12 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015
Local
County signs $8K per month contract with
Gregory Smith & Company, LLC, talks high
local tobacco use, ODOT snow fence move
• CITIZEN
PARTICIPATION
FOCUSES ON USFS
MEETINGS
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Baker County
Board of Commissioners
held a special session on
Wednesday, July 15, 2015,
at 9 a.m., in the Com-
mission Chambers of the
Baker County Courthouse.
Present from the Board
were Chair Bill Harvey,
Commissioners Mark Ben-
nett and Tim Kerns, and
Executive Assistant Heidi
Martin.
Attendance included
Baker County Health
Department Director Robin
Nudd, Baker County Road
Master Jeff Smith, Baker
County Planning Director
Holly Kerns, Baker County
Planner Kelly Howsley-
Glover, Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation
(ODOT) Project Leader
Sean Mahoney, ODOT
Roadway Designer Mark
Kightlinger, ODOT Area
Manager Craig Sipp, Ed
Hardt, John Creighton,
Ramona Creighton, Wanda
Ballard, Ken Andersen, Art
Sappington, and Suzette
Sappington.
Shortly after the Pledge
of Allegiance and Invo-
cation, the agenda was
adopted, with a motion
from Kerns, and a second
from Bennett.
During the Citizen
Participation segment,
Ramona Creighton shared
some comments regarding
two of the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice (USFS) forest access
workshops held recently
which she attended, in
Enterprise, and John Day.
She said attendance was
good at the workshops, but
she noted that, at the one
held in John Day, there
were issues pointed out
to the USFS concerning a
suitable landing strip for
Search and Rescue (SAR)
purposes.
Harvey pointed out is-
sues with road and area
name changes initiated
by the USFS, resulting in
future difficulties and con-
fusion with SAR emergen-
cies and other scenarios.
John Creighton com-
mented that, while he and
Ramona had attended one
of the meetings, USFS
staff had stated that Wal-
lowa County is unique, in
that it is the only county in
the state with a Natural Re-
source Advisory Commit-
tee (NRAC). He said that
he and others immediately
informed those attending
that that information is
incorrect, and that Baker
County has had an NRAC
for many years.
Art Sappington discussed
a presentation made re-
cently in Union, sponsored
by Oregon State University
(OSU), regarding timber,
mining, and agricultural
research, during which
partnership with local live-
stock and other producers
was solicited for data col-
lection, etc., but refused,
he said.
Nudd provided the Board
with a Health Department
update, including a discus-
sion of the role of the
department. She said some
of the program elements
the department handles are
communicable diseases,
including sexually-trans-
mitted diseases (STDs),
tobacco prevention and
education, and Women, In-
fants and Children (WIC).
Bennett asked Nudd
about addressing mari-
juana regulation along
with tobacco issues, since
recreational use of mari-
juana was legalized on July
1st of this year.
Nudd responded that
it’s important to have a
unified message about
smoke-free facilities,
campuses and areas in
the county, and possibly
vapor-free policies imple-
mented also.
Nudd said the county
ranks among the highest in
the state, as far as tobacco
use is concerned, noting
that a significant portion
of that is among pregnant
mothers.
She said, because of
the department’s funding
sources and associated
agreements, she and other
staff are not allowed to
teach tobacco prevention in
area schools, which didn‘t
make sense to Harvey.
Nudd discussed other
topics, including programs
administered by the depart-
ment, including Babies
First!, Oregon Mother’s
Care, and immunizations
for children. She also
noted that she would like
to see the Health Depart-
ment, on Pocahontas, more
centrally located within
Baker City, and a bet-
ter facility that meets the
department’s needs. Ben-
nett said he’d like to see a
Trolley stop included for
the department’s current
location.
Smith provided the
Board with documents
regarding a Road Depart-
ment purchase bid, for a
2006 Kenworth T800, from
Bowman Trucking, Inc.,
in La Grande, for $41,000.
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Citizen participation at the Commissioners’ session this week focused on public access and USFS
workshops held recently. Standing, John Creighton, seated in front Ramona Creighton, seated in back
Wanda Ballard.
Smith explained that the
funds would be available
from the department’s
budget, and, from the four
total bids provided, the
truck bid from Bowman
Trucking represents the ex-
act type of vehicle needed,
at the lowest cost, result-
ing in an upgrade for the
department’s belly dump
fleet. The purchase was
approved, with a motion
from Bennett, and a second
from Kerns.
Smith also noted a
future need to purchase
another vehicle, and said
funds would be available
for that. The Board ap-
proved the future purchase,
with a limit of $20,000,
with a motion from Ben-
nett, and a second from
Kerns.
The Board discussed
a Professional Services
Agreement between Baker
County and Gregory Smith
& Company, LLC, for
contract services to facili-
tate the implementation of
Economic Development.
The term of the agree-
ment, from July 1, 2015
to June 30, 2017, includes
monthly payments of
$8,000, for a yearly sum of
$96,000.
