The Hockinson High School marching band, under the direction of Michael Leone, took first place among A Class bands at the Northwest Marching Band Championships held Nov. 3 at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR.
It was the second time in three years that the Hockinson band has won the event.
The event attracted bands from Oregon and Washington, including Skyview, Evergreen and Columbia River in Vancouver.
Leone said bands competed against bands of similar size without regard to high school enrollment. Finishing second to Hockinson was the Tigard High School marching band from Oregon.
Leone said judges came from around the nation to evaluate band performances. Judging was based on musical performance, marching skill, percussion and color guard, said Leone.
The 49-member Hockinson band competed against 15 other bands during the morning events on Nov. 3, and then competed against bands of all sizes in the evening.
Leone said he teaches jazz band, symphonic band, wind ensemble and percussion, and then directs the marching band as an after-school activity. Rehearsals are held 2-3 times a week, he said. In all, Leone has 120 musicians in his bands programs out of a Hockinson High School enrollment of about 700 students.
Leone has directed Hockinson bands all five years of the school’s existence. He holds a degree in music education from the University of Washington.
Leone said he will lead 75 Hockinson musicians on a trip to China in summer 2008 where they will perform during the Olympics. Skyview High School in Vancouver will also send musicians to China for that performance.
City calls in
auditors to look
at books
Brandy Slagle
Staff reporter
Paul Zandamela has apparently defeated incumbent John Idsinga for a seat on the Battle Ground city council.
The latest tally from Clark County Elections shows Zandamela with 1,041 votes (51.5%) to Idsinga’s 961 votes.
Results will not be official until Nov. 27.
Idsinga has served 10 years on the city council, the last five as mayor.
Zandamela has not served in public office in the city.
During the campaign, Zandamela advanced claims of corruption, misuse of funds and immorality against city administration.
After the election results became known, city officials asked the state auditor to investigate allegations of financial mismanagement. City manager Dennis Osborn said Nov. 9 that auditor’s had already begun their investigation.
Idsinga said the allegations of corruption, advanced in a Zandamela flyer and in the Vancouver Columbian newspaper, cost him votes.
Idsinga also blamed his loss in part to two items in The Reflector.
Idsinga said a story about the firing of city finance David Reeves that came out on election day cost him votes. The story gave Reeves’ theories as to why he was asked to leave although, said Reeves, the city gave him no explanation.
Idsinga also said a Reflector editorial about the city and county building one trail--not two--between the city and Battle Ground Lake also may have hurt his reelection bid.
Idsinga also said Reeves and Zandamela attend the same church.
Idsinga said he has worked hard for the betterment of the city.
“I have been a salesman for Battle Ground,” Idsinga said.
Idsinga said some of his accomplishments include helping to secure $265,000 in funding for the first study conducted on the I-5 interchange, which “people doubted would be built.” He said he oversaw eight years of planning in growth management and found funding for the widening of SR-502.
Idsinga said he helped implement the construction of a skate park this year as well as park improvements at Kiwanis Park, and he moved plans forward to construct a new police station and acquire a new city hall.
That he was not able to get his information into the voters’ pamphlet before deadline and did not post any campaign signs might have led some people to think he was not campaigning, he said. He declined to say why he did not put up campaign signs.
Zandamela said he could not thank voters more for showing their support to him during this campaign.
“I knew the race would be close,” Zandamela said. “Idsinga has been in office for many years and I am an unknown.”
Zandamela credits the success of his campaign to the way he reflected the views and priorities of voters.
“I think my success is proof that people are ready to head in a different direction.”
Idsinga and Sandy Hall were appointed as mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, by the council. Council members will select new members to fill these positions.
Hall, who did not run for office again, stepped down from the council effective Oct. 29. She has applied to replace Reeves as city finance director.
Art Nelson appears to have won the race to replace Hall with 935 votes (50.4%) to Thomas Schultz’s 888 votes.
Nelson said he will decline commenting on the election results until the results are official. Nelson is facing a December trial on felony theft charges.
