Tangent, Oregon

Tangent Harvest Festival is September 8th

2007-08-02T06:44:00.000-07:00

GET READY FOR THE TANGENT HARVEST FESTIVAL! Our annual community event is Saturday, September 8th. Check out the posters below or more more information, go to www.tangentharvestfest.org. There are entry forms on the Web site for the parade, arts and crafts, the cruise-in, etc. This year we will have a STEAK BARBECUE. Don't miss it! You can get your barbecue tickets early at the following locations: Tangent Fire Department, LaRoca Mexican Restaurant, CrossRoads Deli and the Dixie Tavern.

Here's a map of the Festival. The Parade will wind through town after the Fireman's Pancake Breakfast. Then head to the Bass Estate and Tangent Elementary for all the activities. Live music all day!

A favorite event, the Car Cruise-In.

The Festival T-Shirt will feature our very own classic fire engine. Tangent has one, and so does Jay Leno!

Tangent Newsletter

2007-05-03T08:13:00.000-07:00

To be able to read this newsletter, you'll have to click in the pages.

Mayor's, Legislators, and staff reception

2007-01-03T20:19:00.000-08:00

Tonight (Jan 3, 2007) was the Oregon Mayor's Association and League of Oregon Cities welcome reception. It was an opportunity to meet with many of Oregon's mayors, and mayor elects. The mayors were asked to bring gift baskets from their individual communities. I only had time to visit with Fisher Implements, Linn Benton Tractor, Ampac Seed Company and Barenbrug. They were all very helpful and provided me with an assortment of items from tractors (toy) to seed, representing our community very well. There were many legislative assistants who also come to these receptions and the gifts that were submitted were raffled off to these aides, a small reward for their hard work. The winner of the Tangent Gift Basket was Patrick Sieng, (below) who is the Legislative Assistant to Oregon Representative Jean Cowan.

Updates on Tangent Drive

2007-01-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

On December 27th, Chuck Knoll sent me an email regarding the work on Tangent Drive. He included drawings and if you would like to see them, please send me an email, s.mclennan@comcast.net. He basically said what had been accomplished and that the work would be continuing in May of 2007. On Dec 28, I wrote back to ask if the current ditch was being filled in on the north side. Darrin Lane, the Linn County Roadmaster and Director, replied:

"Chuck is off this week so I thought I'd give you a short reply.

Regarding the ditch being filled in, we intend to essentially block off the flow on the north side of tangent drive from the new ditch inlet east of the new development [Meadow Wood] to the west side of the new development. The remaining ditch on the north side will not be affected.

The purpose of this is to direct all of the storm water flow on the north side of Tangent Drive, east of and including the new development, into the new storm sewer. This will result in a significant flow reduction in the north ditch west of the new development. Drainage from existing homes into the north ditch will not be impacted by this project.

Regards,"

Making comments in the future

2006-12-04T09:10:00.000-08:00

Several people have requested that I change the way people can comment in the future, hopefully so that they will identify themselves much like they have to do when writing to a local newspaper as an editorial. I have changed the settings so that only registered users can comment. I hope this works.

Seaton

What's Happening on Tangent Drive?

2006-12-02T08:09:00.000-08:00

A long time ago, 2004 or 2005, a development was approved (Meadow Wood) for approximately 22 homes. One of the conditions of approval was that drainage from the development's detention pond, "the tank",

be connected to a drain line down Tangent Drive. The development could not continue, (houses couldn't be constructed) until this condition was met. I contacted Charles Knoll, Linn County Engineer, by email and asked for an update on the current work being done on Tangent Drive, the costs associated with this work and the expectation of completion. He wrote back with this response: (images provided by Seaton)

"In July of this year we indicated to the Developer, Silverway LLC, that Linn County Road Department would not construct the storm drain on Tangent Drive until we obtained a payment from them in the amount of $68,800.00. This payment was made pursuant to Condition 4 of the Developer's obligation of the Tangent Drive (CR22) Access Agreement, in which the developer shall provide funding equal to the cost of installing 400 lineal feet of 24" Class V concrete culvert and an amount equal to the cost of constructing a half street improvement to Tangent Drive along the Developer's road frontage. The length of the road frontage had been determined to be 320 feet. The cost for constructing this length of half street improvement is estimated to be $ 38,400.00. The cost of installing the 400 lineal feet of concrete culvert is estimated to be $30,200.00. The total cost due to Linn County Road Department was $68,600.00.

