Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2016)
8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2016 Local 5J: Dalton explains food bids Sumpter BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com Jessica Dalton has begun her sixth year working the Food/Non Food Bids, Milk Bids, and Produce Bids for the Baker County 5J School District. “Because it’s federal money that runs the pro- gram, we’re reimbursed from all the meals we served, it’s on its own, and so we have to send out for bids on anything that’s over a certain amount of money,” said Dalton. “On my milk, food, and non- food, I send out invitations that opens it up to any vendor that could supply us with those products can submit a bid. After they are all submitted, I review them and take into consid- eration deliver, shipping costs, customer service, price, and delivery sched- ules and if it’s going to work with when we need them to show up and how far they have to travel.” For the last five years, Food Services of America has provided food bids and Meadow Gold has pro- vided milk bids. When she first began, Dalton explained she had two other companies that would submit bids for the food/nonfood, but they could not compete with FSA’s prices. Last year was the first year Dalton had separated the produce bid from the rest of the food, wanting to open up options to produce vendors who specialize in produce. “I wanted to open it up because I had started using some of our USDA money,” Dalton explained. “We get a certain amount of money for every single meal that’s served to go towards, they call it ‘com- modities,’ or it’s a USDA foods so I get, I think this year it was 38,000 dol- lars to spend on special foods so it comes from the USDA and in the past it was always frozen products and dried goods for the most part. And then they started a pro- gram called the DOD, the Department of Defense and it’s fresh produce, so you can allocate some of that USDA money to fresh produce. They started really up- ping the people that would have access to it when all the standards changed and they wanted us to start putting more fruits and vegetables on our menus and so you can use your USDA money for fresh fruits and vegetables but you can only buy through a certain company that the government can secure and has been through.” Dalton had started with 5,000 of the 38,000 dollars towards fresh produce and they focus on locally sourced produce, unless she cannot find it anywhere else. Pineapples and bananas are an exception. Dalton said the produce was great and she decided it would be a good idea to get all of her produce from them and she decided to separate the produce from the food. “That opened it up to all these produce venders and it was the first year I had done that,” explained Dalton. “And FSA last year, I think they were accustomed to doing one solid bid and so they did not submit a produce bid, jus their food bid. And so I had this new company submit theirs and I thought it was worth a try, and their produce is good, it’s very comparable, I’m sure most companies are going to be pretty comparable because they’re probably pulling from the same places. But it was a lot more work. I’d have to do more than two orders for every school every week. I’d put one order in one program then I’d have to go to another program and go back through and do another order so it was more time consuming, and it was twice the amount of invoicing. The amount of money I was saving, it was probably a wash with the extra time it took me to do the additional work and that is why I decided to go back to FSA.” certifications clarified Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press A look inside Sumpter’s City water system restoration. (The pipes are bright blue and red.) BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com Woolf to run for Sumpter mayor BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com LeAnne Woolf hosted a Meet the Candidate event Thursday, September 29th, at the Sumpter community center. She is the only individual listed as running for Sumpter mayor on the upcoming ballot. Woolf explained the last person who ran for mayor ran on a write-in cam- paign and had no experi- ence being on Council. Woolf decided she didn’t want Sumpter to have an uncontested write-in as mayor again. She said she thought back then she was maybe not ready to run for mayor, but has realized she is as ready as anyone else as far as experience goes. Though never commis- sioned, Woolf was in the Air Force ROTC for three years and received a lot of management training. She has also been in leadership in 4-H, is a small busi- ness owner in Sumpter, and previously served on Sumpter’s City Council. Woolf first served about three years when appointed to a vacated councilor’s position. She was re- elected and served six additional months before being recalled by a one- vote majority. Woolf said just because she has been off Council for a year doesn’t mean she hasn’t been thinking about what she’d like to accom- plish. Among those things are getting DEQ deadlines met. She said, “Fines are not something I want.” Woolf said for some rea- son there have been a lot of attacks on the character of City employees. She said she would like to see clear definitions for them on what is expected and input from employees about what they have been do- ing and how they’ve been accomplishing it. Woolf said Council doesn’t check water readings or answer the phone. She would like to know from the trenches, what employee priorities are and how to they mesh with outside priorities, for example the DEQ-man- dated wastewater system update. Woolf said at this point, the Council needs to figure out their priorities and pursue them. She hopes they can agree and get some things accomplished. She again mentioned DEQ deadlines and the street grant. Woolf said there has been clear evidence that all the recall activity is part of why outside entities are not working with Sumpter to move forward. “They’re asking, who am I going to work