8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2015
Local
County Commissioners uphold Planning
Commission decision on Halfway land use issue
• SHERIFF’S
DEPARTMENT BUYS
NEW JET SKI
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Baker County Board
of Commissioners held a
special session on Wednes-
day, July 8, 2015, at 9 a.m.,
in the Commission Cham-
bers of the Baker County
Courthouse.
The focus of the ses-
sion was a public hearing
regarding AP-15-001,
an appeal of the County
Planning Commission’s
approval of conditional
use permit CU-13-011,
remanded by LUBA (Land
Use Board of Appeals)
Case No. 2014-02.
Present from the Board
were Chair Bill Harvey,
Commissioners Mark Ben-
nett and Tim Kerns, and
Executive Assistant Heidi
Martin.
Attendees included
County Planning Director
Holly Kerns, County Plan-
ner Kelly Howsley-Glover,
County legal counsel Dan
Van Thiel, Baker County
Sheriff Travis Ash, Kerry
Gulick, Linda McEwan,
and Patrick Dion.
The agenda was adopted,
with a motion from Ben-
nett, and a second from
Kerns. No one present
voiced any concerns or
comments during the
Citizen Participation of the
session.
Amy Addison, an intern
for Elkhorn Media Group,
was introduced by Harvey,
and she made some brief
comments.
Ash spoke to the Board
about a jet ski purchase for
the Sheriff’s Department,
with funds provided by
the Oregon State Marine
Board. He said that he
attempted to acquire the
jet ski, which would be the
second one for the depart-
ment, from a local source,
but ended up going with a
bid from Ed’s Performance
in Ontario, which is where
any maintenance on the jet
ski would also need to be
performed when necessary.
He explained that using
the jet skis would result in
more efficiency and fuel
savings, and he wanted to
let the Board know about
the purchase.
During the public
hearing segment, Harvey
read statements concern-
ing hearing procedures,
appeals, etc. He asked if
there were any challenges
to the jurisdiction of the
Board to hear the matter,
and none were stated. He
asked if there were any
conflicts of interest or per-
sonal biases to be declared
by a Board member, and
none were stated.
He asked if there were
any ex-parte contacts to be
declared by a Board mem-
ber, and Bennett mentioned
that he received a brief
phone call from the Mayor
of Halfway, Sheila Farwell.
According to County
Planning Department
documents, in Novem-
ber of 2013, Gulick and
McEwan requested a modi-
fication on their existing
Conditional Use Permit for
a 15-acre aggregate rock
pit, called the Gulick Pit,
located two miles northeast
of Halfway, near the inter-
section of Buchanan Loop
and Estes Hill Lane, both
Baker County roads.
The pit is located in
the Exclusive Farm Use
(EFU) Zone. The request
included temporary modi-
fications to accommodate
providing gravel to repave
Forest Service 39 road, and
permanent modifications
allowing more flexibility
in the normal aggregate
operation.
The Gulick Pit was
approved for a Post
Acknowledgement Plan
Amendment, PA-97-02, in
August 6, 1997, and then
a Conditional Use Permit,
CU-97-08, was applied for
and approved on Septem-
ber 25, 1997. This Condi-
tional Use Permit was re-
voked on March 19, 1998,
for failure to comply with
all Conditions of Approval.
A new Conditional Use
Permit, CU-98-02, was
applied for and approved
on May 21, 1998, amended
later by Conditional Use
Permit CU-00-05, on May
25, 2000.
On December 19, 2013,
the Baker County Planning
Commission held a public
hearing, and after hearing
testimony and deliberat-
ing, modified and approved
the request. An appeal of
the decision of CU-13-011
was submitted on behalf of
Barbara J. Dion on January
6, 2014 to the Board of
Commissioners, and the
Board sustained the Plan-
ning Commission deci-
sion. Dion then appealed
to LUBA, and LUBA
remanded the decision in
December of 2014 for ad-
ditional findings.
A Planning Commission
hearing was held on May
28, 2015, and the record
was held open for addition-
al testimony until June 4,
2015, at 5 p.m. A special
public session was then
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Planning Director Holly Kerns addresses the Commissioners regarding the
LUBA-remanded Halfway case recently ruled upon by the Planning Commis-
sion.
held on June 10, 2015, and
the Commission approved
the proposed modified
Conditional Use Permit.
An appeal of the Plan-
ning Commission’s June
10 decision of the remand-
ed (LUBA No. 2014-021)
portions of CU-13-011
was submitted on behalf
of Dion on June 19, 2015,
with three broad arguments
as the basis for the appeal.
The Planning Commis-
sion’s staff report and
recommendation, prepared
on July 1, 2015, to the
Board of Commissioners,
contains discussion of all
points.
The Board discussed the
issues associated with AP-
15-001, with Kerns and
Van Thiel, including some
language in a 6-page docu-
ment received from Dion
early Wednesday morning.