After this payment was made in the later part of July, the Linn County Road Department started to make plans to install the storm sewer. This had to be scheduled within other projects and commitments that were made at the time.

Linn County Road Department started construction this fall with the intentions of finishing the project in November or December. With the record rainfall in November that occurred we encountered conditions that required us to shut down the project.

The construction of the project will be completed when conditions allow. This may be as late as sometime in June 2007. I reviewed the cost of the project as it is presently being constructed. We expect the cost of the construction of the storm drain line up to the intersection of the development will be approximately $120,000. This includes all materials, labor and equipment associated with the project. The difference of the cost paid by Silverway LLC and the $120,000 will be paid by the Linn County Road Department. No state or federal monies are associated with this project.

The design and construction of the storm sewer was made to accommodate future full street development of Tangent Drive. Therefore, manholes and inlets for laterals have been added where it appears that future connection to the storm sewer may be requested. At this time the Linn County Road Department does not have any plans to develop Tangent Drive since the development that last year was expected to occur in the next few years does not seem likely to occur. We realize that this status may change.

Please realize that any connection to this storm sewer in addition to what we are presently constructing will require a utility permit from the Linn County Road Department. This connection may be conditional depending on the type of connection that is made (For example a retention system may be necessary). It is expected that the cost of the connection will be paid by the permitee, and not the Linn County Road Department.

There has also been some concern about the drainage crossing on Tangent under the rail road. Some large rocks were noticed to be piled up in the inlet this fall. These rocks were removed to allow a smoother entrance. This should increase the capacity of the crossing by 30 to 40 % when flowing full. The performance of the culvert with over 3 inches of rain in one day was a fairly good indicator of this improved performance.

Regardless, Linn County Road Department has contacted and is working with the railroad to improve the hydraulic capacity of this crossing. If this progresses well, we would hope that this would be completed this next summer."

New Mayor and Council members in Tangent

2006-11-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

Although not official until November 20, 2006, it appears there will be a new mayor in Tangent. 429 ballots have been counted thus far. I have listed the "undervote" category as well. An undervote is a ballot that has been cast but shows no legally valid selection in a given race or referendum. As of November 22nd, the results of the Mayor's position, the Council positions, and the City's measure are as follows:

Mayor

Seaton McLennan....226
Chris Schaffner........179
Undervotes...............20

City Council, Position No. 3

Brad Tedrow......251
Del Shirley........107
Undervotes........65

City Council, Position No. 4

James Wagner....220
John P Dunn......161
Undervotes........44

The City's measure was apparently defeated as well. The current tally for that vote is as follows:

"Yes".............174
"No"..............232
Undervotes.....23

La Roca Mexican Restaurant

2006-10-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

Starting Monday, October 30, 2006, La Roca will be opening for breakfast. Juan, Maria and Marselo really want to be able to offer a wider variety of things to eat and they want to hear from you if you have any more ideas. Please comment and let's help them all we can.

Tasha and Kacie enjoy a great lunch

Halloween in Tangent

2006-10-26T10:47:00.000-07:00

Halloween is near and a resident who lives at the Ashwood Estates has decorated her home in preparation

Free?

2006-10-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

A resident, Jay Sperling, asked me to post this topic. Here is his letter:

FREE?

If a bus stopped in front of your house and offered to take you to
Fresno for FREE, would you go, even if Fresno wasn’t a place you wanted
to be?

Apparently TAP-PAC thinks that’s a great idea for Tangent, according to
their latest letter. We’ll get a bunch of “free” stuff to turn Tangent
into a place most residents don’t seem to want.

And how is all this stuff free anyway? Don’t we pay county, state and
gas taxes? FREE? Nonsense. We’re paying.

TAP-PAC will probably tell us that since we’re paying for it anyway, we
should get it. Yes, we should – if it’s something we want.

TAP-PAC and the Council are stoked up about “free” culverts and asphalt
from the County. Why aren’t they equally excited about getting
planning and codes enforcement help from the County. It’s just as
“free.” We’re paying for it already. But not a word about those.

And we sure need the help.

