I don't know who did the two vidios on Juniper Acres but here are the links as they are very well made and deserve our attention.... dave
VIDIO 1
VIDIO 2

Doug Curtis 5/11/08  ip=207.200.116.131
In response to Curtis Cooleys last posting. Lee Smock indicated in his 3/16 posting that the vote would be in November.

Curtis Coley 5/9/08  ip=168.212.207.11
What we need from everyone within the voting area is a yes vote for the Road and Fire Districts.

When do they anticipate the voting to occur?

leesmock@yahoo.com 5/8/08  ip=67.59.77.123

Correction:

The fire happened yesterday (5-7-08).

Sorry, Yesterdays notes.

Lee

leesmock@yahoo.com 5/8/08  ip=67.59.77.123

Thanks for your comments.
What we need from everyone within the voting area is a yes vote for the Road and Fire Districts.

FIRE IN JUNIPER ACRES TODAY!!!!

At approx 11:00am today a trailer exploded and caught a number of nearby trees on fire. A number of neighbors came to the rescue and HI-DESERT WATER came with a water truck full of water. Shovelling sand was not enough. Without the water the fire would have expanded and might still be going.

The Road And Fire Dists. are required for our safety. Vote for them when the time comes.

REMEMBER These are VOLUNTEER departments.

There is NO TAX issue with either the Road Dist. or the Fire Dist.
That means "NO NEW TAXES".

They will be paid for with VOLUNTEER funds and staffed by VOLUNTEER people.

Once the Fire and Road districts become reality then we qualify for free use of other agency equipment.
That will save us many thousands of dollars and is one reason we will be able to support Road Improvement and Fire Protection with volunteer funds.

The Road & Fire Districts will NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY to initiate a new tax without the VOTE OF THE PEOPLE.

ANY & ALL new taxes will have to be voted on by the voters.

VOTE YES!

Lee

Curtis Coley 5/8/08  ip=168.212.207.11
I second what Doug Curtis has said. Thank you for all the time, effort and hard work you have applied towards this endeavor.

Doug Curtis 5/8/08  ip=207.200.116.131
I want to thank both Lee Smock and Beverly Protho for spearheading this monumental effort to get J.A. rezoned for the benefit of us all. As I have been reviewing the bulletin board and revisiting their efforts I would like remind these good folks that those who are benefiting should be considered a resource. Please call for help from the ranks if assistance can be used. Thanks again for what you have already accomplished.

Curtis Coley 4/21/08  ip=168.212.207.11
I am curious to know if there is some form of timeline as to when things occur during this process? When are things going to be filed, when do they go up for approval? Perhaps something in the form of a check list with dates so that everyone can be kept up to date?

Sincerely,
Curtis Coley

Leo Fuerte 4/2/08  ip=66.195.36.133
A Movie Review
The documentaries, Save Our Homes, were entertaining and should be watched by all Juniper Acres landowners. These You Tube movies enlighten in an engaging manor. See the posting below for URLs.

The music, especially Enigma’s Cross of Changes, was captivating.

I am reminded of Michael Moore’s presentations in that The Ends Justify The Means.

The Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 452-320 was invoked twice, implying freedom from building codes for owner-builders. I ain’t no lawyer (thank God), but there is no meat in that sandwich! All that Chapter 452 320-350 means is that the county may choose to use the chapter while still neccesitating fees, licenses, permits, inspections, and title requirements. The Owner-Builder gets to "be exempt from any requirements of the structural code for ceiling heights, room sizes and the maintenance of specific temperature levels in those structures." That does not engage my wistful daydreams of Freedom.

There are no stars in these two filmlets. And none on the You Tube site either; something is deserved for this effort.

If the producer and maker of Save Our Homes would come into the light, we all might appreciate their talents in a direct manor.

leesmock@yahoo.com 3/16/08  ip=67.59.77.123

News from the front:

Hello everyone,

Things have changed a little.

Rick Wells is going to put the final touches on the petitions under ORS Chapter 451 for the Road Petition, Fire Petition, and also include a Water System Petition for possible benefit in the future.

