Fair alcohol issue debated
The Clark County commissioners advised the County Fair Board last week to reconsider a plan to serve alcohol during the upcoming 2007 county fair.
The Fair Board responded a day later saying they were going ahead with their beer and wine garden plan despite the urgings of the commissioners.
At press time, county officials were scambling to find the contract between the county and the Fair Association. County attorney Bronson Potter was not available to comment. Scott Horenstein, chairman of the Fair Association, did not return a phone call from The Reflector in time for publication.
In a May 17 letter, the commissioners told Horenstein that the Association should conduct a more complete assessment of community interests before deciding to serve alcohol.
The Association should respond to public comments about the alcohol idea and solicit comments from various groups and the public, the commissioners wrote.
The commissioners urged the Fair Association to develop a plan to serve alcohol at the fair in 2008 and solicit public comments on that plan prior to implementation.
The Fair Association had decided April 9 to serve alcohol at the fair, primarily for financial reasons.
Fair executive director Tom Musser said that even though the beer garden was budgeted to break even, fair officials believed it would add to Fair profits.
Musser said the beer garden would be located east of the grandstand and west of the carnival. While visible, the facility would not be in a central area, he said.
In addition to financial reasons, said Musser, the decision to sell beer and other alcoholic products was made in response to public requests.
The plan developed by the Fair Association, said Musser, was to serve beer and wine by the glass. He said one or more national brands would be offered and perhaps micro brews as well.
Musser recognized that the beer garden idea would be controversial.
In late April, county commissioner Steve Stuart said he was not opposed to the sale of alcohol at the fair. “I’m okay with it,” said Stuart at that time.
But all three county commissioners, including Stuart, signed the letter last week asking the Association to hold off.
“We suggest that the fair board develop a proposal for the 2008 fair and call for public comment on the specifics of that proposal,” wrote the commissioners. “We understand that full support and agreement on this potentially divisive matter may not be forthcoming. Nevertheless, we believe that through additional community dialogue the fair can continue to represent one of our best time-honored traditions.”
Commissioner Marc Boldt said May 17 that the county is the landlord of the fair property, and as such has the authority to regulate the sale of alcohol. He recognized that the Clark County Amphitheater, also located on public property at the fairgrounds, sells alcohol during its events.
In his May 21 letter to the county commissioners, Horenstein said the executive committee of the Fair Board met May 18 to discuss the commissioners letter and voted unanimously to continue with plans to serve alcohol at the 2007 fair.
“The Committee voted unanimously to continue with our plans to host the beer and wine garden at this year’s Fair,” wrote Horenstein. “We believe the Fair Board’s decision was measured and deliberative, and see no reason to delay the implementation of an event that has already undergone public scrutiny by its very process, and has undergone considerable planning and has already attracted a number of financial sponsors.”
“We do not feel that we can continue to ignore the significant public demand for beer and wine services to be added in association with the major entertainment at the Fair.”
Horenstein said alcohol has existed during the Fair in years past. He said a nearby business located just outside the Fair offered beer, and fair patrons would drink at the establishment and come and go to the Fair. That business has since closed, he noted.
“Every year, we encounter Fair patrons who appear intoxicated at the Fair,” added Horenstein. “When we observe this, those patrons are exited out of the Fair to either a friend who can drive them or we make sure they have other safe transportation.”
“Occasionally we find patrons who attempt to bring alcohol into the Fair,” wrote Horenstein. “We confiscate the alcohol. We suspect that as commercial development expands around the Fairgrounds, more alcohol serving establishments will surface, providing more opportunity for those who wish to drink alcohol around the time they enter the Fair.”
Horenstein said the 30-member Fair Board represents various aspects of “the public,” and as such, the issue of serving alcohol has been given adequate “public” hearing. The Board’s vote to serve alcohol was 15-6, he said.