When our neighbor Ron Oliver contacted Linn County Building and
Planning last spring to get help with the drainage problem on our
properties, the County Codes Enforcement Officer said he was “getting
dozens of calls from people in Tangent” desperate for help with
drainage and other issues.

Does that sound like a city that is ready to grow?

And when the city let the Linn County codes enforcement into Tangent
temporarily, in 45 minutes he saw through a problem that the Council
has dithered about for nearly a decade. That’s what happens when you
bring in experts.

And when the Council refused to act after the Codes Enforcement
Officer’s inspection? He said, and I quote, “I feel sorry for people
in Tangent. If it was me, I’d get out.”

Does that sound like an endorsement for business as usual? Does it
make you confident we’re headed in the right direction? Are you
convinced Tangent has the right infrastructure, planning and review
processes – no matter who pays for it – when the newest subdivision
floods in its first winter?

TAP-PAC tells us that if we exercise our right to vote NO on Measure
22-65, it will mean more expensive staff time and money.

It’s not the citizens of Tangent who are wasting expensive time and
money.

We aren’t the ones who failed to take the Planning Commission’s
recommendation to give them a year moratorium to get a new
Comprehensive Plan in place. If the Council had done this, we wouldn’t
be in this fix and we sure wouldn’t have this much anger here.

The citizens aren’t the ones running a process that has twice been
kicked out by the courts. TAP-PAC can’t blame us for wasting expensive
time and money – look in the mirror! By the way, among the
“particularly sad” things we haven’t been told is how much have we
spent on all this already? We’re nearly $20,000 over on the auditing
contract (per the last Council meeting). What do the other accounts
look like?

Well-managed growth is a lot more than getting developers to pay for
stuff, or getting tax money from some other pocket, or even setting a
population estimate. It’s planning for the community that residents
want, not the community that somebody else, like developers, wants to
give us. It’s being able to promise people they can move here and know
their property will be protected. It’s believing that people are
entitled to their opinions without being called names or accused
unfairly.

I know we’re only one example, but for our family the cost of business
as usual has been a lot higher than ZERO.

It takes courage to do stuff like enforce ordinances, and listen to
everybody’s opinion – even if it means you might not get the answer you
want. That would be the kind of RESULTS we could be proud of.

Jay and Alice Sperling

Tangent Extremists?

2006-10-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

The TAP-PAC or Tangent Accountabilitty and Performance Political Action Committee, currently has a membership of two people. City Councilor Curt Smith and the treasurer, Brenda Perry. They sent out a mailing titled Know the Facts. In this document, Del Shirley and I am accused of being anti-growth and I am accused of opposing growth on the Brush property something I have never said. I have always advocated well-planned and well-managed growth. I, along with many others, are also accused of being extremists. This prompted a resident of Tangent to submit a letter to the editor. I am reprinting it here for your chance to review it.

"Tangent ‘extremists’?

Thanks to an anonymous letter circulated to Tangent residents on Wednesday by something called TAP-PAC, we now know what to call people who believe they have the right to have a say in the future of their community.

We used to call them good citizens. According to TAP-PAC they are really extremists, a label used repeatedly in the letter.

Helpfully, the letter even names these Tangent “extremists,” although — are you surprised? — the letter itself is unsigned.

In taking aim at these so-called extremists, the letter says — among many other things — that “misinformation has been circulated about the drainage (problem) in Tangent.” Funny, we and our neighbors always thought that was water flooding our yards every winter. It’s likely the homeowners in Tangent’s newest subdivision, which was flooded in its first winter, thought it was water too. It sure is great to know it’s not water but only misinformation.

The fact is, for years the Tangent City Council has ignored repeated attempts to solve wintertime flooding on our property and our neighbors’ properties. This summer, thanks to the leadership of the Council’s newest member, Tammy Caspar, the Linn County code enforcement officer was brought in to inspect the problem. (Tangent itself doesn’t have any effective code enforcement, another problem conveniently ignored by the Council and TAP-PAC in their rush to develop the city.)

We have been forced to spend lots of money in legal fees trying to protect our home, all because some members of the Tangent City Council don’t really think enforcing ordinances is their job. They don’t think protecting residents, the people who live here already, is their job. They’d much rather waste money and lose court cases in a rush to develop.

Personally, we prefer the extremists.