The Road Agreement that attorney Carl Dutli helped us prepare is going to be incorporated into the petition for the Road District. The Fire District is going for basic approval -- with the nuts and bolts as to how this is going to work to be determined in the future. The same goes for the water district -- just throwing it in for approval because at some FUTURE date it might come in handy to have already been approved (approval does NOT mean we MUST act on it). Sooo, the petition will include all three for approval from the registered voters.

Once Rick is finished we will then review the paperwork, make any changes we deem necessary, get the appropriate petition signatures, and present it for inclusion in the November ballot to be voted on by the registered voters in Juniper Acres.

We will not continue with the road maintenance agreement separately since it won’t really save us that much time and we will have to spend quite a bit on the mailout.

All meetings are on hold until we see the completed paperwork and have something to discuss.


THEN, RE-ZONING, That will take even longer due to:
(1.) The soils test results still not being "Official" yet, and
(2.) The deer winter range designation and the requirement to change that is very time consuming.

Thank You for your patience,
Bev Prothro & Lee Smock

Vishnu Benkert 2/27/08  ip=66.39.166.42
What is the latest status on road and fire association/district, etc.? Is there another forum for information on those items? The last I knew there was going to be an agreement sent out.....

Speaking of roads, who did the work on Cascade and at what cost? I would say the improvement is dramatic! Are there any plans to do any more improvements?

Charlotte Olson 1/27/08  ip=205.134.213.69
To save on postage, I suggest those who check their email regularly should just read the Newsletter online. I would sure be willing to do that; we can print it out ourselves if we wish. Thank you for all you are doing for Juniper Acres. We are long distance owners and really appreciate the information lines you have established. Best Wishes

leesmock@yahoo.com 1/25/08  ip=67.59.77.123

If you have received a letter from Crook County regarding compliance to Crook County building code please contact me.

leesmock@yahoo.com 1/9/08  ip=67.59.77.123

HELLO EVERYONE,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday’s.

Now that the new year is here it is time to end this zoning issue with Crook County.
According to Oregon Law, Crook County has the authority to restrict zoning if certain safety issues are not answered. Crook County is requiring us to have and maintain a Fire Department and a Road Department. Safety is the reason for these requirements. As the population of Juniper Acres increases the need for fire protection and road improvement, in case of emergency evacuation, increase.

Our attorney advises us that if we sue for building rights we could spend $20,000++ in legal fees and probably lose in court if we don’t answer these safety issues.

I appologize for the delay but our attorney will need time to ensure our paperwork is in accordance with Oregon State Law. When he is done we will file with Crook County and mail the paperwork for signatures. If we have enough signatures in favor of the fire dept and road dept then we address the issue of zoning.

Right now it’s Roads and Fire.


Lee

leesmock@yahoo.com 12/21/07  ip=67.59.77.123
MERRY CHRISTMAS
&
HAPPY NEW YEAR

Lee & Marilyn Smock

leesmock@yahoo.com 11/20/07  ip=67.59.77.123
Hi,

The Nov 17th meeting went well. We found some answers but we still have a few questions remaining.

Fire:
A fire association was strongly favored over a fire district however we are still planning to have the meeting on Dec 15th @ 4:30pm at the Alfalfa Hall. Gordon Foster from the Oregon Department of Forestry will be there to explain the Rangeland Fire Protection Association (RFPA). Crook County Fire Chief Bob Schnoor will also be at the December meeting. Crook County Fire & Rescue is a fire district (RFPD). Then the question will be made, RFPD? or RFPA? and a vote will be taken.

PLEASE BE THERE!

Roads:
The favorite seemed to be the Road Agreement. If the Road Agreement is determined to be the best for JA then I will email a copy for you to review as soon as I know. We should have the answers we need in a few days.

---------------------------------

Rick said the CC Road Master will NOT inspect JA roads.
Road does NOT have to meet County standards but must be school bus driveable.
Requires 51% of either land owners or registered voters. We still don’t have a definite answer but Rick will check to find out which.
Reduce the boundaries of the SCFPD to Millican Hwy and Reservoir Rd?
Negotiate with BLM for exits out the South and West parts of JA. Is it possible to extend Bend Way to Reservoir Rd?
Everything we need is in the RFPA Description. Examples and everything. We will need at least one meeting with everyone at Alfalfa Hall just to go over the By-Laws etc. We can discuss any changes at the meeting(s). After we make changes we can give it to Dutli to make sure it’s legal.

