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County wades into flood response By Dani Dodge Jackson County is working with the city of Ashland on a system to warn citizens when a dam breaks or a flood threatens along Bear Creek or Little Butte Creek near Eagle Point. County Commission approves $171 million budget, raises After hearing criticism about their raises from a citizen, county commissioners approved the county�s $171 million budget Wednesday � raises included. "Jackson County is in a period of economic uncertainty," said Rachel Chartier of Medford. "You are cutting programs ... while pushing forward pay increases for yourselves. Please postpone your pay increases until the county is more stable. "You could be heroes today by declining this raise." Commissioner Jack Walker said the commissioners� 6 percent raise was proposed by the non-elected members of the budget committee, a yearly practice that keeps commissioners from having to decide on raises for themselves and other elected officials like the sheriff and the assessor. If commissioners decline their raise, it puts more pressure on other elected officials not to take what they deserve, Walker said, and eventually creates an imbalance as rank and file employees get better compensation. Walker said that the commissioners have to take responsibility and accept the raises. "Do you think we didn�t know that we would be beat up in the media, beat up by the public?" he asked. "Commissioners need to take the flak. It�s a cop-out to say we won�t accept ours but everyone else should." "I think it will help us even on smaller scale flood events," said county emergency management coordinator Sandy Eccker. "And we�ll know it�s in place if something (big) does happen." On Wednesday, the county commissioners authorized passing on more than $30,000 in federal grant money to Ashland to work on the flood-warning system. Ashland will kick in $11,000 of local matching money necessary to secure the grant. After the 1997 floods, the county applied for a grant to study county flood dangers and patterns , and to connect sensors at area dams to the county�s emergency alert system. The county received an $84,200 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the work. Commissioners passed on $33,000 of that to Ashland Wednesday for the city to complete the study of the Ashland Creek and the Hosler Dam above Lithia Park. The Ashland study will model the effects of flooding down through Bear Creek. The Bureau of Reclamation has modeled possible flood effects from a dam break or water release from Emigrant Lake and Little Butte Lake. The project, expected to be completed in the fall, will: � Establish a flood threat recognition system and link that system to the emergency alert system. � Test the flood warning system and advertise the warning system with the public. � Maintain the flood warning system. County officials say they don�t expect dams to break, but it�s always best to be prepared. "We aren�t doing this because we know some secret," Eccker laughed. In fact, she said, the fear of a dam break was at the bottom of perceived hazards in the county when emergency service providers considered possible emergencies. Officials are familiar with more common emergencies, but they still need to study and prepare for long-shot disasters. "It would be no small undertaking to evacuate residents along Bear Creek," she noted. In other action, commissioners honored the Bear Creek Greenway Foundation for receiving national attention for its fundraising and beauty. The foundation�s imaginative "Yard Sale" was recognized by the National Transportation Enhancements Clearinghouse. The Yard Sale program allows people to sponsor a yard of the greenway for $40. The White House also has recognized the trail, naming it a "Community Millennium Trail." Foundation members are working on the Phoenix-to-Medford link now of the greenway that will eventually stretch from Ashland to Central Point, and someday even Eagle Point. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA