Reports and revelations from recent city council meetings
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
Nearly $4 million that was part of editorial inquiry found by scholar
Editorial Update: A sum of $3,867,234 has been found in city records – an amount that was described as having an unknown origin but officially approved as a new loan by resolution of the Independence City Council in December.
The nearly $4 million was included in an editorial last week by Trammart News, with a pledge to find it. In this editorial briefing, TN would like to thank Jonas Pao, of Stanford University’s Big Local News program, for doing what this news outlet and several others could not: locating the amount in the city records.
Pao found it in a section of a report on the Urban Renewal Agency; The loan is attributed to helping fund the Independence Civic Center. Previously, a listing of debts for the ICC incurred by the city showed about $10.8 million in loans, an amount that was included in a report to the city council but appears to have excluded the $3,867,234.
An inquiry into whether this amount should be added to the existing list of loans for the ICC has been made to the city’s communications director. A future look at this issue will be undertaken. Trammart News wishes to express thanks to Pao and a remarkable program at Stanford.
Report on Fourth of July: Independence Days Turns a Profit
The town turned close to $42,000 in profit at the city’s Independence Days this year – there was a downturn in attendance but an uptick in the revenue.
Higher-priced $10 wrist bands for entry and increased sponsorships for the scaled-down event – two days of fireworks instead of three – collected more gross revenue than the year before. When costs for running the operation were subtracted, the net revenue was $41,680. That sum will go into the events fund for next year’s Fourth of July celebration, according to City Manager Kenna West.
“It worked, what you did worked,” West told city councilors at this past week’s city council meeting. During city budget hearings, the concept of a higher entrance fee and a reduction of some festivities was adopted by the budget committee.
About 13,500 wristbands were sold, a dip of about 25% from the previous year. The high heat also seemed to keep away local residents on “hometown night,” which declined 30-40% from last year, said Courtney Williams, the city’s downtown manager.
However, everything went “very smoothly,” she reported.
Meeting held on Rickeall dairy becoming a full-service waste station
The former Rickreall dairy farm, which was sold last year, has been identified as the potential site for a new refuse and recycling facility to serve cities in Polk County.
What would that mean for Independence? It would add an estimated $3.27 monthly to the current waste-collection fees by Brandt’s Sanitary Service – but give the city much closer access to a modern transfer station for any waste products. Joshua Brandt called the applicant, Apple Tree Holdings LLC, “somebody presenting a solution” for the future.
The design and possible re-purposing of the onetime dairy operation – once home to herds of black-and-white cows – would be transformed into a place where all of the discarded matter from Polk County is taken, ranging from garbage to recyclables.
The reassignment of the land, which was solely used for agriculture for more than 30 years, was the subject of a joint meeting of the Independence and Monmouth city councils this past week. It was held in the meeting room of Polk County Fire District No. 1.
The operation, which is still in early-planning stages, would be the county’s first regional facility of its kind – technologically in step with how waste is processed: indoors under a controlled environment, while leaving the surrounding acres of farmland “tillable,” according to information hand-outs provided by Apple Holdings at the meeting.
Approval would require multiple prerequisites, noted Austin McGuigan, community development director for the county. In fact, the meeting was solely to establish “whether the cities would like to have ‘good faith’ conversations,” he pointed out.
The general consensus was that both city councils want to proceed in exploring the feasibility of the proposed facility, tentatively named “Rehub Polk.” ▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
Nearly $4 million that was part of editorial inquiry found by scholar
Editorial Update: A sum of $3,867,234 has been found in city records – an amount that was described as having an unknown origin but officially approved as a new loan by resolution of the Independence City Council in December.
The nearly $4 million was included in an editorial last week by Trammart News, with a pledge to find it. In this editorial briefing, TN would like to thank Jonas Pao, of Stanford University’s Big Local News program, for doing what this news outlet and several others could not: locating the amount in the city records.