Thank you all for your patience. We are making a lot of progress. After the December meeting we will probably need at least one more meeting to finalize the road and fire agreements. When this is done I will mail the paperwork for the Road Agreement, or District, and the Fire Association, or District, for signatures. If we get the votes we need (51%) then we go to the re-zoning issue.

Lee

leesmock@yahoo.com 10/26/07  ip=67.59.77.123
E-mail Oct 25,2007
I will be happy to sign the petition if you are using the 1(b) criteria. I have a 10 acre parcel. Which criteria will be easiest to get? How many signers would you need for 10 percent of the acreage?
Betty Gambone
-----------------
Response:

198.755 Number of signatures required.
(1). A petition for formation shall be signed by not less than:
(a). Fifteen percent of the electors or 100 electors, whichever is the greater, registered in the territory subject to the petition; or
(b). Fifteen owners of land or the owners of 10 percent of the acreage, whichever is the greater number of signers, within the territory subject to the petition.
------
I estimate about 25,000 acres in the proposed fire boundaries. Ten percent is 2,500 acres. Actually there are over 91,000 acres within the boundaries but BLM owns about 66,000 of them. BLM will not be included in the fire agreement.

Within the boundaries is one property of 3,400 acres. That alone is more than 10% However,
According to ORS-198 we will need at least 15 property owner signatures. The number varies depending on the acreage owned by each owner/signer. I estimate between 15 to 20 ’Yes’ votes to meet the requirement. We should have more than that.

As far as the registered voters are concerned, we should try for 51%. Judge Cooper would like to see as many voters sign on as possible. Some future items may need registered voters to pass. It’s to the fire association’s advantage to have voters in favor.

There are only 103 voters within the boundaries of the fire area. According to ORS-198.755 (1;b) we would need 15% or 100 which ever is greater. That means we would need 100 voters to vote yes. That won’t happen. I can guarantee that.

The property owners votes will get us through this.

Lee

leesmock@yahoo.com 10/25/07  ip=67.59.77.123
Note:
When Bev and I met with Judge Cooper, the Judge told us he would like to see at least 51% of the registered voters in favor of fire protection.

leesmock@yahoo.com 10/25/07  ip=67.59.77.123
We have hired attorney Carl Dutli in Prineville to help us. He informed us that we can form a district based on the land owners or based on the registered voters, signatures on petition for formation.
-----
ORS-198.755 Number of signatures required. (Oregon Revised Statutes)
(1) A petition for formation shall be signed by not less than:
(a) Fifteen percent of the electors or 100 electors, whichever is the greater, registered in the territory subject to the petition; or
(b) Fifteen owners of land or the owners of 10 percent of the acreage, whichever is the greater number of signers, within the territory subject to the petition.
-----
Right now he is looking over the paperwork we gave him about the fire district/association options available to JA.
We hope to have a public meeting at Alfalfa Community Hall soon and Carl Dutli will be there to answer legal questions.
Mr Dutli will draw up all the paperwork to make sure it conforms to legal requirements. I’ve looked it over and emailed copies to the Task Force members and the response was, "Get an attorney". Judge Cooper advised us to get an attorney and he is right the paperwork is confusing.
Mr Dutli will also contact CC and let them know he is working on the formation of the fire and road districts/associations.

The following responses were sent back from Joan Dudley’s questionnaire mailing.

1.) We do want Fire Protection
** RFPA provides Rangeland fire protection. Most of Juniper Acres is Rangeland. There is only one residence per 10 acre lot. Plus a few 5 acre lots.
RFPA provides assistance to include, “Rural”, Structural Fires. Houses, Barns etc..
2.) No Government interference.
** RFPA is an “Association” and is a Private Corporation under stockholders, (Property Owners), control.
*A “District” is a Government entity under Government Control.
3.) No new taxes.
** RFPA provides financial grants. Our Fire Department does not need to be Tax or Fee based.

FIRE DISTRICTS are under government control and require mounds of paperwork and 12 to 24 months to finalize. Juniper Acres does not need a large fire department or a small fire department loaded down with paperwork requiring high accountant costs and taxes. Our current needs are simple but they are real and need to be addressed.
Answering all these requests at once may be found in the Rangeland Fire Protection Association (RFPA).
To answer Question:

Formation of an Association is much easier. Not as much paperwork and not as many meetings.
With an Association we control it, not the government. That’s good for us and Crook County.

