A Dec. 12 fire destroyed Jack’s Restaurant and Store west of Cougar, a landmark business in the Yale and Cougar areas and for travelers to Mount St. Helens.
The business, located at 13411 Lewis River Road, was owned by Adam and Stephanie Burhop.
Gary Stuart, chief of Cowlitz-Skamania Fire District 7, said crews were notified of the fire at 8:52 p.m. and arrived about 10 minutes later. Some 32 District 7 firefighters used one engine and three water tenders to fight the blaze which Stuart said appeared to have started in an attic.
Fire District 7 was joined by an engine and five firefighters from Clark County Fire District 10.
The first crews to arrive reported smoke coming from the eves and windows, said Stuart. An earlier report noted flames coming from the top of the building.
Stuart said firefighters attempted to reach the second floor of the building but were turned back by the intense heat. Water and foam were used to fight the fire which ended up destroying the wood frame building. Crews were on the scene until about 6:15 a.m. Dec. 13.
Even though some walls were still standing the next day, Stuart said the structure was likely a total loss.
The well-known Jack’s Store was built by Jack Hoover as Jack’s Sporting Goods. Hoover, 80, now a resident of Wrangle, AK, was assisted by Bob Mize Sr. in disassembling and moving former bunkhouse buildings used during the construction of Swift Dam to the site at Lewis River Road and SR-503 about 1959. In 1966, Hoover started construction of the new sporting goods store, using bunkhouse lumber. After three years of work, Hoover opened Jack’s Sporting Goods in 1969.
Hoover, his wife, and three sons lived upstairs in the building. Hoover’s step-son, Roger Dill, returned from serving with the Navy in Vietnam in 1969. Because the residence area of the building was fully occupied, Dill, his wife Diane, and her three sons spent the winter of 1970 in a tent behind the business, heated with a wood stove. Dill is now able to tell his grandchildren that story.
The business remained a sporting goods store until Jack Ragsdale purchased the building and business in 1977, added on to it, and operated a store and restaurant. Ragsdale constructed a home nearby, said Dill.
Ron and Anne Emory purchased the business from Ragsdale. Ragsdale later resumed operation, then Mike Livingston purchased the business, followed by Allison Harvick and her parents Jim and Rosanne Campbell. The Burhops acquired the business from owners Harvick and Campbell about 2 1/2 years ago.
Jack Hoover’s wife has passed away. His son Bill Hoover lives in Arizona, son Ken Hoover lives in Monroe, and son Steve Hoover lives in Tacoma.
U.S. Forest Service permits to climb Mount St. Helens were handled through Jack’s Store for several years. Tom Mulder, manager of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, described Jack’s Store as a “fixture in the Mount St. Helens climbing community.” He said Stephanie and Adam Burhop were “important participants in our partnership with the Mount St. Helens Institute to provide quality service to Mount St. Helens climbers.
Climbing permits are now available at the Cougar Store located in Cougar which is about five miles east of Jack’s Store. The Burhops also own the Cougar Store.
A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the theft of mail from the Yacolt Post office.
Postal inspector Bob Cady said someone broke into the post office sometime in the afternoon or evening of Sun., Dec. 9. The break-in was discovered Monday morning.
Yacolt postmaster Eddie Hill located some mail nearby, said Cady, including both letters and parcels.
Cady said the amount of stolen mail was uncertain.
Cady said the burglar(s) gained access to a portion of the post office building that contained postal equipment and newly-arriving mail, but did not get into the remainder of the building. Cady said a “small amount of mail” was stolen, but did not describe how much mail that would be.
Cady said the Yacolt Post office, located just north of the Yacolt Trading Post on Amboy Road, was constructed about 10 years ago. He said the building has suffered graffiti damage in recent years.
Cady said Hill recovered a pile of stolen mail “nearby” and in the town, but declined to explain how far away from the post office that mail was found.
Cady would not say whether security cameras recorded the arrival of mail earlier Dec. 9.
Cady said the post office’s security system did not include the portion of the building that was burglarized.
Anyone with information about the mail theft is urged to call Cady, (503) 279-2068, or the Clark County sheriff’s office, 397-2211.
The Clark County commissioners decided Dec. 11 to purchase 12 acres near Lewisville Park north of Battle Ground for future park expansion.
The property is located on the south side of the East Fork of the Lewis River across from Lewisville Park, next to Camp Juliana, a former Girl Scout camp owned by Clark County. The property includes about 1,000 feet of river frontage with mature vegetation.
The county joined with the Vancouver-based Columbia Land Trust to make the $444,000 purchase from Roger Christopher of Battle Ground.