Jay and Alice Sperling, Tangent"

A Citizen's Initiative comes to Tangent, Oregon

2006-10-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

According to the Democrat Herald, and to invitations received in the mail, there will be a meeting at the Central Electric Training Center, 33309 Highway 99E, Tangent, from 7 pm to 9 pm on October 12, 2006, to listen to a proposal for a different population projection, (1501 by 2026). Once again the question arises; 1501 or 1798. According t o the invitation, this is not another council meeting. It is a citizen's meeting initiated by citizens to talk about the consequences of the city's measure and to ask for input on a the citizen's measure. According to the Democrat, the city elected not to give the citizen's a choice of population projection. "councilors who voted for the higher number said there is no legal basis for 1501." With this initiative, the presenters will be offering a choice again. Please share your thoughts.

A recent comment from someone who wishes to remain anonymous. I edited some of it to reduce the disparaging, defamatory, derogatory nature.

2006-09-29T15:22:00.000-07:00

An anonymous comment was made regarding a comment made previously by another anonymous individual who asked, "If some residents don't want to live in a rural town, why do they move here?" . I removed some of the words in their comment but otherwise left the comment as written. I thought it merited further discussion if anyone cares to comment. Please avoid disparaging, humiliating, defamatory, or derogatory words or phrases. This is their comment:

"If some residents don't want to live in a rural town, why do they move here?"

Now there's an ******** comment, if ever I saw one. Do you get out much?

What is "rural"? Run-down shacks on the main highway through the city? A lack of facilities and services? Residents out to preserve their view (which actually belongs to somebody else)? ********* from former city leaders who should know better but don't actually have much in the way of facts to back up their story with?

What next? Forced evictions for residents who want to improve the city or don't believe that property owners have the right to block their neighbors from sub-dividing their own land?

Personally, I'd move back to Albany in a heartbeat if I had to live anywhere near some ******** in this city but fortunately, they all seem to be in other parts of the city.

LUBA Sends Tangent Proposal Back To The City...Again

2006-09-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

As quoted in the Albany Democrat, September 13, 2006, The Land Use Board of Appeals, (LUBA) found fault with the city's decision to allow City Councilor Mel Brush to develop part of his 84-acre farm, for a second time. I was one of the 6 residents who appealed the city's decision. I appealed because the city denied me an opportunity to testify on what I thought was a new proposal by Councilor Brush to build 123 houses on nearly 50 acres. LUBA agreed, it was a new proposal. The city was at fault for denying me an opportunity to testify. Additionally, the Department of Land Conservation and Development was denied an opportunity to give written testimony, and LUBA agreed they also had the right to participate. More important to me was the city's decision to deny acceptance of many letters written by residents to the "New Proposal". I have been and will continue to be an advocate for the citizen's of Tangent to participate in all phases of land use decisions , as required by State Goal 1 and, as indicated by the LUBA decision, "the city's own plan guarantees its citizens a right to do so."

Email me if you would like a copy of the LUBA decision and/or a copy of the Democrat Herald's article. Click on "View my complete profile" below my picture, then click on "Email" below where it reads "Contact"

Or leave a comment here.

Tangent Harvest Festival

2006-09-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

Greetings Neighbors,

The Tangent Harvest Festival this year was reduced to a “Fireman’s Breakfast” and a car show. I went there to enjoy the feast and see some of the cars. Below are some pictures from the two events. Enjoy!

The food line was bountiful, the service excellent, and the volunteer firefighters and staff were full of smiles

Dale and Ella McDowell, long time residents and the former Fire Chief of Tangent finish up their breakfast. They were some of the early risers.

Melissa Lassiter, Ethan Leavenworth and Jennifer Leavenworth just sit down to pancakes, ham, and eggs.

Commissioner Del Shirley, Councilor Curt Smith, and Commissioner Shirley's wife Ruth share a conversation while finishing their coffee.

Residents Brian and Sandy Becker and their daughter Makenna are all smiles after finishing their feast!

Below, some of the cars that arrived early parked near "La Roca", a new mexican restaurant that occupies the old Tangent Store of the 70's and early 80's. After Breakfast, the owners moved them to the Old Bass Estate where they were displayed until 4PM.

