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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 2015)
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015 Business & Ag 10th Street businesses hold round table — Weekly Hay Report — Friday, October 9, 2015 — Eastern Oregon Prices trended generally steady compared to week ago prices. Export sales continue to be slow. Re- tail/Stable demand for all types of hay from Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson, Wasco counties continues to be good. Many producers have decided to hold on to their hay for now, in hopes for higher prices. Some producers are having their water rights cut off due to the drought. Tons Price Range Wtd Avg Alfalfa — Large Square, Good 500 150.00-150.00 150.00 Oat Straw — Large Square, Utility 400 45.00-45.00 45.00 Last week: Meadow Grass — Small Square, Good 34 175.00-180.00 179.41 USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov — Cattle Market Report — Wednesday, October 7, 2015 Vale, Oregon Cattle sold through the auction: 1587 Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press A group of business owners from 10th Street gathered last week to discuss a variety of topics that affect their area. BY GINA K. SWARTZ Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com Several 10th Street busi- nesses were represented at the most recent round- table discussion to address concerns and ideas of ways to improve the business district. In attendance at this meeting were Denzil Robbins from Robbins Farm Equipment, Dick Ghirst and Austin Coates from The Eagles on H Street, Rob Gaslin from St. Alphonsus, Dr. Lloyd Nelson who has a Chi- ropractic Clinic on 10th Street, Kevin Cornelius a contractor for Natural Structures, Debi Bainter, Executive Director of the Baker County Chamber of Commerce, Michelle Owen, Baker City Public Works Director and Holly Kerns, Baker County Plan- ning Director. As the meeting began Debi Bainter advised, “Snail mail notes to all business owners for the October meeting were sent out using property owner info from County website. Email reminders were sent of the meeting, personal invitations to the meeting by myself an others going to the businesses, press releases were done, and the information was posted on Facebook and in the Chamber enews.” As the discussion be- gan, Bainter explained that the focus needed to be on priorities the group needed to identify so that a longer term plan could be devised and after the first of the year focus could be made on securing funding for those projects. She brought along notes from previous meetings outlining topics that had been discussed already. Bainter also informed the group that she and Jeff Nelson of the Small Busi- ness Development Center, who was not present at this meeting, had been around to service organizations to make them aware of poten- tial plans and gain support including possible future financial contributions specifically the Kiwanas, the Lions, and the Rotary who also gave input on possible projects not previ- ously addressed at round- table meetings including plans for a walking path, an extension of the Leo Adler Memorial Parkway in essence be rerouted so as not to go past the Powder River Correctional Facility and the inclusion of a four way stop light at the intersection of 10th and Pocahontas. The addition of side- walks on portions of 10th Street lacking them was of large concern, as was cit- ing the safety of students utilizing the area during lunchtime and those who walk to access services at places such as the Depart- ment of Human Services. The question was raised why these meeting were being held in the first place and Bainter responded saying, “We have had a lot of pedestrian and bicycle issues on 10th Street— especially the pedestrians because we don’t have good sidewalks. It is of concern to have strollers, wheelchairs and others in the street and we are working with the school too because of the number of students accessing areas that don’t have those side- walks at lunch time.” Dick Ghrist suggested the addition of rapid flash- ing lights to indicate that someone wanted to cross the street because as he noted, “We see students going to the bowling al- ley, crossing 10th street, rapid flashing lights would warn drivers someone is crossing the street and if someone is passing in the other lane they don’t always see or notice. I actually saw that the other day and thought some kids were going to get hit.” Other issues mentioned were pedestrians crossing at the intersection of 10th Street and Broadway. That is a particularly unusual intersection and extremely dangerous for pedestrians crossing there. The suggestion of some type of barrier to dis- courage crossing at that particular spot has been made with the intention of getting those intending to cross there move down the street to a safer place. It was mentioned that even with a barrier of some sort to