Harvey emphasized that
there was public confusion
previously regarding this
contract, and that Smith as
an individual is not paid
the total, but the $96K
per year is paid to Smith’s
company. Smith pays
for his company’s staff,
materials, etc. at his discre-
tion. Smith’s company
also contracts with other
neighboring and presum-
ably competing Oregon
counties to provide similar
business development
services to those provided
Baker County.
Smith’s contract was
approved, with a motion
from Bennett, and a second
from Kerns.
Lea Hoover, Baker
Heritage Museum Director,
was not present to discuss
a requested spending au-
thority approval, so Martin
discussed the details with
the Board.
She said that the request-
ed approval is for $25,000
in flexible spending within
the museum’s budget,
which will be used for
various purposes. The re-
quest was approved, with a
motion from Bennett, and
a second from Kerns.
Holly Kerns and
Howsley-Glover discussed
with the Board, during a
public hearing, the second
reading of Ordinance No.
2015-04, An Ordinance
Changing The Zone Of
Tax Lot 4001 In Township
8 South Range 38 East,
From Exclusive Farm Use
(EFU) To Timber Grazing
(TG). As this matter in-
volves individuals related
to Commissioner Kerns, he
recused himself during this
hearing. The ordinance,
in title only, was adopted,
with a motion from Ben-
nett, and a second from
Harvey.
Sipp, Kightlinger and
Mahoney talked about
an ODOT snow fence
project, as an informa-
tional discussion, with the
Board, and provided maps
detailing the locations.
This includes fencing
already installed south of
Culley Lane, east of I-84,
called Site 1, which is
expected to be extended
south. Site 2, which would
include fencing north of
Culley Lane, also east of
I-84, would prove more
challenging, because of
possible interference with
a privately-owned pivot
irrigation system, due to
public right-of-way.
All three members of
the Board voiced con-
cerns about interfering
with the pivot system, and
explained that any land-
owners involved would
need to receive a fair deal
negotiating with ODOT,
which could include com-
pensation for any losses
incurred, or modification to
the pivot system.
Any landowners in-
volved would need to have
agreements with ODOT,
and issues would need
to be resolved with them
satisfactorily, before the
Board would address the
issue, all three Commis-
sioners explained.
Sipp, Kightlinger and
Mahoney responded that
all efforts were being made
to lessen impacts, and to
arrive at solutions accept-
able to everyone involved.
Order No. 2015-134, Ap-
pointing A Member To The
Baker County Weed Board,
was approved, with a mo-
tion from Bennett, and a
second from Kerns. Kathy
Thompson was appointed,
her term set to expire on
April 1, 2018.
Order No. 2015-135,
amending Order No.
2015-133, Re-Appointing
A Member To The Baker
County Cultural Coali-
tion, was approved, with
a motion from Kerns, and
a second from Bennett.
Aletha Bonebrake was re-
appointed, her term set to
expire on July 1, 2018.
Kerns discussed a recent
Tri-County Weed Board
meeting he attended, stat-
ing issues with coordina-
tion and communication
voiced by some between
that Board and Arnie
Grammon, Baker County
Weed Department Man-
ager. Kerns and Bennett
said it’s important to keep
working together with Tri-
County, but Bennett and
Harvey noted that they still
had not received informa-
tion regarding expendi-
tures of government funds
within Baker County by
Tri-County.
Harvey said the funds
should be used to utilize
local people to address
weed issues, rather than
using out-of-area staff.
Kerns said he would keep
the Board informed of
future developments from
the Tri-County Board.
Harvey discussed with
the Board a request from
the Greenhorn City Coun-
cil, for $80,000, through
funding or other services,
from Baker County, for
improvements to the city’s
water supply system, a
city park project, and an
emergency landing strip
project.
The City Council in-
cluded a request for Baker
County, which owns lots in
that area, to donate those.
The discussion was tabled
for now pending further
investigation into associ-
ated issues, with a motion
from Harvey, and a second
from Kerns.
Oregon’s digital newspaper
project moves ahead
The Oregon Digital Newspaper
Program (ODNP) is an initiative to
digitize historic Oregon newspaper
content and make it freely available
to the public through a keyword-
searchable online database.
The initial phase of the program,
through the University of Oregon,
has concentrated on newspapers pub-
lished between 1860 and 1922, with
approximately 150,000 pages made
freely available online in the first two
years (2009-2011).
The ODNP was also constructed to
help facilitate the digitization of Ore-
gon newspapers by outside organiza-
tions/individuals. The program will
deliver access for people who can’t
get to a library to use microfilm.
The resulting product will be an
open state-wide resource for historic
Oregon newspapers online.
This year, newspapers through the
present year are at last being up-
loaded to the project’s Google Drive
for inclusion in this online database.
These papers do include most news-
papers published in Baker County.
Several hundred thousand news-
paper pages can be found online
at already at: http://oregonnews.
uoregon.edu.
The Oregon Digital Newspaper
Program is committed to providing
free online access to historic Oregon
newspapers. This is made possible
with the support of federal and state
grants, the UO Libraries, and through
private donations.