“The Fair Board is not a public entity and thus is not required to hold public hearings to conduct its business,” added Horenstein. “However, the Fair Board consists of 25 regular members, each representing a constituent group having an interest in the success of the Fair. In addition, the Board can appoint up to five advisory members who are nonvoting, and two additional at-large voting members.”
Horenstein emphasized that Board members vote their constituents’ interests. “There is no more dedicated, deliberative board than the present Clark County Fair Board. It is a model of efficiency and deliberation and dedication.”
Horenstein said the topic of serving alcohol at the fair has been considered for years.
Horenstein said that if the commissioners are receiving complaints about alcohol being served at the fair, such complaints should be forwarded to him. “We think it is unfortunate that you have been subject to inquiry about an event that you are not responsible for,” wrote Horenstein. He urged that complaints about alcohol at the fair be forwarded to him at 699-1530.
Clark County administrator Bill Barron said May 21 that the Fair Board is a tenant on county property and operates under a lease agreement.
Barron did not know if that lease agreement contained any references to alcohol or any prohibition on serving alcohol. “I’m having it looked for right now,” said Barron, who was not sure where the lease document is.

BG rose float taking shape
Volunteers are
needed to help; call out for money plant seed pods
Volunteers are hard at work constructing and decorating Battle Ground’s entry in the 2007 Portland Grand Floral Parade, slated to go down the streets of Portland on Sat., June 9.
The float will depict a 1907 trolley car, a half-scale replica of Portland Trolley #503 that was in use in Portland until about 1949. Trolley service ended altogether in Portland about 1958.
The theme of this year’s Portland parade is “ A Centennial Celebration,” marking the 100th year of the Rose Festival Parade. Battle Ground’s theme is “For You, A Rose in Portland Grows.”
With the float, Battle Ground will attempt to retain its Sweepstakes trophy earned last year. The Sweepstakes trophy is the highest award available in the parade. Battle Ground has earned numerous awards since first entering the parade in 1955, but only one Sweepstakes trophy.
The Battle Ground float will feature illuminated street lamps, a Benson Bubbler water fountain that works, an illuminated trolley headlight, arms that spark as they “touch” the electric wire overhead, appropriate music, and a rose garden complete with the Battle Ground bumblebee.
Pictures in the windows of the trolley will represent trolley passengers. They will depict people who have worked on the Battle Ground float over the years.
The upper windows of the trolley will be made of Skeleton Leaves to give the appearance of aging, cracked glass.
The trolley “motorman” will be Neil Berlin who is the operator of the existing Portland Vintage Trolley that runs in downtown Portland today.
Other float decorations include sesame seed, mums, onion seeds, cedar shavings, madrona bark, rose pedals, doc weeds and seaweed, plus roses.
The project is headed by Don and Marlene Brown.
Organizers have issued a call for more volunteers to join in the construction and decorating effort. Volunteers work six days a week at Fairgrounds Park in Battle Ground.
Crews also need additional money plant seed pods.
Volunteers are working in cramped quarters this year due to the demise of the former Lions Den at Fairgrounds Park which was demolished to make room for the new skatepark. The city has provided a tent to supplement the Festivals Building.
Riding the float will be princesses Melanie McBoyle and Kelli Dougal from Prairie High School, and Shauna Christensen and Reili Irwin from Battle Ground High School. The Battle Ground High School band, under the direction of Greg McKelvey, will accompany the float in the Portland parade.
The Battle Ground float will be on display in the Portland Convention Center on June 10, the day after the Portland parade. This will be the first time the Battle Ground float has remained on display in Portland after the parade. In all prior years, the float has been driven back to Battle Ground immediately following the parade.
Information about volunteering and about donating supplies, food or money is available by calling Marlene Brown, 687-3772.

Lacenter sternwheeler to sail again in parades
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
The city of La Center’s parade float featuring an old-time sternwheeler will participate this year in the Portland Rose Festival Starlight parade and other community parades.
The city council voted unanimously May 16 to accept recommendations from a citizens’ committee to keep the float in city ownership for at least a year. The decision came after nearly six months of discussion about the cost of the float to the city.