In another race for city council, incumbent Chris Regan won with 1,197 votes (62.8%) to Beverly Banks’s 688.
Regan said he “was not a man of many words,” but thanked voters for showing their support.
An Amboy couple extradited from Canada pleaded not guilty at a Nov. 7 arraignment in a Clark County Superior Court to a charge of custodial interference, first degree.
According to Clark County Sheriffs information, Jeffrey and Kim Spady, 25501 NE Fern Dr., Amboy, fled Clark County on Sept. 7 with their children after authorities ordered placement of the children into state custody pending resolution of sexual assault charges of rape of a child 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree against Jeffrey Spady
Canadian authorities reportedly advised Sheriff investigators that the Spady family entered British Columbia on Sept. 8 at the Kingsgate Crossing. Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Sept. 21 arrested the couple at a camp area in the Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park and placed the children into protective custody. The children were returned to protective custody in Clark County, and, after extradition hearings, Jeffrey Spady, 39, and Kim Spady, 40, were brought back to Clark County and booked into jail on Oct. 15.
At the arraignment, a trial date for all charges was set for Jan. 7, 2008. Jeffrey Spady’s bail was set at $500,000. Kim Spady’s bail was set at $250,000.
The city of Battle Ground will use about $8.8 million in reserves to balance its 2008 budget, subject to a Nov. 19 public hearing and approval by the city council.
The city faces declining revenues due in part to a reduced number of housing starts.
City manager Dennis Osborn said the city issued 509 residential, single-family building permits in 2003, then 226 permits in 2005, 52 in 2006, and 76 so far in 2007. The proposed 2008 budget estimates housing starts at 120.
Each new housing start provides the city with about $24,500 in fees.
Despite the decline in building activity, the city plans to retain its full staff in plan review and building inspection, and increase salaries for all city employees by an average of 6 percent.
Osborn said city plan review and building inspection staff will be busy with some expected commercial developments.
The 2008 budget calls for the hiring one new person, a Parks Director, who would report to the head of Public Works. Osborn proposes to elevate the new Parks Director to a department head position in 2009.
The budget totals about $16.3 million, plus transfers between accounts and construction projects.
Expenditures in the draft budget include about $6.96 million in salaries, wages and benefits which is about 43 percent of the total budget not counting construction projects and transfers between departments.
Osborn said city officials have not been able to finalize contracts with either the Public Employees Association (PEA) union which represents public works staff and clerical workers, or the police union.
The PEA contract is awaiting a union vote, while the police union contract is headed toward mediation with the help of an outside mediator, said Osborn.
Once these contracts are settled, said Osborn, pay raises will be retroactive to the beginning of 2007. Retroactive pay for members of the Public Employees Association will total about $120,000, said Osborn. The retroactive salary money will come from the city’s contingency fund, he said.
The budget shows a 30 percent hike in revenues expected from traffic infractions to a total of $120,000, and a doubling of parking infraction penalties to $8,000. Osborn said these revenues will increase because the police department is now fully staffed at 25 people. The addition of two motorcycle patrols in 2008 will also add to revenues, he said.
Police activity up
The budget provides for the acquisition of two motorcycles for the police department in 2008. Two patrol cars are scheduled to be retired in 2008.
The budget predicts an increase of nearly 30 percent in arrests, with 2,215 arrests projected for 2008 compared to 1,704 in 2007. Citations are expected to increase by 11 percent.
The budget shows $45,000 for the purchase of fuel for the police department, the same amount as included in the 2007 budget.
The law enforcement portion of the city budget shows an increase in salaries and wages of about 9.2 percent with no new hires. The increase is due to salary hikes, said Osborn.
Construction projects
The city plans to re-construct a portion of N Parkway Ave. in 2008 at a cost of about $3.36 million.
The project will extend from Sixth St. northward to Onsdorff Blvd.
About $1.4 million of the funds for the N Parkway work will come from transportation impact fees, and about $1.16 million from a state Transportation Improvement Board grant.
