E. COLI VICTIM TOLL REMAINS STEADY

Test results definitely link outbreak to farm

Heidi Wallenborn, news director

No new cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection have surfaced in the last week, and health officials are hopeful the recent outbreak is over.

The count of victims who were sickened after drinking unpasteurized milk stands at 18, said Marni Storey, an official of the Clark County Health Department.

Fifteen children ages 1-13 and three adults became ill last month after consuming unpasteurized (raw) milk from Dee Creek Farm, an unlicensed dairy north of Woodland.

Five children were hospitalized in the outbreak that began Dec. 12. Two have been in serious critical condition and are now improving, Storey said.

Ten victims are from Clark County, five from Cowlitz County, and three from Clatsop County in Oregon. All consumed raw milk from the farm, said health officials.

Raw milk samples taken from the farm and from clients’ homes tested positive for E. Coli O157:H7, a bacteria that can cause brain and liver damage, and even death.

Officials of the state Department of Agriculture have taken samples of cow feces from the farm and are awaiting test results for E. coli and a more complicated test that could match the DNA “fingerprint” of the particular bacteria strain to milk and feces.

So far, four DNA fingerprinting tests have matched the bacteria in victims to the milk, which shows a common source of infection, Storey said.

Farm owners Mike and Anita Puckett were reluctant at first to cooperate with the state and county investigation. They would not allow officials on their property and would not reveal who their customers were so officials could question the families regarding E. coli symptoms.

A Cowlitz County Superior Court judge ordered the couple Dec. 16 to hand over a list of customers who receive raw milk from the farm.

The couple were concerned about their customers’ privacy, said Sue Grinnell, Cowlitz County Health Department director, who pursued the court order. Once the farm owners understood the law and what was expected, they were “very cooperative,” Grinnell said.

But they didn’t seem so cooperative earlier in the year when state Department of Agriculture officials sent a letter ordering the dairy to stop selling raw milk until they purchased a license.

Agriculture officials learned through a newspaper article last August that the Pucketts were distributing raw milk. A letter to the farm owners ordered them to stop selling raw milk and to comply with the law by getting a $55 license.

According to state officials, the Pucketts denied “selling” milk and refused to purchase a license.

Instead, the Pucketts have 45 clients who have bought a portion, or “share,” of one of five Jersey cows on the farm. As “co-owners,” the clients have a right to milk from the cow.

“Cow-sharing” and selling raw milk is legal in Washington, but a license is required and guidelines must be followed, such as monthly inspections and health warning labels put on containers, say state officials. Cow-sharing is not a loophole in the law around “selling milk.”

Since the outbreak, the couple has begun the process of getting a license.

But two former clients whose children became ill have hired the nationally-known law office of Marler Clark of Seattle to represent them.

Drew Falkenstein, lead attorney for the cases, said a suit has not been filed yet because the families are reviewing options.

“But I think we probably will file a suit against Dee Creek Farm—that’s the way its going,” Falkenstein said. “These kids could face lifelong health problems.”

A suit against the Department of Agriculture is likely too if the law firm’s investigation shows officials bore responsibility in making sure the farm complied with the “cease and desist letter,” Falkenstein said.

“It’s obvious at some point between August and December they saw a risk,” he said. “What happened during that five-month period isn’t known at this time.”

Marler Clark represented families in the high-profile Jack-in-the-Box and Odwalla juice E. coli outbreaks in the mid and late 1990s.

In fact, William Marler secured a $15.6 million settlement on behalf of Washington resident Brianne Kiner who ate a contaminated hamburger.

The law firm specializes in E. coli and other foodborne illness outbreaks, Falkenstein said.

Raw milk is a potentially hazardous product, health officials say.

Although not everyone who consumes raw milk gets sick, related illnesses and deaths are reported each year, officials said. Those most at risk are children, the elderly, pregnant women, and those with compromised immune systems.

Symptoms include stomach cramping and severe and/or bloody diarrhea.

