THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2021
THE OBSERVER — 5A
QUARRY
Continued from Page 1A
addressed concerns from
the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife, he said,
and the forest stewardship
allows the harvesting of
timber only for the health of
the timber stand, such as to
control pests.
“There will not be any
commercial clear-cuts, there
will not be any commer-
cial timber activity,” Sme-
jkal said.
Shuck added the total
conservation easement
would be 4,700 acres, far
larger than the quarry.
But numerous people
who called in still expressed
their opposition, leading
off with David Moyal of La
Grande, who said he was
doing community orga-
nizing against the project
and submitted 45 pages of
specifi c objections to the
application. That included
a dispute on whether the
railroad crossing at Robbs
Hill Road was a public
right-of-way.
County Planning
Director Scott Hartell
explained the county’s legal
counsel is reviewing that
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Dried thistle seedpods cast shadows against a boulder Tuesday, March 2, 2021, at the site
of a proposed rock quarry on Robbs Hill Road near Perry. The Union County Planning
Commission on March 22 will deliver its decision on whether or not to allow the quarry.
and is in talks with Union
Pacifi c Railroad. He said it
appears in 1958 when the
state transferred the land
to the railroad there was an
error in designating it as
private and not public.
That should get sorted
out before the project moves
forward, Moyal said, and
the application lacks a
comprehensive site plan.
Without that, he asked, how
can the commission know
what it’s looking at? He
said these grounds alone are
enough to deny the plan.
But, he said, another factor
also looms.
“Finally, I would like
to say, the application is
hugely unpopular,” Moyal
said.
The stream of voices
that followed Moyal almost
universally agreed with
him. They said the quarry
would harm the quality of
life in the valley, disturb
the Grande Ronde River’s
WARMING
HEARINGS
Continued from Page 1A
Continued from Page 1A
offi cers have escorted
guests to the warming
station several times. A
number of these instances
involved people who
police found in the cold
after the warming station’s
10:30 p.m. deadline to sign
in. The station’s policy
allows guests to sign in
after hours when they are
escorted by the police or
someone from the Center
for Human Development.
Warming station
guests have had to follow
COVID-19 protocol
throughout their stays. All
must wear masks except
when they are eating and
sleeping and cannot come
closer than 6 feet with
anyone other than family
members. In addition,
when sleeping in rooms
with people other than
family members their
heads must be at least 6
feet apart and be next to a
canvas divider.
Gould said the guests
have been great about fol-
lowing all rules including
those involving masks.
She said the only time
she has to remind guests
to put on masks is in the
morning not long after
they have gotten up.
“They are very gra-
cious about it,” Gould
said.
Checkout time at
the warming station is
7:30 a.m. each day. Gould,
on mornings she has a
shift, begins gently giving
wakeup door knocks at
6:30 a.m. and tells guests
breakfast is ready.
“I feel like a camp
counselor,” she said.
Guests this winter
included only two youths,
both middle school age
teenagers, far fewer than
the number the warming
station had when it oper-
ated in 2018-19 and
First up was the 1st Con-
gressional District in north-
west Oregon on Tuesday,
March 9, then the 2nd Con-
gressional District that
covered all of Oregon east
of the Cascades was on
Wednesday, March 10.
The COVID-19 pan-
demic has upended the
once-a-decade redrawing
of legislative and congres-
sional districts. The U.S.
Census Bureau has said the
pandemic made collection
of population data diffi cult
or impossible at times.
The data was required
by federal law to be sent
to the states by April 1 to
begin drawing maps. Now
it will not arrive until Sept.
30.
The unprecedented delay
has set off a constitutional
crisis in Oregon and at least
23 other states.
The autumn delivery
date will be well beyond all
of Oregon’s constitutional
and statutory deadlines for
submitting maps. Both the
Legislature and the secre-
tary of state, which have
authority to draw maps at
different points during the
usual process, are shut out
by the drawn-out timeline.
The fate of 60 House,
30 Senate and fi ve or six
congressional districts
is headed to the Oregon
Supreme Court.
The Legislature has
decided to go ahead with
2017-18. Gould said she
believes this may be
because of state regu-
lations that took effect
during the COVID-19
pandemic to prevent
evictions.
Conversations with
guests and staff at the
Union County Warming
Station have been limited
this winter season in part
because of the COVID-19
masks and social dis-
tancing requirements.