The city also plans to construct a community center building at Fairgrounds Park at a cost of about $3.5 million. About $2 million of the funds for the community center will come from money borrowed by the city council. Another $400,000 is expected to come from a federal grant program which has not yet received congressional approval, said Osborn. A parking lot for the community center is budgeted at an additional $350,000, and a “rose float barn” is expected to cost $200,000.
Plans also call for the construction of a sports complex at the Remy property on SW 20th Ave. in 2008, pending voter approval of a February bond measure. The sports complex project is expected to cost $6.4 million.
The city plans to spend $16.9 on construction projects 2008, not including the sports complex project.
The budget includes $130,000 for a new sidewalk in the vicinity of the city’s new skate park on E Main St.
The city’s revenues for construction projects include $800,000 expected from the sale of land on NW 20th Ave. that the city had acquired for the construction of a new city hall.
The city’s 2007 budget had included $2 million in revenues from the sale of the property, which has not yet been sold.
Osborn said the sale could occur in 2008, and $800,000 of revenue from the sale is included in the budget for construction projects. The property is currently listed at $1.4 million, said Osborn. Additional revenue from the sale of the property is not included in the draft budget.
Design work is to continue on the re-construction of S Parkway Ave.
Parks Fund up
The city’s Parks Fund will receive added funding from increases in taxes on water and sewer, and a new 16 percent tax on the city’s storm drainage utility. Those three new taxes will raise about $118,000 in 2008, said Osborn, boosting the city’s Parks Fund to about $500,795.
The Parks Fund will also gain about $30,000 from rental income expected in 2008 from the new community center.
The Parks Fund is used for mowing, trash pick up and weed spraying. The 2008 budget shows 1,500 hours per year of parks mowing, about triple the amount of mowing done in city parks in 2005. Weed spraying in parks is estimated at 500 hours in 2008, about five times the amount of weed spraying done in 2005.
Street Fund stable
The Street Fund is expected to be about the same as 2007 at about $900,000.
The Street Fund is expected to pay for 2,500 hours of street sweeping, up 25 percent from 2,000 hours in 2007 and up 40 percent from 2006.
Street Fund work also includes 150 hours of sign replacement (up 50% from 2007), 120 hours of curb painting (up 20%), 3,500 hours of cracksealing, and 200 hours of crosswalk painting (up 25%).
Storm Drainage work increases
The budget shows a 22 percent increase in the city’s Storm Drainage Utility, pushed upward by a planned expenditure of $310,000 for remaining work on wetland mitigation for construction work on West Main Street done in recent years. The services of a contractor will be used to handle this mitigation work.
The Storm Drainage Utility work program includes 3,000 hours of ditch maintenance, which is the equivalent of about 1 1/2 people working full time all year in maintaining ditches. The city mows ditches at least three times a year, and is responsible for ditch maintenance along the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad through the city.
The new Storm Drainage Utility tax is expected to add about $74,000 in revenues in 2008.
Fire service contract up
The budget shows an increase in the city’s contract with Fire District 11 of about 24 percent. Whereas the contract was valued at $658,675 in 2007, it is expected to climb to $818,612 in 2008.
The contract with Fire District 11 has risen by more than 20 percent annually since 2005. Osborn attributed the increases in part to city annexations which have taken over property previously included in the Fire District’s taxing territory.
Other expenditures
The budget includes about $750,000 in contracted professional services such as legal services at $40,000.
The city plans to move to semi-monthly payroll in 2008 to comply with federal tax requirements.
The budget provides for the purchase of one pickup truck at $38,000, and a 10-yard dump truck at $150,000.
The city will provide $17,000 to the North County Community Food Bank, up about 17 percent from 2007. And the city will provide $10,000 for the Battle Ground Community Education program, similar to amounts given to the program in 2005 and 2006. The city did not provide funding for Community Education in 2007.
A living document
The city presently owes about $20.3 million in longterm debt, including $6.5 million borrowed in 2006 for parks, and $3.4 million remaining on the purchase of city hall.
