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THURSDAY • December 10, 2020
• $1.50
Good day to our valued subscriber Charles Stewart of Union
COVID-19
Relief funds
available for
Union County
businesses
County commissioners
set up grant program to
avoid first-come, first-
served scenario
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Small Union
County businesses hurt by the
COVID-19 pandemic now have a
chance to receive a boost.
But they must act promptly.
Union County has received
a bit more than
$730,000 in federal
Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic
Security Act funding
from the state for
Anderes
grants to help busi-
nesses negatively
impacted by the
pandemic.
Grant applica-
tions are due by
noon Tuesday, Dec.
Beverage 15. They must be
sent to the Union
County Administrative Offi ce,
1106 K Ave., La Grande 97850,
or emailed to bizgrant@union-
county.org.
Businesses applying, in some
cases, will be eligible for up to
$10,000, according to guidelines
the Union County Board of Com-
missioners approved Monday,
Dec. 7, for the Union County
Business Assistance Grant
Program.
The board approved the pro-
gram with a 2-0 vote. Commis-
sioners Paul Anderes and Donna
Beverage voted in support, but
Commissioner Matt Scarfo did
not vote after declaring a con-
fl ict of interest because he is a La
Grande business owner.
“We are really hoping it
bridges a gap so companies don’t
have to go out of business,” Bev-
erage said of the CARES funding.
The grant program’s guide-
lines state this funding will not
be provided on a fi rst-come, fi rst-
served basis. Instead, all applica-
tions received by the deadline will
be evaluated before decisions are
made.
Beverage said the commission
wanted to stay away from a situa-
tion that occurred earlier this year
when the state made COVID-19
relief funding available for busi-
nesses that went to the fi rst who
applied.
“That was kind of a race, (and)
the money was gone in 30 min-
utes,” Beverage said. “We wanted
to avoid that and give everyone
eligible time to apply.”
See, Relief/Page 5A
Dick Mason/The Observer
Gordon Royal, manager of La Grande’s Safeway since 1996, talks with employees Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020, at the store’s fuel station.
Royal is retiring. His last day at Safeway will be Saturday, Dec. 12.
Time to check out
Safeway manager Gordon Royal stepping down after a 40-year career
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Nineteen years ago
the anticipation level of local shoppers
was soaring, and so was the anxiety level
of La Grande Safeway Manager Gordon
Royal.
The date was Friday, Dec. 7, 2001, and
the grand opening of the new Safeway
at 2111 Adams Ave. was less than a day
away. Customers had reason to be excited.
The store was more spacious than the
old Safeway at Fourth Street and Adams
Avenue and had new features, including
a fuel station, a Starbucks and an expan-
sive deli.
But delivery trucks were running
late because of bad weather, putting the
opening in a precarious position.
“I was worried we would not have
enough product,” Royal said.
Finally at 9 p.m., nine hours before the
grand opening, the trucks arrived. Royal’s
sense of relief was short-lived. The next
morning many people gathered outside the
store awaiting the 6 a.m. opening and the
chance to receive free Safeway hats. There
was just one problem.
“We had a blizzard, a terrible storm,”
Royal said.
The 6 a.m. opening could not come
soon enough for the Safeway manager as
he watched people shivering in line.
Everyone survived the blizzard and
the opening went well. High-ranking
Safeway offi cials from Portland, however,
The Observer, File
La Grande Safeway manager Gordon Royal stocks shelves Aug. 10, 2017, as the store
prepared for the total solar eclipse a week later. Royal is wrapping up a 40-year career
with Safeway when he retires Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020.
who came to La Grande for the festivities
could not leave until the next day because
the blizzard made driving conditions so
treacherous.
Fortunately, the storm was not a bad
omen. The new Safeway thrived under
Royal’s guidance.
Now, Royal’s career is winding down.
He is set to retire Saturday, Dec. 12,
ending a a 40-year run with Safeway, the
last 24 as the manager of the La Grande
store. Amber Krantz, the manager of
Baker City’s Safeway for the past seven
years, is his successor. Krantz worked
under Royal for fi ve years as his assistant.
She said she has enormous respect for him.
See, Royal/Page 5A
City offi cials tackle duplex dilemma
Effort to address
housing shortage may
lead to parking scarcity
By Kaleb Lay
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Upcoming
changes to the city of La
Grande’s land use regulations are
set to strip the city of its ability
to differentiate between sin-
gle-family housing and duplexes,
causing some to worry about a
potential shortage of parking.
“We have to allow duplexes in
all of our residential zones where
we also allow single-family,”
La Grande Community Devel-
INDEX
Business ....... 1B
Classified ...... 2B
Comics .......... 5B
Crossword .... 2B
JUST THE FACTS
• House Bill 2001 from the 2019 in the Oregon Legislature limited the
authority of cities to restrict the building of duplexes in single-family resi-
dential zones.
• The city of La Grande, then, no longer will be able to require duplexes to
have more than two parking spaces per structure, and that could lead to
fewer parking spaces.
opment Director Mike Boquist
said. “Then the standards that
you apply to those have to also
be the same, so you can’t apply a
greater standard to a duplex than
what you would apply to sin-
gle-family. So, that kind of trans-
lates to parking.”
The city requires no fewer
than two parking spaces accom-
WEATHER
Dear Abby .... 5B
Horoscope .... 2B
Letters ........... 4A
Lottery........... 2A
SATURDAY
Obituaries ..... 3A
Opinion ......... 4A
Spiritual ........ 6A
Sudoku ......... 5B
COVID-19 TESTING
pany single-family residential
homes. Because duplexes can
no longer be treated differently
than single-family homes, the
city cannot require more than
two parking spaces be built at a
duplex: one per unit.
The change results from the
passage of House Bill 2001 in
the Oregon Legislature during
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
25 LOW
39/29
Flurries late
A few fl urries
the 2019 regular session.
“The state essentially iden-
tifi ed communities throughout
the state that are rent burdened
or severely rent burdened. It all
deals with affordable housing,”
Boquist said.
The bill passed in the Legis-
lature with the support of local
Rep. Greg Baretto, R-Cove, and
despite opposition from Repub-
lican Sen. Bill Hansell of Athena
and then-Sen. Cliff Bentz,
Ontario, the Republican who
voters elected in November to
represent Oregon’s 2nd Congres-
sional District in the U.S. House.
See, Parking/Page 5A
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 147
3 sections, 20 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page 4A.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com