The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current, May 15, 2015, Image 7

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The Baker County press., May 15, 2015, Image 7

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Newspaper Page TextFRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015 THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7 Outdoor Rec / Local Locked & Loaded to clean up road Friends of ing in an annual forest road clean- up in honor of National Go Topless Day. Just to clarify, going “topless” in this case doesn’t mean what one may think (sorry). Instead, it’s a celebration of the change THE OUTDOOR COLUMN in seasons, By Todd Arriola by removing the tops of the off-road vehicles, and helping to maintain the forest road areas by collecting trash, while having fun on a monthly adventure. Last year, the group’s successful clean-up day Submitted by Christina Whitham included Elk Anthony Lakes Highway as it looked Creek and Washington on April 18 of this year. Gulch, with barbecue food provided afterwards. This This weekend marks the Saturday, said member and fourth year local 4x4 off- Oregon Sign Company co- road group Locked and owner Christina Witham, Loaded will be participat- the 5 corners split trail to Sumpter (Old Auburn/Deer Creek,/Union Creek/Cali- fornia Gulch area) is on the agenda. This is also the group’s monthly destina- tion for May. She said, “Take the rest of the day to explore your National Forest, stop in and visit the folks who are open for business in Sumpter and Granite, and don’t forget the ﬁ shing worms while you’re at it. The road from Granite up over to the NF73 Road/ Anthony Lakes Highway and back to Baker Valley is passable. There may be a snow drift here or there, but Locked and Loaded went over it on the 18th of April with no problems. Any snow drifts that re- mained were packed.” Witham suggested a side trip possibility, from Granite to Olive Lake, via Grant County Road 24/ NF10 Road, with a stop at the Historic Freemont Power Station. She said, “A few side roads down the Anthony Lakes Highway offer a chance at ﬁ nding some edible mushrooms, scenic views, spring ﬂ owers and superb photo opportunities. Stop at Anthony Lakes and try out the ﬁ shing as well as some hiking or moun- tain biking around the lake. Just beyond the lake is the trail head to the Elkhorn Crest Trail, and NF730/ NF31 at Little Alps offers more hiking possibilities.” Noting the lack in pre- dictability of the weather (it’s eastern Oregon, after all), Witham added a re- minder to dress in layers, including cold weather gear. It’s not a difﬁ cult run, she said, but periodic patches of snow should be expected. “We recommend books on mushrooms, wildﬂ ow- ers and plants, and of course, paper maps of the area. Don’t forget to pack food, ﬁ rst aid kit, water, GPS, cell phone, shovel, emergency gear, ﬁ re extinguisher and common sense. Locked and Loaded is not responsible or liable for any mishaps that may occur along the route,” she said. Locked and Loaded will depart from the Baker Truck Corral at 8 a.m., and the public is invited to join the group. Witham said bags and gloves will be provided, as well as lunch after the clean-up is com- plete, at a member’s cabin in the Sumpter area. Scenic views, cleaned-up forest roads, and lunch at a cabin with friends--call me crazy, but that sounds like a positive day. Good luck with your adventures! Herbicide issue back at Council • BUDGET RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY GINA K. SWARTZ Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting was a quick one. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Mosier as the clock tower chimed the seven o’clock hour in the background. All Councilors were present for the meeting. The council approved the consent agenda from the previous meeting unani- mously then Mayor Mosier called for citizen participa- tion. Yvonne Da Torre ad- dressed council again regarding the use of chemi- cal sprays asking what if anything had been decided. “When last we consid- ered the matter it was sent to staff to work towards a vegetation plan. The City Manager might be able to give us an update,” Mosier answered. City Manager Mike Kee advised Da Torre and Council, “The public works director is still