For more information about raw milk production and safety, visit online at www.agr.wa.gov/FoodAnimal

A fund to help families with medical expenses has been set up at any Wells Fargo branch in Washington or Oregon.

DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED FOR LA CENTER-TIMMEN ROADS

Alice Perry Linker, staff reporter

A mixed-use development that could contain up to 280 multi- and single-family units along Timmen and La Center roads in La Center is on the drawing board.

During a work session Dec. 19, the La Center City Council decided to delay any action on the mixed-use area. The council is expected to have another work session on Wed., Jan. 25, said La Center planner Eric Eisemann of E-Square Land Use Services.

The 32 acres involved lie on the south and southeast sides of La Center Road and cross the intersection with Timmen Road. The Altius Corporation of Vancouver is proposing the development.

La Center public works director Jeff Sarvis said the property includes both sides of Timmen Road.

Only about 17 acres can be developed, Sarvis said, with the remainder either in wetlands or slopes.

A preliminary map submitted to the city by Planning Solutions Inc. shows the developed area with two entrances from Timmen Road. Most of the acreage has been planned for residential, but an area along La Center Road is proposed for commercial.

The La Center Planning Commission has proposed that the area have a minimum of 25 percent commercial and a minimum of 25 percent residential.

The developers, however, are requesting less commercial and more residential, Eisemann said.

A proposal submitted to the city by Planning Solutions of Vancouver shows two assumptions: as few as 140 single- and multi-family homes or as many as 280 homes. The completed commercial area would range from 30,000 square-foot to 50,000 square-foot gross floor area.

Nick Thometz of Altius Corporation said any assumptions about development are a “little premature.”

“We want to get through the work sessions,” he said. “The first step is to adopt a mixed use code.”

When construction can begin is “hard to say,” Thometz said.

“We want to move as quickly as possible, but it’s hard to say how quickly,” he said. “We hope it will at least be a 2007 project.”

The type of commercial development remains uncertain.

An analysis done for Altius by E.D. Hovee & Company states: “The La Center area has relatively high incomes (compared to elsewhere in Clark County), but does not yet have the population base to support significant added retail at this time.”

The analysis suggests that restaurants or coffee shops and professional offices would be most likely to develop.

The planning commission has recommended 22 lots per acre in the commercial area and an area immediately adjacent to it.

As conceived, the commercial area would be easily accessible by foot or bicycle to residents of the subdivision, and the commission has recommended that the city’s parking requirements be eased but that a parking garage be considered.

Planning Solutions’ preliminary master plan map includes three small family parks that would not be owned or maintained by the city. Several pedestrian routes lie throughout the development.

Eisemann said a State Environmental Policy Act application for the master plan will be submitted in a few days.

The council is not expected to make a decision on the mixed-use area until February, Eisemann said.

PLANNERS TO HEAR MIXED-USE ZONE PLAN

A mixed-use zone that would allow single family homes will be considered by the Clark County Planning Commission Thurs., Jan. 19.

A public hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the county commissioners hearing room, sixth floor, Public Services Building, 1300 Franklin St.

If approved, the mixed-use zone would apply to the county’s unincorporated urban areas surrounding Vancouver.

Under the current mixed-use zone, single family homes are not allowed, said Bob Higbie, program manager, long-range planning.

The revised zone would allow 18 units per acre. The new zone also calls for cottages within a mixed-use zone.

Higbie said a cottage is defined as a small, single-family home on a lot of 3,500 square feet or smaller.

Written comments must be submitted to Sonja Wiser, administrative assistant, by noon Jan. 19. E-mails may be sent to sonja.wiser@clark.wa.gov and faxes may be sent to 759-6278.

If approved, the mixed-use zone that covers the unincorporated areas of Clark County would allow markets, shops, offices and other commercial businesses intermixed with residences. Large box stores would be prohibited.

Skating rinks, bowling alleys, athletic clubs and other recreational buildings would be permitted.

The county’s proposed recommendations define a mixed use district: “To provide the community with a mix of mutually-supporting retail, service, office and residential uses.”

