Fourth option adds to
Columbia Crossing choices
Bill Myers
staff reporter
Columbia River Crossing Task Force members, charged with identifying transit options to improve safety and relieve congestion on I-5 at the Columbia River bridge, have four alternative river crossing approaches in play.
The 39-member group formed in 2005 by Washington and Oregon transportation officials advanced three bridge and transit alternatives to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) stage in February.
Task Force members added a fourth alternative to the mix in March.
All options, including cost estimates, are preliminary and broadly defined. Project public information officer Danielle Cogan said the cost of any build alternative could range between $2 and $6 billion. She said a DEIS process which will study the four alternatives will cost about $50-$75 million and yield closer estimates of costs.
A first alternative, required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), is a no-action option which establishes a baseline for comparison with other alternatives.
A second alternative would replace the I-5 bridge with a span that meets clearance requirements for aircraft operating from Pearson Airpark. This bridge, constructed either upstream or downstream from the existing I-5 bridges, would be a fixed-span structure with mid-level clearance sufficient for river navigation.
The Alternative 2 bridge would carry I-5 traffic in general purpose lanes, and provide lanes for high-capacity transit busses, and bicycles and pedestrians. This alternative emphasizes uses of bus rapid transit for high-capacity transit. Bus rapid transit service would not go to downtown Portland, but would move passengers to transfer points where they could board TriMet, MAX or other transit services.
A third alternative would be similar to Alternative 2, except that light rail transit would replace busses as a high capacity transit mode. A double-track extension would run from the Expo Center MAX Station in Portland to a park and ride terminus near downtown Vancouver, with exact alignments and transfer points to be refined and located during the DEIS process. Express bus services on I-5 would supplement transit services.
In both build alternatives, the existing interstate spans would be taken down after construction of a new bridge.
In February, Task Force members appointed a 10-member subcommittee to develop a fourth alternative to use and keep the existing interstate bridge in place.
The Alternative 4 subcommittee recommended that the existing bridges carry only northbound traffic on four lanes, including three general purpose lanes and one auxiliary lane. Members recommended construction of a new, fixed-span bridge for southbound traffic. They suggested that the new bridge be constructed adjacent to and downstream from existing spans. Members envision the new bridge with four lanes, including three general purpose lanes and one auxiliary lane, and adjacent high-capacity lanes suitable for either light rail or express bus. An auxiliary lane was proposed to connect SR-14 with Hayden Island.
Subcommittee members said transit services on the bridge could be sized to meet increases in demand. Tolls in both directions, they said, could be collected for project funding and/or to reduce travel demand. They suggested construction of a wider, retrofitted path on the existing bridges to handle bicycle and pedestrian traffic.
Engineers say existing I-5 bridges will likely require a seismic retrofit to bring them up to a “no collapse” standard. One task force member said a retrofit might require anchoring into bed rock as deep as 200 feet below the Columbia River at a prohibitive cost.
Subcommittee members said using the existing span may also require construction of a new, moveable railroad span to provide straighter, safer routes for river barges that must now follow a serpentine route between the I-5 lift bridge and rail bridge.
Vancouver mayor Royce Pollard said he was concerned that the footprint of the fourth alternative on the Washington side of the river might conflict with other developments planned and underway in the City.
Task Force members voted to advance the fourth alternative into the DEIS process for further study. Their next meeting is scheduled on June 26, 4-6:30 p.m., at the Oregon Department of Transportation office, 123 NW Flanders St., Portland, OR. Information telephone is 816-8857.

Casinos contribute thousands to charity
The four La Center casinos continue to contribute thousands of dollars each year for charitable and non-profit programs in the general La Center area.
Richard Curtis, who chairs the Casino Charitable Committee, said each of the four casinos contributes $1,500 each month, which allows the Committee to award over $70,000 in grants each year.
Curtis said the money is used for such purposes as college scholarships, middle school educational programs, and food and supplies for needy families.
In the last month, said Curtis, the Committee awarded 61 cash gifts of $100 each to families in need.
The casino grant money is administered through the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington. Grant recipients are selected on the basis of high qualitative value and cost effectiveness to the people of the region.
Grant applications are to evidence a well-planned approach to public issues, and to include information on coordination and cooperation with other community organizations. Volunteer participation and citizen involvement are also to be shown in the grant application.
Grants are awarded in program areas such as social services, health, civic affairs, conservation, environmental, education, children’s issues and arts and cultural affairs.
Curtis said $10,000 grants have been awarded annually to La Center High School students for scholarships. Last year, said Curtis, scholarship grants were also made to students at the Clark County Skills Center for continuing education.
Other recent grants include an outdoor school program at La Center Middle School ($10,000), La Center Our Days Festival ($8,000 annually), meals program for seniors and people with disabilities ($6,390), summer reading program ($2,300), Gold Star veterans memorial project ($2,500), Miss La Center Pageant ($2,000), and Hurricane Katrina Relief ($2,500).
In addition to Curtis, other members of the Casino Charitable Committee are Sharon Hiner, Jim Proulx and two representatives from the casinos.
“The bottom line is the casinos have been very generous in assisting the La Center community through the charitable fund they have established,” said Anne Digenis, program officer at the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington. Digenis noted that the casinos also make financial contributions in other ways.
The next grant application deadline is March 31. Specific rules govern the format and content of applications.
Information about the grant application process and criteria, and a grant application form, are available at the website of the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington, www.cfsww.org