Pao found it in a section of a report on the Urban Renewal Agency; The loan is attributed to helping fund the Independence Civic Center. Previously, a listing of debts for the ICC incurred by the city showed about $10.8 million in loans, an amount that was included in a report to the city council but appears to have excluded the $3,867,234.
An inquiry into whether this amount should be added to the existing list of loans for the ICC has been made to the city’s communications director. A future look at this issue will be undertaken. Trammart News wishes to express thanks to Pao and a remarkable program at Stanford.
Report on Fourth of July: Independence Days Turns a Profit
The town turned close to $42,000 in profit at the city’s Independence Days this year – there was a downturn in attendance but an uptick in the revenue.
Higher-priced $10 wrist bands for entry and increased sponsorships for the scaled-down event – two days of fireworks instead of three – collected more gross revenue than the year before. When costs for running the operation were subtracted, the net revenue was $41,680. That sum will go into the events fund for next year’s Fourth of July celebration, according to City Manager Kenna West.
“It worked, what you did worked,” West told city councilors at this past week’s city council meeting. During city budget hearings, the concept of a higher entrance fee and a reduction of some festivities was adopted by the budget committee.
About 13,500 wristbands were sold, a dip of about 25% from the previous year. The high heat also seemed to keep away local residents on “hometown night,” which declined 30-40% from last year, said Courtney Williams, the city’s downtown manager.
However, everything went “very smoothly,” she reported.
Meeting held on Rickeall dairy becoming a full-service waste station
The former Rickreall dairy farm, which was sold last year, has been identified as the potential site for a new refuse and recycling facility to serve cities in Polk County.
What would that mean for Independence? It would add an estimated $3.27 monthly to the current waste-collection fees by Brandt’s Sanitary Service – but give the city much closer access to a modern transfer station for any waste products. Joshua Brandt called the applicant, Apple Tree Holdings LLC, “somebody presenting a solution” for the future.
The design and possible re-purposing of the onetime dairy operation – once home to herds of black-and-white cows – would be transformed into a place where all of the discarded matter from Polk County is taken, ranging from garbage to recyclables.
The reassignment of the land, which was solely used for agriculture for more than 30 years, was the subject of a joint meeting of the Independence and Monmouth city councils this past week. It was held in the meeting room of Polk County Fire District No. 1.
The operation, which is still in early-planning stages, would be the county’s first regional facility of its kind – technologically in step with how waste is processed: indoors under a controlled environment, while leaving the surrounding acres of farmland “tillable,” according to information hand-outs provided by Apple Holdings at the meeting.
Approval would require multiple prerequisites, noted Austin McGuigan, community development director for the county. In fact, the meeting was solely to establish “whether the cities would like to have ‘good faith’ conversations,” he pointed out.
The general consensus was that both city councils want to proceed in exploring the feasibility of the proposed facility, tentatively named “Rehub Polk.” ▪
Season begins for Panthers’ cross country teams
By Lance Masterson
For Trammart News Service
Hannah Gilbert may not feel so isolated this year.
The senior member of the Panthers girls’ cross country team was its only varsity runner a year ago. That’s because the team came up short in the numbers game. As in, it had just five runners on the roster. As in, all but Gilbert ran junior varsity.
Early season optimism suggests that could change; As there are eight runners on the girls team this year.
“We have a lot of new runners who are trying to figure out what this is all about. We have a very young team, so just trying to support them,” Gilbert said. “We have each other, which is different. I felt pretty isolated last year.”
Strength and unity comes in numbers, it’s said.
“They can go off and do things and it feels like a more significant group of girls,” Coach Eli Cirino said of the boost. “There’s definitely camaraderie there.”
There’s also opportunity. The young runners will get their shot to establish themselves, and that shot will come against some of the best competition in the state.
“We’re going to give them the opportunity to run varsity early on,” the coach added. “They’ve shown at workouts that they’re making big gains.”
The cross country season began Aug. 30 with The Opener at Ash Creek Preserve, Western Oregon University. Other early meets include the Utlimook Race in Tillamook, Sept. 7, and then home for the Ash Creek XC Festival, Sept. 13-14 , again at WOU.
