THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2016
Business & Ag
Mahaffey to move vet services to
Wingville, cement site approved
for wind farm east of Lime
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Prices trended generally steady compared to week
ago prices in a very limited test. Many producers
have decided to hold on to their hay for now, in
hopes for higher prices or to feed to their own ani-
mals. Many hay producers are sold out for the year.
Tons Price Range Wtd Avg
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
— Cattle Market Report —
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Vale, Oregon
Cattle sold through the auction: 1,623
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Kim Mahaffey testifies to the Baker County Planning Commission while plan-
ning commissioners Randy Joseph and Tom Van Diepen listen.
out of an existing dwell-
ing on property at 43957
Old Wingville Road. The
property, around 40 acres,
is identified as Tax Lot
5501 of Township 8 South,
Range 39 East, W.M. (Wil-
lamette Meridian), Baker
County, OR (Reference
#15395).
The request states that
2-3 employees would be
on staff at the proposed
location, as well as a cattle
working facility associated
with the veterinary clinic.
According to the request,
the applicants live at the
proposed location.
Mahaffey provided the
sole testimony, as there
was no further testimony
given, either in favor,
or in opposition, of the
application. He said that
he requested the permit
now with the intention of
possibly operating out of
the existing dwelling at a
later date, and that there
were positive discussions
with three of his neighbors,
regarding the proposal.
Van Diepen asked about
the size of the proposed
cattle working facility,
Joseph asked about the
driveway and space for the
turnout, and Trindle asked
about the driveway, waste
disposal, and responses
from neighbors, regard-
ing the proposal. All of
these questions received
satisfactory responses from
Mahaffey, and Trindle
closed testimony.
Joseph recommended the
Commission accept staff
findings, and conditions of
approval. With no further
discussion noted, Joseph
then made a motion to ap-
prove CU-16-002, with the
recommended conditions
of approval, and accep-
tance of staff findings.
Jones seconded the motion,
no further discussion was
noted, and the motion
carried, with a unanimous
vote. Harris read the terms
and conditions of the two-
year approval, which can
be extended, with Com-
mission authorization, and
then Kerns read a hearing
statement.
Quam, also using the
Smart Board display, pro-
vided details from the staff
report for CU-16-003. Ac-
cording to the proposal, ap-
plicant Site Constructors,
Inc., and property owner,
Barber Ranch, LLC, had
requested the permit for
a temporary batch plant,
which will be accessed
from Sand Hollow Road,
to process aggregate into
portland cement, solely
to supply the Huntington
Windfarm. The proposed
time frame of operation is
between April 15, 2016,
and July 30, 2016, but it
may remain on-site until
November 14, 2016. The
proposed project is located
east of Lime, and identified
as Tax Lot 1200 of Town-
ship 13 South, Range 45
East, W.M., Baker County,
OR (Reference #10060).
Approximately 5,000
gallons of water will be
required by the batch plant
for operation, procured
from the City of Hunting-
ton, and trucked from Hun-
tington to the site, accord-
ing to the proposal, and the
maximum number of trips
to the plant, including wa-
ter and consumables, will
be 10 trucks per day.
Trindle asked about site
vegetation, access, and
truck trips per day, and
Joseph elaborated on the
proposed truck traffic.
Quam said there will be a
wind turbine installed at a
later date in the same loca-
tion (on October 7, 2013,
CU-13-007 was approved,
for the construction and
operation of a 30 megawatt
wind energy facility within
the same parcel). Ap-
plicant Site Constructors,
Inc. plans to keep the batch
plant area clean and clear
of debris, and to reclaim
the disturbance area to its
natural state, once the tem-
porary plant is demolished,
according to the proposal.
Project Manager
Bokides, from Bend, pro-
vided testimony, regarding
details of the request, in-
cluding access to the plant
(first from Highway 30, at
Langley Lane, then Sand
Hollow Road, onto the
Barber Ranch property).
Hoopes asked whether the
aggregate will be sourced
off-site, and Bokides
responded that it would,
and that normally, truck
traffic, including water
and concrete, wouldn’t be
as frequent as 10 trips per
day.
Among other items,
Trindle asked about
solid waste disposal, which
would be handled by the
applicant, according to the
request, and it would be
minimal. Bokides said that
there would be one or two
Porta-Potties, at the site.
Noting no further testi-
mony either in favor, or
opposition, Trindle closed
the testimony shortly after
that, and during discussion,
she said that the only issue
she noted was an error with
the conditions of approval
list, which showed condi-
tion #8 as #13 (there are 8
conditions).
Van Diepen made a
motion to approve CU-16-
003, and Jones seconded
the motion. With a unani-
mous vote in favor, the
motion carried, and Kerns
once again read the hearing
statement.
Kerns provided the Com-
mission with a Director’s
report, speaking about the
applications process, the
topic of plan amendments,
and the progress of the
draft Wind Energy section
of the zoning ordinance.
The next regular meeting
is scheduled for Thursday,
April 28, 2016, 6 p.m., in
the Commission Cham-
bers of the Baker County
Courthouse.
SE Oregon RAC meets next week
The Southeast Resource
Advisory Council (RAC)
is meeting next week,
April 4 and 5, in On-
tario, OR. This is the first
quarterly meeting of 2016
for the Southeast Oregon
RAC.
The Southeast Oregon
Resource Advisory Coun-
cil (RAC) provides advice
and recommendations on
all aspects of public land
management to the BLM's
Burns and Vale District
Friday, March 25, 2016 — Eastern Oregon
Alfalfa —Large Square Good
200 125.00-125.00 125.00
Alfalfa —Mid Square Fair/Good
400 100.00-100.00 100.00
Last week:
Orchard / Alfalfa —Small Square Premium
25 195.00-195.00 195.00
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Baker County Plan-
ning Commission held
two public hearings, on
Thursday, March 24, 2016,
unanimously approving
two Conditional Use Per-
mits (CUs) in the process,
one for a Type III Home
Occupation (CU-16-002),
and the other for a Con-
crete Batch Plant (CU-16-
003), both in Exclusive
Farm Use (EFU) Zones.
