FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2015
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 9
Local
Potential cell towers discussed New 5J
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 1
Christine Smith, a
Verizon representative
from Portland, presented
the Commission with the
assurance that the towers
would be noiseless and
unstaffed other than for
biweekly maintenance.
Smith told the Commis-
sion that cell phone use
was doubling each year,
with 39% of all households
having switched to “pure
wireless.”
Smith explained that
70% of 911 calls are now
from cell phones, and that
the capacity of current tow-
ers was no longer adequate
to support the increase in
demand.
Smith went on to ex-
plain that every industrial
owner in both areas had
been approached for their
input on the towers.
She reassured the Com-
mission that the proposed
site on East Street would
not affect most nearby
properties negatively.
“Verizon is committed
to safety,” she explained,
“and the towers are as
minimally intrusive as pos-
sible. They will provide for
present and future needs.”
Commissioner Chair
Alan Blair stated, “I am
unsure of your (Verizon’s)
investment in contacting
all potential landowners in
the area. Why not co-locate
on one of the light poles in
Leo Adler field? They are
already 80’ tall, and they
would love a bit of extra
income from leasing it to
you.”
Smith explained that Ve-
rizon wanted to “give other
companies the opportunity
to co-locate their equip-
ment on Verizon towers”
and that “the FCC required
the co-location whenever
possible.” She further
stated that the height re-
quested was so co-location
would be possible as 20’
per individual company’s
equipment was necessary.
She did not mention the
amount Verizon charged
other companies and, when
asked directly, was unable
to quote a figure
The public comments
potion of the meeting was
opened with Anne Me-
haffey making the state-
ment that “the criteria are
not met for urban design”
and there was no docu-
mentation of alternate sites
being explored.
Whit Deschner stated,
“This (the tower) is not a
necessity; it’s visual pollu-
tion and I am against it.”
Kata Bulinski said, “I am
in opposition. There are
no benefits to Baker Cit .
Fiber optic lines were
installed 12 years ago and
we were told we would
all benefit but we are not
benefiting yet. There is no
need for this.” Her state-
ment drew applause from
the community members
present.
Don Fink, the owner
of the land the proposed
tower would occupy, stated
his support of Verizon’s
plan. “The ten tall light
poles with bright lights at
Leo Adler field are more
intrusive,” he said.
Brian Watt was opposed.
He is concerned about
visual pollution.
Penny Rienks, also
opposed, has concerns
about the towers being on
the flight path of the Life
Flight helicopters.
Ryc Rienks said ,“The
Verizon representative
was unable to answer the
good questions raised. She
is not well prepared, not
really able to provide good
responses.”
Sean Peterson stated, “I
am against both sites. The
data presented by Verizon
used national statistics.
Baker is an anomaly.”
Terry Dever-Gee asked
“what is the search range?
Can there be one tower on
one side of the city and one
on the other? How about
in the future? Will there be
more?”
Gary Marlette reminded
all present, “Rand McNally
selected Baker City as one
of the five most beautiful
towns in America. Cell
towers do not belong.”
After all speakers had
the opportunity to state
their concerns, the Com-
mission took the motion to
continue, and leave com-
ments open until the next
meeting.
Commissioners then
considered the second pro-
posed site, on 11th Street.
This site is zoned in-
dustrial, so the variance
requested by Verizon is 50’
for their 100’ tower.
Verizon representative
Smith explained that all
else in their application
was the same as for the
East Street site.
Public comments were
opened.
Sean Peterson reiterated
his concerns, adding that
he owned a rental home
nearby and that he disliked
the idea of his renters liv-
ing next to a transmission
tower.
“Many other co-location
sites are available,” he
said. “Even the Geiser
Grand owners offered
a hidden location in the
cupola on their roof. We
have all been invested in
building Baker up, the tow-
ers will impact property
and investment values.”
Byron Henry, a local
rancher, told attendees, “I
have three towers on my
property. They pay $1,500
per tower, per month.