Gilbert begins the season feeling good mentally and physically. This, too, represents a change from years past.
“I struggled with injuries all throughout high school, whether it was shin splints or fractures or whatever that may be. My back kept me from running a couple of races last year,” she said. “So just staying strong and maintaining my health the whole season, and just being there for my girls.”
She is unquestionably the team’s leader.
“Hannah has been great. You can see the joy that she shows on a daily basis,” Coach Cirino said. “She’s been really good about just stepping up and leading this group.”
Numbers aren’t quite the problem for a boys team with 13 runners. But this number is down from last year. The Panthers are led by juniors Ty Cirino and Aidan Wendring, and senior Truman Swartzfager. Individually, they ran upwards of 500 miles over the summer.
“Those guys are fit as heck and looking really good,” their coach said. “We definitely have high expectations for these guys.”
Their teammates followed the trio’s example.
“Most everybody took some time off during the summer vacation to go and do stuff, go on vacation, etcetera,” Coach Cirino said. “But most of these guys were also pretty plugged into what we were doing. We trained four days a week together.”
Practices averaged 10 to 12 runners.
Results from an Aug. 23rd time trial are encouraging.
“We had kids run almost a minute faster than they did in the mile a year ago,” the coach said. “We are optimistic right now.”
Ty Cirino is firmly entrenched as the team’s top runner. He is the school’s record holder in the 5K, placed fifth at state last year and is the defending Mid-Willamette Conference champion. His record, 15:02, was set in 2023 at the Rose City Championships.
He enters the season with new goals.
“I want to go sub 15 minutes in the 5K. Hopefully, make state as a team. Hopefully, at state also, individually going top three,” Ty Cirino said.
But first, he wants this season to get off to a fast start.
“I hope it feels good,” Ty Cirino said of The Opener. “I just want to prove my fitness to myself.”
Swartzfager enters the season on a roll.
“The last couple of months, I’ve been able to piece together a lot of solid weeks, and the buildup I had at the end of track season … it’s the most amount of weeks that I’ve been able to put together without having an injury,” Swartzfager said. “This is the fittest I’ve ever been.”
He was fit enough to take on cross country at its most grueling … the Steens Mountain Running Camp in July ... where he was joined by Ty and Coach Cirino.
“The biggest thing about Steens is it gives you the mental state to have a good season. It lets you visualize with a lot of people who want to do the same thing,” Swartzfager added.
A third junior, Keagan Korbe is penciled in as well.
“(Korbe) is probably our fourth guy right now,” Coach Cirino said. “That’s well established. But like I said, our young guys are developing rapidly.”
Who runs in spots five through seven is undecided. That will change as runners jockey for position. Besides, a little competition only makes for a deeper squad.
“I feel it makes it pretty fun for the rest of our team,” Coach Cirino said of positioning “I’d say we have six or seven other guys who could potentially be earning one of those other varsity spots.”
Wendring was fourth at district and 14th at state.
Central begins this season pretty much like last season. With three talented runners backed by a supporting cast. The team lost experienced runners to graduation while others chose not to run this year.
“We’re a few guys short of where we’d like to be. But our young guys are stepping up,” Coach Cirino said. “We’ll probably initially have a huge gap between our number one and our number five through seven guys. But the younger guys are all growing rapidly, improving rapidly. They’re … getting stronger every day.”
Improvement is needed if the team is to equal last year’s success. The Panthers’ boys placed third at the district finals. They expect to be near the top again, though the early title favorite is Corvallis.
The Spartans are “absolutely loaded. I think they could challenge the top two teams in the state. They’re that good,” Coach Cirino said.
The MWC itself is loaded, with Crescent Valley, South Albany and Silverton expected to join the Panthers in battling for state finals bids.
Central finished sixth in state in 2023. ▪
By Lance Masterson
For Trammart News Service
Hannah Gilbert may not feel so isolated this year.
