8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2016
Local
City Council
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 1
Councilor Langrell
spoke, stating he felt hav-
ing Eric Owen on the Air-
port Board was a conflict
since his wife was public
Works Director Michelle
Owen.
Mike Kee assured
Council since no money
was involved it was not a
conflict.
“Well, I for one will
not vote for him,” said
Langrell.
Councilor Downing
moved to approve Owen
to the airport board with
a second by Councilor
Lowe, all councilors voted
to approve except Langrell.
Councilor Lowe then
moved to approve Con-
stantine to the tree board
with a second by Councilor
Thomas, that vote was
unanimous.
“I’d like to thank those
citizens for stepping for-
ward,” said Mosier.
Council next heard
from Blue Mountain Com-
munity College (BMCC).
The presentation was
given by Dan Koopman,
BMCC Baker County
Center Director.
He depicted trends and
demographics seen over
time, the last 10-years and
currently.
He noted than in strong
economic times enrollment
generally decreases and in
weaker times enrolment
rises however the enrol-
ment rate in baker County
has remained fairly steady
regardless.
Jeff Nelson, who is part
of BMCC’s Small Busi-
ness Development Center,
addressed Council as to
the role the SBDC plays
helping establish new busi-
nesses and sustain current
businesses in our com-
munity.
He spoke briefly about
the newest program that
was started last year at
Powder River Correctional
Facility and has been very
successful thus far.
In fact, as Nelson indi-
cated, others in the state
wanted to used them as a
model to begin their own
programs.
Mosier commented that
at the last Council meeting
a presentation had been
made by BTI regarding
moving in a direction of
becoming an accredited
college, and she asked the
question of where that fit
in with their picture of the
future.
BMCC president Cam
Preus was present and
addressed Council regard-
ing that issue, stating the
conversations were just be-
ginning to happen and the
road was still being trav-
elled. Mosier mentioned
access and space being of
concern, to which Preus
agreed and advised new
space was being sought ei-
ther by being purchased or
built and as far as access,
she assured everyone that
what was being offered
was state-of-the-art.
Many classes were
being offered by telecom
which until recently wasn’t
an option so therefore two
students from Baker, four
from Milton-Freewater and
five from Boardman, for
example, had access to a
class that would not have
been available to them
before because it was not
feasible to have a class for
only two or three people.
Preus commented that
for future offerings she
was embarking on a survey
of Baker County Residents
to see what they would like
to see BMCC offer to them
or this community.
Lowe asked a question
regarding how the tax-
based money was account-
ed for and utilized.
Preus advised that there
was a budget board and
all monies used are very
transparent and she offered
a copy of the recent finan-
cials to Lowe and the rest
of the Council to inspect
to which Councilor Lowe
thanked her.
Council then turned
its attention to what was
mostly filling the room
a discussion revolving
around the annual Hells
Canyon Motorcycle Rally.
Mosier turned the pro-
ceedings over to Police
Chief Wyn Lohner, slip-
ping and calling him Of-
ficer Lohner, as the crowd
laughed.
Chief Lohner asked, “Do
you know something I
don’t?”
Mosier apologized
for her slip and Lohner
continued on, giving a
brief background of the
event, which began in
2006 with a few friends
riding their motorcycles to
Baker City. The event has
grown steadily every year
into what it is now with
several thousand attendees
every year and numerous
vendors.
Lohner advised Council
of a meeting that had been
held after the last Motor-
cycle Rally in July 2015
and what had transpired
from that meeting that had
been held “in an effort to
Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press
Bev Calder testifies in front of City Council about the HCMR.
make the event better,”
said Lohner.
There were no com-
plaints or concerns raised
by ODOT or Economic
Development, and HBC’s
only concern was that
sidewalks be kept clear for
ADA access.
Public Works mentioned
a concern regarding 2nd
Street being the only de-
tour street.
There were concerns
voiced from businesses
about vendors and the
length of street closures.