According to the recommendations, the zone would “provide incentives to develop a higher-density, active, urban environment than generally found in a suburban community.”

The mixed-use ordinance recommendations are on the Web at www.clark.wa.gov/longrangeplan/projects/mixed- use.html

NEW LOOK AHEAD FOR BG PARK

Skate area is part of first phase

Heidi Wallenborn, news director

About three years ago, Battle Ground city manager Eric Holmes asked his 6-year-old nephew if he wanted to go to the park while they waited for their take-out food in Old Town.

The boy did, and the two walked to Fairgrounds Park on E Main St.

Scanning the weedy, empty ballfields, gravel parking areas, old buildings, a rusty antique steam train and a C- TRAN parking lot, the boy turned to his uncle and said, “Where’s the park?”

By the end of this year, that question likely won’t pass anyone’s lips, especially skate board athletes.

Construction on a 25,000-30,000 square foot, world class skateboard park is expected to begin at the end of July right after Harvest Days, and finish in November.

The long, narrow park is to stretch north and south on the west edge of Fairgrounds Park.

“It’s a huge slab of concrete,” Holmes said.

If the council approves the final plan in mid-January, the park, designed by nationally- acclaimed Grindline Inc. of Seattle, will be a sidewalk surfer’s paradise.

The $750,000 park features two large “bowls” and a long “street” rife with stairs, rails, benches, ramps and all manner of doodads skaters enjoy grinding their trucks and noses on.

The community participated in open houses to give input on what the renovated park should feature, and skateboarders were consulted about what their ideal park would be, said Sam Adams, public works director.

In September last year, council members threw out the smaller 10,000 square-foot park idea and told staff to go for the gusto in revamping Fairgrounds Park, beginning with the skate park in Phase I.

Besides the skate area, work to be done includes tearing down the Lions Den building and bathrooms, building new bathrooms and a formal park entrance, and road frontage work for a grand total of about $1.5 million, Adams said.

Phase II details are not firmed up by council members yet, said Adams. He expects the project could cost as much as $5 million and begin within a three-year time frame.

Park to be a mecca

In September, Holmes presented an idea to council members that would set the city apart from any other in the state, he said. The city would become a sports enthusiast’s mecca.

When complete, the new park could be a marketing technique to draw alternative sports enthusiasts and other organizations to the financially struggling east end of the city.

If approved by council members, the 8-acre park could feature a boulder field for rock climbing, a climbing wall and spire, and a 1-acre interactive water park with ground sprays, spirals and underpasses.

The current design features a “great lawn” area on the north side, play equipment and picnic area, internal walking trails, a plaza, performance venue and a multi-use flex building.

The park’s location in the general vicinity of a river, a lake, walking trails and a pending motorcross facility anchors Holmes’ vision.

It will be a place for sports enthusiasts to enjoy, but it will be usable for the whole community and a variety of activities for all age groups, he said.

In Phase II, the building that was formerly used by the Chamber of Commerce will be torn down, as will the 4-H building. The Little League, peewee and softball fields and concession stand will go as well.

Holmes and Adams said city staff will work with those users to find alternate accommodations.

Clarence Petty, a 4-H group advisor, is unhappy about losing the building, and believes there is a 100-year lease with the city for the group to use it.

Petty said the lease is lost, but reference to it is mentioned in city council meeting minutes from February 1971.

Those minutes state that 4-H president Jim Pierce showed council members plans for a livestock building and asked permission to build it on fairgrounds (city) property. The minutes said more details would be forthcoming when a lease for the building and grounds was drawn up.

According to Holmes and Adams, the lease can’t be found in any city records.

“We’ve been there 35 years,” Petty said. “We’re not letting go of the building easily. We have no intention of leaving the building without a fight.”

But Holmes said the group is not being kicked out of the park. They’re just losing use of the current, old building. They will be welcomed back when the new, multi-use flex building is ready, but they will have to share it with others, he said.

“The new building will be for a variety of uses to serve different groups in the city,” Holmes said. “There will be open space, meeting rooms, and a kitchen. It’s multi-use.”