Summary of the July 27th, 2006 meeting

2006-07-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

Hello neighbors,

As you might have suspected, last night's meeting was contentious. It started with Commissioner Chair Del Shirley reviewing the commission's report for the attendees in the audience. He then read into the record, many letters from residents all of which were in support of the 1501 population projection by 2026. There was one letter from Matt Conser, a developer, against that projection. Councilor Smith submitted written material citing sources for his support of a 1798 projection.

Several residents attended, giving testimony for and against, most in support of the 1501 projection.

One newly appointed commissioner, arriving late, and not having attended the past two planning commission meetings, chose to remove herself from the bench stating she could not sit up there with the other commissioners because she was not in support of their report.

At near the end of the hearing, a resident suggested to the Commission that they recommend to the council, both population projections be given to the residents as two separate items to vote on. The Commission motioned and passed that two population projections be put on the ballot for November, and allow the residents to choose the population they wanted. One concern was the possibility that there might be a tie since residents might vote for both in favor or something to that effect. Commissioner Wagner noted that it was no different than voting for two candidates for office, saying rarely is there a tie and if there was, a coin toss could solve it. Additionally, they also recommended to the council that the Buildable Lands Inventory methodology be put on the ballot.

It will be interesting to see how the Council responds to this request as they have already expressed there desire by motioning and passing to have the County extend the population projection to 1798 by 2026 at the last meeting of July 24th, Councilor Casper being the only dissenting vote, bypassing the voters altogether, then rescinding that motion and replacing it with a recommendation for the 1798 to be considered by the Commission. I suspect it was because there were additional public hearings scheduled and testimony from the public hadn't been heard yet - like the meeting of last night, and the next upcoming meeting in August.

If you care at all about your voting rights in Tangent, you need to come to the next meeting, August 7th, 2006, 7:30 PM and let the council know. Tell them what population you’re willing to support.

Thank you,

Seaton

1501 or 1798, What's your pleasure?

2006-07-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

A recent joint work session on July 24th 2006 to discuss population projection was eventful. The Planning Commission Chair, Del Shirley, presented the Commission's report including a population projection of 1501 by the year 2026 along with assumptions and criteria being used to determine housing and land needs. Councilor Smith spoke extensively on a population projection of 1798 and brought up an issue he had the City Attorney discuss: de facto moratorium. Councilor Brush discussed issues he had with the Building Lands Inventory and Housing Needs Model that Commissioner Shirley presented and issues with constraints. Mayor Schaffner did not participate in the discussion and Councilor Lathrom had very little to say. The meeting stretched into the 11 PM hour. I don't know all that transpired after I left but I heard I was being bashed for the resident survey I did. I was being accused of biasing the citizens. The citizens were asked at the end of every survey, did I bias your selection of whatever growth rate they selected and had I given ample information to them. Everyone told me that I had not biased his or her selection. City Planner, Don Driscol has stated over and over that Tangent can choose the population projection it wants and gave 4 example tables of those projections. All I did was to give the citizens the same opportunity to make the choice.

I understood that Councilor Smith made a motion to extend the 1581 population projection with the County and it was voted on and passed with Mayor Schaffner, Councilor Lathrom, and Councilor Smith voting yes, Councilor Casper voting no and Councilor Brush abstaining or recusing himself, I'm not sure which. This in essence would have meant that the citizens would not have a measure to vote on and the population projection would have been decided by the council. There would have been no need for the public to participate in the scheduled meetings of the remainder of July and into August as the decision would have been final. I am not completely sure what transpired next but apparently after Councilor Casper and Commissioner Wagner left, another motion was made to rescind the previous motion and a new motion was put forward to recommend to the Planning Commission that the 1798 population projection be considered by the planning commission at the next Planning Commission Meeting scheduled for 7PM at the Electric Company on July 27th. At that meeting, additional discussion will occur and a final recommendation to the Council will be made, but it appears the Council has already made up its mind without hearing any testimony from the public, something State Goal 1 requires. The following Council Meeting at 7:30 PM, on August 7th, 2006 will be when a decision, if any, is made to put something on the ballot for the citizens to vote on. Please come to both meetings if you can and show your support.

Seaton

City Taxes for Tangent - Yes or No?

