Elks conduct flag retirement ceremony
 The Battle Ground Elks Lodge retired 140 U.S. flags in a two-hour ceremony March 1, carried out in accordance with the U.S. Flag Code and established procedures for such an event.
The Elks collected more than 220 flags for the retirement event, and will retain the remainder for a retirement ceremony on Flag Day, June 14.
Battle Ground mayor Mike Ciraulo described the meaning of the red, white and blue colors in the U.S. flag. He said the flag represents U.S. soldiers serving abroad and those who “made the ultimate sacrifice.”
Lloyd Goodrich, exalted ruler of the Battle Ground Elks Lodge, conducted the ceremony, which included transfer of the perfectly-folded flags from one location to another, and a description of flag retirement procedures.
Several members of the Elks Lodge participated in preparing the flags for burning and in facilitating the burning process.
Project coordinator Dennis Martindale said additional flag retirement ceremonies will be held in the future, possibly on Flag Day in June.
Those attending the event included Battle Ground police, and Clark County Fire and Rescue personnel.
The Elks distributed a brochure listing the occasions when the U.S. Flag should be displayed. It is always proper to fly the flag day and night, the brochure proclaimed, although it must be illuminated at night.
The event was held at the corner of W Main Street and 20th Ave., Battle Ground. Several companies and individuals were credited with contributing to the program, including Albertson’s, Gramor Development, Hansen’s Pipe and Precast, Bowers Steel, Dan’s Tractor, Scott Brothers, Ed and Barb Roberson, Mike and Muffy Brislawn, C.J. Mayberg, Battle Ground city police, Clark County Fire & Rescue, Craig and Jackie Lane, and Don and Lynn Meeske. One passerby questioned why the burning was done in a no-burn zone, possibly causing air pollution.
The 104th Division Army brass quintet performed patriotic music during the ceremony, including the Star Spangled Banner, Grand Old Flag, and Battle Hymn of the Republic. Performance by the brass quintet was organized by First Sergeant Robert Jagelski who is a resident of Battle Ground.
In addition to Jagelski, members of the quintet were Specialists Bill Lewis and Josh Bennett, and sergeants Clay Fillis, George Ogden and Bruce Heinrich.
The quintet is part of the 35-member concert band which performs during the Fourth of July festivities in Vancouver and around the country. The band has performed in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas, and fills in for other Army bands when they are on leave. The 104th Division Army Reserve group is based at the Vancouver Barracks. Musicians interested in joining the band and its several smaller groups are invited to meet with an Army recruiter and schedule an audition.
The public is welcome to deliver U.S. flags for retirement in the planned June 14 ceremony, and may do so by leaving them at The Reflector, 20 NW 20th Ave., Battle Ground, or a station of Clark County Fire and Rescue at Dollars Corner, Battle Ground, or Ridgefield.
More information on the flag retirement ceremony is available by calling Martindale at 687-3880.

BG art work gets a bath
 Adam Fah, a conservation technician with the Washington State Arts Commission, took Reach (for the Sky) apart last week, gave it a good bath, and put it back together.
Reach (for the Sky) is a piece of artwork gracing the campus of Battle Ground High School, created when the school was remodeled and installed in 1999.
Fah reassembled the artwork to more nearly look like it did originally. Neither he nor Janae Huber, collection manager with the state Arts Commission, is certain whether the art piece was vandalized or just slipped out of position over the years.
Huber said the state Commission owns about 4,600 pieces of art, of which about 70 percent are at public schools and the remainder at state colleges, universities and state agency buildings.
State law requires the expenditure of one-half of one percent of the state contribution for school construction to be spent on art, said Huber. For the Battle Ground High School remodel, that meant paying eastern Washington artist Tom Askman about $27,440 for Reach (for the Sky).
Huber said the conservation work performed last week cost about $1,666.
Huber said she conducts an inventory of state-owned art pieces every three years, asking officials at schools to respond to a survey as to the artwork’s condition and, if it has been moved, its new location. Much of the art, she said, is smaller, often two dimensional and hanging on walls.
Huber said the state legislature authorized the hiring of a half-time conservation technician and Fah began employment in August 2007.
Huber said the Battle Ground artwork was “significantly damaged,” which put it higher on the list of repair projects. Discussions were held with Askman before the conservation work was undertaken, said Huber. When the artwork was put back together, said Huber, it was repositioned.
Fah had previously worked in an Olympia foundry where Battle Ground artist Jim Demetro had occasionally had work done.
Fah said the Battle Ground artwork was taken down Feb. 25 and replaced Feb. 27. He said the base of the artwork is aluminum, the protruding pipe is steel, and a coil feature is made of bronze. The gloves on the coil are cast bronze, he said. Other portions are thin copper metal, he said.
Huber said officials at first thought the artwork had been vandalized, but now are not sure. She said it could be that the upper portion of the piece had turned on its own, possibly due to the metal elements changing temperature.
Fah said his work included both cleaning the artwork, re-waxing the bronze, and placing the upper features in a different position.