col- lecting data. She collected costs of the way the parks are sprayed now, she also went out and got another cost for a herbicide, I think it was citric acid. She was going to bring that back to the council.” In addition a couple plans have been sent that are being looked at. The research had not been completed in time for the meeting. “Would you expect that we will see something on the next agenda?” Mosier asked Kee, who answered “I would expect that, yes.” Mayor Mosier spoke to Da Torre advising her things were obviously progressing forward and the matter would soon be before council again. Da Torre replied by stating, “It’s bafﬂ ing to me how quickly you folks can vote on the marijuana issue because you want to protect the children and yet you’re poisoning the playgrounds. It’s like the wild west out here. They’re whipping out their spray guns and spraying every- where and they have no idea what they’re doing or the dangers that are being presented to the commu- nity. I have a suggestions for a spray ordinance.” Da Torre presented council with those sugges- tions on a typed out sheet of paper that read, “1. Survey areas before spray to assess need. 2. Require property owners to get a permit to spray (as with a burn or building permit) Application for permit should test applicant’s knowledge of safety and disposal. 3. Committee approval on all chemical sprays. Purpose healthier choices. 4. Hand spray only. No trucks, planes. 5. Limit spray to problem areas. 6. Ban all overhead sprays. 7. Signs should stay up two weeks. 8. Applica- tor must wear protective clothing and read MSDS before application.” After her presentation Mayor Mosier thanked her and the meeting moved ahead. Jeanie Dexter, ﬁ nance manager, addressed council regarding resolutions 3748 amending the 2014-2015 budget and 3749 address- ing an interfund loan. Resolution 3748 amend- ing the 2014-2015 budget falls under ORS 294.338 unforeseen conditions. It will take $33,000 from contingency and ap- propriate it into the admin- istrative services depart- ment. City Council has the ability to amend the budget in such circumstances. “The particular unfore- seen issue that we are look- ing at is the settlement of the case Langrell vs. The City of Baker City,” Dexter explained. “Council voted to approve on April 14th a settlement in the amount of $50,000.” Questions were raised as to how the breakdown of the settlement worked. Dexter said, “$33,472 was a reimbursement for attor- ney fees on opposing coun- sel. Paid for by the General Fund. $ 9,647 was a reim- bursement of double water fees. Paid for by the water fund through refunds. $6,881 was reimbursement of double wastewater fees and that was paid out of the wastewater fund again through refunds.” Dexter went on to say that the question was also raised as to why money was not budgeted for this since the suit was ﬁ led in April 2014. Dexter stated, “The City Attorney thought the City would prevail in this matter and did not believe we would have a settle- ment to pay.” Dexter also ﬁ elded the question as to why since the claim was ﬁ led in 2014 the 2013-2014 budget was not impacted to which she explained “generally accepted accounting prin- ciples say that claims and judgments are only accrued when it becomes due, this didn’t become due until the city accepted the settle- ment in April of this year.” Langrell asked, “Why is this being brought to the Council now? The check has already been dispersed.” Dexter replied, “That fund is not overextended at this point in time. It will be by the end of this year which is why I am bringing it to you now and not at the June 24th meeting when we adopt the budget. I could have gotten it to you at the last meeting but it wasn’t ready and I was in the middle of budget stuff so that is why it’s here in front of you today.” Councilor Downing moved to approve the resolution, it was seconded by Councilor Thomas. Councilor Langrell did not vote on the approval. All other Councilors voted to unanimously ap- prove the resolution. Dexter then spoke of Resolution 3749 approving an interfund loan. Dexter explained that she had brought forth a budget resolution in March of this year to appropriate the recreational trails grant received to extend the Leo Adler Memorial Pathway and construct a trailhead. “You