Woodburn Independent Online

Politicians praise water plan

Figley, Schrader talk about stimulus money at work in Woodburn

• By: Rachel Cavanaugh  
• Published: 2/19/2010 3:23:50 PM

Photo By: Rachel CavanaughKurt Schrader
Rep. Kurt Schrader spoke at a Woodburn water treatment facility Thursday about how federal stimulus money is at work in Woodburn.

WOODBURN — Local politicians have commended a project in Woodburn that will help a group of communities deal with high arsenic levels in their drinking water.
 
The project, which passed through city council last year, connects three mobile home parks currently on well water to the city’s main water line.
 
The parks — Shalimar Mobile Estates, Driftwood Mobile Home Park and Chateau Ranchettes — are all located just off Highway 99E.
 
Increases in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on arsenic levels have made the three communities fall out of compliance in recent years.
 
On Thursday, a group that included Oregon Congressman Kurt Schrader, Marion County Commissioner Sam Brentano and Woodburn Mayor Kathy Figley, praised the $2.8 million project at a ceremony at one of the city’s water treatment facilities. Speakers pointed favorably to the stimulus money (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) that funded the project.
 
“I want to give your own town leadership great kudos for bringing this project here to Woodburn,” said Schrader. “There was a lot of talk when the recovery act passed about getting this money out the door — can it really be effective?
 
“This has been an outstanding example of cutting through red tape. … Instead of waiting to dot the I’s and cross the T’s, they got this money out. They got it quickly. Let’s give it up for a great project.”
 
Figley noted the hard work of city staff, including City Administrator Scott Derickson and Public Works Director Dan Brown, on getting things under way. She also pointed to ways the federal money has boosted the community.
 
“That stimulus is working,” said Figley. “It’s not just ‘make work.’ It does make jobs, but it also makes some investment in our community’s future, for which I’m very grateful.”
 
Tony Barber, EPA Director of Oregon Operations, pointed to hazards the situation had presented for the residents of the mobile home parks.
 
“It’s a public health problem that people in these communities have to face every day,” said Barber. “They shouldn’t have to worry about safe drinking water, so these funds are really going to offer real relief and real solutions to a problem.”
 
One of the mobile home parks is outside city limits. According to Derickson, the city normally won’t hook up water systems to communities outside the boundaries but in this case an exception was made due to public health concerns.
 
The decision to move forward, which was made at a July 13 council meeting last year, came because it would have been too costly for the parks to do it themselves.
 
Derickson has noted in the past that levels of arsenic have not changed at Shalimar or the other properties but rather environmental regulations have increased.
 
Schrader pointed to the “dual benefits” of the project in that it puts people to work and also makes the community healthier.
 
“I hear all the hyperbole about the recovery act was a big waste of money,” Schrader told the crowd on Thursday. “Everyone here, go back home and say, ‘Not exactly. I actually saw with my own two eyes on the ground here in my hometown a project that’s going to not only make Shalimar and Chateau and Driftwood a little healthier and cleaner places to live, but it’s also going to create some real jobs. Good jobs.’”
 
Last month, city council awarded a $1.7 million contract to M.L. Houck for the project. Work is anticipated to begin in the coming months.

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