County officials will use about $300,000 from its Conservation Futures program to make the purchase. Columbia Land Trust supplied about $94,000 and will manage the property until the county is ready to request title. About $50,000 came from the East Fork Legacy Fund, represented by the Community Foundation of Southwest Washington.
“I thank Roger (Christopher) for initiating this purchase,” said Clark County commissioner Steve Stuart. “This is exactly the type of partnership project envisioned by the commissioners when we established the Legacy Lands office in 2006. It’s a great example of several partners leveraging resources to conserve some extraordinary property.”
Commissioners Betty Sue Morris and Marc Boldt also expressed support when approving the agreement.
Acquisition of the 12 acres adds to the county’s East Fork of the Lewis River greenway and protects spawning and rearing habitat for winter and summer steelhead and coho and chum salmon, noted Glenn Lamb, executive director of the Columbia Land Trust.
Columbia Land Trust is a private, non-profit organization working to conserve lands and habitat areas in Washington and Oregon.
Lamb said Clark County has identified greenway areas along the Lewis River and is working to acquire land, while developing parks and trails.
Lamb said Christopher suggested the land deal in October, asking that it close before the end of the year. Officials noted that the timetable was short for a transaction of this type.
Lamb said the Columbia Land Trust is funded by its 1,500 members and by grants.
The East Fork Legacy Fund was established with donations from three families who sold river front land to the county, said Bill Dygert. The fund is held by the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington and managed by Dygert, Kent Landerholm, Bruce Wiseman, Del Schleichert and Glenn Lamb.
The East Fork Legacy Fund, with an initial balance of about $400,000, is to be used “light” recreation, said Dygert, plus habitat enhancements, trails and other purposes while protecting and enhancing the river system.
A Thurston County Superior Court judge wasted no time Dec. 14 in ruling against Clark County and the Cowlitz Tribe and in favor of the La Center casinos on the validity of the county’s agreement with the tribe.
Judge Gary Tabor discounted arguments by county attorney Rich Lowry that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the county and the tribe should be reinstated because it had been modified.
Lowry said after the hearing that he will meet with the county commissioners and decide the next step which could be an appeal to a higher court. Another option, said Lowry, is for the county to “live with the decision,” hold a public hearing, and amend the county comprehensive plan for the proposed casino property. The site was recently placed within the city of La Center urban growth boundary.
The MOU had provided for payments from the tribe to the county for law enforcement, fire services, and utility and other services if the tribe constructs a casino along I-5 at the La Center interchange.
As it stands now, the tribe would not be required to compensate the county for services if the casino and convention center are constructed, although tribal representatives have said they will follow the terms of the MOU even if the document remains invalid.
The tribe has also offered a mechanism by which the agreements contained in the MOU could be enforced without a valid MOU.
Casino opponents, funded by the existing La Center cardrooms, took the issue of MOU validity to the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board (Board) which ruled it had no jurisdiction. The opponents appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals which decided that the extension of water service to an unincorporated area violated the county’s growth management plan. The Appeals Court sent the matter back to the Board for further consideration.
The Board then invalidated not only the water extension provision but the entire MOU, and remanded the matter back to the county.
The county severed the water extension provision of the MOU and took the Board’s decision to Superior Court in Thurston County, resulting in last week’s hearing.
Lowry had argued that the Board’s decision to invalidate the entire MOU was much broader than the Appeals Court decision which mentioned only water. He also argued that the tribal casino property had since been placed inside an urban growth boundary and was therefore no longer rural. That, he said, should make the entire argument about whether the MOU violated the county’s growth plan moot.
“It seems to me there are arguments other than (water). Even if (water) were removed there are still other issues,” said Judge Tabor in ruling that the Board had not overstepped its jurisdiction.
“I do not put stock in that the Board exceeded their jurisdiction,” said Tabor. “Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board acted as they were told. Their response was well-articulated and well-considered.”
“Place this issue in the lap of the court of appeals where it belongs,” suggested Tabor.
“I am very disappointed and still can’t believe the court’s decision,” said Lowry after the decision was announced.
Eric S. Merrifield, attorney representing the casino opponents, discounted Lowry’s arguments about the severance of the water provision of the MOU. “The severance argument is factually wrong and legally absurd,” said Merrifield.
Merrifield’s arguments were short and direct. “Carrying out the MOU is in conflict with the growth board’s policies,” said Merrifield, a member of the Seattle-based law firm of Perkins Coie.
Following about 45 minutes of arguments, Tabor announced his decision. He took little time to deliberate and appeared to be reading his decision from a prepared document.
