.

"We got this last Friday, and I've been reading it since," said Mayor Gladys Doriot.

"There will be a test later," quipped Councilor Gary Holmberg.

"It's a weight training exercise," said interim City Manager George Fox.

The City Council has been working on annexation issues, as well as amendments to the comprehensive plan and the capital facilities plan.

Despite the weighty issues facing them, the city councilors finished their meeting in less than two hours.

OBITS: