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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2015)
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3 FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015 Business & Ag Barley’s customers Tip-a-Cop CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Waiter Joe Anderson was available to all the officers for help in what was his final night as an employee of Barley Brown’s. Also available to pick up slack and help out were employees Robin Stone and Tori Brown, daughter of owners Tyler and Cor- rina Brown. Reserve officer Phlaum’s family attended the event. His wife Jen and children Isabella, Khalia– Ann, Isiah and Ezekiel all ordered dinner, served by Officer Lary. Phlaum stopped by their table to say hi and was greeted by Isiah saying, “We need the food!” Phlaum replied, “It’s coming!” — just as the food was arriving to the happy and satisfied faces of his children “They were trying to ask me all these questions about the menu and I was like ‘I don’t really work here,’” he said. Tweit has been involved with the Special Olympics as a ski coach for 13 years. Her husband Bryan is also involved as a ski coach. Bryan, who got Stephanie involved has been coach- ing Special Olympics kids about 30 years. BY GINA K. SWARTZ News@TheBakerCountyPress.com The Public Works Advisory Committee, a seven-member commit- tee, met recently to take a look at the Facilities Asset Management Plan and Priority Needs Assessment Provided by City Public Works Director Michelle Owen. The committee consists of Cass Vanderwiele, Chairman, Gary Carter, John Wickert, Allen Mc- Daniel, Milo Pope, Myrna Morgan and is represented by City Councilman James Thomas. After approving minutes from the March 12, 2015 meeting the first order of business was to elect a new Chairman. With all committee members present with the excep- tion of Myrna Morgan, the committee discussed waiting until Morgan could be present. Chairman Cass Vander- wiele said that this current meeting “Will be my last one so do what you want.” Owen added, “It’s not really about being tasked with any specific chores, it is really just about running a meeting, so if there is someone willing to accept the chairmanship so we can have a future meeting, we can consider a vice chair then and reassign if need be.” Owen’s statement prompted a decision to be made. The committee nom- inated and elected Gary Carter chairmen to replace outgoing Vanderwiele. The meeting was then turned over to Michelle Owen to talk about the plan and gain insight from committee members. Owen indicated that at the budget board meeting last year it Friday, May 8, 2015 — Eastern Oregon Prices trended generally steady compared to the same quality last week. Trade activity and demand were slow this week. No new sales reported. USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov — Weekly Sheep Report — Friday, May 8, 2015 — Eastern Oregon Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press Justin Phlaum attended the event with his family this year. “I ran the State games for the State of Oregon at Mt. Bachelor for downhill but this year we didn’t get to go,” said Bryan. “No snow.” Stephanie has taken on the role of Treasurer and orchestrates fund- raiser events with the help of Paula Moe, Special Olympics local program coordinator. Tweit has been in her current positions for a couple of years reinstating the “Tip-a-Cop” program recently. She said it had been done in the past but had fallen by the wayside. She intends to keep the fundraiser going along with the “Serve It Up Hot” program involving local firefighters. A friendly competition between the Fire Depart- ment and Police Depart- ment has transpired with the Police Department in the lead. Other fundraisers include a Bowl-A-Thon in the fall. The goal is to raise ap- proximately $6,000 every year through fundraisers to provide for the athletes. The Baker Chapter of the Special Olympics support four sports: skiing, track and field, swimming and bowling. Tweit says, “We would love to add golf and/or basketball if we could find a person or persons to coach.” Tweit is also “grateful to Leo Adler for a grant every other year.” Anyone who wishes to donate to the local Special Olympics can send a check marked #511 to Special Olympics P.O. Box 508 Baker City, OR. 97814. The program is run en- tirely by volunteers so all monetary support goes to the athletes entirely in the form of equipment, train- ing, uniforms and transpor- tation, food and lodging at completions. The Program supports 30-40 athletes per year and athletes participate in two state games per year. With a motto like, “Let me win, but if I can not win, let me be brave in the attempt,” everyone involved indeed wins in some way. Public Works Advisory Committee discusses cosmetic touches, etc. • COMMITTEE HAS NEW VACANCY — Weekly Hay Report — was suggested an inven- tory and plan be done for the facilities, similar to the Capital Plan and Pavement Plans, which the board has been so impressed by. “Last summer I started this project with the help of a temporary worker, just to go out and take some pictures of our facilities. This has kind of become a year-long project, and it is not what I thought it would be but it is a place to start,” said Owen. “It gives us something to look at and lets us know what we have.” Owen’s perception from what she has heard from the budget board is that maybe things are not being taken care of and she rec- ognizes that not everything can be gotten to right away however, with this plan there is a better under- standing and prioritizing of assets. Through insurance infor- mation everything has been identified, which Owen felt was extremely important. She told the committee a huge volume of assets exists. The cosmetic things that people see, were first and foremost on Owen’s list. Roofs, windows, doors, the security of the struc- tures themselves Owen’s identified as top priorities then painting and basic upgrades or other cosmetic touches will be addressed. “There are things that the average person, budget committee member or citizen doesn’t see, that cause me great concern,” she said. Owen explained citing issues of the City Hall building with the masonry grout that is just wearing away. “We had participation from Ginger Savage for the crossroads building, The fire chief for the fire department building, the police chief for the police Trade activity was very slow this week. Harvest numbers are remaining lower this week as demand continues to be low and storage space is starting to become more of an issue. Consumer demand is still the largest struggle point at this time and packers are continuing to decrease bids. USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov — Cattle Market Report — Wednesday, May 6, 2015 Vale, Oregon Cattle sold through the auction: 603 Steer Calves 300-400# Bulk 263.00 - 299.00 Top 307.00 400-500# Bulk 276.00 - 301.00 Top 303.00 500-600# Bulk 252.00 - 277.00 Top 282.00 Heifer Calves 300-400# Bulk 254.00 - 278.00 Top 290.00 400-500# Bulk 249.00 - 271.00 Top 273.00 500-600# Bulk 227.00 - 243.00 Top 245.00 Yearling Steers 600-700# Bulk 218.00 - 247.00 Top 263.00 700-800# Bulk 196.00 - 218.00 Top 222.00 800-900# Bulk N/A Top N/A 900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A Yearling Heifers 600-700# Bulk 208.00 - 228.00 Top 231.00 700-800# Bulk 196.00 - 218.00 Top 222.00 800-900# Bulk 188.00 - 193.00 Top 194.00 900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A Thin Shelly Cows 90.00 - 95.00 Butcher Cows 97.00 - 105.00 Butcher Bulls 102.00 - 126.00 Stock Cows 1375.00 - 2100.00 Younger Hfrts. 119.00 - 152.00 Pairs B.M. - N/A ProducersLivestock.com 541-473-3136 Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press L-R: Gary Carter, Michelle Owen and Milo Pope. department building the water and wastewater su- pervisor,” Owen said. Some of the projects in the plan are in the budget that was finalized the day of the meeting, things that will be funded such as the replacement of the roof on Sam-O-Swim center, over the locker rooms due to a leak and the roof at the Mausoleum. Owen explained that although in the budget the dollars for these projects come out of the General Fund as do many other items asked for from all City departments so it is a possibility some may not be funded. The budget board may have to determine whether to fund a new police officer versus repairing something else asked for making it a possibility that not every- thing asked for would be given. Owen did stress that some things are written into the budget for specific departments and not up for competition in the general fund. “If there are specific projects this group would like to work on I can cer- tainly work those into the plan,” Owen said. Vanderwiele expressed concern that because there were several different areas with in facilities that were needing attention. “I don’t know if the budget board would go along with it but I’d like to see them make some kind of a fund that’d put so much money aside for maintenance every year, if they use it they use it if they don’t maybe some of it could carry over to the following year in case there is a bigger project. It could be some sort of an internal insurance fund so to speak,” Owen said. Owen explained the budget lines are in place already for things such as water and equipment but spoke of creating a fund for reserve funds not used saying she would speak to Jeanie Dexter the city finance manager about that possibility. The committee also addressed windows and asked what the protocol for that entailed including pos- ing the question of whether Marvin Windows, a local company, could make a deal on their windows. Tree debris in streets and on sidewalks and what expectations were regard- ing end fund balances were also talked about. With the departure of Cass Vanderwiele, the committee will have an im- mediate opening for a new member. Anyone interested in serving on the city’s Public Works Advisory Commit- tee please contact Luke Yeaton in Human Re- sources at City Hall for an application. — Log Price Report — Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon Doug Fir is $415.00/mbf White fir is $365.00/mbf Ponderosa Pine is brought sold on diameter splits 6 to 11 inch dib $300 to $310/MBF 12 to 17 inch dib $350 to $375/MBF 18 to 23 inch dib $400 to $430/MBF 24 inch plus dib $450 to $500/MBF DIB is diameter inside bark at small end of log. MBF is thousand board feet lumber, net scale. People interested in selling logs should call and get specific quotes from saw mills. Courtesy of Arvid Andersen, Andersen Forestry Consulting — Precious Metals Report — Price per ounce, USD Gold: $1191.80 Silver: $16.52 Platinum: $1,132.95 Palladium: $785.70 Bloomberg.com — Ag Commodities — Corn: $361.00/bu/USD Wheat: $480.50/bu/USD Soybeans: $955.50/bu/USD Oats: $242.75 bu/USD Rough Rice: $9.45/cwt/USD Canola: $452.70 CAD/mwt Live Cattle: $151.48/lb./USD Feeder Cattle: $216.45/lb./USD Lean Hogs: $85.05/lb./USD Bloomberg.com