Lohner also clarified to
the Council why he and the
police department are so
involved in the event, and
advised that in his opinion
with his department being
so hands-on in the event,
it has helped the event be-
come and remain virtually
incident-free.
Lohner said, “I haven’t
had a single business
owner who has ever come
to me or to my knowledge
come to the City manager
or anyone else that works
for the city and said, ‘This
event has got to go away.’
Everybody I’ve spoken
to—and I believe every-
body I’ve seen that I know
in the audience tonight,
are very supportive of this
event and of the benefit to
our community, and to our
region. They recognize the
value of that.”
Before calling citizens
forward to speak, Mosier
added, “I have not heard
from anyone who wants
this event to go away or
move from our City or
County. It is a large event
because it is very popular
and very well-loved, but
a large event does have a
large impact, and that’s
why we are here.”
Lowe asked if there
were taxes or fees that the
City collected from the
event.
He was informed that
all fees collected were
paid to the organizers of
the event; however, motel
rooms that were rented
during the event collected
tax that was distributed to
the City and County. The
High School collected
approximately $10,000 for
camping fees during the
event, which they utilized
for sporting events, etc.,
and the City had also seen
benefits in the purchase
and help with maintenance
of new drug dog, Capa.
Of the several citizens
who spoke to council, busi-
ness owner Beverly Calder,
who owns Bella on Main
Street and is a member of
the Transient Lodging Tax
(TLT) Commission, spoke.
“As a Commission, we
love this event; it’s a huge
event that brings so many
people. The effect the
rally has had over the last
10 years is it brings a lot
more motorcycle traffic
and that’s really great for
lodging and really great for
restaurants,” said Calder.
She noted that the TLT
takes some of the monies
collected during the Mo-
torcycle Rally to market
Baker City.
She said, “I’m asking
the Council and the Chief
to look at the impact of a
large-scale closure in the
height of season. We’re
out marketing Baker City
but we might get someone
into town who can’t get to
our ‘crown jewel’ that has
been marketed all over the
county for three or more
days, it’s frustrating to
visitors.
“Everybody loves walk-
ing downtown and seeing
those shiny machines,
but one of the biggest
challenges as a business
district and from a tourist
standpoint is getting here,
and that’s not just tour-
ists, that’s people who live
here, people that support
those businesses 365 days
a year, and we all know
those people like to park at
the front door. That’s just a
given.”
Several other community
members addressed Coun-
cil all had good things to
say about the Rally. Some
offered suggestions of
moving the main focal
point to Resort Street and
utilizing Court Plaza and
Central Park.
Others discounted the
idea as Court Plaza is not
yet competed and cited
safety concerns with Re-
sort Street not being wide
enough.
Some felt too many
changes were going to
drive motorcyclists away
and be detrimental to the
overall success of the Rally
while others felt it was for
the betterment of the com-
munity.
Businesses on the south
end of Main Street did ex-
press slight concern about
everything being situated
at the North end of Main
Street, but in the end it was
decided that the proposed
map and closures that has
been sent out to local busi-
ness recently, be used and
maybe reconfigured upon
speaking further with some
of the concerned parties,
then readdressed before the
Rally in July.
Lohner did advise
Council he had received a
text message during citizen
comments with what he
thought was a good idea
from Lisa Wilson at the
Sunridge Inn suggesting
letting vendors use empty
Main Street Store fronts
during the rally so as to not
detract from local business
and increase foot traffic on
Main Street.
Dennis Hackney from
ODOT also addressed
council informing them
he is the one who issues
the permits for the street
closures, since Main and
Broadway are considered
State Highways and not
simply city streets, and
assured them that even an
oversized truck that had to
make a detour during the
Rally didn’t mind, so there
were no issues foreseeable
from an ODOT standpoint.
Larry Abell, Historic
Baker City President ad-
dressed Council, informing
them of where the monies
they had budgeted for them
had been spent.
