Sifton Neighborhood Association

Minutes of October 11, 2005, Meeting

Updates

President Lamont Shaindlin opened the meeting by mentioning an update posted to our website regarding the new Wal-Mart development on Fourth Plain. Asked about the anticipated traffic on Fourth Plain due to the development, Lamont said the estimated increase is “about 2,000 car trips per day.”

He doesn’t know whether this Wal-Mart store will be a supercenter or whether it will be open 24 hours per day.

Phases II and III of the development will expand roads east to 162nd Avenue and bring a light industrial park. A quick lube business called Grease Monkey is coming to land on Fourth Plain just west of the Safeway that faces 162nd. A Goodwill store is planned for our area at about 90th Street and SR 503. A small residential development is also coming to 138th Avenue and 78th St.

Lamont brought information about Sifton Park, to be built on land facing 131st Avenue at
71st St. The plans for the park include a playground for young children, a half sheet for skateboarders, a half court for basketball, trees, and bench seating. No parking spaces for automobiles appear in the plans.

Lamont also brought information on free leaf disposal and conflict resolution. He reminded us that code enforcement is complaint-driven, and it exists to preserve neighborhoods, home values, and quality of life. There is now a volunteer code-enforcement program in Vancouver.

Guest Speaker re. Drugs

Our guest speaker was John Hess of the Washington State Patrol’s Drug Task Force. He has been a police officer 20 years and worked with narcotics almost 14 years. John said there’s recently been a decrease in the number of meth labs removed by the task force, because much of the meth in our area now is imported. The task force goes after suppliers, usually people possessing four to ten pounds of the stuff at a time.

If we call the task force thinking that a particular location houses a meth lab or a marijuana grow, we should provide information such as an accurate address and tell why we’re suspicious, e.g., we witness a drug sale, we notice heavy traffic with people staying only about 15-20 minutes, we see containers being moved into or out of the house at night, or we notice strong odors associated with an automotive shop.

Almost all meth cooks are using the red phosphorous (“Red P”) method rather than the old ammonia-based method. It used to be that a meth lab smelled strongly of ammonia or cat urine, but now the smells are from ether, anti-freeze starter fluid, acetone, and paint thinner.

Suspicious items in the trash include many boxes of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, yellow anti-freeze bottles, and starter fluid bottles with holes punched in the sides. If marijuana is being grown, there will be lots of bright lights and an odor similar to skunkweed. Burning pot smells like burning rope.

One should never confront someone high on drugs. One should call law enforcement personnel.

It takes a “tweaker” about a day to produce a batch of meth. Among the chemical reactions during production of meth, phosphene gas is given off, which can be lethal when inhaled.

Before the task force can serve a search warrant on a drug house, it has performed a good deal of research about the property and suspects. The task force removes the chemicals and contacts the county health department, who contacts the property owner. The owner is told what to do, and in what time period, so that the property may be used again. The owner is financially responsible for clean-up and can sue those suspects who damaged his property, but he’ll rarely be repaid any part of the clean-up cost.

Meth labs can be mobile and can also be located in rich and poor areas, in cities and rural areas. The same is true with pot-growing operations; these are also sometimes found on state or county land.

Once a meth lab has been found by law enforcement on a particular property, that fact must be disclosed to anyone interested in buying that property in the future. If a potential buyer of a property is unsure whether any meth cooking has been done there in the past, the county health department can refer him to a company that performs “chemical swabs” to make that determination.

Wrap-up

Law enforcement personnel cannot seize assets of a convicted drug supplier unless they can prove the assets were purchased with drug money.

John encouraged us to call with questions or with information about activity that makes us suspect someone may be involved with drugs. Sometimes a user will help the task force stop a supplier. The phone number for the task force is 256-5711.

The front desk of the office of Central Precinct is manned from 9 to 5 Monday through Friday. Its phone number, for non-emergency calls, is 397-6195. The address is 11607 N.E. 149th St., Brush Prairie, 98606, located at 149th & SR 503. Also attending our meeting was Sgt. Dolly Warden of Central Precinct, who reminded us that Deputy Ed Kingrey is assigned to work with SNA.

The ‘split-the-pot” raffle tickets purchased by attendees brought in $30, so the lucky winner received $15. SNA kept $15 for the treasury, which now totals $29.50.