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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2015)
8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2015 Local New Skills USA Club at BHS prepares for first competitio By Gina K. Swartz Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com Baker High School has a new club. Skills USA offers students the opportu- nity to advance in a variety of areas including art, drafting, engineering, and welding to highlight a few. Tuesday, January 27, 2015 the club met in the new wing of the high school known as the Baker Technical Institute to begin discussion of their first ever competition. The upcoming competi- tion, being hosted by BTI is scheduled for Monday, February 9 beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the Baker High School Auditorium with a presentation by Sherry Cole, Techni- cal Advisor for Eastern Oregon. 80 participants are expected with teams expected from Vale, Elgin, Halfway and Baker. The teams will com- pete in Construction and Engineering with indi- vidual competitions in Automotive and Welding. Knowledge tests in the area of competition will also be administered to all competitors in the field in which they will be compet- ing. The February 9th competition will be the first held for the newly formed club and as Dave Frazey, one of the club advisors explained, “To compete at the state level they require resumes and a written notebooks with information, with this being our first time and not really knowing how things flo , we are going to eliminate that part and Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press Dave Frazey (seated) talks with club members Taber Baldwin, Austin Rasmus- sen and Grant Ermovick. do more of the hands on activities to learn how this all will work and just have fun. Not put a lot of stress on you. Realistically we can’t go through and read 80 or so resumes anyway, we just don’t have the man power to do that.” Highlighting just how important these competi- tions are Frazey added, “Because this is our first year all of you will qualify to go to state. The nice thing about going to State is that’s when it’s the real deal and that opens up opportunity for scholar- ships. There will people form industry there. They expect over 1,000 people from businesses, vendors and people will be talking to you looking at possible scholarship status. So that is a great opportunity for you all to look into other areas as well things that may not be offered here at Baker High School.” Advisors for the club are Dave Frazey, Burke Sme- jkal and para professional Allen Makinson. Club officers include Taber Baldwin, Eli Witham, Grant Ermovick, Austin Rasmussen, and Brady Nelson. Although this is the first year of the club here, “It is pretty popular on the other side of the country,” explained Eli Witham. The club collectively will work on community projects as well. “I have spoken with Mike Kee at the City,” says Allen Mankinson. “We are talk- ing about working with them on the new bike path. They are looking at not using pavement but possibly using com- pacted gravel, so we are researching compacted gravel. Roman roads were compacted gravel, we have a prototype put together, very similar to limecrete. It is supposed to be stronger than concrete at one-third of the weight and long lasting.” Judges for the competi- tion will be local individu- als with a background in the category they are judg- ing. Presentation of awards will be held at the end of the competition day. New Huntington City Council By Eileen Driver Eileen@TheBakerCountyPress.com Three newly elected council members, Carol Allender, Rhonda Bronson and Cindy Deck, along with re-elected Mayor Travis Young, took their oath of office, administered by City Recorder Tracy Mclean at the Huntington City Council meeting on Monday January 26 at 6:00 p.m. Mayor Young then said, “We would like to thank the retiring council mem- bers for their service to the City and we welcome the new Council members to the Council table.” The new councilors were immediately thrown into the thick of local politics and city administration with a preliminary report on the annual financial a - dit by the firm of Nichols & Mitchell, the cities Audi- tors of Record. The auditors reported that the City has slowly but finally recovered from the financial difficulties it s - fered 10 years ago with the misappropriation of funds by the former administra- tion, but still has some work to do on adding new Find us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/ TheBCPress 3,000 “likes” & growing! Eileen Driver / The Baker County Press L-R: Rhonda Bronson , Travis Young, Carol Allender (back) and Cindy Deck. line items to the budget to further clarify where the current money is being spent. The auditors also stressed the importance of being more pro-active in collecting past due water and sewer bills. The Council then moved on to the regular business of the City with a review of the Baker County Sheriff’s report of activities in Huntington, a report from the Public Works Department and an annual report of the Fire and Medical Department’s activities. The Fire Department also discussed with the council their proposal to put up for sale three sur- plus vehicles and the pur- chase of one new vehicle to replace them, which they believe, will bet- ter serve the needs of the Medical Department and save the City money in the long run. After careful con- sideration by the Council this proposal was approved and will be set into motion as soon as possible. Also discussed was the updating of the City employee handbook, the upcoming wewer project and grant and the possible need for repairs to the VFW Hall’s walk-in cooler and the re-keying of the locks on that building. First Friday commissioners event to start in February Commission Chairman Bill Harvey will be holding “First Friday with the Commissioner” starting in February. The first event is Frida , February 6, 2015 