Gould said even without
such limitations she
doubted there would be
extensive social interac-
tion because guests are so
tired when they come in.
She said many eat dinner
and go right to bed.
Guests often are so
fatigued that even the caf-
feine from the multiple
cups of coffee many drink
after coming in to warm
up does not keep them up
at night.
Warming station guests
not only have a taste for
coffee but also the pizza
from a local restaurant.
“Pizza is the easiest
food for us to prepare and
the most popular,” Gould
said.
Some 60 volunteers
prepare food for warming
station guests, with stir
fry and casseroles being
popular entrees.
“We have incredible
volunteers,” Gould said,
marveling at their energy
and dedication. She said
the station would not be
able to operate without
them.
Gould also said
directing the warming sta-
tion has been an illumi-
nating experience.
“I feel that I know my
neighbors better now.
There are a lot of home-
less people in Union
County, but they are well
hidden,” she said. And
getting to know the guests
has been a delight.
“Once you earn their
trust they will look out for
you,” Gould said.
She added that many
are compassionate and
give a lot to the people
around them, and seeing
how close-knit the home-
less community is has
been powerful.
“It is such a beautiful
thing,” Gould said.
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table the vote to the March
22 meeting. He said that
would give the commission
time to read the new written
testimony it received before
the hearing.
No one gave a second
right away but instead
debated the matter.
One commissioner —
they tended not to identify
themselves when speaking
during the phone-in only
hearing — said the new
material might help the
commission to make a bal-
anced decision rather than
one based only on the view
of the applicant. Another
referred to Hartell’s staff
report, which stated the
planning commission must
base its decision for a land
use plan on the applicant’s
ability to meet several cri-
teria, including commu-
nity attitudes and the con-
sideration of comparable,
alternative sites for the
quarry. One commissioner
said “it’s a fairly incom-
plete application in a lot of
areas.”
Caldwell’s motion
fi nally received its
second, and the commis-
sion voted to make a fi nal
decision on the quarry
application on March 22.
the 10 legally mandated
hearings. Though two are
focused on each congres-
sional district, they also
deal with legislative bound-
aries as well.
“We will be proceeding
as if we’ll get an extension
from the Oregon Supreme
Court or whatever else it
takes to get the job done,”
said Sen. Michael Dem-
brow, D-Porltand, a senior
Democratic lawmaker.
The pandemic also has
turned the every-10-year
“road show” of hearings
in into a series of virtual
hearings.
Democrats and Republi-
cans in the Legislature are
uniting to ask the Oregon
Supreme Court to reset the
clock on delays and give
the Legislature a shot at
drawing the maps for the
2022 election. If the block-
by-block data needed to
create districts that meet
federal and state civil rights
laws becomes available
Sept. 30, lawmakers want
up to 60 days to draw the
maps and submit them to
the governor for approval.
House Speaker Tina
Kotek, D-Portland, said
last week if the courts
agree, the Legislature
would return in the fall for
a special session to handle
redistricting.
The request to send the
mapping back to lawmakers
has bipartisan support.
Democrats have the
upper hand in shaping the
district maps to their liking.
The biggest prize is the
sixth congressional district
that Oregon is expected
to receive, it’s fi rst in 40
years. The U.S. Census
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offi cially notify states of
their gain or loss in the 435-
member U.S. House
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Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Hand-knit hats given by community members of La
Grande are ready to add to the warmth at the Union
County Warming Station on Tuesday, March 9, 2021.
prime steelhead habitat, end
huckleberry picking and
mushroom hunting at the
site and mar the view.
Kathy Webb (callers
did not spell their names)
of La Grande contended
the project “is going to
ruin our lovely corridor,”
sending the wrong message
to people coming into the
valley and harming recre-
ational tourism.
Amy and Zachary
Sherrod, who said they
are leaving Los Angeles
at the end of the month to
return to their hometown
of La Grande, said a quarry
would harm the area’s nat-
ural beauty, which fuels the
local economy.
“We don’t want an indus-
trial scar as the welcome
mat to the valley,” Zachary
Sherrod said.
Six of the eight planning
commissioners attended the
hearing, according to the
county planning depart-
ment: Chair Joel Hasse,
Pete Caldwell, Mat Barber,
Silas Kelty, Joe Kresse and
Randy McKinnis. Com-
missioners Mace Cadwell
and Chuck Sarrett did not
attend.
After taking the testi-
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