There is a loud whistling
sound, like a big flock
of birds, by the towers.”
Henry went on to say, “I
know the plan is for the
towers to take over all the
land lines.”
Terry Drever-Gee asked,
“Why can’t we co-locate?
What is the exit strategy
if these towers don’t meet
their needs? Will we just
have non-working towers
left there?”
Anne Mehaffey quoted
the Baker County Devel-
opment Codes regarding
the protection of private
owners.
The Commissioners
came to the same conclu-
sion with the second site
application.
They requested that
Smith, Verizon’s represen-
tative, gather information
to answer the questions
to which she had been
unable to respond, and left
comments open until the
next Planning Commission
meeting, October 14, 2015.
School Board
member
appointed
• SWIGER-HARRELL TO FILL RICH MCKIM’S
VACATED POSITION
BY BRIAN ADDISON
Brian@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Baker School District 5J Board of Directors selected
Autumn Swiger-Harrell to fill Board Position 4. The
position was vacated by Richard McKim, on August 27,
2015, who resigned from the board after accepting a job
with the Veteran’s Administration in Roseburg, Oregon.
Swiger-Harrell fills the position, which expires in 2017.
She joins fellow board members chair Kevin Cassidy,
vice chair Melissa Irvine, Chris Hawkins, and Andrew
Bryan.
Harrell, 41, joins the board after a recent appointment
to the Baker School District Budget Board. She gradu-
ated high school from Baker High School and works as
a physician’s assistant. Her interest in joining the school
board was, in part, generated by the enrollment of her
own young children in the district.
“I have been an active volunteer in our community and
schools over the years but at this time I have a strong
desire to contribute even more to the continued success
of our schools with service on the Board. With this, there
is a lot of responsibility and I am committed to educating
myself as rapidly as possible to allow me to be a produc-
tive member of the team,” Swiger-Harrell wrote in her
application letter.
“I grew up in Baker and as a successful product of the
Baker School District, I have always been aware of the
importance of the success of our school district,” Swiger-
Harrell wrote. “Now that I have young children who are
just starting their own educational journey, I am even
more invested in the present and future well-being of our
school district.”
The innovation of the district with development of the
Baker Technical Institute and Eagle Cap Innovative High
School were noted by Swiger-Harrell. “I look forward
to bringing my own ability to think outside the box to a
district with similar strengths,” she states.
Swiger-Harrell was sworn in and began her service on
the all-volunteer board of directors during the school
board meeting September 15, 2015.
Powder River cleanup
brings 46 volunteers
together at the river
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Last Saturday morning,
members of the Powder
Basin Watershed Council
(PBWC), with assistance
from volunteers in the
community, once again
completed a success-
ful cleanup event, which
included the collection
of trash from a two-mile
local stretch of the Powder
River, and the replace-
ment of vandalized native
shrubs.
The event, organized
by the PBWC and held in
both the spring and the fall,
brought together a total
of 46 volunteers (21 of
which were 18 and under),
including the Baker City
Girl Scouts, Baker Techni-
cal Institute (BTI), Wells
Fargo, and other local
individuals, Anna Morgan,
Outreach Coordinator for
PBWC, said.
The volunteers filled
42, 35-gallon contractor
garbage bags, for a total of
650 pounds of trash in 3
hours. The most common
items found were cigarette
butts, followed by food and
drink containers, clothing,
and construction mate-
rial. Dead fish and birds
were also found (some
volunteers had waders and
other types of boots), and
the most interesting item
collected was a suitcase,
Morgan said.
“According to SOLVE
(Stop Oregon Litter and
Vandalism), cigarette butts
are the most common type
of litter found worldwide.
Cigarette filters are made
of a type of plastic and
do not biodegrade in the
environment. They can
introduce toxins into the
environment of the food
web if eaten by wildlife,”
she said, noting they’re the
#1 item of concern for her.
A Volunteer Ocean Trash
Data Form, provided by
Morgan, and later forward-
ed to the Ocean Conser-
vancy in Washington, D.C.,
shows 351 cigarette butts
were collected, along with
142 food wrappers, and
115 each of plastic grocery
bags and other plastic bags.
