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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2016)
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3 FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2016 Business & Ag County Commissioners: ASL, ambulance services, etc. BY TODD ARRIOLA Friday, May 27, 2016 — Eastern Oregon Prices trended generally steady compared to week ago prices in a very limited test. Many hay produc- ers are sold out for the year. New crop hay is grow- ing and will be harvested in the upcoming weeks. Tons Price Range Wtd Avg Alfalfa/Ochard Mix —Small Square Premium 20 165.00-165.00 165.00 Last week: Alfalfa — Mid Square Good 150 190.00-190.00 190.00 Alfalfa — Small Square Premium 23 170.00-170.00 170.00 Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com The Baker County Board of Commissioners held its first regular session of the month, on Wednesday, June 1, 2016, 9 a.m., in the Commission Chambers of the Baker County Court- house, which included the topics of the Ameri- can Stewards of Liberty, Treasurer Department and Anthony Lakes updates, and the City of Unity’s budget. Present from the Board were Chair Bill Harvey, Commissioners Mark Ben- nett and Tim Kerns, and Executive Assistant Heidi Martin. Attendance also included Baker County Treasurer Alice Durflinger, Baker City Fire Chief Mark John, Baker County Emergency Management Executive Director/Fire Author- ity Gary Timm, Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash, Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort General Manager Peter Johnson, Ed Hardt, Vicki Valenzuela, Mark Sayers, John and Ramona Creighton, Tork and Wanda Ballard, Mary Miller, and Cynthia Long. The meeting was called to order, followed by the optional Invocation, and recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, both led by Harvey. With no additions or changes to the agenda noted, it was adopted, with a motion from Bennett, and a second from Kerns. Citizen Participation included Valenzuela, Tork, Hardt, Ramona, and Say- ers. Valenzuela commented about the minutes from the Wednesday, May 18, 2016 regular session, which were on this session’s agenda, to be approved by the Board, following Citizen Participation. Her concern was about what she deemed to be inaccurate information provided by Harvey previ- ously, which she said were not in the May 18 session’s minutes. Harvey responded that minutes are are just a sum- mary of sessions, and Va- lenzuela responded that she understood, but she desired for the detail to be included in the minutes, whether inaccurate information provided by a member, or members of the Board is by mistake, omission, or misunderstanding. She said Harvey con- tributed to confusion, in reference to statements made about whether the County is a member of the American Stewards of Liberty (ASL), or just purchasing information, or part of a coalition, and she also had concerns about the funds donated to ASL ($1,000, privately raised, and donated to the County, for its use). Harvey said, “We are a member of a coalition... for a very specific pur- pose: To gain information, which I have right here (he displayed ASL’s 60-page response to the Bureau of Land Management’s initia- tive, “Planning 2.0”, as requested by the County)... because, it was needed for our comments, to BLM. We are a member of a coalition, not a member of — Weekly Hay Report — USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov — Cattle Market Report — Wednesday, May 25, 2016 Vale, Oregon Cattle sold through the auction: 507 Steer Calves 300-400# Bulk N/A Top N/A 400-500# Bulk 147.00 - 169.00 Top 170.00 500-600# Bulk 143.00 - 160.00 Top 162.00 Todd Arriola/ The Baker County Press Baker County Emergency Management Executive Director/Fire Authority Gary Timm and Baker City Fire Chief Mark John. the association.” Valenzuela and Harvey debated about what state- ments, exactly, were made, what the minutes reflected, and whether information provided was inaccurate, regarding membership. She asked Kerns for his input, and he said he didn’t see a difference in mem- bership of a coalition, or association. She asked Bennett for his input, and he said, though he was confused, he understand, all along, that County funds were not used, and that the County is participating with ASL for the purpose of gaining information to be used for the County’s comments. He suggested postpon- ing approval of the May 18 minutes, in order to review, and to possibly change language, and Har- vey said that it shouldn’t be confusing, since he discussed, and clarified the County’s position, at three different sessions. He said he also didn’t solicit the private funds, but he asked Bennett and Kerns if they supported enlisting ASL’s assistance, and they responded previously that they had. Harvey repeated that the County is not actu- ally a member of ASL’s association. Tork voiced his desire to see the issue put to rest, and he said he had heard all three Commissioners support the idea, which he said is a good one, and he wondered why there is a delay in moving forward. Kerns said he’s disap- pointed with the County’s own, six-page response (comments were due by May 25, 2016, which included an extension), to BLM’s proposed land use rule changes (“CFR Part 1600 Resource