CCC President ’ s Corner By ANNE SHEVLIN
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We are thrilled by governor ’ s decision to end tolling plan |
Stop the presses ! I always wanted to say that . This time I could . By now we have all heard the news : Gov . Tina Kotek has put an end to tolling plans for I-5 and I-205 .
SHEVLIN Meanwhile , the article for this month ’ s Villager had literally just been submitted . And it was all about tolling , signing petitions , letter-writing campaigns and gathering the troops , yet again , to send our message to the state legislators .
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Well , this time they got it . And I got to stop the presses . Though there are likely many , the lesson for the residents of Charbonneau is : never underestimate the power of one voice . Because that voice is sometimes loud enough to be heard , and can join other voices , one and two at a time , until they build on one another make an impact . These voices can change what we think is not right and make a difference . There were many voices in Charbonneau who joined the greater circle of voices in our city of Wilsonville , and neighboring West Linn , Tualatin and Lake Oswego , to greater Clackamas County and all the way to Salem .
So this month ’ s column is revised , gratefully , to give credit where credit is due and to say “ Thank you ” to all the Charbonneau residents who signed the petition to stop tolling , gathered signatures for the petition , attended civic meetings to learn and
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to voice your opinion and provided testimony to our elected officials . You all heard the rally cry , and you responded .
There are specific people to thank as well . Our small but mighty Charbonneau Tolling Task Force , consisting of resident and former CCC board member Larry Walker , former CCC board president Gary Newbore , president of the Charbonneau Golf Club board Bill Bray and , representing the real estate market and our home values , Lisa Willet of Hasson Realty . Also to be recognized are Wilsonville Mayor Julie Fitzgerald , our city council members , and Wilsonville Public Affairs Director Mark Ottenad . Our city officials went to bat for us repeatedly , representing our concerns at the state level .
And last but by no means least , a big thank you goes to our lobbyist Greg Leo , of the Leo Company . Greg kept his ear to the ground in Salem , guiding us through
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the maze of legislative red tape , notifying us of meetings that we needed to attend , assisting with choosing just the right words when speaking to our legislators and keeping our spirits buoyed when it seemed all our efforts may be for naught .
Thank you all for joining us in the efforts to put a halt to the plans to toll our highways in Oregon . Together , we did it !
Now we can change our focus to other , more enjoyable topics . Shifting gears , I want to invite all Charbonneau residents to attend a special meeting with Mayor Fitzgerald on Thursday , April 4 at 2 p . m . in the clubhouse . The mayor and Wilsonville City staff share the exciting news about the revitalization of the Wilsonville Town Center area . Placed on hold during the pandemic years , the plan depicts a pedestrian-friendly main street , along with places to eat , shop and gather . See the article elsewhere in this issue for more details .
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Community Safety Series By DAVE MAUK
A resilient life includes emergency water The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word ‘ resilient ’ as : A . Capable of withstanding shock without permanent deformation or rupture ; B . Tending to recover or adjust easily to misfortune or change .
Resiliency should be our goal in planning for emergencies . We can never be 100 % safe or ready , because we don ’ t know what the actual crisis will be . We can , however , take small steps to move towards the goal of resiliency . Every small step that we take on the spectrum is a better chance of coming out of the other side of an incident “ without permanent
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deformation or rupture ,” which , I think we can all agree , sounds horrible . Over the next few months , I will use this space to discuss small steps that you can be taking to increase your individual resiliency , and your ability to ‘ withstand shock .’
The first step along this journey is to have water stored , with a plan to get more . Water is first for a couple of reasons , but first among these is without water you will die in about three days . You can generally go weeks without food , and yet the average household will have food in it . Even if you don ’ t have the things that you eat regularly , or make a complete meal from , you have calories in the pantry and fridge . Most people , however , do not have water because of the magic of the faucet , and the reliability of our domestic water service .
But , that magic delivery of water can be interrupted , and it doesn ’ t take a 9.0 earthquake . Breaks happen all the time in water systems . We ’ ve all seen the news stories of
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wiped-out water shelves in grocery stores when this occurs . If you had your own storage , you wouldn ’ t have to be that person . You could replenish your stock after the emergency passed ( which also keeps the stockpile rotated ). Freezing weather can cause broken pipes and slow the city ’ s response . Lastly , that is a time that you do not want to have to try to get to the store to buy a couple of jugs of water .
So , if we accept that we should store water , how do we do it ? Any way that you safely can , that will bring you to a minimum of 1 gallon per person per day . I like to have a few cases of commercially bottled water on hand and fill out the rest with water that I have put in containers myself . I like to use commercially available water storage vessels . These come in a variety of shapes to fit your storage needs , but I use mostly plastic 5-gallon jerry can or cube style ( the jerry cans store nicely along the back wall of closets ). They run about $ 20- $ 30 .
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Some additional things to consider :
� Wash and sanitize the container before use ( regular soap and water , then rinse with water and a teaspoon of household bleach , unscented ).
� Rotate the water every six months to a year . I take mine when camping , and refill when I come home .
� A gallon of water weighs just over 8 pounds ( and about 42 pounds for a 5-gallon jug !). Make sure that you can lift and use what you store . Also consider a small hand pump to dispense the water if the weight is an issue .
Lastly , if you need to ‘ harvest ’ water in a disaster , your best options are to drain your water heater , and / or household pipes . If you need to harvest “ wild water ” ( puddles , ponds , rivers , etc .) you will need a way to filter and purify it . Very effective camping filters can be had now for under $ 50 . For purifying keep
See COMMUNITY SAFETY / 15
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J . Brian Monihan Publisher bmonihan @ pamplinmedia . com |
Corey Buchanan Villager Editor cbuchanan @ pamplinmedia . com |
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