FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 5
Local
Festival of Trees takes over EIS for B2H
100 volunteers to pull off project out
BY SAMANTHA
O’CONNER
Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Thursday, December 1 to
Saturday December 3, the
Festival of Trees will be
held in the Baker County
Event Center at 2600 East
Street.
This is the 16th year the
Festival of Trees has been
held.
This year, there are 21
trees decorated and dis-
played in the center.
Half of the trees are
live and the other half are
artificial. The live trees are
from the Haines Stampede
Rodeo Lot.
There is a Raffle Tree
people are able to bid on
during the evenings of the
event as well as on Satur-
day, which is Family Day.
The drawing for the tree
will be at the end of Fam-
ily Day.
The Raffle Tree has
pearl earrings and a pear
bracelet from J. Tabor
Jewelers.
Each tree has their own
decorators with a head
decorator and other volun-
teers.
Each tree has a sponsor,
a business or person, who
will have their name or the
name of their business on
the tree as a type of adver-
tisement.
The profits made at the
event go to the St. Al-
phonsus Medical Center,
through the St. Alphonsus
Foundation.
According to Laura
Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press
Misty Anderson, a volunteer, worked on this tree.
Huggins, the organizer
for the Festival of Trees,
the foundation is its own
501C3, a nonprofit, and
the hospital is a separate
501C3, but the purpose for
the foundation is to sup-
port the hospital.
Huggins has worked
for St. Alphonsus for five
years and this is the fifth
Festival of Trees she has
been part of.
“When the foundation
raises money, it always
goes to the hospital,”
explained Huggins. “This
year we are raising money
for new endoscopic equip-
ment. We have a new gen-
eral surgeon. His name is
Dr. Christopher Liby, he’s
been with us little over
a year, but he’s bringing
some surgeries to Baker
City that either have never
been done or haven’t been
done for several years.
“He also works closely
with St. Luke’s. One of
their doctors is a first assist
with him when he does
surgery. So we are excited
to raise money and get new
equipment for him.”
Huggins estimated that
she had more than 100
volunteers helping put to-
gether the Festival of Trees
in decorating the building,
the trees, helping with the
bids, and the event nights.
The local prison crew
from the Powder River
Correctional helped deco-
rate the ceiling, the hospi-
tal facilities crew helped
set up for the event as well.
Power's transmission line.
They explained that this
would be the case, so that
a lineman wouldn't have to
worry about whether the
line was energized, while
working on it.
Trost asked how many
solar farms the company
has built, and she was told
25 in the U.S., and 200
globally. She mentioned
that community members
see geese and pelicans
flying through the area
often, and she asked about
the chances of the birds
mistaking the solar farm
for a lake, which could re-
sult in damage to both the
solar panels, and the birds.
Desmarais and Davis said
that the company hasn't
had any issues like that.
The meeting was part
of Enerparc's intention to
be good neighbors, and to
keep community members
informed about the compa-
ny's plans, Desmarais and
Davis said. They said they
plan to meet with mem-
bers of the Baker County
Planning Department, and
the Baker County Planning
Commission, in order to
begin the process of mov-
ing the project forward.
Solar array
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 1
That operational traffic
would be about two trucks
per visit, up to four times
per year—in addition,
construction reclaimed
water secured with a water
purveyor will be used for
dust suppression, of up
to 730,000 gallons/2.24
acre-feet; there will be
negligible water require-
ments (0.10 acre-feet)
during operation, with the
use of low-mineral content
reclaimed water; and no
battery storage or other
hazardous equipment will
be installed.
Participation from the
community included
Moore, who asked what
the company plans to
do with the solar farm,
once the 20-year contract
between Enerparc, Inc.,
and Idaho Power expires,
and Desmarais said that it
would be easy to disas-
semble the equipment.
Atkins said that occa-
sionally, Idaho Power's
transmission line from
Vale experiences issues,
resulting in a loss of power
for community members.
She asked if the solar farm
would supply power, if
that were to happen, and
Desmarais and Davis
said it probably wouldn't
supply power, because
the solar farm's supply
would be automatically
shut down, if there were a
loss in power from Idaho
Molly Atwater fund
releases annual stats
Mollie Atwater and
Friends Spay/Neuter Fund
is in its 11th year of opera-
tion and is under the non-
profit umbrella of Baker
County.