“This issue has always been whether or not the state has the right to scrutinize the county’s decision,” said Tabor. He said his interpretation of the Appeals Court ruling was that the water extension issue was an example of why the whole document was invalid, but not the only reason.
“I have considered all arguments,” said Tabor.
Lowry said that if a new MOU is developed, the county could gain greater reimbursement for the services it would provide than provided for in the document now held to be invalid. But, said Lowry, “the Tribe has not indicated any desire to start over.”
The Cowlitz Tribe was not allowed to join the county in arguing the case in Thurston County Superior Court, but the Tribe did submit written arguments, prepared by Vancouver attorney Stephen Horenstein.
Horenstein noted that the tribal property is presently zoned for industrial use and no longer has rural zoning.
He repeated the county’s argument that the Board had interpreted the Appeals Court ruling too broadly. He said the Appeals Court did not mention any other provision of the MOU other than water, whereas the Board believed the Appeals Court was considering the MOU as a whole. Tabor accepted that latter argument.
Horenstein also argued that, if the tribe gains federal approval for a casino while the MOU is invalided or in a state of remand, the Tribe would not be bound by any of the county’s growth regulations.
Horenstein also questioned the Board’s authority over an Indian tribe. “For a board with very limited authority to purport to invalidate a governing document of a sovereign nation is a serious affront, particularly when, in doing so, the Hearings Board defied statutory procedure.”
Horenstein said the inclusion of the tribal gaming site in La Center urban growth boundary should render the MOU arguments moot. Judge Tabor did not discuss that argument when announcing his decision.
The 2008 budget approved Dec. 11 by the Cowlitz County Public Utility District commissioners contains no increases in rates.
Utility spokesman Dave Andrew said officials believe rates will remain stable through 2009 as well.
The budget approval means that Cowlitz County residents will pay the same rate for electricity as they did since October 2003.
Expenditures in the 2008 budget total $237.1 million which includes $165.4 million for the purchase of electricity. Labor costs are forecast at $14.9 million or about 6.3 percent of the total.
Construction projects are estimated at $25.5 million in the new year which will in part fund the completion of two new substations, installation of 11,000 automated meters, and replacement of over 20 miles of aging underground power lines, according to Andrew.
The budget also includes money for the first year of a 7-year plan to standardize the Utility’s transmission grid at 115 kilovolts, and construction of a transmission network system to increase reliability and better accommodate future customer electrical demands.
“We consider it to be the PUD’s responsibility to build a system that will meet the future needs of our children and grandchildren,” said board president Buz Ketcham. “Two years ago the PUD board directed staff to develop an aggressive plan to rebuild and upgrade Cowlitz County’s electric system. The 2008 capital plan will allow us to continue on that path.”
The budget also reflects net revenues of $2.6 million from the sale of electricity from the White Creek Wind Project in Klickitat County. The utility plans to sell its share of White Creek power until 2012 when the state’s new renewable power standards go into effect. The Utility will purchase 46 percent of the White Creek power output for the next 20 years.
Andrew said four utilities joined to create the White Creek project, now owned by private investors. Cowlitz PUD borrowed money to be able to purchase its share of the project’s power.
Power from White Creek costs the Utility about 5 cents per kilowatt hour, said Andrew, more than the 3.3 cents than the Utility pays for power from the Bonneville Power Administration. The power is sold on the open market for about 6 cents per kilowatt hour, he said.
Andrew said the Utility has an agreement to buy power from the White Creek Wind Project for the next 20 years, with an option to buy the project in 10 years.
By 2012, said Andrew, larger utilities will be required to produce 3 percent of their power from non-hydro renewable sources, including wind. That percentage will increase to 9 percent by 2016 and to 25 percent by 2020. The White Creek Project will allow the Cowlitz utility to meet the earlier-year thresholds, said Andrew.
Utility general manager Brian Skeahan earns a base salary of $140,000 per year, said Andrew.
A $49.4 million bond that would pay for a new high school and refurbish the existing sports stadium has been approved by the Woodland School Board.
The board was scheduled to pass a resolution on Dec. 17 setting the bond election for March 11.
Matthew Malone of Educational District 112 said the tax rate for the bond would be $1.38 per $1,000 of real property value. The ESD is working with the school district to organize and prepare the bond issue.
The new school will be designed with classroom seats for 1,000 students and an overall capacity of 1,200. The design would allow for additional classrooms to hold another 200 students when needed, Malone said.