Council members Bob Smith and Troy Van Dinter said in late November that the float should be sold as surplus. Both agreed that the city should not own and operate a parade float. Council member Dale Smith voted to surplus the float, but he said at the time, that he was flexible on the issue and wanted more information about the cost to the city.
The city spent about $7,000 on the float in 2006, according to a report to the council.
The latest decision removes financial responsibility from the city, other than $2,000 that was authorized on May 9 as an interim amount until a decision on the next year’s operation could be made.
The council decided to give the La Center School District the responsibility of operating the float for a year, using volunteers. At the end of the year, the district may decide to continue for another year. The district will not spend any public money on the float.
The city’s four casinos have donated $13,000 for two years of operation. District Superintendent Mark Mansell said the donation will be treated as a grant and placed in a special fund for the float.
“Miracles happen,” Bob Smith said about the committee’s work.
Smith and council member Troy Van Dinter established an account last fall to accept donations for the float. Each council member contributed $100. It was not decided what would happen to that account.
Forzano said that the account is “not part of this agreement.”
After the council voted to surplus the float, a number of residents appeared at council meetings to urge the city to continue to operate the float.
“Not one person was opposed to the float,” said Chris Forzano, chairman of the committee.
The committee’s recommendation says that operating the float “provides significant city marketing and promotion with minimal cost to the city.”
Forzano said that the committee met a half-dozen times and set up a subcommittee to draft the 11-page recommendation. Four other options were considered, including the city selling the float, but Forzano said the blending of public-private operation seemed the best choice.
Before the school district can assume operation of the float, the city and district must sign an interlocal agreement.
District Superintendent Mark Mansell has said that the district’s insurance will cover the float’s operation without extra cost.
Council members expressed concerns about liability to the city should an accident occur, but City Attorney Daniel Kearns said the city’s insurance will also cover liability at no extra cost.

Library project gets boost
Anonymous donor convinced building will happen
The Fort Vancouver Regional Library trustees were prepared for an update report on the fundraising effort for construction of a new Battle Ground library when they met May 14 in Battle Ground. But they did not expect the good news they received.
Jane Higgins, co-chair of the effort to raise money for the new library, told the board that just that day, an as-yet anonymous donor had pledged to give $100,000 to the project.
Higgins was tight-lipped about the person’s identity.
“It’s somebody who has been following the library project,” said Higgins, “somebody who has been supportive of the progress.”
Higgins said the donor, who may be identified later this month, has lived in Battle Ground long enough to have witnessed two bond failures that would have provided funding for library construction. “It’s not a person typically involved in this level of philanthropy,” said Higgins.
With a gift of $100,000, the donor may choose to have his or her name engraved on a plaque in the library. The donor could have the plaque placed in a reading area, young adult area, adult literacy area, or technology area, or a combination of other “naming rights” opportunities.
The $100,000 gift reduces to about $430,000 the balance remaining to be raised. Higgins predicted the balance would be in hand by year’s end.
Higgins said a decision on a Paul Allen Challenge Grant of $100,000 should be made by August. That grant would provide $100,000 if a local match is found. That match is now available, said Higgins, thanks to the anonymous donor.
Since reaching the 75 percent plateau, said Higgins, “things have snow-balled.”
Higgins told the board of trustees that developer Dennis Pavlina has advised her that all subcontractors are in place for an October 2007 groundbreaking. The new library is to be located in the southeast quarter of the city near the intersection of SE Grace Ave. and SE Rasmussen Blvd. in the Battle Ground Commerce Center development. Pavlina has pledged an in-kind gift of nearly $1 million to the $3.4 million project.
The new 13,000 square foot library building is designed to replace the existing 3,000 square foot building located at the corner of Parkway Ave. and Main St. The Regional Library District may obtain an option to purchase land contiguous to the new building for future library expansion.
Don Higgins, co-chair of the fundraising effort, said the new library will not have adequate space the day it opens even though it will be more than four times the size of the existing facility.
