PORTLAND, OR – December 29, 2010. Garvey Schubert Barer, representing Waste Not of Yamhill County, is pleased to report the Oregon Court of Appeals issued a final order in Waste Not v. Yamhill County, Court of Appeals No. A146170, issued December 29, 2010. The decision affirms the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (“LUBA”) final order in Waste Not v. Yamhill County, LUBA No. 2010-002 that Yamhill County violated the law in authorizing the expansion of the Riverbend Landfill.
Waste Not of Yamhill County, a coalition of Yamhill County businesses and citizens, had numerous concerns with the proposed landfill expansion, but LUBA chose to focus on a single issue – whether the county’s decision to take an exception to a local code provision is even possible. LUBA concluded that, because Goal 3 expressly allows landfills on farm land, an exception to the county code provision prohibiting landfills is not possible.
“The Court of Appeals’ decision confirmed LUBA’s decision enforcing Yamhill County’s comprehensive plan, which did not allow landfills. ” said Bill Kabeiseman, a partner with Garvey Schubert Barer and lead attorney on the case.
Yamhill County argued at the Court of Appeals that the LUBA decision was unlawful in substance. In affirming the LUBA decision the Court of Appeals cited Barnes v. City of Hillsboro, Court of Appeals No. A146145, which upheld LUBA’s rejection of the zoning changes to over 7,000 properties in the vicinity of the Hillsboro Airport. Garvey Schubert Barer also successfully argued the decision and the appeal.
Waste Not welcomed the Court of Appeals’ decision and hopes that the County will explore waste disposal options that both protect the environment and benefit the community economically, creating family-wage jobs while protecting thriving local tourism and agricultural industries. Waste Not encourages the County to take advantage of the window of opportunity now created and pursue those other options.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Friday, December 17, 2010
..Gravel foes ask Lewis to bow out..
Published: December 15, 2010
By HANNAH HOFFMAN
Of the News-Register
Yamhill County Commissioner Leslie Lewis will be facing a new controversy when the Baker Rock hearing re-opens Jan. 6. Opponents of the company's application to mine gravel on 175 acres on Grand Island have filed a letter - now part of the official record - asking Lewis to recuse herself in the case.
Portland lawyer Ralph Bloemers of the Crag Law Center filed the letter Thursday. He cited Lewis' Dec. 2 admission that she had independently visited some reclaimed gravel sites in Salem, which he equated to potentially prejudicial ex parte contact.
In the letter, he wrote, "While I would like to give Ms. Lewis the benefit of the doubt, her testimony on behalf of the applicant plainly demonstrates that she is either unable or unwilling to objectively evaluate this proposal.
"For this reason, I see no alternative but to respectfully request that Ms. Lewis step down from deciding this matter before a decision is reached ... that prejudices the substantial rights of the local residents, farmers and property owners who will be significantly and negatively affected by the proposed quarry on Grand Island."
While he termed Lewis' comments "testimony," they were not offered as such. She made them during a part of the hearing reserved for commissioners to disclose any ex parte contact they might have had.
For example, Commissioner Kathy George noted that she had received an e-mail after an earlier installment of the hearing from opponent Kris Bledsoe.
George said she did not reply. She said she simply forwarded the message to County Counsel Rick Sanai.
Lewis' disclosure went this way:
At the first installment in the hearing in November, wetlands biologist Craig Markham testified that mine sites reclaimed as wetlands, proposed for this one at the end of its projected 30-year life, don't always turn out as well as companies promise. He cited a set on Highway 22, near Salem's Oregon State Correctional Institution, as an example.
Lewis disclosed at the Dec. 2 continuation that she had since driven to the site to get a first-hand look. But she actually ended up at another reclamation site, near Lowe's Home Improvement Store, that the Salem Chamber of Commerce had helped turn into a park.
She described the scene as a pleasant natural setting hosting a wide variety of activities.
Lewis did not offer a direct opinion of her own, but her description left the audience with a positive impression and served to introduce information into the hearing record that neither side had introduced on its own.
