December 4, 1969 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 1 (1 of 18 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
December 4, 1969 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
Nerve Gas May Travel
Through Mason County
About five shipments of nerve gas, which the Army
informed Gov. Daniel J. Evans Tuesday will pass through
Washington, in being transferred l¥om Okinawa to the
Umatilla, Ore., ordinance depot, will almost certainly pass
through Mason County.
Gov. Evans was informed of the shipments by
Undersecretary of the Army Thaddeus Beal in Olympia
Tuesday.
The Army official said the times or route to be used for
the shipments were secret, but, did say they would come
through the Bangor Naval Ammunition Depot on Hood Canal
and would be transferred by rail to Umatilla.
Beal told the governor the shipments would be made the
end of this month or the first part of January.
While the route of the shipments was labeled secret by
the Army, there is only one rail route between Bangor and
Olympia and that passes through Mason County.
The shipments would apparently go from Bangor to
Bremerton and then on the Northern Pacific tracks which go
between Bremerton and Shelton and then from Shelton to
Olympia.
The tracks from Bremerton pass near Belfair, past Mason
Lake, Lake Limerick and Cranberry Lake to run along
Highway 3 just before crossing the overpass on Highway
three to run along the outside of the Simpson Timber Co.
fence to the Northern Pacific Depot here.
From there, the tracks run out along Hammersly Inlet in
the Southside area, head out across Cole Road through the
Kamilche area and into Thurston County toward Olympia.
Beal told the governor that specially-trained teams will
handle the shipments and that all precautions possible will be
taken to assure no accidents will occur.
The governor was informed under a new law signed
recently by President Richard Nixon which requires the
military services to intbrm governors of the states involved
when shipments of chemical military material will cross their
states.
A spokesman for the governor's office said the Army
action apparently was only to inform the governor what it
planned to do.
The gas which will be involved in the shipments caused
international controversy earlier this year when it was found
• to be stored on Okinawa.
Thursday, December 4, 1969 PuPllghed In "Christmastown, U.S.A.", Shelton, Washington. Entered as second class 20 Pages -- Two Sections
matter at the post office at Shelton, Washington 98584, under act of March 8, 1879.
83rd Year -- No. 49 Pub.Shed weekly at 227 West Cota. $5.00 per year in Mason County, $6.00 elsewhere. 10 Cents Per Copy
YOUNG LADY was curious about Santa's beard as
talked to him during his first visit in Shelton. Santa
on a fire truck Friday night shortly after the lights
the Community Christmas Tree on the Post Office lawn
I
were turned on. Santa ater visited with the youngsters in
the Thurston County Savings and Loan building where he
will be Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons each
weekend until Christmas.
imber Says Tree $250,000 Suit
In Good Shape Over Loss Of Arm
the big community Christmas
on the Post Office lawn will
|fe to put lights on for several
Years, Larry Burfiend, who
the tree to string the
the ast several years told
of ('omnerce in a
r last 'week.
rhe Chamber had asked
to make a written report
condition of the tree after
climb this year. They had
the tree was in poor
and would be unsafe to
for a community Christmas
In the near future.
this letter to the Chamber,
stated the tree had been
When it was younger and a
had then taken over to form
top. Later, the top blew
of the tree in a storm and
other limbs are growing
to start the formation of
top again.
climber stated he had
no evidence of the tree
out or of rotten bark when
Fund
i S
Slow
]'he air is crisp, cheeks are
$helton's streets are ablaze
Colorful lights and a jolly old
in a fur-trimmed red
arrived on a fire truck to
the kids.
Christmas season is upon
he made the climb this year.
If there had been weak spots
in the trunk, he stated, the bark
would have broken out under the
stress of the climb. It did not.
Burfiend said measurements
show the tree is now more than
100 feet tall.
T h e Mason County
Commission was served with a
sumnlons in a $250,000 damage
suit filed by Louis Mottet,
Seattle, who lost his left arm last
June 20.
Also named as defendants in
the suit were Harrington
City Seeks Change
In B,,pass Plans
write a letter to the ltighway
Department asking that they
consider this change in plans
before final plans for the bypass
are drawn.
Another delegation who
attended the commission meeting
asked about a letter sent Nov. 19
to Ken Wolden, operator of the
new Chevron Service Station on
Hillcrest informing him he would
have to remove facilities which
were installed for dumping sewage
from storage tanks of travel
trailers.