It continues to work with
the community to reduce
the number of unwanted
and homeless cats and
dogs in Baker County and
North Powder by assisting
folks with spay/neuter sur-
gery costs and providing
information on the benefits
of spaying/neutering one’s
animals.
As of November 26,
2016 the Fund has helped
2334 animals: 1798 cats
and 536 dogs. In Baker
City, for example, inside
the City Limits 341 do-
mestic dogs, 571 domestic
cats and 390 feral cats
were helped. In Sumpter,
4 domestic dogs, 14
domestic cats and 1 feral
cats were helped. Those
numbers respectively were
3, 6, and 0 in Hereford.
A full breakdown by
city within the county is
available.
Spaying and neutering
feral cats and our pets
makes a huge difference in
the health and well-being
of our community and our
animals. Both males and
females contribute to un-
wanted puppies and kittens
being born. Therefore, if
these animals had not been
spayed/neutered and each
had contributed to a litter
of six puppies or kittens,
then a minimum of 14,004
animals would have
needed homes over the last
11 years.
The monies raised for
this program are spent
locally, enhancing both
the social and economic
well-being of the County.
People needing help with
spay/neuter surgery costs
for their animals can pick
up a request form in Baker
City from the Animal
Clinic or Baker Veterinary
Hospital, in Halfway at
the Old Pine Market or the
Post Office, in Richland
at the Post Office, or you
can write directly to the
address below. People
wanting to contribute to
the local effort can send
their tax-deductible dona-
tion to: Mollie Atwater and
Friends Spay/Neuter Fund,
P.O. Box 402, Baker City,
OR 97814.
The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Vale District
is releasing the Final Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) for the Boardman to Hemingway (B2H) Project.
The Final EIS considers resource impacts across 24
routes organized in six geographic segments, as well as a
“No Action” Alternative. A final decision will be issued
by the BLM as a Record of Decision (ROD) no earlier
than 30 days after the Final EIS is made available.
The B2H project is a joint venture proposed by Idaho
Power Company, PacifiCorp, and Bonneville Power Ad-
ministration for a 500 kilovolt, single-circuit transmission
line. The proposed transmission line would go between
a proposed Longhorn substation in Morrow County near
Boardman, Oregon and the existing Hemingway Substa-
tion in Owyhee County near Melba, Idaho. The purpose
of the proposed line is to provide additional capacity for
energy exchange between the Pacific Northwest and the
Intermountain West, depending on regional demand.
With the release of the Final EIS begins 30-day notice
of availability and a 30-day LUP protest period. There is
no formal public comment period for the Final EIS. The
Final EIS can be found at: www.boardmantohemingway.
com/documents and the BLM’s eplanning site at: www.
bit.ly/2dWseZL.
The preferred transmission line route was developed in
conjunction with cooperating agencies after considering
all route alternatives and variations over the six project
segments. This route maximizes use of existing utility or
infrastructure corridors, avoids or minimizes impacts on
resources, and minimizes use of private lands.
The deadline for filing a Land-use Plan amendment
protest is December 19, 2016. Protests can be submitted
by mail:
Regular Mail
Director (210)
Attn: Protest Coordinator
P.O. Box 71383
Washington, D.C. 20024-1383
Overnight Mail
Director (210)
Attn: Protest Coordinator
20 M Street SE, Rm 2134LM
Washington, D.C. 20003
18-year-old
arrested at
high school
An 18 year-old female, Makaela Rian Dougherty of
2640 7th Street in Baker City, was arrested Tuesday at
Baker High School (BHS) on theft charges.
Dougherty was accused of stealing a pair of earphones,
a BHS cheerleading uniform, a pair of Nike high tops and
an inhaler all from inside the girls locker room.
Altogether, the value of the stolen items was some-
where in the neighborhood of $625, according to Baker
City Police Chief Wyn Lohner.
Officer Lance Woodward, who serves as the School
Resource Officer, was the arresting officer.
Dougherty is housed in the Baker County Jail on a
charge of theft in the second degree and had not yet been
arraigned at the time of print.