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. in the Commission Cham- bers of the Baker County Courthouse located at 1995 Third Street, Baker City. This time will be used to allow the citizens to visit with the Commissioner about issues impacting Baker County. Planning Comm. gives Donaldson extension By Todd Arriola Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com The Baker County Plan- ning Commission held its regular meeting on Thurs- day, January 22 at 6 p.m. Present from the Com- mission were Alice Trin- dle, Chair, Randy Joseph, Commissioner, Suzan Ellis Jones, Commissioner, Chris Dunn, Commis- sioner, and Lauri Hoopes, Commissioner. Jim Grove, Commissioner, and Linda Wicker, Commissioner, were absent. Planning Department staff present were Holly Kerns, Planning Director, Kelly Howsley-Glover, Planner, and Kevin Berry- man, Planning Assistant. The focus of this meeting was an extension request, EXT-14-102, from ap- plicant Gregg Donaldson, a registered agent of Dyke Creek Park, LLC, for prop- erty located near Oxbow. Trindle asked if there were any challenges to the jurisdiction of the Commission to hear the matter, and no challenges were stated. She asked if there were any conflicts of interest or biases to be declared by any Commis- sioners, and Hoopes stated that, for the public hearing segment, she would need to recuse herself, since she had been an active Plan- ner during the time of the initial application, and she would provide testimony. The minutes from the November 24, 2014 meet- ing were approved with a motion from Dunn and a second from Jones, after Jones noted a correction was needed to the date of today’s meeting. Hoopes was seated with the public as Kerns and Howsley-Glover contacted Donaldson, who’s located in Colorado, via telephone for a conference call with the Board. Howsley-Glov- er gave an introduction, saying, “Briefly summari - ing the staff report (given to Commissioners earlier), Mr. Donaldson, on behalf of the property owner, Iron Dyke Creek Park, LLC, applied for an extension (EXT-14-102) for Baker County case PA-07-005, a plan amendment approved in 2008, which created the Homestead Recreation Limited Use Combining (HRLUC) Zone.” Trindle introduced her- self and asked Donaldson to state his name and ad- dress for the record, shortly thereafter allowing him to provide testimony. “I’d like to request a con- tinuance on my application until late April,” Don- aldson said. He said that between the time of the ap- plication and now, circum- stances have changed, and there is a potential buyer, though the sale hasn’t been made yet, so he wishes to leave options open to him. Kerns informed the Commission that April 23 would be the available date for a continuance. With the possibility of a continuance, Trindle said, “Mr. Donaldson, would April 23 give you suffi- cient time to know where your buyer is going?” Don- aldson replied it would. Joseph talked with Don- aldson, noting the length of time the process has taken from the beginning, and the complications with it. Part of the property, Tax Lot 100, was sold to Mark and Lisa Butler of Oxbow in 2013, who own property adjacent to it. They weren’t successful in purchasing the rest of the property, Tax Lot 900, which is currently under contract with a po- tential buyer. Joseph said, “I think it’s time for the Planning Commission to step away from this,” noting how two extensions had already been granted up to this point, and how the situa- tion has changed since the original application, with break up of the property, with camping site and RV site issues, etc. Donaldson explained that more time was needed to pursue development options on the property, that he’s unsure about the potential buyer’s inten- tions. He said he’s only had control of the property for about a year and a half, though he’s had involve- ment with it periodically for the last eight years. Kerns discussed with the Commission the details of what would happen with or without an extension granted, and the zoning details of the property. Joseph stated his desire to hear testimony that day, with agreement from the rest of the Commission. Trindle asked Donaldson if he had any more testimo- ny to provide concerning a possible continuance to the April 23 meeting, and he stated his intentions with or without a continuance of the hearing on the matter. Howsley-Glover entered Exhibit G, a letter of op- position for the extension from Mark and Lisa Butler, into the record. The basis of their testimony is that no visible development has been observed with the property since 2008. Bill Nagi, a landowner adjacent to the property, provided testimony about vandalism to his orchard, and area disturbances. Stacy Nagi, Bill’s son, also provided testimony concerning vandalism, issues with different ac- tivities in the area, and the lack of development. Hoopes testified in support of the extension, explaining her involvement with the application, and the effort throughout the period. She said Donaldson had expressed his inten- tions initially, and they were a guide, and not as- sumed to be “absolute.” Donaldson was allowed a chance to provide further testimony, and he request- ed that the Commission not make a decision on the extension until April 23. There was a discussion once the testimony was completed, and Jones said, “It’s a tough one. I’m lean- ing toward giving him the extension at the meeting in April,” stating factors such as the work already com- pleted, and the need for more information concern- ing the application. Dunn agreed with Jones. Joseph made a motion to deny the continuance to the April 23 meeting, with a second from Trinde. Trindle and Joseph voted in favor, with Jones and Dunn opposing, and the motion did not carry, since Trindle’s vote is used in the event of a tie. Jones made a motion for a continuance to the April 23 meeting, with a second from Dunn, and this motion carried. After a recess Trindle was unanimously re-elect- ed as Commission Chair, and Hoopes as Vice Chair.