Bloemers latched onto that aspect, saying, "The opponents of this application are entitled to a hearing before an impartial tribunal. This means county commissioners should not be conducting their own investigation in support of or in opposition to either party."
He cited a 2007 Land Use Board of Appeals case that dealt with the issue. In that case, a city council member independently investigated the case before him, as well as attacking opponents in the newspaper and elsewhere.
The state Land Use Board of Appeals found that with one of the arbiters of the issue collecting evidence and drawing opinions from it, opponents had not gotten a fair and impartial hearing.
However, in that case, the conduct was much more extreme that anything Lewis has been accused of.
In an attempt to remain impartial, Lewis said, she has gone so far as to avoid reading any newspaper coverage of the issue. However, she said on the advice of the county counsel's office, she could not comment on the merits of the recusal request itself.
Bledsoe submitted a letter of concern of her own. Though she stopped short of joining in the call for recusal, she took a sharply critical approach.
"It appeared that she was attempting to discredit the testimony by looking for errors," Bledsoe said of Lewis' Dec. 2 remarks. "She spent an entire afternoon looking at former rock quarries in an effort to testify on behalf of Baker Rock."
Bledsoe closed by saying, "I sincerely hope that Commissioner Lewis can rise above her biases and give this application hearing the true quasi-judicial review that is appropriate."
Under Oregon land use law, Bloemers can use his request for Lewis to recuse herself and the precedent of the 2007 case in an appeal to LUBA if the commissioners ultimately vote to approve the Baker Rock application.
Oregon law requires parties to raise any such legal issues prior to the decision, and Bloemer's letter serves that end.
By HANNAH HOFFMAN
Of the News-Register
Yamhill County Commissioner Leslie Lewis will be facing a new controversy when the Baker Rock hearing re-opens Jan. 6. Opponents of the company's application to mine gravel on 175 acres on Grand Island have filed a letter - now part of the official record - asking Lewis to recuse herself in the case.
Portland lawyer Ralph Bloemers of the Crag Law Center filed the letter Thursday. He cited Lewis' Dec. 2 admission that she had independently visited some reclaimed gravel sites in Salem, which he equated to potentially prejudicial ex parte contact.
In the letter, he wrote, "While I would like to give Ms. Lewis the benefit of the doubt, her testimony on behalf of the applicant plainly demonstrates that she is either unable or unwilling to objectively evaluate this proposal.
"For this reason, I see no alternative but to respectfully request that Ms. Lewis step down from deciding this matter before a decision is reached ... that prejudices the substantial rights of the local residents, farmers and property owners who will be significantly and negatively affected by the proposed quarry on Grand Island."
While he termed Lewis' comments "testimony," they were not offered as such. She made them during a part of the hearing reserved for commissioners to disclose any ex parte contact they might have had.
For example, Commissioner Kathy George noted that she had received an e-mail after an earlier installment of the hearing from opponent Kris Bledsoe.
George said she did not reply. She said she simply forwarded the message to County Counsel Rick Sanai.
Lewis' disclosure went this way:
At the first installment in the hearing in November, wetlands biologist Craig Markham testified that mine sites reclaimed as wetlands, proposed for this one at the end of its projected 30-year life, don't always turn out as well as companies promise. He cited a set on Highway 22, near Salem's Oregon State Correctional Institution, as an example.
Lewis disclosed at the Dec. 2 continuation that she had since driven to the site to get a first-hand look. But she actually ended up at another reclamation site, near Lowe's Home Improvement Store, that the Salem Chamber of Commerce had helped turn into a park.
She described the scene as a pleasant natural setting hosting a wide variety of activities.
Lewis did not offer a direct opinion of her own, but her description left the audience with a positive impression and served to introduce information into the hearing record that neither side had introduced on its own.
Bloemers latched onto that aspect, saying, "The opponents of this application are entitled to a hearing before an impartial tribunal. This means county commissioners should not be conducting their own investigation in support of or in opposition to either party."