A farmer’s market, an art fair, club meetings, and even Harvest Days can all be accommodated, he said.

“It just means there will be a change in the way things happen,” he added. “More of the park will be usable than it currently is, and people will have to share publicly-owned property.”

Looking at the park today through his nephew’s eyes, “the park doesn’t act like a park,” Holmes said. “We will renovate it so it acts like a park year-round and in a way that it’s accessible for the whole community. A park is meant to be used.”

TRAFFIC SIGNAL WILL BE ADDED TO WEST MAIN

Heidi Wallenborn, news director

Another traffic signal will be added to W Main St. in Battle Ground by the end of January at the intersection of NW 15th Ave.

The signal, which cost about $180,000, was paid for by businesses that have been built over the last year, including owners of the new motel/restaurant currently under construction at SW 15th Ave., said public works director Sam Adams.

The new signal will be the third in a span of just over two-tenths of a mile from SR-503 to the Wells Fargo building, where the new signal will be situated.

Adams said he’s not concerned about traffic problems.

“According to the state Department of Transportation, it shouldn’t be a big issue if the timing is set right [for the lights],” Adams said.

The signal at NW 12th Ave. will be removed within about six years.

City staff have worked an agreement with Transportation officials to remove that signal where the Fred Meyer gas station is within the six-year time frame.

When that happens, vehicles will be able to make right turns in and out on 12th Ave. only, Adams said, and the road will be barricaded to prevent eastbound traffic from entering.

To accommodate traffic entering the Fred Meyer shopping center, road improvements will be made, Adams said.

The north intersection of NW 15th Ave. will be widened to add a dual left-turn lane, and a new street will be built north of NW 1st St.

Widening the intersection will require the destruction of one of two Landmark Christian Assembly buildings because it sits in the way of construction on the northwest corner.

Adams said city officials will purchase the building and some land in order for those improvements to be made.

Pastor Ed Staton said he “knew that might happen someday” as he’s watched the city grow, but the building is critical to services the church offers.

Sunday School classes, children’s church, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, potlucks and weeknight youth group meetings all take place in the building, which was the original church meeting place.

A newer building sits farther from the corner, but is too small to accommodate all those activities, Staton said.

“The building is critical to what we do here,” he said. “It’s used a lot during the week.”

When the time comes, the congregation will likely use the money from the city to build something else, he said.

But he’s actually excited about the new signal.

“The signal helps us, and makes it safer for our elderly people to get out onto Main Street after services,” he said. “It will be much safer for everyone.”

LIFE HOPE OFFERS HELP TO PREGNANT TEENS

Alice Perry Linker, staff reporter

Some of the young women who walk through the door are confused and frightened.

Many are pregnant and don’t know where to turn, said Lori Anderson, CEO of the Lewis River Life Hope Pregnancy Care Center in Woodland.

“We get all ages and types of people from all over,” Anderson said. “We have had clients from as far north as Winlock and as far south as Portland.”

Sometimes women are running from an abusive partner.

“We even get some domestic violence cases from east of the mountains,” as well as other parts of Washington, she said. “They are in need of everything, and we do all we can to help get them set up.” Life Hope, a non-profit Christian organization, began its work in 2002. The agency has an office in the Peace Health Professional Building, 1331 N. Goerig St., Suite C. Agency statistics show 1,882 visits during 2005, with 32 percent of those families or individuals in need of help.

Volunteers, donors and the children of clients make up the remainder of visits.

Recently the organization’s board decided to work toward developing a medical office, Anderson said. The professional building is organized and zoned to make adding a clinic possible, she said.

Vacant offices within the building could be used as a doctor’s office and a store or classroom, she said.

“It is the prayer of our organization to have a doctor or nurse practitioner to join us and provide services that augment our own,” Anderson said.

The addition of a clinic depends on funding, and Life Hope will have its major fundraiser, “Keep on Caring and Sharing Baby Bottle Fundraiser,” this month.