Manage- ment Planning; Proposed Rules” Notice Federal Register February 25, 2016 81 FR 9674), because of the lack of specifics re- garding Baker County, and the lack of review from the County’s Natural Resource Advisory Committee (NRAC). Harvey said there was little time in which to draft a County response to the proposed rule changes, and he thought the expen- diture of (private) funds to seek assistance with the comments from ASL was a wise investment. Hard asked whether the ASL document involved effort by attorneys, and Harvey said that it was written by attorneys, for a specific purpose. Hardt responded that they would be more quali- fied than lay persons, to draft a document like that. Valenzuela repeated con- cerns about confusion, and Harvey said she had not necessarily been present during every session dur- ing discussions about the County’s comments, and ASL’s role. Ramona said she un- derstood how terms and details can be confusing, but she wishes to see what she views as possible personal issues between members of the commu- nity and members of the Board put aside, and the County, as a whole, needs to work together. She said this is the most transparent Commission Board she has seen, dealing with the most complex issues. Sayers expressed con- cerns about the safety of the McCullough Mine Road bridge, in the Clark’s Creek area. Sayers had asked Harvey about the bridge last year, but he didn’t ask County Road- master Jeff Smith about it. The County had re- vamped the crossing, and did a good job, Sayers said, but over the years, due to flash flood, fires, etc., the condition of the crossing has deteriorated. Harvey said he would contact Smith about im- proving the condition of the crossing, and he asked Sayers to also contact Smith. Duflinger provided a Treasurer update, provid- ing copies of details, such as Oregon Short Term Fund (OSTF) interest rates, County foreclosure histories, top 15 County taxpayers, and percentages of taxes collected. Among other details, the top 15 Baker County tax- payers for the period 2015- 2016 are, in order, from #1, to #15: Idaho Power Company, Ash Grove Cement Company, Union Pacific Railroad Company, Northwest Pipeline Corpo- ration, Oregon Telephone Corporation, Centurylink, Marvin Wood Products, Inc., Tesoro Logistics NW Pipeline Company, Level 3 Communications, LLC, TTX Company, Carshetown, LLC, Verizon Communications, Charter Communications, Haggen Property North, LLC, and Eagle Telephone System, Inc. As of May 31, 2016, 96.148% of County taxes had been collected, an unprecedented event, she said. Bennett began a discus- sion about a proposal from Chris Arvidson, of Med Transport, Inc., to be accepted into the Local Ambulance Service Area, for the sole purpose of inter-hospital transfers in Union, Baker, Umatilla, and Wallowa counties. This service would not be for pre-hospital care to patients on scene, but rather, to provide inter- hospital transfers, in order to lighten the workload of local EMS resources, and to provide patients with healthcare options, accord- ing to Arvidson’s request. John and Timm joined the discussion, and they discussed the current prog- ress, which includes a local ambulance service plan up- date Timm is working on, and data gathering, to give a better indication about ground service calls. Med Transport, Inc. was desig- nated as a non-emergent ambulance provider, with an interim agreement, with a motion from Bennett, and a second from Kerns. Johnson provided an Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort (ALMR) update, which included comments that overall, the skiing sea- son went well, with skier visits up by about 20%, and hotel stays up, to well over 1,000, resulting in about $350,000 in tourism dollars, spent within the County. He said that ALMR purchases goods and services locally as much as possible, equating to over $400,000 each year, in the County, everything from T-shirts from Elk- horn Embroidery, to beer from Barley Brown’s. ALMR employees over 100 people annually, for around $900,000, the bulk of which is in a four-month period, he said. His goal is to have ALMR as a year-round resort, and ALMR has applied to manage the surrounding campgrounds, which are currently under outside management. SEE COUNTY PAGE 8 Heifer Calves 300-400# Bulk N/A Top N/A 400-500# Bulk 136.00 - 147.00 Top 148.00 500-600# Bulk 119.00 - 138.00 Top 139.50 600-700# 700-800# 800-900# 900-1,000# Yearling Steers Bulk 136.00-150.00 Top 151.00 Bulk 123.00 - 135.00 Top 136.00 Bulk 112.00 - 124.00 Top 125.00 Bulk 107.00 - 119.00 Top 119.50 Yearling Heifers 600-700# Bulk 111.00 - 129.00 Top 131.00 700-800# Bulk 107.00 - 121.00 Top 125.00 800-900# Bulk N/A Top N/A 900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A Thin Shelly Cows 47.00 - 61.00 Butcher Cows 66.00 - 75.00 Butcher Bulls 77.00 - 88.00 Pairs Yng. 1375.00 - 1600.00 Hfretts. 81.00 - 96.00 Stock Cows Young - 1050.00 - 1300.00 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: $1,214.60 Silver: $15.98 Platinum: $973.20 Palladium: $547.86 Bloomberg.com — Ag Commodities — Corn: $413.17/bu/USD Wheat: $473.75/bu/USD Soybeans: $1099.95/bu/USD Oats: $190.25 bu/USD Rough Rice: $11.00/cwt/USD Canola: $517.40 CAD/mwt Live Cattle: $117.75/lb./USD Feeder Cattle: $146.43/lb./USD Lean Hogs: $82.80/lb./USD Bloomberg.com