The RFPA may be our answer. Once Carl Dutli has a chance to review the information I gave him we will schedule a Task Force Public meeting to discuss our options and make a decision, District? or Association? As soon as the decision is made Dutli can begin the paperwork.

Lee

leesmock@yahoo.com 10/21/07  ip=67.59.77.123
Cyndie, and everybody else. After talking with an attorney we have found that we can get a fire district either way. Voter approval or property owner approval.
The attorney is looking into our options. I will keep you posted.

Lee

Joan Dudley 10/20/07  ip=69.19.14.15
Cyndi, we sympathize with you because we own 20 acres in JA but do not live there yet. As I understand it, a proposed fire district that protects structures as well as the land needs to be voted on by the registered voters in that proposed district. The committee has no control over those voter regulations, as I understand it.

Cyndi Wunder 10/20/07  ip=64.136.26.226
I have put a lot of thought into whether I should change my voter registration to my Juniper Acres address in order to ensure that I will have a say in the upcoming votes. I do live in Juniper Acres and can do so. However after considering that by arranging the vote to ONLY consider those who reside in Juniper Acres we are only polling around 20% of the land owners it appears that this vote will not stand legally in any case.

I am very dissapointed in the decision to exclude those who do not reside in Juniper Acres as I feel it is unjust and a waste of time. By excluding the majority of land owners it is unlikely that any decision will stand.

I do hope the committee will review this decision and choose to include all landowners. It does appear that should any taxation or fees be a part of this decision these taxes and fees will NOT apply only to those who reside in Juniper Acres but will apply to all land owners.

Joan Dudley 10/11/07  ip=75.175.3.102
Lee, I do not know the ORS# that requires a taxed district and I may be remiss in stating that, however if one takes a long view of this situation, a taxing district is inevitable due its complexities.

Joan Dudley 10/11/07  ip=66.82.9.73
Since I have decided to quit working on the fire committee, Lee, I am sending the information that I have on the SCFPD to you today. The box includes: The remainder of the envelopes and stamps and labels that were purchased; the surveys attached to the envelopes (the date is written on the envelopes showing when they were received) including 2 more YES votes from the Foxes; 2 post office box keys to PO Box 2002 that you can use for SCFPD or Juniper Acres (it is good for 6 months and then I will send you the bill or notice when that comes due and you can choose to renew it or not; the maps that I received from the County GIS department and from the 1st meeting with the powers at be, and the binders that Chief Bob gave me on their fire district and the CWPP.

Since Rob and I donated $200 to the JA legal fund, instead of the $50 per each lot that was requested, I feel that will cover any costs to do the mailing for the survey. Judge Cooper told me (during the meeting between me, him and Rick Wells when I asked him to consider administrative action on forming this fire district) in no uncertain terms that the survey/petition did not need to be a legal form or document. He just wanted to see at least 50% of the voters in favor of the fire district and he would gavel it for us. Apparently, he has since changed his mind, perhaps he was advised against that, I don’t know. If you use the Excel worksheet that I sent to you with the results of the survey, it will guide you to which voters you will need to contact in order to get the majority that is required since you will know, from that list, which is in favor at this point.

I believe it would be in the best interest of the “cause” for you to add someone’s signature to the JA legal fund checkbook in case something should happen to you or Marilyn; this also protects you. Also, in my opinion, I do not believe it is truthful to keep stressing that this is a no tax fire district. It will need to be, by law, at some point in the future a taxed fire district. When the need to pursue that arises, I hope you aren’t exposing the fire district to legal problems in stressing that it will be a no tax fire district.

I wish you the best in your endeavors. Joan

leesmock@yahoo.com 10/10/07  ip=67.59.77.123
Hi Everyone,

I’m sorry it has been so long between updates. We were all waiting until the results of a letter were known. That was the letter sent by Joan Dudley. Joan did a lot of work behind the scenes gathering information and establishing the boundaries of the South County Fire Protection District, (SCFPD). The area included within the SCFPD boundaries is the last remaining area of Crook County currently without fire protection. Once the SCFPD is established ALL of Crook County will have fire protection.