He cited a 2007 Land Use Board of Appeals case that dealt with the issue. In that case, a city council member independently investigated the case before him, as well as attacking opponents in the newspaper and elsewhere.
The state Land Use Board of Appeals found that with one of the arbiters of the issue collecting evidence and drawing opinions from it, opponents had not gotten a fair and impartial hearing.
However, in that case, the conduct was much more extreme that anything Lewis has been accused of.
In an attempt to remain impartial, Lewis said, she has gone so far as to avoid reading any newspaper coverage of the issue. However, she said on the advice of the county counsel's office, she could not comment on the merits of the recusal request itself.
Bledsoe submitted a letter of concern of her own. Though she stopped short of joining in the call for recusal, she took a sharply critical approach.
"It appeared that she was attempting to discredit the testimony by looking for errors," Bledsoe said of Lewis' Dec. 2 remarks. "She spent an entire afternoon looking at former rock quarries in an effort to testify on behalf of Baker Rock."
Bledsoe closed by saying, "I sincerely hope that Commissioner Lewis can rise above her biases and give this application hearing the true quasi-judicial review that is appropriate."
Under Oregon land use law, Bloemers can use his request for Lewis to recuse herself and the precedent of the 2007 case in an appeal to LUBA if the commissioners ultimately vote to approve the Baker Rock application.
Oregon law requires parties to raise any such legal issues prior to the decision, and Bloemer's letter serves that end.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
..Gravel industry fuels GOP coffers..
..Flurry of contributions come with contentious gravel hearing looming..
By HANNAH HOFFMAN
Of the News-Register
Yamhill County Commissioner Leslie Lewis, poised to vote next month on a hotly contested gravel mining proposal from Baker Rock Resources, sought and obtained a series of gravel company contributions last month for the county's Republican Party coffers.
She said they were for an election-eve voters guide touting the party's local legislative state and gubernatorial candidates-and possibly an ideologically compatible in a nonpartisan county commission race.
Though term limit rules prevent Lewis from running again, she also accepted a $1,000 contribution from one of the firms, Meisel Rock Products, to her own campaign fund.
She said the company is headed by an old friend who simply wanted to help her pay off about $10,000 of her $20,000 in campaign debt-the part not owed to her family business. She said it was not related to either the pending gravel mining application or the Republican Party voter's guide project.
On Saturday, Sept. 25, the GOP recorded a $1,000 donation from Baker Rock itself. It was intended for the voter's guide project, according to President Todd Baker.
On Monday, Sept. 27, the ostensibly nonpartisan county commission campaign of Mary Starrett-not a Republican, but a kindred ideological spirit who has been embraced by local Republican officials-recorded a $1,000 donation from the party.
If she succeeds in ousting two-term incumbent Mary Stern, Starrett could end up voting on the Baker Rock proposal in some form.
However, local party leader Dale Stepper said the timing was coincidental; there was no link. He said it should be considered a party contribution, not a Baker Rock or gravel company contribution.
In all, four local gravel companies contributed $4,500 between Sept. 20 and 25. Baker Rock and Meisel were joined by Wilsonville Concrete and Kizer Excavating.
The party received only one other business contribution during the period-a $1,000 contribution from A-Dec, a Newburg-based dental equipment manufacturer that traditionally supports Republicans.
However, Lewis said she had solicited contributions from an array of GOP-oriented individuals and businesses for the voter's guide, not just the gravel industry, and significant contributions would be forthcoming from several of them.
She said she has limited her gravel industry contact to Rich Angstrom, executive director of the Oregon Concrete & Aggregate Producers Association, a long-time associate of hers. She said she would not have solicited any of the companies individually, and most certainly not baker Rock.
Commissioner Kathy George, who joins Lewis and Stern on the three-member body, accepted $4,000 from Meisel for her campaign for re-election in the may primary. At that point the Baker Rock proposal had not reached the planning commission level.
State records indicate gravel interests had not offered her any campaign money since. She confirmed that by phone, adding,"If they had, I would not have taken it"
George, whose Republican Party ties run as deep as those of Lewis, was not aware at the time that her commission colleague had just accepted a $1,000 contribution from Meisel.