Present from the Com-
mission were Chair Alice
Trindle, Vice Chair Lauri
Hoopes, Suzan Ellis Jones,
Thomas Van Diepen,
Randy Joseph, and Kasey
Wright. Present from the
County Planning Depart-
ment were Planning Direc-
tor Holly Kerns, Planner
Kara Harris, Planner Eva
Ceder, and Planner Carson
Quam.
Also in attendance were
permit CU-16-002 ap-
plicant Dr. Michael “Kim”
Mahaffey, and permit CU-
16-003 applicant represen-
tative Chris Bokides.
Trindle called the meet-
ing to order, followed by
roll call, of Commission
members, and Planning
Department staff. Trindle,
as well as Kerns, wel-
comed Wright, a new
Commission member from
Halfway.
The minutes from the
January 28, 2016 meet-
ing were approved, with a
motion from Joseph, and
a second from Hoopes,
and the minutes from the
February 18, 2016 meet-
ing were approved, with a
motion from Jones, and a
second from Hoopes.
Prior to the staff report
for CU-16-002, Trindle
read a customary state-
ment, with details regard-
ing the hearing process.
Then, she asked if there
were any challenges to the
jurisdiction of the Com-
mission to hear the matter,
and none were stated. She
asked if there were any
conflicts of interest, or
biases, to be declared by
any Commission member,
and none were stated. She
asked if there had been any
ex-parte contacts between
any Commission member,
and the applicants, and
none were stated.
Using the County’s
interactive Smart Board
display screen, Harris
provided details from the
staff report for CU-16-
002. According to the
request, applicants and
property owners Mahaffey,
and Janie Radinovich had
proposed to relocate and
operate Mahaffey’s portion
of Baker Veterinary Hos-
pital, at 3425 10th Street,
— Weekly Hay Report —
Offices, and the Lakeview
Resource Area, as well
as the Fremont-Winema,
Malheur, and Ochoco
National Forests.
Recent topics have
included management
options for off-highway
recreation, sage-grouse
habitat, and noxious-weed
control.
Agenda topics for this
meeting include Sage-
grouse habitat, lands with
wilderness characteristics
(LWC) inventory, wildfire
prevention and others.
A full list of topics to
be discussed can be found
at: http://www.blm.gov/or/
rac/files/seorrac-agenda-
apr2016.pdf.
A comment period for
members of the public to
address the RAC will be
available the morning of
April 5 from 9:30 to 10:00
a.m.
The public comment
period will last for 30
minutes and is open to
any member of the public.
Comments cannot exceed
five minutes, unless other-
wise approved by the RAC
chairperson.
Additional informa-
tion about the Southeast
Oregon RAC is available
online at www.blm.gov/or/
rac/seorrac.php.
The BLM manages more
than 245 million acres of
public land, the most of
any Federal agency.
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk 196.00 - 215.00 Top 216.00
400-500# Bulk 187.00 - 220.00 Top 222.50
500-600# Bulk 174.00 - 200.00 Top 202.00
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk 179.00 - 199.00 Top 206.00
400-500# Bulk 167.00 - 191.00 Top 216.00
500-600# Bulk 152.00 - 175.00 Top 176.00
Yearling Steers
600-700# Bulk 159.00 - 174.00 Top 176.00
700-800# Bulk 142.00 - 155.00 Top 16.00
800-900# Bulk 132.00 - 144.75 Top 148.75
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Yearling Heifers
600-700# Bulk 138.00 - 156.00 Top 158.00
700-800# Bulk 135.00 - 141.00 Top 142.50
800-900# Bulk N/A Top N/A
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Thin Shelly Cows 48.00 - 62.00
Butcher Cows 66.00 - 75.00
Butcher Bulls 68.00 - 87.00
Stock Cows Yng. N/A
Younger Hfrts. 80.00 - 98.00
Stock Cows Older. - N/A
ProducersLivestock.com
541-473-3136
— Log Price Report —
Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon
Currently the local log market is flooded with
fire salvage logs. The log buyer for Malheur
Lumber Co. stated they have all the logs they
need under contract and are not accepting any
new purchases. BCC/LLC of La Grande has
receive so many burned fire salvage logs they
are no longer accepting logs at the La Grande
log yard. Any additional pine logs have to be
delivered to the Elgin Log yard cut in plywood
lengths and to a 8 inch top. For these pine
logs cut in plywood lengths, BCC is offering
$280.00/mbf. They are also paying $410.00/
mbf for Doug Fir & Western Larch. For White
Fir they are offing $310.00/mbf. At the Pilot
Rock Saw Mill BCC is offing $360.00/mbf for a
12 to 15 inch top, for 16 to 19 inch top $400.00/
mbf & offing $425.00/mbf for 20 inch plus top
Courtesy of Arvid Andersen,
Andersen Forestry Consulting
— Precious Metals Report —
Price per ounce, USD
Gold: $1,239.70
Silver: $15.32
Platinum: $962.70
Palladium: $575.10
Bloomberg.com
— Ag Commodities —
Corn: $372.50/bu/USD
Wheat: $476.25/bu/USD
Soybeans: $916.00/bu/USD
Oats: $188.75 bu/USD
Rough Rice: $10.09/cwt/USD
Canola: $477.90 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $125.53/lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $154.78/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $82.93/lb./USD
Bloomberg.com