The senior member of the Panthers girls’ cross country team was its only varsity runner a year ago. That’s because the team came up short in the numbers game. As in, it had just five runners on the roster. As in, all but Gilbert ran junior varsity.
Early season optimism suggests that could change; As there are eight runners on the girls team this year.
“We have a lot of new runners who are trying to figure out what this is all about. We have a very young team, so just trying to support them,” Gilbert said. “We have each other, which is different. I felt pretty isolated last year.”
Strength and unity comes in numbers, it’s said.
“They can go off and do things and it feels like a more significant group of girls,” Coach Eli Cirino said of the boost. “There’s definitely camaraderie there.”
There’s also opportunity. The young runners will get their shot to establish themselves, and that shot will come against some of the best competition in the state.
“We’re going to give them the opportunity to run varsity early on,” the coach added. “They’ve shown at workouts that they’re making big gains.”
The cross country season began Aug. 30 with The Opener at Ash Creek Preserve, Western Oregon University. Other early meets include the Utlimook Race in Tillamook, Sept. 7, and then home for the Ash Creek XC Festival, Sept. 13-14 , again at WOU.
Gilbert begins the season feeling good mentally and physically. This, too, represents a change from years past.
“I struggled with injuries all throughout high school, whether it was shin splints or fractures or whatever that may be. My back kept me from running a couple of races last year,” she said. “So just staying strong and maintaining my health the whole season, and just being there for my girls.”
She is unquestionably the team’s leader.
“Hannah has been great. You can see the joy that she shows on a daily basis,” Coach Cirino said. “She’s been really good about just stepping up and leading this group.”
Numbers aren’t quite the problem for a boys team with 13 runners. But this number is down from last year. The Panthers are led by juniors Ty Cirino and Aidan Wendring, and senior Truman Swartzfager. Individually, they ran upwards of 500 miles over the summer.
“Those guys are fit as heck and looking really good,” their coach said. “We definitely have high expectations for these guys.”
Their teammates followed the trio’s example.
“Most everybody took some time off during the summer vacation to go and do stuff, go on vacation, etcetera,” Coach Cirino said. “But most of these guys were also pretty plugged into what we were doing. We trained four days a week together.”
Practices averaged 10 to 12 runners.
Results from an Aug. 23rd time trial are encouraging.
“We had kids run almost a minute faster than they did in the mile a year ago,” the coach said. “We are optimistic right now.”
Ty Cirino is firmly entrenched as the team’s top runner. He is the school’s record holder in the 5K, placed fifth at state last year and is the defending Mid-Willamette Conference champion. His record, 15:02, was set in 2023 at the Rose City Championships.
He enters the season with new goals.
“I want to go sub 15 minutes in the 5K. Hopefully, make state as a team. Hopefully, at state also, individually going top three,” Ty Cirino said.
But first, he wants this season to get off to a fast start.
“I hope it feels good,” Ty Cirino said of The Opener. “I just want to prove my fitness to myself.”
Swartzfager enters the season on a roll.
“The last couple of months, I’ve been able to piece together a lot of solid weeks, and the buildup I had at the end of track season … it’s the most amount of weeks that I’ve been able to put together without having an injury,” Swartzfager said. “This is the fittest I’ve ever been.”
He was fit enough to take on cross country at its most grueling … the Steens Mountain Running Camp in July ... where he was joined by Ty and Coach Cirino.
“The biggest thing about Steens is it gives you the mental state to have a good season. It lets you visualize with a lot of people who want to do the same thing,” Swartzfager added.
A third junior, Keagan Korbe is penciled in as well.
“(Korbe) is probably our fourth guy right now,” Coach Cirino said. “That’s well established. But like I said, our young guys are developing rapidly.”
Who runs in spots five through seven is undecided. That will change as runners jockey for position. Besides, a little competition only makes for a deeper squad.
“I feel it makes it pretty fun for the rest of our team,” Coach Cirino said of positioning “I’d say we have six or seven other guys who could potentially be earning one of those other varsity spots.”
Wendring was fourth at district and 14th at state.
Central begins this season pretty much like last season. With three talented runners backed by a supporting cast. The team lost experienced runners to graduation while others chose not to run this year.
“We’re a few guys short of where we’d like to be. But our young guys are stepping up,” Coach Cirino said. “We’ll probably initially have a huge gap between our number one and our number five through seven guys. But the younger guys are all growing rapidly, improving rapidly. They’re … getting stronger every day.”
Improvement is needed if the team is to equal last year’s success. The Panthers’ boys placed third at the district finals. They expect to be near the top again, though the early title favorite is Corvallis.
The Spartans are “absolutely loaded. I think they could challenge the top two teams in the state. They’re that good,” Coach Cirino said.
The MWC itself is loaded, with Crescent Valley, South Albany and Silverton expected to join the Panthers in battling for state finals bids.
Central finished sixth in state in 2023. ▪
The Little Pumpkin Cat Cafe loses lease, seeks new location in Independence for unique business
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
The term “childless cat ladies,” a phrase used by Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, doesn’t bother Emily Samuelian one bit. “I consider it a compliment,” she said. “That is just what I am.”
But three other words – lease not renewed – are turning her life upside down, forcing Samuelian to relocate her one-of-a-kind business, The Little Pumpkin Cat Cafe. It’s a combination of cat adoption site and hand-crafted gift shop – and soon it will be leaving the Little Mall on Main in downtown Independence.
Samuelian’s enterprise was honored this past spring with the “New Business of the Year” award by the Monmouth Independence Chamber of Commerce.
And, within her first 10 months of operation as a combination cat rescue and specialty boutique, she has proven a success on two entirely different fronts: getting adoptions for hard-to-place cats and becoming a profitable business. The nearly $20,000 in start-up costs – financed out of her savings, credit cards and donations – has been paid back almost in full. "It's astounding to me how supportive this community has been," she said.
But owners of the property aren't renewing the lease. Other than confirming a non-renewal of the lease agreement, proprietor Yul Provancha’s response to an inquiry about it from Trammart News was “no comment.”
Samuelian said she is in shock – she was made aware that some in the building reported odors. She cleans incessantly, she said. However, she has one big disadvantage that she characterizes as a genetic disability: she has no sense of taste or smell. It is an inherited trait passed down through her father's side of the family, she said.
"If my shop smells, come talk to me," she said, noting that no one ever did. "I’ve said I will fix it; I will do anything and everything to fix it if someone tells me."
On a recent day, when Trammart News dropped in, there was an air purifier, a large fan and a humidifier. A glass divider separated the retail area from the cat space.
It will be a sad farewell for Samuelian. She left her job in elementary education – she is a graduate of Western Oregon University – after she decided she wanted to help find homes for senior or special needs cats. In a somewhat unexpected turn of events, she found herself becoming locally famous for the effort.
Samuelian's cat cafe appears to be the only one of its kind in the Mid-Willamette Valley. One that was in Portland closed, and another in Eugene appears to be a different kind of operation, though it is also called a cat cafe. A community survey conducted on social media showed overwhelming support for the unique store, she said.
"Clearly, the community likes this place," said Samuelian, who noted that several customers of other vendors pop into the back of the mall "just to see us." The business has been quite a draw, almost from the day it opened on Sept 13 last year.
As the "guardian of the store" a gray tabby named "Saturn" slept in the chair Samuelian uses as a reception desk, Samuelian explained why she started this unusual enterprise.
Having moved from California to attend WOU, she found herself in need of a comfort animal – something she had never experienced. But college life was new, and she decided her dorm room could accommodate a cat. First came "Amber," adopted from the Oregon Humane Society. Her next cat was "Casper" who was being offered from a box at a store.
So, Samuelian got hooked on feline companionship and, after graduation, "kept daydreaming about this."
She is determined to keep her business open, no matter where she goes – and she wants to stay in Independence. She is looking into other places.