At about 9:50 a.m.,
Bennett moved for a recess
until 10:30 a.m., so the
Planning Department could
have an opportunity to
review the document from
Dion. Kerns seconded the
motion, and the motion
carried.
After returning back to
session at around 10:32
a.m., Kerns and Van Thiel
again discussed the appeal
with the Board.
Bennett highlighted
several major points in
the Planning Commis-
sion’s report, and the
document received from
Dion Wednesday morning.
Bennett said that criteria
were met regarding sec-
tions 1104.01-1104.03 of
the Baker County Zoning
and Subdivision Ordinance
(BCZSO) #83-3, and that
the Planning Commission’s
findings and decisions
were proper.
Dion’s document, with
redactions noted from the
Planning Department, was
accepted as Exhibit G, with
a motion from Bennett, and
a second from Kerns.
With a motion from
Bennett, and a second from
Kerns, the Board upheld
the decision of the Plan-
ning Commission of the
remand (LUBA No. 2014-
021) hearing of CU-011
regarding modifications to
an existing conditional use
permit allowing a 15-acre
aggregate rock pit known
as the Gulick Pit.
The next session, a regu-
lar, bi-monthly session, is
scheduled for Wednesday,
July 15, 2015, at 9 a.m.
Sumpter’s 4th of July City seeks volunteer
water curtailment
Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press
John Young manned the Hotdogs for History booth on Sunday. All profits will
be donated to the Cracker Creek Museum of Mining. Young estimated that
gross sales the previous day had been about $800 and that total profits over the
weekend would be about $600.
Meghan Andersch /
The Baker County Press
Vendor Mary Jane Mul-
rooney took time while
in the area to peruse lo-
cal real estate. She put
her home in North Idaho
up for sale the previous
Monday and sold it that
Wednesday. She was
debating whether to
invest in a business in
Sumpter or spend time
traveling around in an
RV.
In a proactive measure
to ensure availability of
the City’s drinking water
for the upcoming summer
months the Public Works
Department is asking that
citizens enact water con-
servation measures related
to irrigation.
If the voluntary curtail-
ment does not result in a
reduced demand the City
may begin enforcement
of the Water Curtailment
Ordinance (Ord. No. 3287,
Municipal Code Chapter
53.25).
Irrigation restrictions
have already been imple-
mented at City parks, Mt.
Hope Cemetery, Quail
Ridge Golf Course, the
Sports Complex and other
ball fields.
Staff is now asking that
residential, commercial
and industrial users move
to an alternating (odd/
even) irrigation schedule.
This means that if your
address is an odd number
(ends in 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9) you
should irrigate on the odd
days of the month (1st, 3rd,
5th etc.) and if your ad-
dress ends in an even num-
ber (0,2,4,6,8) you should
irrigate on even days of
the month (2nd, 4th, 6th
etc.). Addresses ending in
½ or Apartment # or letter
should irrigate based on the
primary address (ie: 123
½ Main Street would be
on an ODD day irrigation
schedule and 124 Main
Street, Apartment 1 would
be on an EVEN day irriga-
tion schedule).
The Baker City Water-
shed is currently providing
approximately 4.5 million
gallons of water each day
to the water treatment
facility which is more typi-
cal of late August quan-
tity rather than early July
quantity.
In addition, the ASR
well is being utilized to
meet peak daily demands.
In an effort to even out the
water distribution with the
availability of water from
the Watershed it is in the
best interest of the water
system to reduce irrigation
use. Typical winter daily
usage is approximately 2
million gallons of water
per day.
The daily usage increases
to over seven million gal-
lons per day in the summer
months. The City believes
that with minor changes
to the irrigation of our
green spaces it will see a
significant impact to the
water supply.
Durkee crash fatal
On July 4, 2015 at about
1:30 a.m., OSP Troop-
ers and emergency crews
responded to the report of a
rollover crash on Inter-
state 84 near milepost 327
(Durkee).
According to Trooper
Andrew McClay, a 2002
Hyundai Accent oper-
ated by Enrique Jiminez,
age 64, of Boise, ID, was
traveling westbound on
I-84 when it began to pass
a 2010 Ford Ranger pickup
operated by Taylor D.
Grove, age 24, of Phoenix,
AZ.
For unknown reasons,
Jiminez’s vehicle swerved
into Grove’s vehicle which
caused both vehicles to
lose control and exit the
interstate. Jiminez was
ejected from his vehicle as
it rolled over several times.
Emergency crews arrived
on scene and declared
Jiminez deceased. Grove
was not injured. Prelimi-
nary investigation indicates
Jiminez was not wearing
his safety belt. Alcohol
consumption by Jiminez is
suspected as the contribut-
ing factor of the crash.
OSP was assisted by the
Baker County Sheriff's
Office and the Oregon De-
partment of Transportation.
The investigation is
ongoing and more informa-
tion will be released when
it is available.