At 13,000 square feet, the new Battle Ground library will be the third largest in the 4-county library district, behind the main branch in Vancouver and the Goldendale branch. Planned projects would alter the sizes of other branches. Officials believe the new Battle Ground library may not cost more to operate than the existing facility.
A $250,000 grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust, announced in March, brought the balance to be raised down to $575,000. In addition to the latest $100,000 donation, the library construction fund has been bolstered by gifts, proceeds from fundraising events, and interest income.
About 10 percent of the total project cost has been raised through pancake breakfasts, dinners and quilt raffles, indicating strong local support, said Higgins.
A book sale to benefit the library project will take place during the Harvest Days community celebration in July.
Drawings not acceptable
Jane Higgins said new drawings have been prepared that depict a more modern library appearance than previously portrayed. She said the modern look is not acceptable and architects have been instructed to try again.
Higgins said it is too late to make such radical changes in the appearance of the library. “We have been out there selling this on the (previously-prepared) conceptual drawing,” said Higgins. “I don’t want it to look like a bait and switch situation. It’s too radically different.”

Strip mall to rise on former Whimpy’s site
A Woodland landmark has disappeared, but a new restaurant and a Starbucks may open where Whimpy’s Restaurant once stood.
C.K. Parsons, managing member of Placer Creek Properties LLC of Richland, said that his company hopes to begin building a small strip mall in early June. A drive-through Starbucks will be located on one end, Parsons said, and he is negotiating for a restaurant.
“There will be five or six businesses in the mall,” he said.
For more than 20 years, Whimpy’s was a family restaurant specializing in hamburgers, as well as full dinners. According to county records, Joanne Hensley sold the property to Placer Creek in January.
“This is a good spot,” Parsons said. “We hope it will be as good an off-highway site as there is along I-5.”
Placer Creek is considering developing two other properties in other locations along I-5, Parsons said.

Young trees planted to hide power lines
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
A row of young maple trees lines the area below power lines along Goerig Street in downtown Woodland.
Building contractor Jeff Leuthold planted 14 trees in the city right-of-way on his and a neighbor’s property “to disguise the power lines,” he said.
In a report to the Woodland City Council on May 7, Leuthold said he had asked if he needed a city permit to plant the trees and was told that he did not.
“I planted them by hand,” he told the city council. “I saw no pipes, water lines, gas pipes.”
Later, some concerns were expressed about future maintenance and the city’s risk, he said.
Known as parkway maples, the trees are hybridized for city streets, according to J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co., a wholesale tree nursery based in Oregon. They have an oval root system that has been developed to prevent roots from breaking up concrete sidewalks, and the branches grow in an oval shape. Dark green leaves turn yellow in autumn.
Leuthold said he was inspired to plant the trees by a neighborhood in Portland, where maple trees are pruned to grow in an oval around the power lines. Leuthold told the city council that he would be responsible for pruning. He said that the trees will need pruning in three-to-five years and regular pruning about every three or four years after then.
Public works director Elaine Huber had some questions about planting trees in the city right-of-way.
“Trees are a beautiful amenity,” she said. “We just want to be sure they are the right kind of trees.”
Mayor Doug Monge agreed.
“I personally think they look great,” Monge said. “I have questions about when they will be pruned.”
As a result of questions that have arisen because of the trees, the city will prepare an ordinance covering the planting and maintenance of trees in city rights-of-way, Huber said.
Huber has asked Leuthold to write a summary regarding the planting, maintenance and pruning of the trees.
During an interview, Huber said she and Leuthold are continuing to discuss the trees and their future.
As for the responsibility of raking the leaves, Leuthold said the city sweeper will take care of leaves that fall on the street and he’ll take care of those on his land.

Woodland man pens paranormal mystery
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
Alan Rose’s first novel started as a short story–a parod y of ghost mystery stories, but as he wrote, “it got deeper and deeper into the paranormal and it became more serious.”
