10 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015
Local
City Council: Kee to retire,
new council member begins
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Citizen Participation
Jodi Tool, Transporta-
tion Options Coordinator
with Community Con-
nection spoke to Council
about the vanpool project
she is working on with an
employer in La Grande in
an effort to get employees
from Baker County to
Union County for job op-
portunities.
Mayor Mosier stated she
had heard input that the
agenda be changed to al-
low for appointment of the
vacant Council seat at the
beginning rather than later
in the meeting.
Acknowledging the
importance of this she also
suggested that the mat-
ter be moved but be done
after the discussion of the
graffiti ordinance due to
the fact that contracted
legal representation Drew
Martin was present for that
discussion and Mosier felt
since he was being paid
for his time at the meeting
it would be more fiscally
responsible to get to that
discussion and have him
dismissed rather than pay
him to sit through the
pomp and circumstance of
appointing a new councilor
first.
With agreement amongst
the council they moved on
to the discussion first.
Discussion Of Graffiti
Ordinance
City Manager Mike Kee
advised Council that in
June of this year it was
brought to the attention
of the City Police Depart-
ment that graffiti was on
the backside of the Eltrym
Theater.
After speaking with the
building owners to make
them aware of the graffiti
as per the City’s graffiti
ordinance, 14 days were
given for the graffiti to be
removed.
The owners removed the
majority of the graffiti but
chose to keep what is now
referred to as the “Movie
Mouse or Movie Rat.”
The owners notified the
Police Department that
they had removed all of
the graffiti aside from that
which they had chosen
to keep, and refused to
remove the rest.
Due to specifics of the
ordinance the building
owners were issued a cita-
tion for not removing all of
the graffiti as required. No
similar issues concerning
the ordinance have arisen
since the ordinance was
put into place in 2009.
The Baker County Juve-
nile Department has in the
past helped with removal
of graffiti at no additional
cost the building owners.
Kee said, “There has
been some criticism in the
community about a lack
of flexibility with this ...
This is an unusual case
due to the content of the
graffiti and the fact that the
owner of the building likes
having it on the building.
There has also been further
criticism because there is
graffiti around the city that
has not been addressed
by the Police Department
and other times as soon
as graffiti shows up they
are right on it. In talking
with the Police Department
about this, I was advised
they handle graffiti on a
complaint basis.”
The ordinance clearly
says that if “art” is added
onto a building with prior
authorization it is deemed
okay, but without it, is
considered graffiti even if a
building owner likes it.
The matter was brought
before the City Council
in an effort to clarify the
ordinance.
Councilor Thomas asked,
“Is there any chance that
the owner of the place
could paint over it and then
have the artist come back
with authorization and
repaint it?”
Kee replied, “It is my
understanding they don’t
know where to find this
guy.”
Mosier said, “I under-
stand where Councilor
Thomas was going with
that and I had the same
thought. Then after think-
ing about it for a while and
talking with people in the
community it seemed just
a ludicrous result that we
would ask that. I’d like to
see us make an ordinance
that will work better for
our community.”
City Attorney Drew Mar-
tin addressed Council with
ideas of how the ordinance
could be changed so that it
worked better. One of the
suggestions was to change
wording to address graffiti
as, “Anything that is unau-
thorized by the land owner
or otherwise considered
nuisance by the City.”
Mosier asked Martin
to give his impression of
a possible alternate to the
graffiti ordinance.
Martin suggested specific
wording like prior autho-
rization be removed and
changed simply to authori-
zation that way if a build-
ing owner wishes to keep
something as long as it is
not a nuisance, they can.
Mosier questioned who
would be responsible for
determining what was a
nuisance. The question was
not really answered and
left to interpretation yet
implied that maybe if there
became an issue the matter
would be brought to City
Council to decide.
It was agreed that there
also needed to be some
type of appeal to the City
Council before any formal
enforcement of the ordi-
nance.
Other suggestions
included adding wording
that required the complaint
to come directly from a
citizen of Baker City not
an out of town person or
a member of law enforce-
ment.
Brian Vegter of the Pub-
lic Arts Commission spoke
to Council about concerns
of vindictiveness about the
complaint-based system.
He asked the council to
consider that as a possibil-
ity and that the issue be
addressed and planned for
as far as a review in place
for such situations.
He stated that the Public
Arts Commission members
have all agreed that they
would be willing to help
advise in such a situation.
He gave some insight as to
what may have gone into
the design and application
of the “Movie Mouse”
even going so far as to
name the person that was
assumed to have done the
work.
He also noted that
everyone’s taste in art is
different and he respects
that. He went on to say
while he believes the
members of the Public Arts
Commission really under-
stand art and what goes
into making it they do not
advocate people randomly
putting things on buildings
without permission. In this
particular case if asked, the
Eltrym would definitely
ask for it to be placed on
the building.