Stern, who was aware, said she had not and would not accept gravel industry money under the circumstances. She termed Lewis's acceptance of such money on the eve of the hearing" extremely inappropriate and very unfortunate for the citizens of Yamhill County who expect and deserve impartiality from their commissioners.
Baker Rock is seeking land use approval for a 174 acre quarry at the south end of Grand Island, a local area of sustainable and organic agriculture. That has stirred strong opposition from both environmental and agricultural interests.
Lewis, George and Stern-whose Democratic party affiliation often leaves her the odd person out and has spurred Lewis to campaign ardently for Starrett-are set to open the climatic public hearing on the proposal Nov. 10. That will set the stage for a widely anticipated showdown-but one coming post-election.
Were Starrett to be elected Nov. 2, she would be involved in any future proceedings involving resubmissions or remands stemming from the appellate process.
Baker said the donation and land-use proposal were not related.
He said he was encouraged to give the local GOP $1,000 for it's voter's guide by Angstrom, in his capacity as head of the industry trade association. He said he was not trying to funnel money to starrett or any other candidate, nor had he to his knowledge.
Angstrom said the association had no intention of supporting Starrett either. He said it often supports Republican-affiliated candidates, but only at the state level, where its aim is to influence the makeup of legislation and the Legislature.
He said Lewis had approached him about the project and he had decided the association should get on board.
Stepper said both the flurry of gravel company donations and the party donations to Starrett were coincidental in their timing. He said there was no ill intent in either case.
He said the party had been seeking, and is expecting donations from a range of business interests for the voter's guide project. He said it opted to donate to Starrett-even though she has been sharply critical of the Republican party in her previous capacities as national director for the libertarian-leaning Constitution Party-because it likes her conservative ideology.
Just last year, Starrett said in an online post on News with Views.
"Ive been searching high and low for any signs the RNC has kkowtowed to the conservatives in the party. I can't find one. What I did find was a long list of the party's sellouts of that'right wing' on amnesty,border security,bailouts,spending,guns,abortion,free speech,civil liberties,national sovereignty,industry killers like NAFTA and GATT and the federal takeover of education, to name a few.
"Meanwhile, it seems the left is softening towards the GOP because GOP is softening on the issues. Soft, in this case is not good."
Stepper said that didn't bother him. At the state and national levels, Republicans have not done a good job including true conservatives, he said.
That's not the case in Yamhill County, he said. Starrett's brand of staunch conservatism ideology resonates with local Republicans, he said.
Meisel Rock's $1,000 contribution to Lewis came on Sept. 20, state records show. It was made in the company's name, even though Lewis termed it a personal contribution from the company CEO Lloyd Town.
The next day, Meisel and Kizer Excavating each gave $500 to the county GOP. Wilsonville Concrete gave the party $500 on Sept. 23 and Meisal and Baker Rock each gave $1,000 on Sept. 25, records show.
Lewis said she did not even consider it awkward, let alone unethical to accept campaign money from a local gravel company with a contentious gravel hearing looming. She said she took strong offense at any suggestion.
She said she is prepared to absorb the portion of her campaign debt owed to her family business, but hates to leave a good faith outside lender in the lurch.
In this case, that would be George Advertising, owned by colleague Kathy George and her husband, Gary. State records indicate George Advertising is virtually her sole creditor.
Lewis said she doesn't like to have any debt, either business or personal, so it troubles her as she nears the point of being termlimited into political retirement. She said Town was simply a longtime friend sympathetic to her plight.
She said it's hard for a non candidate to raise money in an election year, so she wasn't inclined to pass up Town's offer. She said Meisel and Baker Rock are staunch competitors in the marketplace, so Town certainly didn't have Baker Rock's interests in mind.
She said the donation would have no effect on her neutrality and objectivity in the hearing.
By HANNAH HOFFMAN
Of the News-Register
Yamhill County Commissioner Leslie Lewis, poised to vote next month on a hotly contested gravel mining proposal from Baker Rock Resources, sought and obtained a series of gravel company contributions last month for the county's Republican Party coffers.