2006-06-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

At recent Planning Commission Meetings and Council Meetings, discussion about city taxes has been one of the topics. It has been a topic for a long time. Of concern are the increasing costs of running the city, repair and maintenance of streets and parks, a larger City Hall, and other suggestions for improvements. It has been suggested that a tax proposal be put on the November 06 Ballot. Some citizens have said that one of the reasons they moved here was there was no city tax and they don't think the city needs one yet. Others have said that repair, maintenance, and improvements of infrastructure are dependent on this revenue source. Some citizens are very concerned about knowing where their money is going. Should we have a tax base? How much. What should it pay for? Or should Tangent remain as one of the few cities in Oregon without a tax base? What are your thoughts?

Growth in Tangent-How Much, How Fast

2006-06-08T09:03:00.004-07:00

A very contentious issue in Tangent is growth. At a recent Planning Commission Meeting, the Commissioners voted unanimously to recommend to the City Council a growth projection of 1501 by the year 2026 and recommended that it be placed on the November 2006 ballot. This number came from one of the tables (Table A) listed in a document prepared by the City Planner titled "City of Tangent Buildable Lands & The Urban Growth Boundary"

From the Planning Commission Minutes of 4-27-06, the following arguments in favor and opposed are given below:

Arguments in favor of the decision were as follows:

1. High probability voters would support it.

2. Need a better drainage plan to take care of existing problems before any new development.

3. Concern that water supply and quality could become a problem that needs investigating. We don’t want to have to hook up to Albany.

4. Street maintenance of existing roads will become an increasing cost and time consuming problem with increased traffic in new developments.

5. Enforcement of City Development Codes will increase at a time when we are already experiencing this problem.

6. Problems with existing development are taxing the energy and resources of the City.

7. Drainage is a system problem and we need to do system wide planning to solve current problems. Development causes more drainage problems because it doesn’t slowly penetrate the soil where there are roofs, driveways, and streets. It was also pointed out that water from those surfaces is polluted.

8. Planning is needed for where it is most appropriate for growth to occur while minimizing the impact on agricultural resource lands.

9. Growth can be better managed if it is slow and problems are small enough to be appropriately dealt with.

10. To the concern that larger parcels in the City would “never be developed in the next few years” it was pointed out how much current infilling has been occurring.

11. Systems Development Charges don’t cover all the costs for new development. Tangent needs to work with other communities so we can collect Systems Development charges for schools and fire departments. It was pointed out how he (Councilman Smith) had gotten them significantly raised and there were several comments that they probably are still not high enough.

Arguments opposed to the decision:

1. Development is the driver of City improvements. Lakecreek was improved because of the development of Loan Oaks, Lakecreek Ranch, and Ashwood.

2. A population of 1581 is coordinated with Linn County.

3. The Brush application uses the Transportation System Plan planning population.

4. To plan for more growth so we are ready for growth is better planning.

5. We have already been using 1600 rounded up from 1581.

6. There is a difference between planning and prevention.

Please give us your thoughts.

The Costs and Benefits of Growth

2006-05-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

There has been much discussion on the Costs and benefits of growth. At a recent Planning Commission meeting, two major sources of information were made available for review. They were from the Farmland Trust (http://www.farmlandinfo.org/documents/27757/FS_COCS_11-02.pdf#search='COCS%20study%20farmland%20trust') and from the National Association of Home Builders (http://www.nahb.org/fileUpload_details.aspx?contentID=30601).

I invite you to review these sources and make comments

Rural Character might be..

2006-05-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

A small Post Office - no line no waiting

A local car garage

A solar clothes dryer...

Trust In Tangent

2006-05-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

On behalf of Jim Wagner I am posting a topic he requested. It was a comment he made earlier but requested it become a topic for discussion. Thank you, Seaton

Today, (May 20, 2006) we saw yet another case that indicates how low trust is between some Tangent residents. Seaton made an error when he tried one of his audio CDs (with recording of a city meeting) in one of the City Computers. In raising an alarm about this, some of which may have been warranted, it was questioned why anyone would want to record city meetings on their own and seemed to imply that some nefarious motive was behind this. In fact, the audio quality is superior to that provided by the City's little tape recorder, it records a lot longer without having to change any tapes, and duplicates can be made in a very short time, very inexpensively, for anyone who wants one. Seaton is simply doing this as a public service and I applaud his effort. It seems so strange that any other motive would be suspected. And, even if there were another motive, citizens have a right to do so. A similar situation arose when Seaton reported the presence of "family and cake" at the most recent Brush Remand Hearing. He was reporting a simple fact; nobody denies that Brush family and cake were present! Yet, some saw this as criticism of the Brushes! May I simply suggest that we, all of us, curb the tendency to read undesirable motives into our neighbors actions? Tangent is too small to be able survive this for very long. We have to live together and when we view are neighbors actions with automatic suspicion, we ALL loose. Thanks everyone.