Abell discussed projects
they were working on
such as recent renovations
to 1911 events they had
helped sponsor, and other
small projects they were
working on.
Abell also gave excit-
ing news of a match grant
HBC had received from
Ford Family that will
match all new member-
ships up to $15,000.
That opportunity lends to
the possibility of hiring a
full-time downtown man-
ger—an exciting prospect
for them that can open a
whole new realm of pos-
sibilities.
City Manager Kee ad-
vised Council that recruit-
ing firm Slavin Manage-
ment had received well
over 20 applications for his
position, and would narrow
down prospects for them.
But with the background
checks and interviews,
they may need to consider
the possibility of not hav-
ing a new City Manager
hired by the end of April
as planned, but more likely
the end of May.
He indicated a conversa-
tion would need to be had
as to the option of whether
to extend his contract or
not.
He advised he would be
happy to stay on to help
get through the budget
process if need be.
Merrill outlines plans for new Eagle Cap job
BY SUNNY WERNER
Sunny@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Current Baker High
School principal, Ben
Merrill, will be tackling a
new venture in the coming
2017 school year: He will
be moving over to the
old North Baker School
building as the Eagle Cap
principal and the Director
of Instructional Technol-
ogy.
Merrill will be breaking
new ground as the posi-
tion, Director of Instruc-
tional Technology, is new
to 5J.
Merrill says the key to
his approach is "identify-
ing ways to enrich class-
room learning."
He plans to travel
between all 5J District
schools weekly, both
addressing issues as they
arise and also assisting
teachers and identifying
areas in which more train-
ing for staff is needed.
The new technological
platform includes valuable
sites already in use, such
as the " Family Link" in
which parents are able to
keep abreast of the work
their children are doing in
class daily, their current
grades, homework turned
in, and so on.
Merrill is also planning
a complete inventory of all
electronic devices owned
by the District, a digital
repository.
This will be a large
undertaking, but when
finished, will provide an
instantly accessible report
that will list device, date
placed in operation, service
work done, upgrades, etc.
Having this complete
database will allow more
specific budgeting as the
projected lifespan of each
device will be listed.
Consequently, the
information about which
devices are nearing the end
of use will be available for
budget planning purposes.
Merrill also spoke about
the current waste of re-
sources.
"Sometimes a device
will quit working, and the
teacher's request for repair
isn't answered. So they set
that device aside, and use
another. This, happening
across the District, can
mean we might have sev-
eral devices that just need
some technical work to be
useful again."
When asked about how
he plans to organize his
days, Merrill says he
thinks he will begin and
end each day at North
Baker, with travel as
needed during the day.
He says he is looking
forward to working as the
Principal for Eagle Cap,
the position currently filled
part-time by Jerry Peacock.
(Peacock is also the Direc-
tor of Baker Technical
Institute).
"I'll carry on what Jerry
has begun," he said. "Many
of the students do better
with the flexibility we can
offer here in Baker. They
can attend BHS part-time,
come in to Eagle Cap, or
use Web Academy, and
take courses at Baker
Technical Institute—what-
ever best meets their needs
and situation."
Merrill's professional
history includes the inte-
gration of Instructional
Technology and bricks-
and-mortar schools. While
principal at Salmon River
High School in Riggins,
Idaho, he developed an on-
line school, "Savage Acad-
emy," which is still being
utilized by the Salmon
River high school.
In Notus he was Superin-
tendent of Schools, before
moving to Baker and
accepting the position of
BHS principal.
Merrill explained that,
much as he enjoys working
at BHS, he welcomed the
new opportunity.
"The hours, especially
with sporting events last-
ing into the evenings, and
my interest in being as
involved in the community
as much as possible, has
led to my not being avail-
able to my family," he said.
"I have my girls half-time,
and they were very excited
when I told them I'd be
able to spend much more
time with them."
Merrill had been on
City Council as well as a
member of several service
clubs.
He resigned from them
all to devote more time to
his young family.
He will be beginning
studies for his doctorate in
April.