She said they were for an election-eve voters guide touting the party's local legislative state and gubernatorial candidates-and possibly an ideologically compatible in a nonpartisan county commission race.
Though term limit rules prevent Lewis from running again, she also accepted a $1,000 contribution from one of the firms, Meisel Rock Products, to her own campaign fund.
She said the company is headed by an old friend who simply wanted to help her pay off about $10,000 of her $20,000 in campaign debt-the part not owed to her family business. She said it was not related to either the pending gravel mining application or the Republican Party voter's guide project.
On Saturday, Sept. 25, the GOP recorded a $1,000 donation from Baker Rock itself. It was intended for the voter's guide project, according to President Todd Baker.
On Monday, Sept. 27, the ostensibly nonpartisan county commission campaign of Mary Starrett-not a Republican, but a kindred ideological spirit who has been embraced by local Republican officials-recorded a $1,000 donation from the party.
If she succeeds in ousting two-term incumbent Mary Stern, Starrett could end up voting on the Baker Rock proposal in some form.
However, local party leader Dale Stepper said the timing was coincidental; there was no link. He said it should be considered a party contribution, not a Baker Rock or gravel company contribution.
In all, four local gravel companies contributed $4,500 between Sept. 20 and 25. Baker Rock and Meisel were joined by Wilsonville Concrete and Kizer Excavating.
The party received only one other business contribution during the period-a $1,000 contribution from A-Dec, a Newburg-based dental equipment manufacturer that traditionally supports Republicans.
However, Lewis said she had solicited contributions from an array of GOP-oriented individuals and businesses for the voter's guide, not just the gravel industry, and significant contributions would be forthcoming from several of them.
She said she has limited her gravel industry contact to Rich Angstrom, executive director of the Oregon Concrete & Aggregate Producers Association, a long-time associate of hers. She said she would not have solicited any of the companies individually, and most certainly not baker Rock.
Commissioner Kathy George, who joins Lewis and Stern on the three-member body, accepted $4,000 from Meisel for her campaign for re-election in the may primary. At that point the Baker Rock proposal had not reached the planning commission level.
State records indicate gravel interests had not offered her any campaign money since. She confirmed that by phone, adding,"If they had, I would not have taken it"
George, whose Republican Party ties run as deep as those of Lewis, was not aware at the time that her commission colleague had just accepted a $1,000 contribution from Meisel.
Stern, who was aware, said she had not and would not accept gravel industry money under the circumstances. She termed Lewis's acceptance of such money on the eve of the hearing" extremely inappropriate and very unfortunate for the citizens of Yamhill County who expect and deserve impartiality from their commissioners.
Baker Rock is seeking land use approval for a 174 acre quarry at the south end of Grand Island, a local area of sustainable and organic agriculture. That has stirred strong opposition from both environmental and agricultural interests.
Lewis, George and Stern-whose Democratic party affiliation often leaves her the odd person out and has spurred Lewis to campaign ardently for Starrett-are set to open the climatic public hearing on the proposal Nov. 10. That will set the stage for a widely anticipated showdown-but one coming post-election.
Were Starrett to be elected Nov. 2, she would be involved in any future proceedings involving resubmissions or remands stemming from the appellate process.
Baker said the donation and land-use proposal were not related.
He said he was encouraged to give the local GOP $1,000 for it's voter's guide by Angstrom, in his capacity as head of the industry trade association. He said he was not trying to funnel money to starrett or any other candidate, nor had he to his knowledge.
Angstrom said the association had no intention of supporting Starrett either. He said it often supports Republican-affiliated candidates, but only at the state level, where its aim is to influence the makeup of legislation and the Legislature.
He said Lewis had approached him about the project and he had decided the association should get on board.
Stepper said both the flurry of gravel company donations and the party donations to Starrett were coincidental in their timing. He said there was no ill intent in either case.
