January 27, 2011 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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Thursday, January 27, 2011
Year 125 m Week 4 -- 8 Sections -- 60 Pages -- Published in Shelton, Washington -- $1
Bond,
levies on
ballot
By KEVAN MOORE
Voters in two local fire
districts and three school
districts have the chance
to weigh in at the polls
next month during spe-
cial elections.
The all mail-in ballots
for each of the elections
must be returned by Feb-
ruary 8.
Schools
Perhaps the most sig-
nificant questions face
voters within the Pioneer
School District, which is
running both a replace-
ment maintenance and
operations(M&O) levy
and long-term construc-
tion bond.
The 20-year con-
struction bonG which
will bring in some
$24,500,000, will pay
for the addition of class-
rooms to the primary
school to add space for
fourth- and fifth-graders
and a new middle school
will be constructed for
grades 6 -8.
Officials said that the
new grade configuration
and middle school will
* increase campus safety
while improving instruc-
nity use of the schools.
The cost of the bond
is $1.09 per $1,000 of as-
sessed valuation which
is a .75 cent increase
over what taxpayers are
already paying for the
remaining debt on the
primary school.
The rate for the levy
will be $2.04 per $1,000
of assessed valuation,
It will help pay for text-
hooks, technology, teach-
ing staff (librarian, music
specialist, PE special-
ists and nurse), smaller
class sizes, food service,
special education, extra-
curricular activities and
our non-high payment.
When asked about the
risk of running a bond
and levy in an economic
downturn, School Board
President Janis Snoey
said, "Right now, Pioneer
School District needs to
fix some critical prob-
lems; we worked hard to
find the most rational,
cost-effective way to do
it."
The Shelton School
District, meanwhile, is
also running an M&O
levy that officials said
will provide about 14
percent of the district's
funding.
See Vote on page A-7
Births B-3
Classifieds D-1
Community Calendar B-6
Crossword D-7
Journal of Record A-6
Obituaries B-7
Opinions, Letters A-4
Weather A-2
. IIIl!lJ IJl!lJillJIJ!l!l!lll II
'Amazing boy, our angel
Matlock boy drowns near home
By KEVAN MOORE a minute, then the mother
turned around to discover
A 23-month-old Mat- the child missing."
lock toddler died after Byrd said that the resi-
falling into a creek near dence is located near Dry
his home on Friday, Jan. Bed Creek, is running
21. very high and swift as a
Investigators from the result of recent rains. The
Mason County Sheriffs child's mother tMd inves-
Office said that Jacob tigators he had been play-
C. Chappell was playing ing in a non-motorized
outside of his residence toy vehicle prior to the ac-
on the Beeville Road with cident.
his mother, Melissa, at The boy's death has
about 12:30 p.m. this past proven devastating.
Friday. "Jacob was an amazing
"His mother's atten- boy, who was filled with
tion was briefly diverted so much love," Mrs. Chap-
by a cell phone call," said pell said. "He laughed
Chief Deputy Dean Byrd. frequently, loved openly
"The call lasted less than and played constantly. He
Jacob C. Chappell
made a positive impact on
everyone he met and will
be remembered always as
our golden boy, our angel."
Mrs. Chappell also said
that her family has gotten
tremendous support since
the tragedy.
"We as a family want to
thank the entire commu-
nity of Mason County,"
she said. "We have had so
many people reach out to
us with prayer and words
of love. I can't tell you how
much that has helped."
The sheriffs office was
notified and a search of
the creek was started im-
mediately. Sheriffs depu-
ties and local fire person-
nel were involved in the
search that lasted only
about 35 minutes. The
child's play vehicle was
discovered about a quar-
ter mile down stream from
the boy's house. The child
was located in the water a
short distance from where
searchers found the toy
vehicle.
Searchers started CPR
immediately, but all ef-
forts to resuscitate the
boy were futile.
The Mason County
Sheriff's Office in coop-
eration with the Mason
County Coroner's Office
continues the investiga-
tion. Investigators say
that the incident appears
Caught on camera in Shelton?
By NATALIE JOHNSON
Traffic cameras located at two intersections on
Wallace Kneeland have been generating a lot of at-
tention lately, Mayor John Tarrant said Monday,
Jan. 17, and not all of it has been positive.