Godat stated that when the
sewer permit for the service
station was obtained, it was for
only the rest rooms at the station.
The trailer dumping facilities were
installed later without any
knowledge of the city and were in
violation of the permit.
He stated that the material
from the trailer storage tanks was
not raw sewage and could cause
problems at the sewage treatment
plans.
He also stated there was no
rate structure in the city sewer
rates to take care of charges on an
operation of this kind.
Godat said he believed some
solution to the problem could be
worked out through an agreement
between the city and Standard Oil
Co., the owners of the station.
Barrie Stroud, chairman of
the Chamber of Commerce City
and County Affairs Committee,
told the commission the service
being provided for trailer owners
at the station was needed with the
increasing tourist traffic.
Wolden commented tlt no
charge is made for the use of the
dumping facilities, and, that most
of those who have used the
facilities so far are local residents.
The commission asked Godat
to meet with the oil company
representatives and the station
operator to see if some sort of
agreement could be worked out
(Please turit to page 2)
The Shelton City Commission
was asked Tuesday to support
efforts to get the State Highway
Department to change its plans to
cut off C St. in the construction
of the freeway bypass.
The plans presented at the
hearing on the bypass last week
showed C. St. blocked and plans
for a new access road to the city
garbage dump through the
construction of a new road which
would be an extension of
Franklin St.
John Kneeland told the
commission that in studying the
bypass plans, it appeared that a
better solution would be to build
an overpass for C St. over the
freeway which would then
provide access to the city dump
and to a large block of
undeveloped property which will
be on the other side of the
freeway.
Kneeland said the state plans
indicated that the freeway would
be in a 27-foot cut when it
crossed C. St., and, that with a
cut this deep, construction of an
overpass would not be difficult.
City Engineer Howara odat
told the group that when the city
officials had originally talked to
the state about the bypass that
the plans had not called for a cut
that deep and that the
construction of an overpass for C
St. would have been quite
expensive.
With the change in plans,
which includes the 27-foot cut at
that point, Godat said, the picture
is changed considerably.
Supporting K neeland's
recommendation that the city
contact the Highway Department
were John K. Bennett,
and John W. Bennett
representing the Chamber of
Commerce Legislative and
tlighway Committees.
The city commission said they
had discussed the idea informally,
and, then voted to ask Godat to
Manufacturing Co. Inc. and
Caldwell Machinery Co. Inc.
in the complaint filed in
Superior t:ourt nere, Mottet
stated he was watching the
operation of a brush cutter as it
worked along the road in front of
his summer home on Franjo
Beach in the Agate area.
He stated that a piece flew off
one of the blades of the cutter,
striking his left arm and cutting it
off above the elbow.
ttarrington Manufacturing Co.
is the maker of the machine and
Caldwell Machinery Co. was the
firm which sold the machine to
the county.
is a gentle reminder that
Mason County residents
will be bleak, indeed,
ause of permanent or
adversity.
can help brighten the
for some 100 families by
a donation to the 40 & 8
Christmas Fund.
goal this year is $1000.
a fast start the first week,
to the fund slacked
week and a real effort will
made to reach the goal.
and Eight members use
lOney to buy food and toys
they distribute just prior to
to families throughout
It is the happiest
of the year for most of
)Onations this week came
• Mr. and Mrs. Paul Locke,
ill and Ethel McKinstry and
mous donor, bringing
to $97.00.
City Final Budget Approved
recreational facilities and the
establishment of businesses and
manufacturing, an orderly and
progressive future for our city is
assu red.
"While the assessed valuation
increased slightly from
$1 1,947,745 in 1968 to
$ 1 2,892,758 in 1969, an
employee salary raise of 5 percent
for the year of 1970 could not
have been funded without a
paring of expenditures in the
previous year's budget.
Financially, a constant dilemma
of government officials is the
proper ratio of city inlprovements
to city personnel.
"Current Expense Fund is
composed of the (;eneral
Government, Police, Fire, Legal
and Engineering departments.
This fund receives all your city
tax dollars. Based on population,
the city's share of all state liquor
profits, liquor excise tax, motor
ufill.
The Shelton City Commission
adopted its final 1970 budget
unchanged from the preliminary
budget after a hearing at city hall
Monday.
The total budget for the city
is $1,071,993 of which $394,091
is allocated for salaries of city
employees.
The city has $25,000 on its
arterial street budget for the
installation of a traffic light on
Railroad Ave.
Mayor Frank Travis
commented that the city is
hopeful of final state app,'oval of
the use of arterial street money
for theproject. Tim city, hesaid, Injuries To Boy
has been working on
improvements on Railroad Ave. Are Investigated
which were suggested by the State
Highway Department in an
inspection of the street. The Shelton Police Twelliger who live in the Mt.
He commented that the Park Department is investigating an View area.
and Recreation Department incident in which a five-year-old The mother told officers the
Budget contained a $2,500 boy suffered a broken.arnt and boy had gone out between 9:30
allocation for property purchase, concussion, and 9:45 p.m. the evening of the
Discussions are in progress on The youth and his parents incident. She heard bin cry out
an offer made to sell the city told officers he had gone outside and went out to find him lying on
some property for park purposes the family home Nov. 22 to put the ground.
the mayor said. some garbage in a garbage can The boy was taken to the
In a statement accompanying when he was attacked by another hospital the next morning for
the budget, Travis said: boy, whom he described as about treatment.
"Shelton had a modest nine years old. Officers were not notified of
increase of residents in 1969 and The injured youth is Bruce the incident until they were called
we anticipate a similar growth for Twelliger, son of Mr. and Mrs. by a doctor Nov. 26.
1970. Being situated in an area
that is recognized for its §lll|llml|l
vehicle excise, stale aid to cities,
police fines and licenses are
deposited in this fund.
"Monies are lhen transferred
from this fund 1o the Library,
Park and Recreation, and Street.
fund. The amount allotted to
these funds is determined by the
need. Your commission makes
every effort to evaluate this need
to best serve your conmtunity.
''In 1969 this fund
contributed $7,000 to a
comprehensive plan which will be
used on a matching basis to
obtain tderal funds for future
needs. The county and city are
sharing in the cost of a
county-wide regional planner.
"Assessments to the local
health district and to the state for
the clean air and pure water acts
are made from this fund.
"The Municipal Court
Department of the city is to be
established in the Justice Court of
Mason County district.
"The Street fund receives the
gas tax money from the state as
well as the tax money transferred
from the current expense fund.
The most extensive street
improvement in the history of
Shelton will be completed in
1969. Hopefully, this program
will be continued in 1970. Cost of
street lighting will be $17,000. A
program is planned that will in
time replace all incandescent
lights with mercury vapor.
"For Urban Arterial Street
projects, the State of Washington
will provide funding for 90 per
cent of the following: San
Joaquin Avenue from Magnolia to
Birch, Railroad Avenue from 8th
to I lth, 7th Street from Alder to
Angteside, Ravenna Way from 7th
to l Oth, at a total cost of
$ I I 1,000. Cost to the city will be
$11,100.
"An outstanding debt of
$58,000 for the sewer disposal
plant will be paid in 1975. The
Water fund has an indebtedness of
$138,000 from the 1953
improvement program. In
addition, a 1966 sewer and water
bond issue in the amount of
$35,000 is outstanding. These
bonds and interest are paid
annually from current revenue.
To take care of future growth, a
reserve fund for an additional
water tank has been established.
Due to an emergency which
required the installation of the
sanitary sewer on Mountain View,
all reserves of these redemption
funds were expended, but the city
was not required to add to its
indebtedness.
"In the interest of brevity,
only the highlights and salient
features of our program for 1970
have been discussed."
THE SHELTON HIGH School Choir under the direction of
Robert Miller presented the musical portion of the program
during the tree lighting program Friday evening. The crowd
was welcomed by Dr. Jud Holloway, president of the
Chamber of Commerce. The light switches were turned on
by R. W. Oltman, secretary-manager of the Chamber.
Fire Destroys
Rural Residence
Fire Saturday night destroyed
the home of the Robert Brewer
family orl tke Deegan Road about
four miles from Shelton.
Mr. and Mrs. Brewer and their
three children escaped from the
house with no injury and were
ble to save some furniture and
clothing,
The l'irc apparently started
from an overheated chimney.