Marilyn and I met with Judge Cooper on Tuesday at 3:00 o’clock. He told us the mail out questionnaire was not a petition. If we had received 100% return in favor it would have meant nothing. I think Joan just wanted to get a feel for the amount of support there was for a fire dept.

We will have to send out another mailer in accordance with ORS statutes regarding Petitions. Judge Cooper said he will have Crook County Legal Counsel, Dave Gordon, check it over to make sure it is legal before it is mailed.

Along with the petition will be a letter explaining the lack of fire protection for the area and the need for the formation of a fire department. It will also explain that we will be a NO TAX fire district. A map will also be included.
We will need a 51% “Yes” return. There are 103 registered voters in the SCFPD boundaries, so, we need 53 “Yes” votes returned. If you are a registered voter in the SCFPD boundaries please send in your “Yes” vote when the time comes. The letter and petition should be mailed within the next two weeks.

Dave Gordons office will email the info I need. I will get a map and legal description of the proposed Fire District plus ORS’s re: petitions.

Then I will mail the petition along with a letter of explanation to registered voters in the New District. I believe we will get the support we need once people know what the SCFPD will be.

The fire department is the key to zoning. Once the fire department is in place and the DRAFT soil results are made official our zoning issue goes before the Crook County Court. The Court is on our side but we may have some nay-sayers in the audience somewhere. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get to it but be prepared for anything.
Road improvement goes along with the fire department. Oregon law requires roads be 20 feet wide and well maintained for emergency fire vehicles. The federal govt will give us equipment to build the roads. They don’t have to be gravel. We can keep our country roads and improvements at the same time.

Road improvement and zone change are coming, quickly. Right now our focus must be on Fire Protection.

Lee

leesmock@yahoo.com 10/9/07  ip=67.59.77.123
Yes Cyndi, that’s right!
If your registered address is not within the legal boundaries of the proposed fire district, you will have no vote.
That includes more than Juniper Acres. The SCFPD boundaries extend beyond JA. I will have a map of those boundaries soon. I will email a copy to our WebMaster Dave Jeffers and he will post it on this site.

Cyndi Wunder 10/7/07  ip=64.136.26.226
Lee, I am a registered voter in crook County. Are you saying that if my registered address isn’t a Juniper Acres address I wont get a vote?

Lyle Curtis Sr. 10/6/07  ip=207.200.116.131
My 10 acres is lot4100, section 4 t18s r16e on Myrtlewood. I did not recieve anything about a vote on a fire district. If it would help at this point I would be in favor of the fire district. thanks!!

leesmock@yahoo.com 10/3/07  ip=67.59.77.123
The questionaires were mailed only to Crook County REGISTERED voters within the proposed fire district.That’s The Power of The Vote.
The question was to simply ask them if they were interested in the formation of a fire district in their area for their protection.
We needed around 60 ’yes’ votes. We didn’t get them.

Cyndi Wunder 10/3/07  ip=64.136.26.226
I am surprised to hear that any mailings have been sent as I have not received any. I hope we are being careful to send the mailings to all involved parties.

leesmock@yahoo.com 10/1/07  ip=67.59.77.123
I know there is a lot going on right now, but we need to get together on these things.

I believe ’information’ is the key to success and everyone needs to know what this is all
about.

To have partial information is like running blind. I believe we would have had more of a
response to the questionnaire if there had been more information along with it. Although,
there would have been more negative responses with fewer ’yes’ responses.

It is not my desire to mislead anyone. Nor is it my desire to put out false information but I
think you will find that if we intend for this to become a tax based fire dept we will receive
more no votes than we did. There may be many non-resident JA owners in favor of a tax
base but they have no vote unless they are Crook County voters. I don’t think we have
enough JA residents/voters that will vote ’yes’ if it is going to be tax based. Many people
who live here, moved here to get away from taxes and bureaucratic interference in their
lives.

Anyway, that is the opinion I am getting from a lot of people here.