Jim Wagner

City Styles ideas - How about a "cottage Neighborhood"?

2006-05-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

At one recent Planning Commission meeting some discussion revolved around different designs and styles for Tangent's future. Some thought it would be too limiting and others thought it might help to identify Tangent more. There was mention of the things that make Tangent unique like the railroad - part of what gave Tangent its name. One idea for dense growth that incorporates open space is the Cottage Neighborhood, such as the one shown here in Redmond Washington. It was highlighted in the March 2006 issue of Sunset Magazine.

What are your thoughts?

Tangent Ballot Measure Passes

2006-05-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

Although the official results are not completely tabulated, as of May 16, 2006, the citizens of Tangent have apparently decided that the new Vision Statements for the Comprehensive Plan meets their approval. The City of Tangent now has an official guide for the city's future. Out of the 549 currently registered voters, 207 of them, nearly 70% of the citizens who voted, voted yes and 90 voted no.

After many neighborhood meetings and a Vision Party at the Electric Training facility in Tangent, the Planning Commission was able to prepare and recommend to the City Council, several vision statements utilizing the core values expressed by the citizens and relating to statewide planning goals.

Is Drainage a concern for you

2006-05-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

For the owner of this home on Tangent Drive in Tangent, drainage is a big concern. This year the water level of the drainage ditch in front of this home was above the culvert.

Does anyone have any additional pictures of flooding that they would like to share?

What are your concerns about drainage in Tangent?

Flooding threatened home

2006-05-17T11:52:00.001-07:00

One of the last new homes built along Tangent Drive in Tangent fell victim to rising waters. The owner had to sandbag the backside of his home.

Tangent Flood December 31, 2005

2006-05-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

This last December of 2005 there was a heavy rainy period that put a strain on the culvert that runs under the railroad track along Tangent Drive in Tangent. The water level actually rose a few inches above the top of the culvert

Sending comments

2006-05-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

If you would like to comment on anything about Tangent or the articles that appear, you can click on the "comment" word that appears next to the article and then write your comment in the box provided. If you would like to request that some other subjects be discussed, please write a comment to that effect. This is yet another way for citizens and others to be involved with the City of Tangent. If you sign in as anonymous, I will receive a notification email from "anonymous" with your comment. I will post it as soon as I can afterwards. I hope to be able to provide links to other areas of interest in Tangent, like historical information, festivities, events and some pictures to go with it. This is an ongoing interactive site. Please try it.

The first article was one of the controversial subjects in Tangent. Make a suggestion of a topic you would like to talk about.

Lastly, I was asked if I would be moderating the comments. As one visitor has noticed, the moderating option has been enabled. I will do my best to post the comments as written but will not post articles that are derogatory, defamatory or disparaging to any one individual, and I will remove any foul language. Otherwise, the comments will be posted as writen. However, I will be posting one defamatory, disparaging comment made to me personally by someone who wishes to remain anonymous. After this, I hope that this site can become a fast growing, responsive, information gathering and distributing hub.

Thank you all for participating.

Seaton

The Tank!

2006-05-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

Recent construction along Tangent Drive, (Meadow Wood Estates), gave way to a "detention pond" to handle runnoff water from storms at Meadow Wood. This remains a controversial subject. What are your thoughts?

Welcome to a new BLOG for the City of Tangent

2006-05-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a new blog for all residents of the City of Tangent, Oregon. We hope you will participate and join in with your comments and feedback. We created this site for it would be a place to give residents a quick reference on news and events: for example: meeting announcements; on-going events for the city; pictures of events; contact information for the city government; historical information (please contribute!); links to the City website; current issues; reports from the Plannning Commission work sessions; and lots more! Please use the "Comments" feature to give us your opinions and suggestions along the way.