The city presently has about $26.3 million in cash and investments.
Osborn described the city’s budget as a “living document,” noting that its contents could be changed as time goes by.
Osborn said he plans to develop policies in 2008 on how to develop a budget in “leaner times,” with, for example, a definition of “core services.”
Hearing slated
A public hearing on the proposed 2008 Battle Ground city budget is set for Mon., Nov. 19, 7 p.m., at city hall, 109 SW First St., Battle Ground. More information is available by calling Osborn, 342-5005, or Bob Noland, 342-5025.
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
Chuck Blum, a former member of the Woodland city council, has been elected mayor of Woodland, earning more than 52 percent of the votes according to unofficial final vote counts.
Blum faced city council member John J. Burke who received about 45 percent of the votes. The Nov. 9 count total for Clark and Cowlitz counties showed Blum earning 417 votes to Burke’s 365.
“I’ve made the statement that the citizens need to be heard; they need an outlet for their wants and desires,” Blum said. “That’s not been happening over the last few years. I think that’s why people decided to make a change in administration.”
Blum partly attributed his victory to the door-to-door campaign he conducted.
“The voters are not going to the candidates,” he said. “The candidates have to talk to the voters. There needs to be a two-way street. People appreciate that.”
Blum, who is semi-retired and is an advertising representative for the Lewis River Review, said he plans to be a “full-time” mayor. He said he would make a decision whether to resign from his part-time job after all the votes are counted.
Burke said that he would wait until all votes are counted before making a statement. Two years remain on Burke’s term on the council.
The youngest candidate for the council, Aaron Christopherson, 19, handily defeated veteran Al Swindell, earning 60 percent of the vote, with a total of 468 votes. Swindell earned 304 votes, 39 percent, from both counties.
“I’m excited about what happened,” Christopherson said. “I got a lot of good response from people.”
Going door-to-door may have helped his candidacy, Christopherson said, but he added, “probably a lot of prayers” provided the major factor in the victory.
Christopherson, who plans to receive a bachelor’s degree in business in December from Washington State University Vancouver, was endorsed by the Building Industry Association.
Swindell said the association’s political action committee mailed brochures supporting Christopherson to Woodland voters about two weeks before the election.
“I believe that influenced the vote,” Swindell said. “There was no way I could respond to that as an individual.”
Swindell called his defeat “disheartening.”
“I’ve lived in Woodland five years and I’ve attended city council meetings and planning commission meetings and I’ve worked to be involved in my community.”
In the other contested race, Marilee McCall defeated Gene L. Silvey, 439-326, with McCall earning about 57 percent of the votes cast. Silvey earned a little more than 43 percent.
In the only contested race for the Woodland School Board, Janice Watts defeated James Yount, 1004-723. Watts earned 58 percent of the votes, while Yount earned 42 percent. Yount was running for the seat vacated by his wife Dotty.
A Woodland police officer with 20 years of law enforcement experience has been chosen as the city’s second sergeant.
The Woodland city council voted last year to add a sergeant’s position in the wake of Woodland’s residential growth.
Lipp was chosen from a field of five Woodland police officers.
“Any of the officers who applied would have done a fine job as a sergeant,” said Chief Rob Stephenson. “This was a very hard decision to make, but in the end, Lipp came out as the best overall choice for the position.”
A graduate of Woodland High School, Lipp is a veteran of the Air Force where he served for four years as a military police dog handler.
After leaving the Air Force, Lipp settled in Ellensburg where he was a deputy sheriff for Kititas County. He returned to Woodland in 2004 after being hired by the city police department.
As a sergeant, Lipp will supervise a patrol team, Stephenson said.
The city has a police staff of 10 officers and two civilian employees, and Stephenson said he has not budgeted any increase in staff for 2008.
City police activity during 2007 has been “about equal to last year,” he said.
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
Woodland’s committee studying a proposed new building for the police and fire departments wants to know what residents think about the idea.