have to incur the expenditure and then send in for reimbursement. This will be done in phases along this construction project. However during that time it may be that we are in a deﬁ cit cash posi- tion. “It doesn’t mean the City is deﬁ cit in the cash we have in the bank just the cash in that fund. So what that means is we will need to do an interfund loan for that fund and council must approve all interfund loans. “This means council will need to approve a loan of up to, although I don’t anticipate needing this much, $108,200 while we are waiting for reimburse- ment of the grant funds,” she said. After some clariﬁ cation including Mayor Mosier questioning how long the expectation of reimburse- ment could be Councilor Downing moved to approve the resolution with a second by Councilor Merrill. The council voted again unanimously to approve the resolution. Dexter mentioned that the budget committee would be hold- ing a public hearing on May 19th from 4-6 p.m. in the Council chambers and encouraged the public to attend. She also stated that the proposed budget was on the city’s website. NRA banquet Submitted Photo. Friends of the NRA Banquet attendees enjoyed live and silent auctions, as well as coming together to support the Second Amendment. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Some of the live auction items that stood out at the auc- tion were a Stars and Stripes guitar autographed by pro- 2A rocker Ted Nugent, and a ﬁ rst issue “The Punisher” comic book. Other items included a .22 riﬂ e, a 20-gauge shotgun, a Ranger Assault Riﬂ e, a Red Stag Hunt for one in New Zealand, a traegger smoker, and a South African hunt for four. Silent auction items, for which the audience bid before, during and after their dinners, included a variety of NRA logo items, shotgun and bullet themed household items, and more. Several of the live auction items were labeled “Key Items,” which meant the winners of those became eligible to win a Springﬁ eld XD-S 9 mm pistol. The Pioneer Sponsor for the banquet was Powder River Precision. Mountain Valley Dental was the Freedom Sponsor. Triple C Redi-Mix was the Heritage Sponsor. Liberty Sponsors were Dianna and Jerry Alam, Andy Anderson, Britt Sand and Gravel, Eagle Valley Colli- sion / Allied Mortgage, Grumpy’s Repair, Inc., Scott and Becky Guthrie, Cynthia and Dean Overton, Fred and Beth Phillips, Victor Savage, Dennis and Kathy Spence, Marco Valerio, Maurizio Valerio, and Elwood and Sue Wirth. Donors and underwriters of the event were: Albertsons, Baker Aircraft, Black’s Distributing, Cashway, Clarke & Clarke Insurance, Commercial Tire, Courtesy Home Furnishings, D&B Supply, David Spaugh, Eastern Slope Ranch, Buck and Hope Buckner, Esa Murrell, Gamer Haven, Godes Horseshoe Creations, Grumpy’s Repair, Inc., Hogue Inc., J. Tabor Jewelers, Josh Decarl, Lefty’s Tap House, Les Schwab, Natural Structures, P&E Dis- tributing, Premier Auto Body, Professor Algernon, Sears, SnapOn Tools, Sycamore Tree, Trader Ray’s, Triple C Redi-Mix, Victor Savage, Maurizio Valerio, The Wind- shield Doctor and Walt Wood. Wicked Ways MASQUERADE BALL HALLOWEEN 2015 Brought to you by the baker county press and the geiser grand hotel in baker city! Some of the add-ons available for purchase at the event: • Professional portrait photography. • Paranormal author book signings. • Celebrity appearances. • Horse-drawn carriage rides. • A limited, themed meal menu. • A specialty bar with a variety of gothic possibilities—a Death Fairy cocktail anyone? Go to www.thebakercountypress.com to see more details on what we have conﬁ rmed for the evening and what’s in the works! I nspired by Anne Rice's famous Halloween Ball in New Orleans, this night is all about the costumes & the atmosphere! W hen: Halloween Night 2015, beginning at 7:30 p.m., ending 11:30 p.m. W here: The Geiser Grand Hotel on Main Street in Baker City, Oregon T icket Price: $20 per adult, ages 21 and over only, for event entry including access to “haunted” areas, a live DJ with music, dancing, mist and gothic lighting. Add-ons available at venue! G o to the front desk of The Geiser Grand or online to www.theBakerCountyPress.com to buy your tickets now! We don’t anticipate any sales at the door & expect tickets to sell out well in advance of the event. Don’t wait!