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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2021)
LOCAL/REGION 2A — THE OBSERVER THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2021 TODAY IN Foundation prep underway for EOU Field House HISTORY By DICK MASON The Observer Today is Thursday, May 13, the 133rd day of 2021. There are 232 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On May 13, 1607, English colonists arrived by ship at the site of what became the Jamestown settlement in Virginia (the colonists went ashore the next day). ON THIS DATE: In 1914, heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis was born in Lafayette, Alabama. In 1917, three children reported seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary near Fatima, Portugal; it was the fi rst of six such apparitions that the children claimed to have witnessed. In 1940, in his fi rst speech as British prime minister, Winston Churchill told Parliament, “I have nothing to off er but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” In 1958, Vice President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, were spat upon and their limousine battered by rocks thrown by anti-U.S. dem- onstrators in Caracas, Venezuela. In 1961, actor Gary Cooper died in Los Angeles six days after turning 60. In 1967, a vault fi re at Met- ro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Culver City, California, destroyed hundreds of the studio’s early fi lms. In 1985, a confrontation be- tween Philadelphia authorities and the group MOVE ended as police dropped a bomb onto the group’s row house, igniting a fi re that killed 11 people and destroyed 61 homes. In 1994, President Bill Clinton nominated federal appeals Judge Stephen G. Breyer to the U.S. Su- preme Court to replace retiring Jus- tice Harry A. Blackmun; Breyer went on to win Senate confi rmation. In 2002, President George W. Bush announced that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin would sign a treaty to shrink their countries’ nuclear arsenals by two-thirds. LA GRANDE — The $9 million Eastern Oregon University Field House under construction may be less than a year from completion. “The building is sched- uled to be completed in April of 2022,” said John Garlitz, EOU’s director of planning and facilities. Construction workers are in the process of preparing the site for the pouring of a concrete foundation for the future structure. Work on the building’s exterior then will start and should be fi n- ished by early fall. Once this is done, construction workers will have the pro- tection they need from the weather to do the interior work for the Field House, Garlitz said. Original plans called for the concrete foundation to be in place in 2020, but a prolonged planning and permitting process, Garlitz said, prevented this. The project’s contractor, Mike Becker General Contractor, however, was able to install the underground utilities, install drainage facilities, complete grading of the site and building pad and install base rock on the site for spring work. Mike Becker, a Union County fi rm, now is able to install the con- crete footings and will work throughout the spring, summer and fall to enclose the building, Garlitz said. The structure will house Alex Wittwer/The Observer Tom Hall (left) and Mark Lowery on Friday, May 7, 2021, prepare the foundation at the site of the Eastern Oregon University Field House, the $9 million multi-use compound that will allow the college’s track team to practice indoors during the winter. John Garlitz/Eastern Oregon University, Contributed Graphic This 2021 rendering of the Eastern Oregon University Field House gives an idea of what the facility will look like. Construction of the building is underway. John Garlitz, EOU’s director of planning and facilities, said the project could be fi nished in April 2022. a classroom for EOU’s Health and Human Perfor- mance program that will be able to double as a lab. The facility also will be the new home of EOU’s Outdoor Adventure program, now in the Hoke Union Building, Original designs for the building called for it to Enterprise puts hold on new Airbnbs City council sets 90-day moratorium on the rentals, citing concerns about affordable housing By BILL BRADSHAW Wallowa County Chieftain ENTERPRISE — New Airbnbs in Enterprise are on hold. The city council during its meeting Monday, May 10, approved a 90-day moratorium on any new Airbnbs in town. Despite some disagreement between council members over the rights of property owners, the council unanimously approved a resolution affi rming the three-month ban with the option to extend it for another 90 days. City Administrator Lacey McQuead said she reached out to Airbnb owners to get their input with only limited response. “The planning commis- sion held a meeting. I sent out nine invites to Airbnb owners within the city of Enterprise,” McQuead said. “There are 16 Airbnbs so that means seven of them are not registered with us. Out of the nine, one couple showed up, but I did get some input from some other Airbnb owners. (Enterprise resident) Stacy Green also attended the planning commission meeting. There was great conversation between them — they happened to be neighbors, so the one she was concerned about had someone attending.” Still, McQuead seemed dis- appointed more Airbnb owners hadn’t responded. “That was it,” she said. “Even with all the advertising and invi- tations to come to the Plan- ning Commission meeting and I invited them to come to this meeting, as well. That was all that we received.” One of the main issues seemed to be the availability of aff ordable housing. McQuead presented a letter from the Northeast Oregon Eco- nomic Development District that she asked Mayor Ashley Sul- livan to read into the record. The letter was largely about short-term vacation rentals in residential zones and the eco- nomic impact of them. The NEOEDD recently con- ducted a Community Needs Assessment to assess the eco- nomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since January, NEOEDD conducted more than 70 interviews with a wide variety of community leaders and organizations. “Like many other rural areas, housing-related challenges are widespread,” the assessment stated. Among the results of the assessment were: • More aff ordable housing is needed for workforce and mod- erate-income families and indi- viduals. A lack exists due to the conversion of residential housing to tourism lodging by absentee property owners and second homeowners. • Limited rental options are available for tenants due to them being priced out of units because of increasing property values. The letter also cited the real- dollar impacts. • People working in low- er-wage jobs … have been dis- proportionately impacted by the pandemic. The majority of jobs in the region pay less than $15 per hour, while two adults working full time would each need to earn at least $16.06 per hour to cover basic needs in a household with one child, $19.88 per hour for two children and $23.09 an hour for three children. • Lack of aff ordable work- force housing, an aging popu- lation, the high cost of living and underemployment have