10 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015
Local
Huntington hosts meeting of Lookout-
Glasgow fire
Baker County mayors
By Eileen Driver
Eileen@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The City of Huntington
was privileged to host this
quarter’s Mayor’s Council
Meeting and Luncheon
on January 15 at the VFW
Hall & Community Center,
from noon to 2 p.m.
The Mayor’s Council
is a group of community
leaders who come together
to help their communities,
by discussing issues im-
portant to their particular
town or to the region as a
whole. In this way they can
bring together perspectives
from all different sides of
an issue in order to solve
problems or make better,
more informed decisions
for their communities.
Also shared are suc-
cess stories from projects
completed and encourage-
ment for other projects
underway.
The Mayor’s Council
Meeting was chaired by
Mayor Travis Young of
Huntington and the attend-
ees dined on a luncheon
of grilled garlic and herb
chicken breasts on a bed
of Alfredo noodles, green
salad, garlic toast and
strawberry white chocolate
ganache cake provided
by the Huntington Parks
& Recreation Commit-
tee, before beginning the
discussions.
Mayor Young opened
the meeting by stating,
“We would like to wel-
come you all to Huntington
and hope you will enjoy
the luncheon and will find
the information provided
by everyone here to be
helpful and encouraging.”
The meeting agenda
included City updates by
mayor Travis Young of
Huntington, mayor Jim
Brown of Haines, vice
mayor Mike Downing of
Baker City and mayor Me-
lissa Findley of Sumpter,
and a governor’s report
by Scott Farley of Re-
gional Solutions of Eastern
Oregon that included a
reminder for all to contact
their legislators with ques-
tions and comments about
any legislation that affects
us.
Timothy Bishop of Bak-
er County Tourism brought
a county-wide marketing
and advertising report and
Mike Ybarguen of Idaho
Power Community Rela-
tions in Payette/Nampa/
Ontario/Hells Canyon
area, gave an update on the
Boardman to Hemingway
Project and the Windmill
Projects coming online in
the area soon.
An Economic Develop-
ment update was pro-
vided by Julee Hicks of the
Baker County Economic
Development Department,
who invited everyone
present to attend the 2015
Eastern Oregon Mining
& Aggregate Develop-
ment Summit being held
on January 27th at the
Baker County Conference
and Events Center at the
fairgrounds. She empha-
sized the need to help and
encourage new entrepre-
neurs in the area.
A County update was
given by newly elected
Baker County Commission
protection
launches
Eileen Driver / The Baker County Press
Mayor Jim Brown of Haines with Huntington City
Engineer, Andy Gehrke.
Chair Bill Harvey who
of Regional Solution of
resides in Haines.
Eastern Oregon, Tawny
Other topics of discus-
Bean who is the Regional
sion included the Main
Coordinator for Infrastruc-
Street Revitalization Act
ture Finance Authority
proposed by the Coalition
(IFA), Julie Mckinney the
to Revitalize Main Street
Sumpter City Recorder,
and Restore Oregon , jobs
Randy Jones of Regional
and economic develop-
Solution / DEQ, Tracy
ment, the Huntington
Mclean Huntington City
sewer project, $3 mil-
Recorder, Chad Carter and
lion grant and the stricter
Andy Gehrke of Holladay
regulation expected to be
Engineering, Hunting-
set by the Department of
tons Engineer of Record,
Environmental Quality and and Annie Oakley, Toni
the Environmental Protec-
Thompson, LeAnne Woolf
tion Agency in the future,
and Bob Armbrusta of the
the updating of Sumpter’s
Sumpter City Council,
employee handbook and
Eileen Driver, President
the reasons for others to do of the Huntington City
so to comply with new leg- Council & Chairman of
islation, the local impact
the Huntington Parks and
of ever increasing mining
Rec Committee and Allan
restrictions and regulations Driver Vice-Chairman of
in the region and the need
the Huntington Parks and
to work closely with small
Recreation Committee and
Eastern Oregon communi-
President of the Hunting-
ties and Commissions in
ton Neighborhood Watch
order to benefit all of us as Association.
a whole.
The next Mayor’s Coun-
Others present were
cil Meeting and Luncheon
Lieutenant Travis Ash of
will be held March 19 in
the Baker County Sheriff’s Baker City.
Department, Isaac Dalke
The first annual o ganizational meeting of the Lookout-
Glasgow RPA will be held January 26, 2015, at 7:00 p.m.
at the Keating Fire Hall.
This district encompasses the area from the Oregon
Trail Interpretative Center to Richland, Oregon, all land
not part of another fire district that drains to the Powder
River. All land owners and lease owners within this area
are invited to attend the meeting.
The meeting will review the assessments proposed by
the board and the bylaws, as well as plans for the coming
fire season, including potential for pre fire preparation
and creation of fuel breaks.
This association is a group of people who have infor-
mally fought range fires in this area to reduce fire damag
to the rangelands owned by themselves and their friends
and neighbors. It is always better to fight and stop a fir
on your neighbors property than wait until it gets to your
property. This group has always communicated primarily
by smoke signals. When a column of smoke is seen, it is
time to load up the cat and whatever other equipment is
available and head for the fire.
The association, which was approved by the Oregon
Board of Forestry in July of 2014, and has already as-
sisted in putting out several fires before they got la ge.
The association has acquired two off-road trucks with
1,000-gallon tanks and a D-7 cat, that have been declared
surplus by other agencies. Additional equipment has been
applied for. Radios and basic firefighting equipment ar
also in the works.
The goal is to have the people who already live and
work in this area better trained and better equipped so
fires can be stopped quickly before they get la ge and
expensive.