Whether we would get money from State or Federal is immaterial. It is still equipment
from a ’government’ agency and as Joan wrote-
"Once a fire district is formed, funded or unfunded, a door is opened up for FREE
government money and equipment-free to the fire district. In the beginning, federal (not
state) equipment such as a fire truck and road improvement equipment are at the disposal
of the fire district-IMMEDIATELY. Also, it eventually can include county and state funds
and resources. In fact, the county was recently awarded a $500,000 grant that the county
will have access to by the end of the year that we can utilize if we are organized."

Once we are re-zoned and we have more people here then we will have to decide whether
or not we need more than the freebies provide. That should be left to a future date. Right
now I think a non-tax base fire dept is probably all we can handle, considering the amount
of people we have and the number of volunteers we may have. At least we will have
something and thats better than nothing.

Lee

Joan Dudley 10/1/07  ip=24.234.199.106
With all due respect to Lee, some of the information that he stated in his post of 9/28/07 IS NOT CORRECT and since my name was on the survey that was sent to the voters in the proposed fire district, I am compelled to respond. The survey was sent out to get a feel for support for a fire protection district. It was very positive with the majority of respondants voting YES for fire protection. We need 40 more YES votes in order for an administrative action to form the unfunded fire district. The majority of those 40 never vote and perhaps are not aware of what is going on in this area.
I volunteered for the fire committee for that part of Crook County/JA area because we need fire protection and road improvement in order to be apply to the state for rezoning so that all property owners can build 1 home on their property. There are 3 ways to FORM a fire district and one way is through administrative action--FOR FORMATION ONLY. Once a fire district is formed, funded or unfunded, a door is opened up for FREE government money and equipment-free to the fire district. In the beginning, federal (not state) equipment such as a fire truck and road improvement equipment are at the disposal of the fire district-IMMEDIATELY. Also, it eventually can include county and state funds and resources. In fact, the county was recently awarded a $500,000 grant that the county will have access to by the end of the year that we can utilize if we are organized. We are trying to FORM an unfunded fire district to OPEN THAT DOOR to this equipment and money to get started. Getting this fire district in place will also satisfy the county’s road improvement requirement because accessible roads and fire protection go hand in hand. The equipment to improve the roads will be available to us free of charge as well. Eventually though, we will have to form a funded fire district and that will have to be voted on by the voters in the district.
To say or imply that a funded fire district won’t be pursued is erroneous and I do not want anyone to think that that is not the ultimate goal. Growth is coming to this area whether the land owners want it or not and experience shows that cooperative organization benefits all involved in the long run.
Joan Dudley

leesmock@yahoo.com 9/28/07  ip=67.59.77.123
Update
Juniper Acres Fire Department and Zoning

In an attempt to beat the deadline of Sept. 25, A questionnaire was mailed to all the registered voters in the area selected to become the ‘South County Fire Protection District’, (SCFPD).

JA and some area beyond JA was selected because those land owners do not have any fire protection. If a fire starts anywhere in that area it is the sole responsibility of the property owner(s) of that land to extinguish it. If a fire starts on your land and moves onto neighboring property YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE caused by the fire. Expanding the area beyond JA will mean more people to volunteer and more protection for the entire area.

Some of the area included in the selected area is BLM land. The BLM has their own fire protection but we could be first on the scene and get the fire out before they even arrived. This type of response will save all land owners in the new Fire District a lot of grief and expense.

To establish a Fire District which requires a tax base, the proposed Fire District must be placed on the ballot and approved by the Crook County registered voters.

However, if there is no tax base involved, in other words, NO COST TO THE LAND OWNERS, then it is possible for Judge Cooper to establish the Fire District without a vote.

This is the type of Fire District we want to establish, ‘A NO TAX FIRE DIST’. After reviewing several brochures from State Agencies I believe we can get enough money and equipment from the State to give us what we need. If we need more than that, I’m confident we can get what we need from volunteer funds.

ANY TAX MEASURE WOULD HAVE TO BE VOTED ON BY THE REGISTERED VOTERS IN THE FIRE DISTRICT

We did not have enough ‘YES’ votes come in from the questionnaire that was mailed to establish the Fire District. Some wrote back and said they wanted more information. Others were not sure what ‘SCFPD’ was.


Without the Fire Department re-zoning JA will not be possible. Before we can grow, Crook County wants to be sure we can protect ourselves from fire.

I will be mailing information about the Fire District to everyone soon.

We need this fire protection !!