negative eff ects on retaining a workforce. The letter stated that because the city has zoning ordinances, “education and outreach could help spread understanding of the permitting requirements involved and the process by which confl icts are addressed.” The NEOEDD also urged the city to review Hood River’s example. That city recognized the benefi ts both of visitor lodging and the downside of converting limited housing to visitor use. McQuead said interest in Airbnbs hasn’t subsided, and concerns over where the Airbnb owners would live was an issue. have 88,300 gross square feet, which would have allowed for a 200-meter track, making indoor track meets a possibility. How- ever, budget constraints led to reducing the space about 25%, which means a smaller track. The partial track will provide a multipurpose practice area for EOU’s track and fi eld team, other athletic programs and EOU students. EOU track and fi eld coach Ben Welch said the smaller building and track still will be a big plus for his team in the winter. He explained the track team conducts its winter prac- tices in Quinn Colise- um’s small gym, which has 4,545 square feet. But in the Field House, he said, his team will have access to about 48,000 square feet for practices. He noted pole vaulters will be able to practice with a full approach, and runners training for the 60-meter hurdles will be able to run a full course and then have 40 feet to decelerate. Welch said pres- ently those training for the 60-meter hurdles event, which has fi ve hurdles, can run only about 20 meters while clearing two hurdles before they have to slow down and stop. The Field House will be open to all students and the public. Tim Seydel, East- ern’s vice president of uni- versity advancement, said the new building brings another benefi t. “Having a facility like this will help us recruit stu- dents,” Seydel said. Cove City Council takes stand against Gov. Brown Resolution also seeks reparations for businesses that were hurt by COVID-19 mandates By DICK MASON The Observer COVE — The Cove City Council is calling for Gov. Kate Brown to rein in many of her COVID-19 mandates. The council on Tuesday, May 4, passed Resolution 2021-3, endorsing eff orts to get Brown to roll back restrictions, which Cove Mayor Sherry Haeger said are becoming oppressive. “We are in crisis — the sit- uation has become an emer- gency,” Haeger said. “There is a state of emergency cre- ated by the governor’s offi ce.” Haeger said the city council wants the people of Cove to have the opportunity to make logical decisions. “We want a voice in deter- mining how we rule our- selves,” the mayor said. “We want to make common sense decisions instead of fol- lowing Brown’s shutdown orders, which don’t make sense.” Haeger said Brown’s man- dates have hurt businesses enormously, and she wants to do everything she can to pre- vent more businesses from having to close. The resolution the council approved asks that businesses receive reparations for their losses. The mayor said she believes it is important busi- nesses have more autonomy. Haeger said business owners should have the authority to determine whether their cus- tomers wear masks. Resolution 2021-3 is almost identical to what the Baker City City Council approved March 23. Haeger signed the Cove resolution on Tuesday, May 11, and will send it to Brown later this week. The resolution’s summa- tion sentence reads: “Resolu- tion declaring an economic, mental health and criminal activity crisis due to the cur- rent COVID-related state emergency declaration and relating OSHA mandates and guidance.” One of its fi nal para- graphs contains a quote from Thomas Jeff erson: “The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain instances that I wish it to be always kept alive.” In passing the resolution, Haeger said, the Cove City Council is becoming part of a grassroots movement she hopes other cities also will join. Legislators Hansell & Levy to direct stimulus funds to fi re district BY JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian WESTON — Money from the American Rescue Plan could be a game changer for East Umatilla Fire & Rescue, according to Fire Chief David Baty. As money from the federal stimulus package comes to Oregon, state senators are being given $4 million to allocate to a project in their district and state representatives are given $2 million. Baty said Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, and Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo, are on board with allocating a portion of their funds to build a new fi re station for the district. The money should be enough to build the new station in Weston without going to taxpayers for more. “It’s going to be close, but I think if we keep a real sharp pencil, we’ll be all right,” Baty said. The station would serve Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian East Umatilla Fire & Rescue Fire Chief David Baty explains issues with backing fi re trucks into the district’s Weston fi re station on Wednesday, May 5, 2021. The primary issue is the steep angle of the driveway, which results in stress and twisting on the vehicles’ chassis and has caused vehicles to scrape the concrete if not backed perfectly. as headquarters for East Umatilla Fire & Rescue, which covers about 420 square miles in eastern Umatilla County after three smaller districts merged in 2020. Baty said they already have the land to build it, a “shovel ready” parcel by the intersection of Bannister Road and Mill Street. They also have a design, which they modi- fi ed slightly from Heppner’s fi re station. It includes a handful of offi ces, a kitchen, storage space, a few dorms for fi refi ghters visiting from the Oregon Department of Forestry and other partners, and parking for about eight rigs. “We’re not trying to make the Taj Mahal,” Baty said. “We just want to make it plain and simple.” The district’s current station is a hodgepodge building, the oldest sec- tion of which is now a cen- tury old. In one part, old jail cells hold storage items. Baty says it’s embar- rassing to show people around the station, given some of the accommoda- tions. Firefi ghters don’t have lockers to store their gear in, for example. Instead, they line them up in a section of a wall alcove behind a truck parking area. Baty has tried to protect the gear from the diesel fumes as much as possible by hanging clear plastic sheets in front of them. One of the biggest prob- lems with the current building is its location on a steep hill. One of the bays is extremely diffi cult to back into, Baty said, showing where a fi re truck has to line up just right in order to twist around a sharp, banked turn. A bent railing and some scraped-up areas on the pole between garage doors bear testament to how diffi cult getting rigs into the station can be — particu- larly when it’s icy. It’s also bad for the trucks. “It twists the chassis,” he said. One thing Baty is proud of is the people serving the district. Baty is the district’s only paid fi refi ghter and after a decades-long career working with paid fi re- fi ghters, he said it has been humbling to come to Weston and work alongside a crew of volunteers.
