There’s still a chance to mail in your ballot today. No postage is needed.

Be a good citizen – vote. People in third world countries understand how powerful their vote is and often stand in line in order to vote. I can only hope you feel the same way.

One of the things I like best about living in Ridgefield is the way people have an idea or a dream and then act on it. For example, Frank Shuman had the idea of starting a Main Street Program in Ridgefield. Look what’s happened with that!

Another example from a long time ago – Allene Wodaege and the Cispus Outdoor School, now celebrating its 50th anniversary. Allene was also instrumental in getting Overlook Park built as well as other projects around town.

Bill Bauman started the Green Bag Food Project in 2018 and he tells the story below.

Collecting the green bags full of groceries

The Green Bag Food Project (also known as Ridgefield Neighbors Food Project) started in early 2018. The first collection was in the Wishing Wells neighborhood in February, 2018. We gathered 280 pounds of food.
If you’re not familiar with us, we give willing food donors a green poly shopping bag and suggest they purchase one extra item per week at the grocery store. Then, on the 2nd Saturday of every even month, we come by and pick up the full bag and leave an empty bag for next time.

During 2018, each collection was bigger than the previous and we ended the year having gathered 9,344 pounds of food. The food is donated to our local food pantry, Neighbors Helping Neighbors, and the Ridgefield Schools Family Resource Center.

Our last collection was October 12th. We gathered just under 4,100 lbs of food! Our running total for 2019 is 13,470 lbs so far — and we have one more collection on December 14th. Since the Project began in Ridgefield, we have gathered 22,814 lbs of food — that’s 11 tons!

Our thanks go to all the food donors and Neighborhood Coordinators who help make this project a success!

We CAN make a difference, one can of food at a time.

THANK YOU RIDGEFIELD!!

All Saints Episcopal Church has recently begun advertising on my blog. I asked them to do a short write up about their work, and this is what they sent:

Whether your family has lived in Ridgefield for generations or you’re new to Clark County, finding a spiritual home for many families is often a priority. Located a few miles south of the Fairgrounds (the corner of NW 99th Street and 21st Avenue), many Ridgefielders have found that home at All Saints Episcopal Church. Within the traditional elements of Christian faith, All Saints also offers the non-traditional. Members worship and practice their progressive values with inclusiveness, compassion, kindness and love – all core elements immediately evident with a little more information about this parish.

The Rev. Joseph Scheeler, known locally and affectionately as “Father Joe,” is also the drum keeper for Traveling Day Society. He is a gifted storyteller with a great sense of humor, an over-supply of compassion and understanding, and an ability to inspire those on their personal spiritual journey as they maneuver the obstacles in their path.

At All Saints Episcopal Church, children are cherished and always welcome at any event or service. This is further evidenced by a playground, soccer fields, Sunday School offerings and a nursery. This love starts with a sponsored nonprofit, Babies in Need. Its mission is to provide needed items for newborns – layettes, car seats, diaper supplies, quilts, etc. – to help the 25 to 30 babies born each month whose parents are undergoing a very rough patch.

All Saints also sponsors Traveling Day Society, whose members drum for community at public events throughout Clark County. Traveling Day Society provides music and services to hospice patients and their families (always free of charge), as well as immersive Native cultural educational events in local elementary schools. If you would like more information on All Saints Episcopal, Father Joe is happy to meet you. Or if you’d rather, simply show up and introduce yourself! All are welcome.

This week I was invited to tour the new Acero apartments on Pioneer. It’s a gated community, with a community room, pool, hot tub, gym and other amenities. Some of the units have views of the two wetland areas on the property, which unfortunately will have fences around them.

Acero is one of the few apartment complexes that manage their own facilities, rather than using a third-party maintenance company.

24 hour Fitness Center

Pool and Community Center

Both the pool and hot tub have ADA power-assist pool chairs, which I had never seen before. They allow handicapped people access to the water.

The community room has a fireplace and TV as well as a kitchenette, and is rentable.

Eventually there will be a small park adjacent to the complex.

For more information about the Acero apartments, click here.

I walked down to the bridge being constructed over Main Avenue on the way to the Refuge today, to see how far along the project is. They delivered a load of concrete retaining wall blocks while I was there. This is a picture of the truck being backed down to the site.

There’ still a lot of work to be done – I wonder if they’ll be ready in time for BirdFest next week…

This sign was posted on the bulletin board at the Post Office – only in Ridgefield!

Ridgefield vegetable gardens are in their full glory and fruit trees are drooping under the weight of their bounty. It’s a wonderful time of year to be a gardener! Thanks to generous donors, the Ridgefield Community Gleaners have helped to provide a variety of fresh produce, such as kale, zucchini, beans, cucumbers, plums, apples and figs to the Ridgefield Family Resource Center. Yes, even some early apple varieties are ready to eat!

As you tend your gardens and orchards, please consider helping less fortunate Ridgefield families by donating some of your produce.  Contact the Ridgefield Community Gleaners at (360) 931-9573 or (918)766-2025 to arrange for help with harvesting and/or delivering your extra produce to the Family Resource Center. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit volunteer group, and can provide a tax-deductible receipt, if desired.