The organization places baby bottles in various businesses and churches throughout the Woodland area. The fund drive will end Feb. 1 when the money collected will be deposited into the Twin City Bank in Woodland, Anderson said.

Last year Life Hope earned $11,000 from the Baby Bottle Fundraiser. This year’s goal is $30,000, Anderson said.

After the infrastructure for a medical clinic is in place, funds for ultrasound and other medical equipment will be needed.

“We chose not to go into debt but to trust God to provide for the needs He wants us to meet,” she said. “We’d like to open the clinic by the end of the next year.”

No decision has been made regarding the cost of medical care at the clinic, but Anderson said the consensus from the board of directors is that medical service would be low cost and priced on a sliding scale based on income.

All services at Life Hope are now free.

Anderson is the only paid staff member, but 12 volunteers work regularly with clients. Another 10 volunteers are available for special projects.

“Our regular weekly volunteers answer phones, advocate for clients and interact with clients,” Anderson said. “Our other volunteers have helped with projects like developing a Life Hope DVD.”

The Christian-based organization offers alternatives to abortion.

“Our motto is: ‘A place to ask questions before you make decisions,’” she said. “We encourage adoption as an option and give referrals to adoptions agencies. We do not refer for or provide abortions.”

Anderson said the organization has worked with women who have had abortions.

“At times, clients have had abortions, regretted it and have needed counseling to get through,” she said. “We are there for these girls and ladies. We never say ‘I told you so.’”

The organization also supports decisions by women to keep their children.

“We offer continuing education for parents free of charge,” she said. “We also offer education on sexually transmitted diseases, relationships and abstinence.”

Life Hope has a small supply store where parents may receive diapers, baby clothes, food, blankets and other supplies depending upon donations.

“Everything is donated to us and everything is given away,” Anderson said.

This month, Life Hope is beginning an education program for returning clients. Each client will be asked to watch an educational program and in exchange will earn points toward supplies from the organization.

Life Hope is administered by a board of directors headed by Tim Elliott, pastor of Woodland Baptist Church.

To donate, volunteer or seek counseling, call 225-4749.

VOTE SET ON GREEN MOUNTAIN LEVY

Bill Myers, staff reporter

Voters in Green Mountain School District will decide Feb. 7 whether to tax themselves for a maintenance of operations levy.

Ballot Proposition 1 asks voters to replace expiring levies with a combined property tax rate of $1.91 per $1,000 of assessed valuation with a new levy and rate of $2.91 per $1,000.

The new levy rate would be assessed in years 2007-10.

A $2.91 per $1,000 assessment equates to a $582 annual tax on a $200,000 home.

School board chairman Rick Syring said the increased assessment will provide additional funds needed to hire a new music teacher and full-time janitor. He said the increase is also needed to stabilize a District reserve fund for unforseen contingencies.

Syring said district music programs ended when a teacher who did double duty as a music teacher died a few years ago. He said constituents want a music program.

A full-time janitor is needed to maintain recently added classrooms and other new areas, said Syring.

In a newsletter, District superintendent Michael Grubbs said expiring levies essential education and maintenance expenses.

Grubbs said a maintenance and operations levy funds pay for curriculum materials, costs of running the school and personnel costs. He described such funds as “crucial to our overall existence and success.”

Grubbs said the proposed levy will not pay for recently completed new capital projects at the district.

Grubbs said such upgrades, including new rooms, expanded cafeteria, a library/media center and other improvements, are funded by capital project funds that come from impact fees and timber sales.

TRAIN ENJOYS BUMPER SEASON

More than 2,000 people rode Christmas tree trains in December, offered by the Battle Ground, Yacolt and Chelatchie Prairie (BYCX).

Bryan Baker, who heads the all-volunteers BYCX organization, said demand through both reservations and walk- ons was so heavy that a third train was added on four days.

The Christmas tree trains went from Yacolt to Moulton Falls, where pre-cut trees were available, along with Santa Claus.

Christmas tree trains were scheduled twice on both Saturday and Sundays during the first three weekends in December. A third run was added both days on the first two weekends.