He said the party had been seeking, and is expecting donations from a range of business interests for the voter's guide project. He said it opted to donate to Starrett-even though she has been sharply critical of the Republican party in her previous capacities as national director for the libertarian-leaning Constitution Party-because it likes her conservative ideology.
Just last year, Starrett said in an online post on News with Views.
"Ive been searching high and low for any signs the RNC has kkowtowed to the conservatives in the party. I can't find one. What I did find was a long list of the party's sellouts of that'right wing' on amnesty,border security,bailouts,spending,guns,abortion,free speech,civil liberties,national sovereignty,industry killers like NAFTA and GATT and the federal takeover of education, to name a few.
"Meanwhile, it seems the left is softening towards the GOP because GOP is softening on the issues. Soft, in this case is not good."
Stepper said that didn't bother him. At the state and national levels, Republicans have not done a good job including true conservatives, he said.
That's not the case in Yamhill County, he said. Starrett's brand of staunch conservatism ideology resonates with local Republicans, he said.
Meisel Rock's $1,000 contribution to Lewis came on Sept. 20, state records show. It was made in the company's name, even though Lewis termed it a personal contribution from the company CEO Lloyd Town.
The next day, Meisel and Kizer Excavating each gave $500 to the county GOP. Wilsonville Concrete gave the party $500 on Sept. 23 and Meisal and Baker Rock each gave $1,000 on Sept. 25, records show.
Lewis said she did not even consider it awkward, let alone unethical to accept campaign money from a local gravel company with a contentious gravel hearing looming. She said she took strong offense at any suggestion.
She said she is prepared to absorb the portion of her campaign debt owed to her family business, but hates to leave a good faith outside lender in the lurch.
In this case, that would be George Advertising, owned by colleague Kathy George and her husband, Gary. State records indicate George Advertising is virtually her sole creditor.
Lewis said she doesn't like to have any debt, either business or personal, so it troubles her as she nears the point of being termlimited into political retirement. She said Town was simply a longtime friend sympathetic to her plight.
She said it's hard for a non candidate to raise money in an election year, so she wasn't inclined to pass up Town's offer. She said Meisel and Baker Rock are staunch competitors in the marketplace, so Town certainly didn't have Baker Rock's interests in mind.
She said the donation would have no effect on her neutrality and objectivity in the hearing.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
....McMinnville Food and Farm Forum....
hope you can attend along with a friend or two!
McMinnville Food and Farm Forum
Hosted by Friends of Family Farmers and Slow Food Yamhill
Date: Tuesday, September 28th, 6-8:30pm
Location: McMinnville Community Center, 600 NE Evans Street, Room 103
6-7pm: Meet & Greet with an opportunity to write down questions
7-8:30: Panelists consisting of candidates for House District 24; Susan Sokol Blossor and Jim Weidner will answer questions written by the audience and posed by a Moderator.
Slow Food Yamhill County is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the awareness, availability and access to locally grown food.
For questions about Slow Food or an upcoming event please contact me via email to this address or telephone at 971.237.3953.
Judi
for Slow Food Yamhill County
McMinnville Food and Farm Forum
Hosted by Friends of Family Farmers and Slow Food Yamhill
Date: Tuesday, September 28th, 6-8:30pm
Location: McMinnville Community Center, 600 NE Evans Street, Room 103
6-7pm: Meet & Greet with an opportunity to write down questions
7-8:30: Panelists consisting of candidates for House District 24; Susan Sokol Blossor and Jim Weidner will answer questions written by the audience and posed by a Moderator.
Slow Food Yamhill County is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the awareness, availability and access to locally grown food.
For questions about Slow Food or an upcoming event please contact me via email to this address or telephone at 971.237.3953.
Judi
for Slow Food Yamhill County
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
..NEW HEARING DATE..
..The Baker Rock Mining Application Hearing has been postponed again..The new date is November 10th at 1:00PM at the McMinnville Community Center..This gives us more time to prepare and more time to make more people aware of our fight..Keep the cards and letters flowing in to the Yamhill County Planning Board..Hope to see ALL of you there..Thanks..
Thursday, September 2, 2010
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