The end result was the 470-page The Legacy of Emily Hargraves, a book that by Rose’s own definition begins as a “psychological mystery and ends as a meditation on the nature of the human soul.”
As he was writing, Rose became more interested in the paranormal, although he says he’s not sure if he has ever had a paranormal experience.
“It’s hard for me to say. There have been things I can’t explain,” the Woodland-area resident said. “My mother and German grandmother had psychic abilities. My German grandmother had premonitions.”
As he continued his research, he said he found more and more people who had experienced some event they could not explain. He learned that poets and writers from an earlier time wrote of unexplained events.
“Some things that we think of as bizarre have been going on for centuries,” he said.
Rose has self-published The Legacy of Emily Hargraves through Trafford, a Victoria, BC, publishing house. Copies are available at Literary Leftovers in Battle Ground, Paperbacks Galore in Longview and online at www.alan-rose.com, www.amazon.com and www.borders.com.
Two years ago, Rose was offered a book contract for the novel with the caveat that he shorten its content by 25 percent.
“They wanted a lean, stripped-down thriller,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s not the book I wanted to write.”
Rose describes his first novel as “a paranormal mystery, full of plot twists, quirky characters, and dry-ice chills. The story is funny, spooky, sexy and literate,” he said.
Despite the “dry-ice chills,” Rose’s book is a novel of ideas, a book that explores the paranormal and how such experiences affect individuals, he said.
The Legacy of Emily Hargraves opens as Emily Hargraves is dying and realizes that she will leave a terrible legacy. After her death, grand-nephew James Barrett and his partner Jerry Fielding, not knowing of Emily’s legacy, move into her house overlooking Seattle. As the story unfolds, Jerry suffers hallucinations and dreams, while his health deteriorates. A psychiatrist, a psychic, and a next-door neighbor play roles in discovering the family’s dreadful history and its hold on the young man.
Rose, who is community relations director for the Lower Columbia Community Action Council in Longview, said that writing fiction helps him escape from the day-to-day work of the non-profit social services agency.
Rose said he based the story in Seattle because of his knowledge of the city and its surroundings.
“I brought in some local folklore,” he said.
The author of a “good number of short stories,” Rose, will next turn his writing to Japan, where he lived for three years. Tales of Tokyo tells the story of four young people who spend a year in Japan.
“It’s a novel, but it’s based on some of my experiences,” Rose said. “I call it a quest novel, how they learn about themselves and how they relate to each other.”

Day at work strengthens student’s ambition
Randi Hall, a senior at Woodland High School, hopes to someday be a county commissioner.
She got a taste of what life as a commissioner is like when she spent a day with Kathleen Johnson, chairwoman of the Cowlitz County commissioners.
“It made me want to be a commissioner more than ever,” said Hall, 18, about the experience.
Hall and 21 other Cowlitz County high school students participated in the county’s Youth in Government Day. Hall was assigned to chair the meeting.
“She didn’t know she was the chair until she got here,” Johnson said. “She was very effective. She has a strong voice, she could be heard, she wasn’t timid. We were very impressed.”
“It was a fast-paced agenda,” Hall said. “I got there, and they said, ‘You sit up front.’ In the middle of the meeting, they would put a paper in front of me. I learned a lot.”
In addition to presiding over a debate concerning partisan versus non-partisan county positions, Hall shadowed Johnson for about an hour-and-a-half.
“She showed me the office and what she had to do,” Hall said about Johnson. “Actually, it was pretty fun.”
The one-day session was not Hall’s first experience in county government. For her senior project, she worked with a Superior Court judge in Clark County.
Hall, who will graduate June 8, will attend Central Washington University in Ellensburg in the fall. After she earns a bachelor’s degree, she plans to attend law school.
Senior class president, Hall also plays center field on the varsity softball team that has a 9-2 record.
She is the daughter of Kelli and Steve Hall of Woodland.

Candidates file in June
For the first time in state history, candidates will file for office in June instead of the usual period at the end of July.
