FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2015
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Local / Opinion
Sumpter City Council Community Bank gets
tackles events, bills
high FDIC rating
BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH
Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Despite tackling some
difficult topics, the Sumpt-
er City Council moved
through Tuesday night’s
agenda with expedi-
ency and courtesy. Mayor
Leland Myers opened the
meeting with the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Minutes/Bills
After review, minutes
of November 10 (Council
meeting) and November 12
(special meeting regarding
procedure for employee
assistants and coverage)
were held for correction.
Minutes for November 18
(special meeting regarding
assistants) and December 2
(special meeting to review
proposed City Charter)
were approved, as was
payment of all bills.
Appointment of 2016/17
Budget Officer
Myers stated Kathi Vin-
son is the City bookkeeper
and has been their budget
officer. He suggested
reappointing her. Motion
passed. City Clerk Julie
McKinney stated Vinson
said the 2014/15 financial
review meeting will be
later this month.
Community events
Myers read a letter from
the Sumpter Valley Com-
munity Volunteers regard-
ing upcoming activities.
A Christmas bazaar will
be held at the Museum
Saturday and Sunday, De-
cember 12 and December
13. The Christmas parade
will be the evening of the
12th. A short tree-lighting
ceremony will start as soon
as the parade is over.
Barbara Malone stated
there have been rumors
going around that prereg-
istration for the parade is
required and that ATVs are
not wanted. Both rumors
are false.
Malone stated that if
anyone wants to partici-
pate, they should show up
at the groomer shed about
4 p.m. on the 12th. Utility
Manager Jeff McKinney
asked if he could drive his
lawnmower in the parade
and Malone said she didn’t
see why not.
Myers said a request
had been made to use the
City’s state and national
flag for the colors for the
parade. A motion to allow
this was passed.
John Young said the
Snowmobile Club has
traditionally held the
December 31st hot dog/
chili feed at the Grounds,
but there are problems with
this space including issues
with electricity and lack of
a warm building.
The Club would like to
hold the event at Volunteer
Park.
Fire Chief Clarke has
stated he is okay with a
bonfire there. A motion to
allow the use of Volunteer
Park for the event was
passed.
Planning Commission
Young gave the Plan-
ning Commission report.
The Commission has done
inspections on a couple of
projects.
A request from the Scoop
‘N Steamer was revoked
due to DEQ and septic
restrictions.
The business has pro-
ceeded with something else
and the Planning Commis-
sion will be looking into it.
LeAnne Woolf stated
that easement for pipelines
and tanks is the big issue
there.
Young said the Com-
mission has also done an
inspection on a request
by Greg Lucas regarding
an area being vacated. A
public hearing is scheduled
for January 7.
Mayor’s Report
Myers stated he is
pleased that staff was
able to get out and get the
streets plowed off so that
when it freezes again, it
will not be a pain to get
around. Myrna Clarke
shared concerns from Mike
at the Post Office regarding
accessibility.
Myers stated things
seem to be going well with
the Charter. Council met
December 2 to approve
the new charter version,
which will be presented to
citizens at a workshop on
December 16.
Utility Manager’s
Report
McKinney asked Myrna
Clark to thank Mike for his
input and explained that
when plowing, “We ad-
dress the higher elevations
first and then work our way
down. We get to everyone
as fast as we can.”
He reported that water is
flowing in well and sewer
is going out. “We’re in
good shape. Thank you.”
Fire Chief’s Report
Chief Kurt Clarke re-
ported no recent runs. He
said the overhead doors on
the Fire Station are having
issues and need to have
some work done.
Several fire trucks will
be in Saturday’s Christmas
parade. Dinner for the
Sumpter Fire/Auxiliary
and Powder River is De-
cember 15.
The oil leak in the QRU
was repaired. A fire truck
is in the shop for brake
work.
Don Taggart of Baker
City taught a CPR class us-
ing a new system Baker is
adopting. There is a little
to finish on Firefighter 1
Hazmat.
Clarke stated he will
have a list of new fire-
fighters to bring to the
first January City Council
meeting.
IFA Grant
Myers stated that noth-
ing has been done on
this yet, but that per the
City Handbook, they can
choose to use the engineer
that worked on the system
before without going
through the bid process.
He said that would be for
the future, if everyone was
in agreement.
Council member Cary
Clarke asked if it would be
okay to proceed now. A
motion was made to move
forward.
Young stated he has con-
cerns about using the same
engineer (Joe Hitz). He
said in working with him
previously there were con-
stant delays and his boss
had to finish the project.
He also mentioned a list
of items sent by DEQ.
Myers said he has
spoken to and worked with
the company (Sisul) before
and that DEQ has no prob-
lems with them.
McKinney asked if
there were issues with the
company, how long would
it take to terminate them.
Myers stated that there will
be a contract with condi-
tions and deadlines. If
those aren’t met, the com-
pany would be terminated.
Young stated Hitz has
never done a project like
this before and there are
lots of good companies
that have.
Myers stated they
needed to move on. A mo-
tion was on the table and
he called for a vote. The
motion passed.
IFA Watershed Grant
Council member Robert
Armbruster stated he has
tried several times to reach
Randy Jones at DEQ, but
has not received a return
call.
He said he can try to
find out once more the
scope and conditions of the
grant, but thinks they are
out of time.