Lilac Gardens will open April 21
When tulips bloom, can lilacs be far behind?
The lilacs will be in bloom at the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens in Woodland, when the annual festival opens Sat., April 21. The festival will remain open every day, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., through Mother’s Day, Sun., May 13. Admission to the tour of house and gardens is $2 per person.
“The lilacs are looking good; they are right on time,” said Fran Northcutt, spokeswoman for the Lilac Society that sponsors the festival.
Each year, the Society features a different theme in the historic farm house, once owned by Hulda Klager, who developed the gardens. The 2007 theme is “depression glass.”
“Depression glass is something that everybody has a little of,” Northcutt said. “Our members are lending glass for the festival.”
The Society will sell lilac starts and expects to offer 50 varieties in sizes ranging from 4-inch starts to lilacs that are 2 or 3-feet tall. The larger plants are grown by Roberta Peterson of Woodland.
Although lilacs are the focus of the gardens, other spring flowers will be in bloom and guests are invited to wander through the gardens and visit the gift shop.
Hulda Klager, who moved to Woodland in 1877 when she was 13, began hybridizing lilacs in 1905 and by 1910 she had created 14 new varieties. She began having an open house in 1920 when the lilacs were in bloom. Eventually she became known as the “lilac lady.”
Her husband, Frank, died in 1922 and she considered giving up her work with lilacs, but her son Fritz encouraged her. She developed new varieties, while continuing to host the annual open house.
In 1948, a flood swept through the farm destroying the lilacs and other shrubs. Although she was 83, she began replanting the lilacs, and reopened the gardens in 1950. She died in 1960 at age 96.
Ridgefield Port admonished for lax financial controls
Officials of the Port of Ridgefield said last week that they will make changes in certain internal financial controls in response to a report by state auditor Brian Sonntag.
The audit, which covered the years 2003 through 2005, found that the Port had omitted sales tax from some contracts which cost the Port about $15,500 in one case, had awarded a small works contract to a contractor not on the Port’s small works roster, and had paid over $100,000 in extra contract costs without formal change orders that were filed and approved by state officials.
The audit report said the Port allowed a contracted project manager to handle contracts without complying with state bid law and contract requirements.
The audit report recommended that the Port establish and follow internal controls to ensure that it receives the best price and terms for projects and that it complies with provisions of state law.
Port officials said certain procedures would be changed to remedy the weaknesses.
Small works roster
Port officials conceded that a well drilling contractor was not on the small works roster at the time the contract was executed.
But, said Port executive director Brent Grening, the contractor, needed for Lake River environmental remediation work, had been on the Port’s small works roster in prior years. Grening said either the contractor had not reapplied for the roster, or the paperwork had become lost. “We could not document that he is on the list,” said Grening.
In the future, said Grening, Port policy will be to keep contractors on the small works roster until they don’t want to remain on it.
Change orders
Grening said audited change orders had been approved by the state Department of Ecology on the basis of technical merit, but not before the work was done and not in writing.
Grening said state officials had reimbursed the Port for all disputed change orders, indicating that the changes were appropriate and justified.
Grening said each change order, developed by the contracted project manager, was reviewed by the Port’s Director of Operations and by himself. But, said Grening, “we failed to have written documentation that we had prior DOE written consent to make these changes.”
Approval by officials of the state Department of Ecology is needed because much of the environmental clean-up work being done at the Port is funded by state grants.
Grening said officials of the state Department of Ecology do not believe that the rule on prior written approval is practical and may change that rule so that the Port will take the responsibility for the validity of change orders, subject to later Department review. Change orders could occur twice daily, said Grening.
The Port lost no money on the change order procedure, said Grening.
Sales tax
Grening said that Port bid documents require bidders to include sales tax in bid prices.
The audit report stated that the Port awarded contracts to three bidder that omitted sales tax from bids. In an example case cited by state auditors, a dispute arose between the contractor and the Port on payment of sales tax. Before arbitration, said Grening, the two parties agreed to share the sales tax expense. As a result, the Port paid $15,483 in taxes that Port officials previously thought were included in the contract price.
Grening said the Port will establish a new policy to show sales tax as a separate line item in bid documents and invoices.

Woodland police nab bank robber
Woodland police say that Casey Patton, 22, of Longview, has confessed to four bank robberies, including the April 10 robbery of the Woodland branch of First Independent Bank, 1251 Lewis River Rd., Woodland.
According to Woodland police, a lone male robbed the Woodland bank about 2 p.m. April 10, handing a teller a note and demanding money. The man left the bank with an undisclosed amount of money in a manila envelope that he had brought with him. He did not display a weapon. He fled on foot and was seen running past the bank’s drive-through window.
Police distributed a description of the man along with photos taken by surveillance cameras in the bank.
Kelso police Sgt. Doug Lane and Longview officer Dawn Taylor had been working on an investigation of three bank robberies in the Olympia and Tacoma areas, all of which were similar, police said. The description of the subject matched the Woodland robbery. The man wore the same type of clothing, including a black baseball hat, and used a manila envelope with a demand note.
Police were not specific in how they identified Patton who also had a felony warrant for his arrest. They said information from the Woodland robbery, including photograph, aided in his identification. He was taken into custody by Longview police.
Woodland Det. Brent Murray and other officers interviewed Patton who reportedly confessed to four bank robberies--one in Olympia, one in Lacey, one in Lakewood and the robbery in Woodland.
Police also reported that Patton had been involved in a sexual relationship with an under-aged juvenile female. In addition to the four bank robberies, Patton was charged with rape in the third degree. He was booked into the Cowlitz County jail with bail set at $100,000.
The investigation continues with police looking for additional suspects. Woodland police may be reached at (360) 225-6965.