Ridgefield settles suit with police sergeant
City’s insurance
carrier will pay
former sergeant
Bill Myers
staff reporter
Attorneys for the Washington Cities Insurance Authority agreed Feb. 14 to settle a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by police sergeant Randall Ostrander against the City of Ridgefield for $200,000.
The settlement was reached during a Feb. 12 mediation session in Seattle.
City officials fired Ostrander after five years of service in August 2006 for what Vancouver attorney Gregory Ferguson, representing Ostrander, said were disputed allegations that the police sergeant made false entries in an electronic police reporting system and gave false information to Internal Affairs investigators.
In a lawsuit filed in December 2006, Ostrander, 50, contended that he was wrongfully terminated after he investigated and reported improper conduct by City officials.
Conditions for the settlement required city manager Justin Clary to send an amended Notice of Officer Termination to the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, saying that there is insufficient evidence to support the allegations. Other conditions required that documents pertaining to a 2006 Internal Affairs investigation concerning Ostrander be removed from his personnel file and retained in a separate confidential Internal Affairs Investigation file.
The City agreed to reinstate Ostrander effective Feb. 22, 2008, and accept a resignation by him on the same day with his agreement to waive claims for back pay or benefits.
Wording in the accord said the agreement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing or liability by either party.
Ferguson said that “after a long, hard look...,” the City did the right thing. He said his client was employed in law enforcement since becoming a military policeman at age 19. Until he was discharged by Ridgefield, he had never received any type of formal written discipline, said Ferguson. He said the cloud hanging over Ostrander’s head prevented him from returning to law enforcement and he began working as a long-haul truck driver.
Ferguson said Ostrander’s investigations in the years prior to his termination helped expose official misconduct by Ridgefield officials, including fraud and environmental violations at the City’s wastewater treatment plant. The lawyer said his investigations also aided in the prosecution of a prior city manager who had allowed lead-based paint to contaminate the City’s storm water system.
Following the settlement, Ostrander said, “Despite the hardship I suffered, it still remains an honor to have served the Ridgefield community. I hope that those who truly know me continue to think of me as a dedicated officer who served with honesty, integrity and conviction.”

Fire District 10 Levy on ballot for March 11
Ken Vance
staff reporter
Voters in Clark County Fire District 10 will be asked March 11 to approve a levy that could provide full-time staffing at its main station in Amboy.
The proposition will authorize the district to lift its regular property tax levy to $1 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
“What we’re looking to do is provide full-time staffing, 24 hours a day, at our main station,’’ said Fire District 10 Battalion Chief Gordon Brooks.
Brooks said if the levy is passed, District 10 will hire three full-time and several part-time firefighters to provide 24-hour, 7-day-a-week service to residents in its coverage area, which includes six stations. District 10 asked voters to pass a similar levy four years ago, but it did not pass.
“I believe that if people really examine the issue, that it will pass,’’ Brooks said. “It would mean consistent response time 24 hours a day. We currently have someone there during the day seven days a week and our response time is very good during those times.’’
When the station isn’t staffed, the district relies on the response of volunteers, who are spread out over its area. It takes time for those volunteers to respond to an emergency call, get to the station, and get a truck to the scene, said Brooks.
“We cover a very large area,’’ Brooks said. “This will improve service for everyone in our area. It just doesn’t affect Amboy.’’
It will also eliminate those calls that District 10 can’t respond to at all.
“There are currently calls that we just don’t have a crew to respond to,’’ Brooks said. “That won’t happen if we have 24-hour staff.’’
Brooks said it’s normally about four or five calls per year that Fire District 10 doesn’t have the staffing to respond to and those are normally medical emergencies that are handled by North Country Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
“If you’re one of those people and we don’t have someone available for that, it has an affect on you,’’ said Brooks, who indicated that about four out of the every calls to the district are medical emergencies. “We have a better response time than the ambulance, I would say two-thirds of the time.’’
Brooks also said that District 10 is not trying to duplicate the services already provided by North Country EMS.
“We won’t be hiring any paramedics,’’ he said. “We work together with them.’’

Planning begins for Three Creeks area
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
A planning council will soon begin talking about the future of the unincorporated Clark County areas that include the Clark County Fairgrounds.
The county commissioners have appointed a Three Creeks Advisory Council to discuss issues that affect Hazel Dell, Felida, Lake Shore and Salmon Creek, as well as the fairgrounds area. Ridgefield City Council member Matt Swindell is a member of the council. The fairgrounds are within the Ridgefield Postal Service district.
The first meeting of the council has been set for Thurs., March 13, 10 a.m.-noon, but a location has not been decided.
The goal of the council is to “create an identity for an area that is urbanized but is not part of a city,” said Commissioner Betty Sue Morris, who lives in the Three Creeks area.
Morris, who will chair the council, said that the goal is not to create a new city, although some who live in the area are interested in a separate city.
“That’s not the intent of the planning group,” she said. “It’s no different than if Dollars Corner began talks about what their area looks like.”
Setting design standards for the involved communities could be a part of the planning, Morris said.
“There are no design standards,” she said. “If you look at the east side of Vancouver, you will find a cohesiveness to the design standards set by the city.”
She said residents of the Three Creeks area say, “The east side gets bricks; we get cinder blocks.”
Over the years, the area has “coalesced around youth sports. That’s how people get to know each other. We want a community center, but we’re not able to get one built,” Morris said.
A traffic circulation plan for Felida needs to be examined, Morris said, because the most recent circulation plan was written in the mid-1990s.
Other issues are expected to include land use planning.
“The Three Creeks area should have the opportunity to decide where they will be 50 years from now,” Morris said.
Members of the council, in addition to Swindell and Morris, are Dan Bodell, Neighborhood Associations Council of Clark County; William Cline, Fire District 6; Hal Dengerink, Washington State University Vancouver; Michael Harris, Clark Public Utilities; Denny Kiggins, Clark Regional Wastewater District; James Spinelli, Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital; Ila Stanek, Hazel Dell-Salmon Creek Business Association; Ron Wilson, Team 99; Jim Carlson, fairgrounds area; Beth Holmes, Salmon Creek; Ron Lauser and Vaughn Lein, Felida; Bud Van Cleve, Hazel Dell, and John Caton, City of Vancouver.