Myers stated that Com-
missioner Harvey is work-
ing with the Forest Service
to get watersheds better
protected without the cities
having to do more.
Charter
Those in attendance
received the latest draft,
and a public workshop
will be held December 16
at 7 p.m. Myers stated no
changes will be made on
that date, but comments
from everyone will be
taken to the next meeting.
Volunteer Restrooms
Myers stated he has been
cleaning the restrooms
for the last month and
discovered today that the
lights weren’t working.
He reported finding a mess
where someone had an
accident and stated it was
definitely an accident, not
vandalism.
Council input
Council President Annie
Oakley asked about the
surplus. Myers stated they
will need to work on it
when things warm up. Jeff
McKinney said he thinks
the items are junk and
would like to push them
into the burn pile.
Oakley said she was
talking to Sharon Har-
ris, HR for City/County
Insurance Services (CIS),
and Harris is adamant
about having one person
as supervisor for all City
employees.
Oakley stated she would
like to proceed on that.
Council member Sammi
Esposito stated it sounds
like a good idea, and
would protect both sides if
any issues come up.
She stated, “Not some-
one to look down you
guy’s necks, but to know
what’s going on. Com-
munication is the biggest
problem we have.”
After discussion, Cary
Clarke was nominated to
supervise. Motion passed.
Myers stated something
was mentioned in the latest
issue of Local Focus that
everyone needs to be care-
ful about. He said even if
contacting only one person
at a time, if you contact
at least two other people
discussing City business in
a decision-making type of
conversation, it is consid-
ered conducting an illegal
meeting.
Public Input
Myrna Clarke asked if
the concerns Oakley had
regarding the Charter were
addressed and was assured
they were. Myers stated
the new charter is very
much in line with the LOC
model, which takes into
consideration all the dif-
ferent laws in effect at this
time. Further explanation
will be given at the upcom-
ing meeting.
SEE SUMPTER CITY
COUNCIL
PAGE 8
Community Bank,
headquartered in Joseph,
Oregon, recently received
the highest possible rat-
ing from the FDIC for its
most recent performance
under the Community
Reinvestment Act (CRA).
The Community Reinvest-
ment Act of 1977 requires
federally insured deposi-
tory institutions to support
the borrowing needs of all
the communities where
they do business, including
low- and moderate-income
areas.
The “Outstanding” rating
is based on Community
Bank's performance under
lending, investment and
community development
tests. These tests measure
residential, small business
and community develop-
ment lending, community
development investments
and community develop-
ment services in the com-
munities the bank serves.
In Oregon specifically,
the bank achieved an Out-
standing rating for both
lending and community
development. Community
Bank is currently the only
active Oregon chartered
bank to receive an Out-
standing in both areas. On
a national level, just 347 of
6,247 (5.5%) of federally
insured financial institu-
tions have an active overall
CRA rating of Outstand-
ing*.
“We are honored to
receive this rating, which
demonstrates our commit-
ment to the communities of
Eastern Oregon and South-
east Washington where
our bankers live, work and
operate your Community
Bank." said Tom Moran,
President and CEO of
Community Bank.
The CRA performance
evaluation made specific
references to Community
Bank's strengths, including
its lending efforts to small
businesses, farming opera-
tions and participation in
community development.
Since the last CRA rat-
ing, Community Bank
originated 14 community
development loans totaling
approximately $24.7 mil-
lion that directly benefited
the bank’s rural communi-
ties - including municipal
improvement projects,
economic development
loans and the construction
of medical facilities.
Additionally Community
Bank team members and
directors provided 4,227
service hours directly
relating to community
development and economic
development.
GI fairness bill passes
senate panel
Washington, D.C. – U.S.
Senators Ron Wyden, D-
Ore., and John Boozman,
R-Ark., today announced
that their bill to ensure
wounded members of the
Guard and Reserve will
receive the GI Bill benefits
they’ve earned passed the
Senate Veterans’ Affairs
Committee.
The bipartisan GI Bill
Fairness Act would ensure
that servicemembers of the
Guard or Reserve who are
wounded in combat are
eligible for the same GI
Bill benefits as active duty
members of the military.
Currently, wounded
Guard or Reserve members
are often given orders un-
der 10 USC 12301(h) for
their recovery, treatment
and rehabilitation.
Unfortunately, federal
law does not recognize
such orders as eligible for
Post-9/11 GI Bill education
assistance, meaning that
unlike other members of
the military, these mem-
bers of the Guard and Re-
serve actually lose benefits
for being injured in the line
of duty.
— Letters to the Editor —
To the Editor:
Before WWI John J. “Black Jack”
Pershing was the commanding general of
the U.S. Forces in the Philippines. Islamic
jihadists were on a killing rampage. The
general learned that the Islamic terrorists
believed pork was unclean and if they
died while exposed to pigs or pig parts
they would be defiled in heaven.
The general buried terrorists in graves
with pigs or pig body parts. The jihadists
backed off and the uprising was con-
trolled.
As you learned from recent news
articles there should be plenty of bodies
to bury with some pigs or pig parts. If no
bodies are available, put a live jihadist in a
cell with pig parts.
This might solve our problem with the
Islamic jihadists. Unfortunately, at the
present time our administration contains
enough people in favor of Islam that this
would not be practical.
Dr. Carl Kostol
Baker City
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services advertised.
Pork: the practical solution
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