To spur conversation and comments, council member Marilee McCall presented several alternatives to the city council Nov. 5. She did not present any cost estimates for constructing the building, but she said that any public construction bond would need to be between $10 and $15 million.
About two years ago, the city purchased land on East Scott Avenue and received preliminary drawings for a building. Since then, the idea of building has languished.
More recently, the fire department discussed applying for a federal grant to move the Lewis River Fire Station 2 from the flood plain, but the department did not apply for the grant.
The two departments now share the City Hall on Davidson Avenue, while other city offices are located in the City Hall Annex two blocks away.
McCall said the city could consider renting space for the police department, but she said the space must meet police requirements such as a secure room to hold and question suspects.
Renting a building would “quickly fill the need for additional space requirements without new construction,” she said.
Two types of construction could be considered, McCall said, but both would require voter passage of a bond issue.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has recommended that the Lewis River station be moved from the flood plain. McCall said construction of a new station on the East Scott Avenue property would address only the fire department and would not cover police needs.
A new, smaller building could provide a starting plan to phase in additional structures at a later date. McCall cautioned, however, that construction costs go up every year and delays will mean increases in the costs.
The Woodland School District plans to ask voters sometime next year to approve a bond to build a new high school, but the school board has not yet determined the amount of the bond.
A city bond proposal “would go to the voters after the high school bond request and could result in denial,” McCall said.
A $5 million bond proposal for a new building was rejected by Woodland voters about three years ago.
McCall did not recommend any of the suggestions to the council, and she said that before any decision is made, a survey of the residents is needed. She said after the meeting that surveys could be conducted online or town hall meetings.
Council member Erica Rainford asked if the committee considered the idea of selling the property, and McCall said that idea has not been discussed.
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
Two Woodland public bodies have passed resolutions opposing the construction of a gaming casino at La Center.
Woodland City Council and the district school board approved resolutions on Nov. 5 that oppose the construction and operation of a Cowlitz tribal casino. The casino is planned for the interchange of I-5 and La Center Road.
Woodland joins the cities of La Center and Vancouver in opposing the casino. The city’s resolution asks that the U.S. Secretary of Interior “reject the land-to-trust application” if the tribe uses the property for a casino. The resolution calls for additional studies and research on the “socio-economic impacts” to the city and asks for “financial mitigation” by the tribe.
The school district resolution does not call for outright rejection of the Cowlitz application, but sets conditions for approval that would require the Cowlitz tribe to bear the costs that could be caused by an influx of students.
“We think the impact is more substantial than that described in the DEIS (draft environmental impact statement),” said Woodland Superintendent Michael Green. “There will be an impact of increased enrollment and increased needs. It may include, for example, increases for special services. With those needs, the district will be incurring more expenses.”
The district’s resolution states that if the additional costs and needs are not mitigated by the tribe, the district opposes the application.
The city council received a draft resolution in late August from Darlene Johnson, an owner of Woodland Truck Line, who opposes the casino. After struggling with wording and structure of the resolution, the council approved the document, 3-2, with John J. Burke and Erica Rainford voting against the resolution.
Rainford has consistently opposed any resolution against the Cowlitz tribal casino.
“This entire document is arbitrary,” she said. “It is not based on fact.”
Burke said after the meeting that he would like to see a memorandum of understanding between the Cowlitz Tribe and the city.
“I want to keep the door open,” he said. “I want to talk to the Indian people.”
City attorney Paul Brachvogel was absent, and Burke said he was concerned about passing a resolution in Brachvogel’s absence.
“We didn’t have an attorney there,” he said. “We tore it apart.”
The council removed paragraphs that members said could not be verified as fact, and removed Section 4 of the resolution that stated that approval of the land-to-trust application would “be an abuse of discretion, not supported by the evidence.”
“Is Section 4 based on fact?” asked Marilee McCall. “I agree with everything but Section 4. It’s not based on fact.”
Council member Jim Tone called for the removal of paragraphs that refer to Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
A final EIS regarding the proposed casino and resort is being prepared, but no date for its release has been announced.