Council agreed reword-
ing the ordinance was the
best solution and requested
staff work with the assis-
tance of the city attorney to
bring a revised ordinance
before the council.
Appoint New City
Council Member
A vacancy that was left
by the departure of Ben
Merrill was filled Tuesday
evening.
At the September 22
Council meeting it was
agreed that applications
and letters of interest
would be accepted with the
selection of a new member
to be made at this Council
meeting.
Four candidates filed:
Margaret “Sandy” Lewis,
Dawn Buckelew, Randy
Dougherty, and Michael
Meyer.
Councilors were able to
review applications and
letters before the meeting.
Councilors cast their
votes as follows: A total of
three votes were cast for
Sandy Lewis by Coun-
cilors Abell, Downing
and Mayor Mosier. Two
votes were cast for Randy
Dougherty by Councilors
Langrell and Thomas, and
one vote was cast for Mi-
chael Meyer by Councilor
Augenfeld. No votes were
cast for Buckelew.
Lewis was immediately
sworn in and took a seat
with her fellow councilors
next to Mayor Mosier for
the remainder of the meet-
ing.
Grant Update
Kat Davis, the contract-
ed Grant writer for the City
gave an update to Coun-
cil on a couple of open
projects that she is seeking
grant funding for.
The first is for the Sam-
O Swim heating system
upgrades.
“This seems to have been
in the process for a very
long time,” Davis said.
Davis supplied council
with a printout of fund
sources, amount requested,
amount received and the
status of those funds.
With the budgeted
amount from the city and
grants that have already
been awarded of $103,000
there is still a gap of
$87,000.
A grant request from the
Ford Family Foundation
in the amount of $60,000
has been made and the
City was notified of receipt
of the request. “We will
then go on from there once
we know how much Ford
Family Foundation will
grant us, we are trying
to come in right on the
money,” said Davis. She
explained that this has
been a large grant writing
project and how difficult
it was to fund municipal
projects.
She then spoke of Vi-
brant Baker City Experi-
ence concept.
Davis said, “The idea
behind this is to market
Baker City as an open,
welcoming, vibrant, cre-
ative based community to
attract a younger popula-
tion base, a 25-45 age de-
mographic that tends to be
entrepreneurial. Creative
class workers, writers, art-
ists, software developers,
anything that is a creative
based endeavor.”
Davis went on to ex-
plain it was a small grant
amount that she is looking
for but is not very far along
in the process. Her goal is
for the grant to pay for a
coordinator that can bring
the elements together.
Sam- O Swim Pool
Resurfacing Bid Award
Michelle Owen ad-
dressed Council regarding
the bid that the Sam-O
committee has put forth
for recommendation. Mid
America Pool Renova-
tion was the bid selected
at a cost of $69,250. The
original amount budgeted
for the project was $60,000
however the Committee
chose to utilize $10,000
allocated for shower
replacement allowing for
$70,000 toward the pool
resurfacing project. Owen
told Council she had
checked references of Mid
America Pool Renova-
tions all with very favor-
able comments in regards
to professionalism and
quality of work. She also
noted that Mid America’s
bid was the lowest mainly
due to much less expensive
costs for tile. She noted
when asked about this
she was informed that the
company lowers that cost
in an effort to secure jobs
and keep their employees
working rather than laying
them off in the slower sea-
son. Owens expressed that
practice as very impressive
to her. Councilor Downing
motioned that this bid be
accepted with a second by
Councilor Thomas. The
Council voted unani-
mously to accept the bid.
Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press
Sandy Lewis was sworn in as the new council mem-
ber immediately after she received three of the six
votes, filling Ben Merrill’s vacated position.
Owens indicated that Mid
America will be available
for this project in Novem-
ber with the installation of
the already approved and
ordered sand filters occur-
ring at the end of the pool
resurfacing project, so that
with the Councils approval
this was expected to hap-
pen quickly.
Ordinance #3345 Pro-
hibited Park Activities:
Third Reading
Owens read this ordi-
nance by title only for the
third time. She advised
signs had been ordered and
would be posted as soon as
the ordinance was passed.
There is an emergency
clause in the ordinance that
will allow it to take im-
mediate effect.
Newly appointed Coun-
cilwoman Lewis asked
if there was any specific
wording in the ordinance
allowing wheelchairs, both
electric and manual to be
utilized differently than say
an electric scooter.
A discussion among
council, Michelle Owen
and Mike Kee ensued with
a final decision being that
due to ADA requirements
wheelchairs both electric
and manual were excluded
from requirements in this
ordinance because of those
requirements and the fact
that they cannot be dis-
criminated against.
Those needing those
devices for mobility was a
different matter than just
blatant disrespect for City
Park property. Downing
made a motion to approve
the third reading of the
ordinance with a second by
Councilor Thomas second-
ing the Council approved
the Ordinance.