There has been talk for the last few years that the commercial 2.5 acres on the corner of Hillhurst and Sevier was to be a low profile mix of retail businesses and offices. It was to blend with the heavy residential character of the neighborhood and be a particular attraction to pedestrians. That hasn’t happened. A notice for a pre-application conference was made public for use of that property for a gas station and mini market. The hearing is Tuesday July 9 at 1p at RACC, Enterprise Room. It is open to the public. This is a meeting you will want to attend if possible. If not, see information at bottom of post to send in your comments.

How can a gas station/mini market improve that neighborhood? Ridgefield has done a wonderful job of encouraging trail systems and pedestrian friendly sidewalks in all new developments—gas stations attract cars. All Ridgefield street lighting is “dark sky”— “low” lighting is not typical of gas stations, plus having a mini mart in a residential neighborhood is not consistent of what we need in Ridgefield.

Students walk by to and from school daily, and a public park is nearby—additional cars pulling in/out of a gas station and typical clients of quick stop mini-markets pose a hazard.

On the bottom of the Pre-Application Conference it says: “If you are unable to attend, please mail or e-mail written comments prior to the meeting date. Your comments and participation are welcomed and appreciated”. The notice lists Claire Lust, Associate Planner, e-mail: claire.lust@ci.ridgefield.wa.us (It also says the file information is available for review at the community development dept. at 510-B Pioneer St.)

Tonight at the Meaningful Movie, “Living in the Future’s Past,” Phuong Tran of Lava Java announced they are no longer serving straws with their drinks. She said the response has been overwhelmingly supportive among her younger customers, while the older people are lukewarm about the idea.

If we all made one small ecologically correct change in our live styles, imagine what a better world it would be!

Have you bought coffee recently? You may be getting lees than you thought.

The container on the right weighs 1 lb 15 oz, and the ‘new look’ container on the right contains only 1 lb. of coffee.

The lids are the same size and the shape of the containers is the same, but the newer box is about an inch shorter and contains about half as much coffee.

What a ripoff!

The County is about to cost the Ridgefield School District over $2.3 million dollars in school impact fees for the Ridgefield School District.

Some of you may be aware that the Ridgefield School District has been feeling some economic growing pains of late.  To that end, the district put out a bond measure in February that failed, and a levy last month that passed.  The levy was for approximately 6 million dollars.

What you may not know is that the County is now on the cusp of approving almost 1000 new dwelling units near the 179^th street intersection.  As part of the budgeting process for those projects, the county will be voting on May 7^th  on how much they are going raise your taxes and, possibly,  go into debt through bonding, to subsidize these new residential developments.

Importantly, as to School Impact fees, the County only charges $6530 per dwelling unit for a school impact fee on new construction for homes constructed within the Ridgefield School District.  On the other hand, the City of Ridgefield charges $8883.75 per dwelling unit for school impact fees.  The difference between what the City collects from its citizen’s new construction for the RSD, and what the County collects, is $2,353.75/dwelling unit.  Therefore, unless the County requires the developers to pay the same impact fee as if the dwelling unit had been built in the City, the Ridgefield School District will lose $2,353,000 dollars that would go to help the school district absorb these new students in these 1000 new dwelling units.  It is conceivable that this deficit will require the School District to come back yet again to the voters of the RSD for an additional levy in 2021 and beyond based upon this new growth that does not pay for itself.

The County is supposedly entering into development agreements with the 3 major developers regarding their financial obligations to the County. Please let the Councilors know that you are already carrying a heavy tax burden for your schools and, at a minimum, the new developments (1000 new dwelling units) should be required to pay the same school impact fees ($8883.75) as those being paid by new construction dwelling units in the City so that City residents and County residents pay the same impact fee to cover the ballooning cost of education in the Ridgefield School District.  The County should make it a requirement part of any development agreement for development in the Urban Holding area that each dwelling unit pays the same impact fee as if the construction were being completed in the City.

You can comment by sending written comments to Sonja Wiser at “Wiser, Sonja” Sonja.Wiser@clark.wa.gov or  show up at the hearing Tuesday night May 7th.

Since this is the same night as the architects for our new library are holding an open house at the library, or if you are unable to attend the meeting, you could also email our County Councilor, Julie Olsen, by googling https://www.clark.wa.gov/councilors/write-councilor and checking the box in front of Julie’s name. There is space to write comments.

There is a rumor the County Council Meeting may have been canceled

This article appeared in Saturday’s Columbian. I have shortened it, but the gist is the same.

“An Oregon woman who lost both legs after being hit by a freight train has filed a lawsuit against several railroad companies. (List of companies follows.)
Police say Cindy Rodriguez was looking at her phone while walking across tracks when the train hit her at a suburban Portland crossing in April, 2017. Documents say her legs were amputated and she suffered respiratory failure and other injuries.
The lawsuit says the companies ignored dangerous conditions and did not warn the public, and employees failed to use an emergency brake.”

She is asking for $33.8 million dollars!

Well duh…Doesn’t everyone know railroad crossing are dangerous? And looking at a phone while walking can cause problems? And a train takes a long time to slow down even with an emergency brake?

I am sick and tired of our having to pay for stupidity. Sorry, but this woman was stupid. Any kindergartener could tell you to be careful at a railroad crossing.

I hope the judge has enough guts to throw out the case before it costs taxpayers a lot of money.

What do you think?

A student in one of the Ridgefield schools is in need of an acoustic guitar. It doesn’t need to be new so if you have one you would like to donate or know somebody who does we would appreciate it!!
Please contact Carla at Ltcarla@comcast.net if you can help.