10 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2016
Local
County Commissioners
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 3
A fi nal public hearing
was held in the matter
of Order No. 2016-101,
Naming A Private Road
Elk Camp Road, Located
Along The Eastern Bound-
ary Of Tax Lots 100 And
101 In Township 10 South,
Range 37 East, Section
03C W.M., Baker County,
OR.
An application was fi led
by property owner Carl
G. Patton, to name an
approximate 1,200 foot
long private road running
north from Sumpter Valley
Highway, Elk Camp Road.
Harris, after introducing
herself as a new Planner,
explained the details of the
order, which was then ap-
proved, with a motion from
Bennett, and, a second
from Kerns.
Martin read a County
Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG)
Report, form NEOEDD,
which stated in part, that,
“NEOEDD provided six,
six-session series of busi-
ness planning classes and
two, two-session classes on
social media or website de-
velopment in Baker, Union
and Wallowa counties with
CDBG funding.
“The total cost of the
eligible classes was
$43,698.86. NEOEDD
charged Baker County
$40,000 for the classes,
which was the total amount
of the CDBG grant to
Baker County.
“We greatly appreciate
your support of the micro
enterprise program and the
time your staff has spent to
monitor the grant activi-
ties.”
In all, according to the
document, 57 district stu-
dents attended classes, at a
cost of $702 per student.
Later, Dawson discussed
the AGORA platform,
which “...provides an
online marketplace to
advance community and
economic development
priorities by matching
community needs with
relevant funding sources
across public, private, and
philanthropic sectors,” ac-
cording to documentation.
The platform helps proj-
ect owners: connect with
potential funders; create
greater visibility for proj-
ects; prioritize needs and
issues, and; keep projects
up-to-date with relevant
information.
“In Ancient Greek cities,
the agora was the equiva-
lent of the ‘town square’
and served as the center
of political and economic
life,” according to www.
agora-platform.com.
A discussion regarding
House Bill (HB) 2624, a
measure to allow black
bears and cougars to be
hunted with the use of dogs
in Baker County, was post-
poned until a later date.
Bennett discussed a
fi ve-page letter addressed
from the Board to BLM
Vale District Manager
Don Gonzales, regard-
ing the County’s input
about the issues with the
Boardman to Hemingway
(B2H) Project Preliminary
Environmentally Preferred
Alternative.
Various concerns were
pointed out, including local
impacts, the lack of benefi t
to the County, the lack of
transparency, and, the lack
of consideration of issues
under the category of
social justice.
Bennett said that the
impacts were to primarily
senior citizens, and, this
has not been addressed yet.
He said impacts to a sig-
nifi cant number of female
landowners/operators has
also not been addressed.
Following the discus-
sion by the Board and
attendees, the letter was
approved to be sent, with a
motion from Harvey, and,
a second from Kerns.
Two executive sessions
were held, per Oregon
Revised Statutes (ORS)
192.660(2)(m)(C)(i).
The fi rst one was held to
discuss issues associated
with Mason Dam and hy-
droelectric details, between
the Board, Yencopal and
Gecy.
The second session was
held in order for the Board
to discuss details associ-
ated with the Columbia
Basin Helicopters/McCarty
legal case with Van Thiel.
Books from local authors make
great Valentine’s Day gift s!
Kerry McQuisten writing as
Kerry A. Jones
Mary Vinecore writing as
Mary Vine
Blacklyonpublishing.com • Amazon.com • Your local bookstore
Keep the
Bling in '16!
For Valentine's Day,
anyone can catch your
eye, but it takes
someone special to
catch your heart.
See unique styles by
Flower Engineers,
Denise & Alisa on
Facebook.
Hearts & Petals
Flower Shoppe
1788 Main St. in
Baker City
541-523-9434
8:30 - 5:30 M-F;
10-2 Sat.
FAFA requests withdrawal of Subpart A
Travel Analysis Report for
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
One month ago Region 6 of the US Forest
Service released the Travel Analysis report for
the Wallowa-Whitman & Malheur National
Forests, along with many others. Th e report
is incomplete and based on incorrect assump-
tions as no public meetings were held to spe-
cifi cally discuss future needs for management
and access in those forest. Th is plan will be
used as a springboard for further motorized
access restrictions being planned by the Super-
visors offi ces in Baker and John Day over the
next several years.
FAFA had requested access to the draft
report in April of 2015 so that we could give
input and be part of developing recommen-
dations that would work for the long-term
residents of the region. Regional Forester
Pena, along with Forest Supervisor Montoya
denied us access to the draft report. Worse off ,
is they ignored request from the Baker County
Commissioners to participate in development
of the report.
Since the US Forest Service has chosen to
ignore our needs and desires in their recom-
mendations, and the report will be used
against our communities, we are asking for
its withdrawal until such time as true public
input can be given instead of biased, agenda
driven report that does exactly what the For-
est Service set out to do in 2012, lock up as
much area as possible to the general public of
Eastern Oregon.
Letter to Secretary Vilsack requesting with-
drawal of the report – http://forestaccessforall.
org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Request-to-
direct-Region-6-offi ce-to-withdraw-the-Trav-
el-Analysis-Reports-12_29_2015.pdf
We appreciate your support, and if you feel
so inclined please write Washington DC and
let them know you expect the same.