Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home Planning Commission elected Edie Wilcox as its new chairwoman.
She succeeds James Goble, who was elected to the position on Feb. 1. On March 22, the council appointed Goble to fill a vacancy left by Marybeth Angulo, leaving the chairmanship open on the Planning Commission.
The commission elected Wilcox to the position during its regular meeting on May 2. The council appointed Wilcox to the commission on Dec. 9, 2014.
Wilcox, 53, is nearly a lifetime resident. She moved to Sweet Home when she was just a year old with her parents, Bill and Pat Wilcox. He was a heavy equipment operator who came here to build the dams. After their completion, the family never left.
Her mother was president of the Elkettes twice. Edie Wilcox and her four brothers helped set up the Sportsman’s Holiday Parade, and her father helped load boats for the boat races.
“Now it’s my time,” Edie Wilcox said. Her work on the Planning Commission and other areas is part of carrying on that tradition, giving back to the community.
“I felt the need to help Sweet Home,” Wilcox said. “I’ve lived here all my life, seen the ups and downs of the economy, jobs and businesses. I love this city and want to help maintain it.”
The last year has been amazing, she said. She has attended numerous seminars with the League of Oregon Cities and learned a wealth of information.
Wilcox appreciated her election to chairwoman, she said. “I think with these different (seminars) that I attended, I’ll be able to professionally direct a planning meeting.”
Wilcox said she is happy to have guidance from Henry Wolthuis, who had been chairman in recent years.
“He did a fantastic job being chairman,” she said. “Watching him over the (last) year, I believe I can fill the role, but I have a lot to learn.”
Her goal is to make Sweet Home business-friendly, to help make Sweet Home better, she said. She wants to bring in businesses and accommodate them as much as she can when they bring plans before the commission.
Sweet Home has had interest in a couple of properties since she joined the commission, and McCool Millworks moved to Sweet Home, Wilcox said. That’s exactly what she wants to see.
“Trying to find new ways to bring new businesses into Sweet Home, it’s word of mouth,” she said of Planning Commission, which is focused on the details of individual projects.
That means making sure Sweet Home through the planning process is business-friendly.
She also would like to help property owners get their buildings ready for businesses, she said. That’s a concept she has been discussing with city staff, but she’s not ready to discuss it further yet.
Since joining the commission, she has been involved in approving several land use applications and revising ordinances.
The commission is in the process of looking at updating ordinances governing manufactured homes, she said. “I just want to make sure that we make properties safe for our citizens.”
She’s also looking forward to seeing the Lake Point subdivision filled up. Infrastructure in that development, which overlooks Foster Lake from the hillside off Riggs Hill Road, is nearly complete. Construction of the first homes is planned for this summer.
A lot of the city’s planning work has involved add-ons and new homes, she said. “Which is just wonderful. Now that the economy is slightly improving, these folks are able to do that.”
In addition to the Planning Commission, Wilcox is also chairwoman of the city’s Hazard Mitigation Committee, “which we are resurrecting because the Big One is coming.”
She wants to make sure the community is prepared for the massive subduction zone earthquake predicted by geologists based on a historical record of evidence that the quakes occur on a regular cycle in the Northwest.
She and the committee are planning workshops for Sweet Home residents to promote preparedness. They should be able to survive for at least three days without assistance, she said. She is taking related training so she can help run the workshops.
The committee needs additional members, she said. Anyone interested should contact the city manager’s office at (541) 367-8969.
Wilcox also is an active volunteer with the Sweet Home Police Department, which recently named her Volunteer of the Year.
“It was a surprise,” she said. “But to be able to help our kids is huge.”
Much of her volunteer work revolves around children’s programs, including Shop with a Cop, the Teen Sharing Tree, the annual Jim Bean Public Safety Fair, Downtown Trick or Treat and child abuse awareness.