The biggest battle to find a new place may be the fight against her own growing pessimism. Samuelian's nonprofit status hit a snafu, so she isn’t a 501(c)(3), and all her inquiries so far for a new tenancy have met with either delays for occupancy or outright lack of availability.
Samuelian said she will have to make the move shortly around her first anniversary at the store, which she said has become one of the stops for tourists exploring Independence – ranging from Idaho to Ireland.
(The Little Pumpkin Cat Cafe address is 226 S Main Street, STE C, Independence, OR; A “Go Fund Me” account is at: gofund.me/eacbfda9) ▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service
The term “childless cat ladies,” a phrase used by Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, doesn’t bother Emily Samuelian one bit. “I consider it a compliment,” she said. “That is just what I am.”
But three other words – lease not renewed – are turning her life upside down, forcing Samuelian to relocate her one-of-a-kind business, The Little Pumpkin Cat Cafe. It’s a combination of cat adoption site and hand-crafted gift shop – and soon it will be leaving the Little Mall on Main in downtown Independence.
Samuelian’s enterprise was honored this past spring with the “New Business of the Year” award by the Monmouth Independence Chamber of Commerce.
And, within her first 10 months of operation as a combination cat rescue and specialty boutique, she has proven a success on two entirely different fronts: getting adoptions for hard-to-place cats and becoming a profitable business. The nearly $20,000 in start-up costs – financed out of her savings, credit cards and donations – has been paid back almost in full. "It's astounding to me how supportive this community has been," she said.
But owners of the property aren't renewing the lease. Other than confirming a non-renewal of the lease agreement, proprietor Yul Provancha’s response to an inquiry about it from Trammart News was “no comment.”
Samuelian said she is in shock – she was made aware that some in the building reported odors. She cleans incessantly, she said. However, she has one big disadvantage that she characterizes as a genetic disability: she has no sense of taste or smell. It is an inherited trait passed down through her father's side of the family, she said.
"If my shop smells, come talk to me," she said, noting that no one ever did. "I’ve said I will fix it; I will do anything and everything to fix it if someone tells me."
On a recent day, when Trammart News dropped in, there was an air purifier, a large fan and a humidifier. A glass divider separated the retail area from the cat space.
It will be a sad farewell for Samuelian. She left her job in elementary education – she is a graduate of Western Oregon University – after she decided she wanted to help find homes for senior or special needs cats. In a somewhat unexpected turn of events, she found herself becoming locally famous for the effort.
Samuelian's cat cafe appears to be the only one of its kind in the Mid-Willamette Valley. One that was in Portland closed, and another in Eugene appears to be a different kind of operation, though it is also called a cat cafe. A community survey conducted on social media showed overwhelming support for the unique store, she said.
"Clearly, the community likes this place," said Samuelian, who noted that several customers of other vendors pop into the back of the mall "just to see us." The business has been quite a draw, almost from the day it opened on Sept 13 last year.
As the "guardian of the store" a gray tabby named "Saturn" slept in the chair Samuelian uses as a reception desk, Samuelian explained why she started this unusual enterprise.
Having moved from California to attend WOU, she found herself in need of a comfort animal – something she had never experienced. But college life was new, and she decided her dorm room could accommodate a cat. First came "Amber," adopted from the Oregon Humane Society. Her next cat was "Casper" who was being offered from a box at a store.
So, Samuelian got hooked on feline companionship and, after graduation, "kept daydreaming about this."
She is determined to keep her business open, no matter where she goes – and she wants to stay in Independence. She is looking into other places.
The biggest battle to find a new place may be the fight against her own growing pessimism. Samuelian's nonprofit status hit a snafu, so she isn’t a 501(c)(3), and all her inquiries so far for a new tenancy have met with either delays for occupancy or outright lack of availability.
Samuelian said she will have to make the move shortly around her first anniversary at the store, which she said has become one of the stops for tourists exploring Independence – ranging from Idaho to Ireland.
(The Little Pumpkin Cat Cafe address is 226 S Main Street, STE C, Independence, OR; A “Go Fund Me” account is at: gofund.me/eacbfda9) ▪
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