discourage crossing at that spot, there would be those that would simply do it anyway and “jump or climb over” any barrier erected. The intersection of 10th Street and Pocahontas/ Hughes Lane was a hot issue. “If going straight on through the intersection to head out to Haines, many people speed up and are going way too fast by the time they hit that intersec- tion,” said Denzil Robbins of Robbins Farm Equip- ment. Several suggestions were made to address that issue such as putting up a ‘what’s your speed’ sign to help make drivers aware of how fast they are going, installing a rapid flashing light at the intersection and possibly making the inter- section a four way stop. The group also men- tioned the possibility of dropping the speed limit from 35, as it is currently from approximately H Street, and keeping it 30 until after that particular intersection. Many other ideas floated around the table including Trolley stop turnouts— especially at the Health Department and hospital, eliminating on-street park- ing on 10th Street north of H Street, adding a rapid flashing beacon at 10th Street and H Street as this will naturally slow traffic as they are heading north toward highway 30 and the Pocahontas/Hughes Lane 10th street intersec- tion, and to make sure 10th Street has strong street lights like Main Street and Resort to deter dangerous behavior. Also noted was the po- tential need for traffic con- trol at D and 10th Street. The D street improve- ment was a State project even though the road was owned by the City because D Street was considered a Campbell Street reliever. There is potential to see some flexibility in fund- ing for a traffic light at D and 10th because of the changes that have occurred at that corner since the improvements. The group agreed to consider a rapid flashing beacon at this corner in lieu of an actual stop light as well. The group also men- tioned the potential for 11th Street Development to offset 10th and H Streets. There are plans in the works to extend the Leo Adler Memorial Parkway to the YMCA and to Phase in the bike path from H and 13th/Midway to 17th and 17th to Auburn. Rob Gaslin from St. Alphonsus said that he re- ally felt it was important to provide a safe walking en- vironment for the women residing at Recovery Village with their children as they do walk a lot to appointments etc. One thing was clear: Business owners and rep- resentatives were strongly against any idea that would include changing 10th Street to a similar setup as on Campbell Street. Many felt by taking that road from four lanes to two with the addition of a turn lane and bike lanes ruined that road and do not want to see a similar plan considered as way to ease some of the traffic and pedestrian concerns. As the meeting neared the end, Michelle Owen, City Public Works Director asked those in attendance to review the plans and decide what needed to be noted as priorities. She suggested creating a mis- sion statement as a way to show a unified community, thus adding to the possibil- ity of successfulness of grant options, and to set a time line in which to have final plans in place for ex- ample by January 1, 2016. Holly Kerns, planning Director advised from a planning standpoint it was important to get ideas rated and outlined so plans could be developed and the proj- ects could be moved into an action plan that would put them on track to begin being completed. It was agreed that a short survey would be created and sent to land owners. Results of the survey are expected to be reviewed at the next meeting Novem- ber 12. In addition to a survey being distributed, Bainter also suggested offering small meetings for owners and businesses spanning only couple blocks of 10th Street at a time, so they can focus on just the area around their business and offer additional sugges- tions or comments. 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N/A Younger Hfrts. 111.00 - 138.00 Stock Cows - 1025.00 - 1460.00 ProducersLivestock.com 541-473-3136 — Log Price Report — Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon Doug Fir is $415.00/mbf White fir is $365.00/mbf Ponderosa Pine is brought sold on diameter splits 6 to 11 inch dib $300 to $310/MBF 12 to 17 inch dib $350 to $375/MBF 18 to 23 inch dib $400 to $430/MBF 24 inch plus dib $450 to $500/MBF DIB is diameter inside bark at small end of log. MBF is thousand board feet lumber, net scale. People interested in selling logs should call and get specific quotes from saw mills. Courtesy of Arvid Andersen, Andersen Forestry Consulting — Precious Metals Report — Price per ounce, USD Gold: $1168.50 Silver: $15.91 Platinum: $989.50 Palladium: $682.70 Bloomberg.com — Ag Commodities — Corn: $384.50/bu/USD Wheat: $519.00/bu/USD Soybeans: $914.00/bu/USD Oats: $232.00 bu/USD Rough Rice: $12.60/cwt/USD Canola: $478.50 CAD/mwt Live Cattle: $137.20/lb./USD Feeder Cattle: $186.80/lb./USD Lean Hogs: $67.58//lb./USD Bloomberg.com
