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.

Apartment in downtown Ridgefield for rent for one person. Clean, fresh, unfurnished 600 square ft 2nd floor with high gabled ceiling, small loft for storage and laundry facilities.  Air conditioned and heated.  Small gardening area for personal use.  Available March 15, $1100/month including utilities.

Need security deposit of $500 plus first and last months’ rents.  One year lease.  No smoking or pets.  Call Carol Pinnell 503 313 9975.

Since we’ve moved into town, my car is not being driven much, so I’ve decided to sell it. The car is in mint condition, and very comfortable to drive.

It’s a silver 2015 Honda CR-V, the touring model with all the bells and whistles you’d expect in a luxury vehicle, including GPS, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keeping Assist System, Voice Recognition, Vehicle Stability Assist, Lane Departure Warning, Power Tailgate, Tire Pressure Monitoring, Collision Mitigation Braking System, USB/HDMI ports, Moonroof, Power Windows, Driver Position Memory, Advanced Air Bags, Smart Entry System, Child Proof Door Locks, Automatic Window Wipers, HomeLink Garage Opener, Climate Control System, Intelligent Multi-Information Display, AM/FM Radio, CD Player, Bluetooth® Audio, Touch Screen, LaneWatch™, Multi-View Rear Camera. WHEW!

I bought the car new in September of 2015, and it’s spotless. It’s only been driven 17,000 miles. Price is $27,000. Call today before it’s gone: 360-887-2160.

Having trouble keeping your New Year’s resolution to exercise?  This has never been an issue for Lefty.  For you newbies to Ridgefield, it is his red barn you see on the way into town.  He routinely hauls wood, cuts, splits and stacks the wood. Not bad for 80-something!  It is his neatly stacked pile that you see at the entrance to downtown. It’s fir wood. The barn and the fields on either side of the road used to be covered with trees when Lefty and his bride, Marilyn, had a tree nursery on the property.

~ Contributed by Sarah Scott

I wanted to share some great news with the residents of Ridgefield.

Ridgefield Living magazine is returning to your mailboxes beginning in February. We have been on forced hiatus since June due to some problems the State of Washington had when we announced we were expanding our free circulation from 1,50 homes to 4,300 homes.

There were legal problems, all of which I am not privy to, that were settled by our corporate headquarters in N. Carolina and now we can bring Ridgefield’s favorite magazine back to you all.

Several changes: First I will no longer be the Editor, that role will be aptly fulfilled by Cindy Lebeau, with whom I will be working as Content Editor. Since I’ve lived here for a dozen years we want to keep my knowledge of the community front and center to better serve our readers. Cindy will be handling the administrative details, advertising, as well as contributing to the editorial content decisions.

The second change: The magazine will now be called RIDGEFIELD LIFE. But will have the same type of stories about residents, their children, businesses, pets, gardens, hobbies, and leisure and community support activities. And, as before, we will continue to seek suggestions as to stories our readers are looking for.

You can send ideas and suggestions to me at rick.browne@n2pub.com or to Cindy at cindy.lebeau@n2pub.com.

We’re delighted to bring your magazine back and hope that not only enjoy what we produce but want to take an active hand in contributing ideas, family photos, and your enthusiasm.

Merry Christmas and see you in the New Year

Rick Browne

Ridgefield Life

Content Editor

Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.

Brad Paisley

We’re all in the holiday spirit!