with? If it might change next week, they won’t sign the contract.” Woolf said every Sumpter mayor she’s known has had their own pet project. Hers would be to “enhance the availability of historical experience for visitors.” With the decline of mining and logging, the town’s economy depends on tourism. Woolf said during Sumpter’s ses- quicentennial in 2012, a walking tour was created. She knows there is interest, because of how frequently she needs to refresh those flyers at the library. Woolf mentioned meeting a gal at Music in the Meadow whose bucket list included visiting ghost towns, one of which was Sumpter. Woolf said she is not op- timistic about the lawsuit against the City, served Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press Sumpter mayoral candidate LeAnne Woolf. May 10, 2012, being resolved anytime soon and said, “We’ve pretty much proven it doesn’t matter what the City does.” As an example, she said former mayor Leland Myers vol- untarily changed some of the Flea Market set up to match the proposed settle- ment draft, as a good-faith gesture, and nothing has happened. Woolf said nothing has been heard since the settle- ment conference scheduled for July was cancelled. She said, “If I could understand what caused all the problems, I’d love it.” Woolf said she loves Sumpter. Her family moved there when she was age one. She moved away to attend a large college in a big city, but said she was not the typical small- town kid trying to escape. Rather, she was a small town kid trying to serve a larger world. She said she discovered she was no Eddie Rickenbacker. She didn’t “blossom in the larger world and become a flying ace.” When Woolf’s daughter was old enough to be on her own, Woolf moved back home to Sumpter. She said she loves the mountains, trees, spectacu- lar stars, and the history. She loves the entity that is Sumpter. Woolf believes her outside experience will serve her well, having been exposed to the larger world, but able to take into context that there are things that will not work in a small town. She said she has ideas but knows they have to be modified and be smaller. Woolf said other skills include interest in and en- joyment of research. She is good at keeping track of the background on issues and excels at asking ques- tions. Woolf said when she first came on Council, it was in the early stages of the DEQ upgrade and very confusing. She had to ask a lot of questions. In conclusion, Woolf stated, “I’m willing to do a wide variety of tasks. I’ve been a Boeing engineer and a lunch lady. I put the same amount of effort into each and did my darndest.” Road use tax one step closer Oregon’s Road User Fee Task Force (RUFTF) today recommended a model for expanding OReGO, Ore- gon’s Road Usage Charge Program. The model would implement a per-mile fee for all new vehicles rated at 20 miles per gallon or better beginning in 2025. The recommendation will now go to the Oregon legislature for consider- ation in the upcoming legislative session. “I am thrilled to have this recommendation come out of the task force,” said RUFTF Chair, Vicki Ber- ger. “Road usage charging is the future of transporta- tion funding. It is forward thinking, and forward looking. It’s important that transportation funding move forward—and that the OReGO program be part of that discussion—in the next legislative ses- sion,” she said. The model was one of six options RUFTF con- sidered. Each option varied the minimum mpg and the year in which to begin accepting vehicles into the program. Learn about OReGO at myOReGO.org. A misstatement in Sumpter’s City Council meeting on September 13th spurred confusion as to Utility Man- ager Jeff McKinney’s status as a certified water systems operator. City Bookkeeper Kathi Vinson stated during the meeting that McKinney is certified. This led to some controversy as McKinney is not certified, but instead works under the authority of a certified operator. In a letter to address the issue, City Councilor Sami Rowan wrote, “The City of Sumpter operates its water system in accordance with state law and regulations and is currently under contract with a certified Operator. The city’s water operator works under the guidance and supervision of the contracted operator. “Due to the close working relationship between the contracted certified operator and the City’s operator the fees normally associated with this [arrangement] are being [waived]. This amounts to a savings to the city of about $7,000 per year. “The City’s operator has attended the classes necessary, is continuing education and has several years of in field training under supervision of the contracted operator and now qualifies to take the states exam for Level 1 certifica- tion. “The City of Sumpter is very proud of the job its opera- tor has been doing. In fact, he won a first place award for the ‘Best tasting water in Oregon’ for the year 2015 in a competition which judged water from all over the state including Baker City, on Clarity, bouquet, and taste. “The City has also nearly completed its water plant res- toration in which the entire plant is being brought up to the highest possible standards. During a recent visit from the Oregon Health Authority the comment was made that our plant looks as good as Portland’s or any other large cities.” The Oregon Health Authority website lists Jason L. Green as the certified operator for Sumpter. McKinney explained that it’s a fairly common practice, especially for smaller cities, to contract with a certified operator. He said the relationship with the DRC (Direct Responsible Charge) is ongoing. McKinney confirmed he will also be obtaining his Level 1 certification, around his other du- ties. He said education and time on the job are required for certification. McKinney has taken classes in this area as well as classes in areas of utility management, waste- water, and water treatment. As to Sumpter’s water, McKinney said, “It’s awesome.” The Best Tasting Water award was won in competition against hundreds of other cities.