The problem, he said, is that some people think
that cameras located at the traffic lights on the
intersection of Wallace Kneeland Blvd. and Shel-
ton Springs Rd., and at the intersection of Wallace
Kneeland at the Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart park-
ing lots, are red light cameras, designed to catch
cars speeding through the intersection.
Tarrant explained during last week's ci-t:¢ com-
mission meeting that the cameras are not designed
to catch people running red lights, but instead tell
the traffic signal lights when to change colors.
City engineer Mike Michael explained that the"
cameras are very low resolution, and do not pro-
duce any recordings. Instead, they focus on move-
ment in front of the light, telling the traffic signals
when .to change from red to green.
"They are focused on that one area and they
register changes in that area," Michael said. "Typi-
cally it is a vehicle moving through that field."
Michael said that the low-resolution camera
functions more like a motion detector than an ac-
tual camera.
The city installed these motion-detecting cam-
eras when they embarked on a repaving project of
most of Wallace Kneeland Blvd. during October.
Michael said that before the city started using
the cameras, they installed "signal loops" in the
pavement, which detected vehicles and controlled
the traffic lights.
"The old style signal loops that people are used
Journa pno[o Dy Natalie Johnson
A traffic camera watches over Wallace
Kneeland Blvd.
to seeing.., those actually cut a groove in the pave-
ment," Michael said. "It causes the pavement to de-
teriorate faster."
Considering the repaving project was intended
to give the heavily trafficked Wallace Kneeland a
long lasting coat of asphalt, Michael s~d that this
less invasive method of monitoring traffic was a
better way to go.
The signal loops and the cameras cost about the
same price, Michael said.
Michael said that the city will likely replace
more signal loops with these low-resolution cam-
eras in the future.
See Camera on page A-7
Chamber stars collect awards
By KEVAN MOORE
The Shelton Mason County
Chamber of Commerce an-
nounced its annual awards dur-
ing a "Celebrating Our Brightest
Stars" event at the Little Creek
Casino this past Friday, Jan. 21.
The Citizen of the Year Award
went to Vickie Gonzales of Penin-
sula Credit Union and the Busi-
ness of the Year was awarded to
Pantorium Cleaners, owned by
Russ and Pat Denney.
Susanna Samuelson of Our
Community Credit Union was
named Chamber Volunteer of
the Year and longtime communi-
ty volunteer and philanthropist
Frank Bishop of Little Skookum
Shellfish Growers was given a
Lifetime Dedication Award.
Outgoing Chamber Executive
Director Terri Jeffreys also gave
a State of the Chamber Address
at the annual banquet.
Jeffreys noted that county-
wide taxable retail sales have
been on the rise for three straight
quarters and are up 3.89 percent
in the third quarter compared to
the same time last year. Jeffreys
also said that a number of busi-
nesses are reporting that sales
have been trending upward since
2007.
Jeffreys said that the cham-
ber's beautification efforts raised
$15,000 for 2010 projects that
included flower baskets and
Christmas decorations and the
Business Expo celebrated it's
tenth anniversary in 2010 with
See Chamber on page A-8
Dark
nights
with
fewer
lights
By NATALIE JOHNSON
Shelton has gotten a little darker
over the past four months. Have
you noticed?
Shelton Police Chief Terry Dav-
enport briefed the city commis-
sion Monday on the completion of
the first phase of the city's project
to turn off selected streetlights
throughout the city in an effort to
save money.
'TCe've completed the first phase
of the streetlight program," he said.
"Within that phase one there were
47 streetlights to be turned off over
four months."
Phase one of the streetlight proj-
ect included lights north of Cota
Street and south of Wallace Knee-
land Blvd.
Davenport said that shutting off
the 47 streetlights within that area
should save the city $7,522.65 an-
nually.
"Although there is financial gain
for the city, the primary goal was to
find efficiencies," Davenport said.
Although the formal public com-
ment period ended during the sum-
mer, the city has still been taking
feedback on the program.
"We have been monitoring them
and we've only had one complaint
and it was a former postmaster," he
said.
Davenport said that after the
complaint, that the area of Frank-
lin Street behind the post office was
See Light on page A-7
New this w..ek.e
The Journal premiers two new regional publications.
Mason County Outdoors is your new guide to regional recreation
with all your hunting, news. Tides included.
Timber brings
along with