Resolution #3760
Adopting Anthony Sil-
vers Street Tree Grant
Program Allocations
A substantial amount of
money was left to the city
specifically for the benefit
of Street Trees in Baker
City.
SEE CITY COUNCIL
PAGE 11
MOVI NG
AUCTI ON
Horse Draw n Vehicles-
Antiques/ Collectibles-Tools-
Misc. Shop
Saturday Oct. 17th, 2015
Time:10:00 A.M. PDT • Sale Located
at: 73972 Hw y. 82, Elgin, Ore.
Sale Located at: 73972 Hwy #82. East on Hwy #82 to the intersection of Hwy
82/ Hindman Rd. (mile post 25.6) Terms: Cash or bankable check day of sale.
No merchandise removed prior to settlement. 10% buyers premium.
Concessions available on site.
Auctioneers Note: Cliff and Judy Tschirgi have been business owners/ranchers in the
Grand Rhonde Valley for more than 35 years. With a change in direction, they are down-
sizing their nice, clean property at auction. Plan on attending this unique auction sale.
Horse Drawn Vehicles: late 1800's Surrey
w/fringe top; late 1800's Dr.'s buggy w/ new old
stock runners included, both have new uphol-
stery and are restored, shaves and tongue avail-
able; 4 seat sleigh w/original shaves and original
mohair upholstery.
Carriage Horse: Good looking registered
Morgan Palomino gelding, 14.2H, 900 lbs.(ap-
prox) 9 yo. Professionally trained to drive and
ride. Point earner is different shows.
Collectibles: 3-wood burning stoves,
Colonial cook stove (Portland Iron works), Dow-
agic stove, Great Western Duplex wood stove;
3- cast iron bath tubs; Stanley # 35 rabbit plane,
#6 jack plane; Prairie #2 25 lb. Brass spring
scale; vintage logging tongs; nice 24 slot oak
letter rack; Maytag wringer washer; one-lunger
washing machine engine; antique tools; dual can
dispenser 7-up vending machine w/key; 1920's
G.E./Hotpoint automatic electric range (very
clean); Duncan-Pfiffe table and chairs; nice faint-
ing couch (ready to be re-finished); 7 ft. buffet
(probably oak); 1920's bridge lamp; 5 gal. And
2 gal. Wearever cast aluminum stock pots; Ruby
Red punch bowl set; 6 pt Elk mount; Black Bear
head mount; neat and clean steamer trunk w/
original drawers and hangers; vintage bat wing
chaps;
Saddles and Tack: 15 1/2” bench made
cutting saddle (D. Cunningham-G. Von Dohns
maker, Union, Or.), 15 1/2” Herford by Tex Tan
(old style); 3- 13 and 13” saddles, good quality;
3 sawbuck saddles; 1 pr. Ralhide back boxes; 1
pr. Pack bags; 2-Australian stock saddles; 1 pr.
Saddlebags; more to find.
Furniture and Appliances: White
Kenmore 400 washing machine; white Kenmore
18 cu. ft. double door refrigerator; maroon Laz-
E-Boy couch w/dual recliners; beige 4’ round
great chair/couch; Hamilton-Beach convection
oven; central vacuum system, new in box; like
new NordicTrak Tread Climber exercise ma-
chine; wrought iron style patio furniture; wicker
furniture;more to find.
Shop and Misc.: Bark Buster (P.T.O. Wood
splitter); P.T.O post auger w/12” bit; 16 ft. Pow-
der River Classic gate; misc. panels; Lincoln 225
Amp arc welder; a good selection of Craftsman
power tools to include, 20 gal., 2hp air compres-
sor; 12” table saw w/extensions; Radial arm saw;
6” joiner; 12” band saw; Shaper; 5 hp single
phase pump; John Deere RX75 riding lawn
mower; 20+ 4 X 4 X 8 pressure treated posts; ap-
prox. 22 7' mid-weight T-posts; partial roll Red
Brand barb wire; 134A Freon w/ hoses; Echo PB-
1010 leaf blower; McCullough Silver Eagle 3420
chain saw; high wheel lawn mower; Hi-Lift jack;
new deep sink; 4 rolls 1 1/2” fire hose; frost free
hydrants; broadcast spreader; locust firewood;
new Camp Chef 2 burner gas stove; new Cole-
man 2 burner propane stove; Coleman 2 burner
gas stove; Misc. camping and fishing equipment.
more to find.
Partial list only: As we find more during set up we will post those that warrant advertis-
ing on our web site. For pictures to to www.snakeriverauction.com. To arrange absentee
or telephonic bidding call Roger at (541)212-5918. Preview Friday Oct. 16th. 12-4:00 p.m.
Sale Conducted by
Snake River Auction L.L.C.
P.O. Box 672 Payette, I d. 83661
( 541) 212-5918