Lions Club
recognizes
Justin Kirkland
THE SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH, BROWNFIELDS AND FULL-DAY K
School board has full agenda
By Brian Addison
Brian@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The superintendent
search has been narrowed
to three by the Baker 5J
School District Board of
Directors.
Still vying for the Dis-
trict’s top spot are current
South Baker Intermediate
School Principal Betty
Palmer, Grant County
School District Superinten-
dent Mark Witty, and Joint
School District Superinten-
dent from Orofino, Idaho,
Robert Vian.
School board members
plan to interview the three
superintendent candidates
on February 20. A public
open house with the candi-
dates has been scheduled
for later that day beginning
at 4 p.m. at the Baker High
School Commons.
The school board, due to
the timing of the super-
intendent interviews, has
rescheduled their February
meeting moving the date
from February 17 to Thurs-
day, February 26.
Full-day Kindergarten
discussed.
Discussions of expand-
ing to a full-day Kinder-
garten schedule continued
during the January 20
board meeting. Some of
the staffing requirements
and equipment needs were
part of the discussion.
With the anticipated
move to full day Kinder-
garten the district expects
to add one, possibly half-
time, administrator, three
certified sta f teachers, and
two or three para-profes-
sionals.
Additionally, 5J fina -
cial director Doug Dalton
explained the need for the
purchase and placement of
a fourth modular building
to be placed on the grounds
of Brooklyn Primary
School.
Dalton said the Gover-
nor’s and Oregon legisla-
tive co-chair’s schools
budget should cover all
costs associated with per-
sonnel needs and that the
purchase of the modular
has been included in the
5J budget under Capital
Projects Fund and not from
General Fund dollars.
The school district ex-
pects to receive $7,000 per
Kindergarten student with
an anticipated enrollment
of 70. The district may of-
fer the option of full day or
half day enrollment.
“If students attend half
day Kindergarten then the
district would receive half
the funding,” said Dalton.
During the discussion
on the need for another
modular building to ac-
commodate expansion to
full day Kindergarten, the
need for another modular
at Haines Elementary was
mentioned.
Board members plan to
gain more funding infor-
mation and the plan for full
day Kindergarten during
Oregon’s legislative talks
before the Feb. 27 school
board meeting.
EPA Brownfield site
used as educational tool.
The US Environmental
Protection Agency Brown-
fields Program ident -
fies land sites in need of
cleanup due to contamina-
tion by hazardous materials
caused by past usage.
In the 1920s, Paul
Ostwald built and operated
a small machine shop on
approximately 0.2 acres in
Baker City. The machine
shop remained in the fam-
ily and continued operation
until the year 2000.
After the machine
shop ceased operation, the
Ostwald family donated
the property to the school
district to be sold and the
proceeds used for the dis-
trict’s scholarship program.
During the real estate
evaluation it was deter-
mined that the site was
contaminated with hazard-
ous material and required
cleanup before being listed
for sale. Cost of cleanup
is not expected to exceed
$110,000 according to
school district documents.
The district was able
to secure grant dollars
through the EPA of about
$200,000 to fund the clean-
up process and to provide
an educational element to
the project.
Baker High School
science teacher Megan
Alameda has led several
Environmental Hazards
students through the pro-
cess of federally mandated
hazardous site cleanup.
The project has entered
its second year with the
next step including the
posting of a Request for
Qualifications to determine
the hiring of a firm to pr -
vide cleanup of hazardous
materials.
During the project, stu-
dents have learned about
the process of environmen-
tal assessment, have been
involved in an endangered
species survey, and are
Eileen Driver / The Baker County Press
Submitted Photo.
Student of the month,
Bailey Hill.
now writing and posting
the Request for Qualific -
tions.
During a project presen-
tation to the school board,
Alameda mentioned that
Baker County contains
80 EPA Brownfield sites,
the most of any county in
Oregon.
Baker High School
Student of the Month.
Associated Student
Body President Bailey Hill
received recognition as
BHS Student of the Month.
The honor was presented
by high school principal
Ben Merrill.
Merrill commended Hill
for his mental and moral
strength and for his role
as a leader in the school
and in the Future Business
Leaders Association.
During the BHS update,
Hill reminded anyone
interested in keeping up-to-
date on scheduled events
at BHS to visit the Baker
High School Facebook
page.
Allan Driver presents Justin Kirkland with an award.
By Eileen Driver
Eileen@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Huntington Lion’s Club recognizes the initiative of
young, eight-year-old Justin Kirkland, a student at Hun-
tington Elementary School, in gathering pull can tabs for
their recycling drive for Ronald McDonald House. Justin
heard about the Lions Club’s effort to gather can tabs and
took it upon himself to help out by finding as many as he
could.
He presented three large plastic baggies full of tabs to
an appreciative Lions Club who in return presented him
with a certificate of recognition for his e forts. Lions Club
secretary Bill Burley commented, “ We definitely want\
to acknowledge and encourage this young man’s desire to
help his community.” The award was presented to Justin
by local Lions Club President Allan Driver, who shook
his hand and congratulated him on his accomplishment at
the club meeting on January 13th.
Lions Clubs everywhere collect aluminum can tabs
which are turned into Lions International ,where they are
sent to a recycling center and turned into cash which is
donated to the Ronald McDonald House Organization
which provides a home-away-from-home to families who
have children with serious illnesses and must stay in the
hospital for treatment. The money goes to offset the cost
of running these houses and takes the burden of paying
for the majority of the housing cost off of the families.
Lions Clubs have so far collected over 400 million can
tabs for the benefit of these families. If you would like to
contribute to this effort you can contact any local Lions
Club with a donation.
CORRECTION!
Last week we ran a story on Sumpter City Council
with two incorrect names. Cary Clarke was mis-
spelled, and Mona Clarke was in fact, Myrna Clarke.
We apologize for the errors.