The new gymnasium would support a basketball game court and seat 1,200. A smaller multi-purpose gym for wrestling and aerobics would be located in a mezzanine above the main gym.
Performance areas would be integrated into common areas in the new plan “to allow the best use of space and money,” Malone said.
Vocational classrooms for such subjects as metals, wood, auto shop and horticulture would be a part of the building.
Although a number of sports fields would be constructed adjacent to the new building along Dike Access Road, the main stadium behind the current high school in downtown Woodland would be improved and remain in use, Malone said.
The cost of refurbishing the stadium has been estimated at $1.3 million. Improvements are to include additional seating and parking and upgraded concession stands. Superintendent Michael Green said that students like the stadium location within walking distance of fast-food restaurants and grocery stores.
An area near the proposed high school is to be reserved for a future stadium.
“After much discussion, official meetings and a community survey, the Woodland School Board feels there has been adequate planning to safely move forward with plans for a new high school,” Malone said. “All aspects of planning for the foreseeable future have been met and will continue to be evaluated throughout development.”
The district has not yet ordered designs of the future building, he said.
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
Drivers of long semi-tractor trailers may face two traffic circles when they leave I-5 for Woodland’s industrial area, says one official of the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT).
The circles, also known as roundabouts, have been proposed to accommodate the additional traffic caused by a Wal-Mart superstore, planned for an area near Dike Access Road. The road is also an access for the city’s industrial area and the Port of Woodland.
Jeff Barsness of WSDOT said a traffic signal has been suggested for the west side of I-5 at the Dike Access Road intersection, but a decision has not been made. The department may ultimately recommend two roundabouts, one on each side of I-5, he said.
“It’s not good to mix signals and roundabouts,” he said. “We may do two roundabouts.”
Barsness said the roundabouts will be patterned on Ridgefield’s traffic circle at Pioneer and 42nd streets.
“We’ve heard good comments about that,” he said.
WSDOT is working with civil engineers to design a “circle that will work with the specific industries” in the city’s industrial area, Barsness said.
The Port of Woodland has testified against a roundabout on the east side of I-5, but Barsness said “if we talk to the Port, it would be with the design review people.”
Wal-Mart will build a 157,000 square-foot super store with parking lot for 187 vehicles on land that is zoned for commercial use. It is located near a proposed high school.
Jennifer Holder, spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said the roundabout “was not our idea; it was not our preference. WSDOT said ‘that’s it.’”
Holder said she could not recall exactly what Wal-Mart had proposed for the intersection of the I-5 ramp and Dike Access Road, but she said the recommendation for a roundabout came either from the state or a traffic consultant.
Barsness said he did not know who originally recommended a roundabout, but he said a full signal “would not work as effectively as a roundabout. There’s not enough space between I-5 and the road for a left-turn lane.”
During the city’s public hearing about Wal-Mart, representatives from nearby industries said a roundabout, especially on the east side of I-5, would be detrimental to haulers.
Darlene Johnson, an owner of Woodland Truck Lines on Schurman Way, said any traffic circle creates problems for large rigs. She said the state should install full signals at the intersections.
Small roundabouts are nearly impossible for a large semi to negotiate, she said, and larger roundabouts encourage “cars to sneak in.” Drivers inside a traffic circle have the right-of-way, while those entering a circle must wait until traffic has cleared. “Yield” signs are installed at the four entrances to a circle.
“At a light, everybody gets a turn,” Johnson said. “I don’t know any driver that likes a roundabout.”
Johnson said the industrial community first learned about the proposed traffic circle when Wal-Mart received a permit.
“They can make it (a roundabout) safe, but they can’t make it where it doesn’t delay our business,” she said. “We’ll be involved when they try to force this roundabout down our throats. We have examples of where they’ve done this wrong, but if it doesn’t work, they won’t fix it.”
Johnson predicted that if roundabouts are constructed, industries will not want to locate in Woodland.
Wal-Mart’s Holder said the giant retailer must receive approval from 32 agencies, “everything from storm water to traffic,” before receiving permits to build. She said a roundabout in Monroe has been shown as a model for the Woodland proposal.
The Monroe circle is located on Highway 522 near the high school and a business center.
The city has not taken a position on the traffic issue at the I-5 and Dike Access Road interchange.
Mayor-elect Chuck Blum will be sworn in during a ceremony and reception set for Sat., Dec. 29, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Love Street Playhouse, 126 Love St., Woodland.
Light refreshments will be served, and the swearing-in will begin at 7:15 p.m.
Newly elected council members Aaron Christopherson and Marilee McCall were sworn in Dec. 27.
The event is open to the public.