This year the filing period will be Mon.-Fri., June 4-8.
The filing period has been moved nearly two months earlier than usual because the date of the primary election has been changed from September to August.
Candidates may also file by mail before the June 4-8.
Secretary of State Sam Reed said the earlier primary election date will “enfranchise voters and strengthen elections.”
“Public servants have a unique opportunity to shape the lives of their own communities,” said Reed. “More than any other year, odd-year contests have the greatest influence on the future of our daily lives.”
Offices available for election
The 2007 election cycle will feature city, town, school district, fire district, cemetery district, port district and other specialized district offices. All offices are non-partisan.
CLARK COUNTY
In Clark County, the following offices and their incumbents are open for filing. While city council members may live anywhere in the city, school board members run from a geographic district.
Battle Ground
Council positions held by Sandra Hull, John Idsinga, Chris Regan and open. Salary is $3,600 per year. All four year terms.
School board positions held by Karen Lehman, Sam Kim (four year terms) and Cecil Schlect (unexpired two year term) are open. No salary is paid.
La Center
Mayor position held by Jim Irish, and council positions held by Dale Smith and Linda Tracy are open. No salary is paid. All are four year terms.
School board positions held by Bernie Schlockelt, Don Phillips and Cris Yaw are open. No salary is paid. All are four year terms.
Ridgefield
Council positions held by Gladys Doriot, Gary Hanson and David Standall (all four year terms), and Matt Swindell and Ron Onslow (unexpired two year terms) are open. No salary is paid.
School board positions held by Chris Swindell, Wendi Warner and Raymond Morris are open. All are four year terms. A vacant position is also open, for election to an unexpired two year term. No salary is paid.
Woodland
Mayor position held by Doug Monge is open for election to a full four year term. Salary is $9,800 per year. Council positions held by Erica Rainford, Jim Tone (four year terms) and Marilee McCall (unexpired two year term) are open. Council members are paid $1,800 per year.
School board positions held by Jim Bays, Dotty Yount and Saundra Tone are open. No salary is paid. All positions are four year terms.
Yacolt
Mayor position held by Joe Warren is open for election to a full four year term. Salary is $4,800 per year.
Council positions held by Ronnie Stewart, Cindy Marbut (four year terms) and Ron Madler (short and four year term) are open. No salary is paid.
In addition, three positions are open on the Green Mountain School Board. Those positions are now held by Rick Syring, Eric Rice and Wendy Arends. All are four year terms.
Three positions are also open on the Hockinson School Board. Those positions are now held by Dave Olson, Greg Gospe and Janina Rosenkranz. No salary is paid. All are four year terms.
One fire commissioner position is open at each of several fire districts, including fire districts 3 (James), 5 (Geiger), 6 (Bloemke), 10 (Johnson), 11 (Dollar), 12 (Lambrecht) and 13 (Beard).
One position is open on the Port of Ridgefield commission (Randel), and one on the Clark Regional Wastewater District (Kimsey). Two positions are open on the Woodland Swimming Pool & Recreation District (Balch, Zumstein).
Fire commissioners and other specialized commissioner positions are not paid.
The 2007 Primary Election will take place Tues., Aug. 21.
Information is available by calling Clark County Elections, 397-2345.
COWLITZ COUNTY
In Cowlitz County, the following offices are open for election this year, shown with their incumbents. The city of Woodland, Woodland School District and Woodland Swimming Pool & Recreation District are located partially in Clark County and are shown above.
Kalama
City council positions held by Bud Gish, Chuck Hutchinson and Donald Purvis are open for four year terms. The position now held by Adam Smee will be on the ballot as an unexpired two year term. Council positions pay $600 per year.
School board positions held by Dave Walker, Wes Eader and Russ Ipock are open this year. No salary is paid. All are four year terms.
A position as commissioner of the Port of Kalama is open with a six year term and a salary of $2,400 per year.
The Cowlitz County Elections Department may be reached at (360) 577-3005.