There were 57 plastic
beverage bottles found, 48
straws/stirrers, 41 plastic
bottle caps, 30 beverage
cans, 29 paper cups and
plates, 25 paper bags, 22
plastic takeout containers,
17 plastic lids, 10 tobacco
packing/wrap, nine glass
beverage bottles, six each
of metal bottle caps and
foam cups and plates, and
other various items, includ-
ing some not necessarily
fully recorded.
PBWC Executive Direc-
tor Johanna Sedell stood
at the west end of Geiser-
Pollman Park that morn-
ing, with volunteer sign-up
sheets, bottled water, trash
bags, gloves, and vari-
ous other items, including
PBWC information. She
explained the reason for
the replantings, the result
of vandalism last May, in
the City park by the river
at Kirkway and Hughes
Lane (the northernmost
point of the Leo Adler
Memorial Pathway).
“In April we just did
the cleanup, but this (the
fall) is the best time of
year to plant. The vandal-
ism included a restitution
payment, so, we’ve been
waiting to get the plants
back in until the fall. They
came from The Plant-
works, in Cove (a native
plant nursery),” she said.
There were 29 plantings,
Morgan said, which in-
cluded Wood’s Rose, Wax
Current, Redosier Dog
Wood, Willow, Golden
Current, Pacific Nine Bark,
and Lewis’ Mock Orange
(all native, found along
the pathway). Supervis-
ing the replanting effort
were BTI Aquaponics and
Aquaculture teacher Burke
Smejkal, and PBWC Out-
reach Coordinator Meghan
Rorick. The volunteers
periodically received
positive comments from
nearby bicyclists on the
pathway, who were part of
the Cycle Oregon event,
though Smerjkal noted that
a posted speed limit of pos-
sibly 5 to 10 miles an hour
on that area of the pathway
would be an improvement.
In an email to BTI
students, Morgan said,
“As far as the plantings
go, all the hard work your
class pulled off will help
to improve river health on
many levels. First, plant-
ing native plants in riparian
zones provides more shade
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Volunteers, 46 to be precise, cleaned up two miles of the Powder River,
replaced vandalized shrubs and so much more last weekend.
for streams. Cold water
holds more dissolved
oxygen and supports native
wildlife, including stronger
immune systems in fish.
The root systems of native
plants provide structure
and stability for stream
banks. This helps not
only improve the overall
diversity and quality of soil
life, but also prevents soil
erosion from occurring.
Native plants also provide
habitat for wildlife. In
fact, up to 93% of all wild-
life in Oregon utilize ripar-
ian corridors during some
point in their life cycle
(according to SOLVE).
Lastly, a diversity of
trees and shrubs slows
down the flow of urban
and agricultural runoff, and
can filter out pollutants,
particularly heavy met-
als, which is essential to
maintaining a healthy and
vibrant river.”
Morgan said the Girl
Scouts (who headed south
from the Library on the
pathway to Auburn Street,
collecting trash) are cur-
rently looking for service
projects to complete their
Gold Award requirements,
and, “We hope that this
event sparked some ideas
of interest and highlighted
community issues that
need solving.” Troop
leader Norma Upmeyer
can be reached at 541-403-
9518.
“We were also very
excited to partner with
Baker Technical Institute
and be able to offer com-
munity service hours for
attendance to the event…
We hope to inspire a sense
of stewardship in Baker
Technical Institute students
while also teaching them
technical scientific skills to
be used as they seek future
career opportunities,”
Morgan said.
“It is the first time we
have had more than ten
people at our cleanups and
I hope it inspires commu-
nity members to become
more involved in future
projects,” she said.
The mission of the
PBWC is to “…promote,
restore, and enhance the
health of our watersheds
through the cooperation
of all stakeholders.” The
PBWC can be contacted at
541-523-7288, or pbw-
ced@qwestoffice.net.