8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2017
Local
Commissioners hear small Eclipse
business, road dept. updates
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Baker County Board
of Commissioners held
its first regular session of
the month, on Wednesday,
March 1, 2017, 9 a.m., in
the Commission Chambers
of the Baker County Court-
house, which included,
among other topics, a Road
Department update, and a
Small Business Develop-
ment Center update.
Present from the Board
were Chair Bill Harvey,
Commissioners Mark Ben-
nett and Bruce Nichols,
and Executive Assistant
Heidi Martin.
Attendance also included
Jefferson Mining District
(JMD) Coordinating Of-
ficer Art Sappington, Baker
County Road Master Jeff
Smith, Blue Mountain
Community College Small
Business Development
Center (BMCC SBDC)
Baker County Advisor and
Baker County Chamber of
Commerce Board of Direc-
tors President Jeff Nelson,
Baker County Democratic
Party Chair Marshall Mc-
Comb, Forest Access For
All (FAFA) President Tork
Ballard, FAFA Secretary
Wanda Ballard, Baker
County Sheriff Travis Ash,
Baker Heritage Museum
Commission Chair Dave
Hunsaker, and Baker Heri-
tage Museum Commission
Member Steve Bogart.
The meeting was called
to order, and the Invoca-
tion and the Pledge of Al-
legiance were recited, both
led by Harvey. The agenda
was adopted, with some
noted changes, with a mo-
tion from Bennett, and a
second from Nichols.
Ed Trindle had originally
been scheduled on the
agenda to speak during
Citizen Participation,
however, he was unable
to attend, and Sappington
provided the sole comment
for that segment, speaking
on behalf of the JMD.
Sappington said the
JMD, as a followup to
previous discussions, had
presented a statement to
Representative Cliff Bentz,
regarding the issues with
the lack in federal and state
agencies’ recognition of
mineral patents.
The minutes from the
Wednesday, February
15, 2017 minutes were
approved, with noted
changes, with a motion
from Bennett, and a second
from Nichols.
Smith provided a Road
Department update, which
included comments about
snowplowing efforts dur-
ing this winter, which took
up one-quarter of the year,
to the cost of $280,335,
with 1,246 hours of over-
time, and around $80,000
spent on fuel.
Smith said spring main-
tenance on trucks is the
next project on the list,
and as soon as frost begins
to wane in the different
County areas, the Depart-
ment will work on roads.
He said that the Depart-
ment’s budget started out
at about $2.8 million, and
that amount is down at the
moment about $400,000,
including the loss of Se-
cure Rural Schools (SRS)
funding, but that number
will be adjusted later in the
fiscal year.
Harvey interjected and
thanked Smith for his
preparation, in anticipation
of losing SRS funding.
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Steve Bogart and Dave Hunsaker discuss the Baker Heritage Museum with
Commissioners.
Smith said he’s confident
about the possibility of
funding from a state trans-
portation package, which
can compensate for the
loss of SRS funding, and
he said that the County’s
needs includes mainte-
nance and improvements
on outlying roads.
Smith said that the De-
partment is down to a staff
of thirteen and a half (the
“half” is a half-time facil-
ity maintenance person, he
said), and a new mechanic
was hired on December 1,
2016, whom Smith showed
praised for, as he was
immediately tasked with
dealing with equipment
maintenance and repair
this winter.
Smith said that about
four miles of overlay was
completed in the Sumpter
Valley, about six miles of
Granite Mountain High-
way was completely re-
built, and surface rock was
hauled on about twelve
miles of Sparta Road.
This year’s projects
includes an asphalt plant
in Pleasant Valley, more
surface rock work on nu-
merous roads, and work to
repair four bridges.
Bennett thanked Smith
for the Department’s
efforts with the Bridge-
port bridge, and Harvey
emphasized that the Road
Department had received
many compliments and
appreciation from County
citizens this winter.
Nelson provided an
SBDC update for the
County, as he referred to a
handout, copies of which
he provided to those pres-
ent. Giving an overview
of the year, he said that 81
clients were counseled,
13 training events were
held which included an
attendance of 148—a
significant increase—a
capital infusion was seen
of $205,119 from 10 cli-
ents, who created 23 new
jobs, there was an increase
in sales of $93,000, all of
which translated to a great
year, he noted.
Nelson said that there
are four Pub Talks (public
talks) scheduled for 2017:
“What’s in Store for 2017,”
on Wednesday, April 26,
5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., at
Lefty’s Tap House, 1934
Broadway Street; “The
Success Of Women Owned
Business (Nelson noted
that women-owned busi-
nesses see a success rate
twice that of men-owned),”
on Wednesday, May 24,
at Lefty’s; “Working your
Website,” Wednesday,
September 13, at Lefty’s;
and the “Annual PRCF
(Powder River Correction-
al Facility) Public Talk,”
Wednesday, November 8,
inside the PRCF.
Included in the handout
were some SBDC-associ-
ated success stories, among
them, Kristi Hensley of the
Eagle Cap Grill Steak and
Seafood, Veronica Johnson
of the Wisdom House,
Theresa Ball of Baker City
Vape and Theresa’s Trea-
sures, and Dale Bogardus
of Outstanding Computer
Repair.
Nelson announced the
ribbon-cutting launch party
for The Sycamore Tree, on
Friday, March 3, 2017, 1
p.m., with Josey Gaslin as
the new business owner.
Order No. 2017-115,
Appointing A Justice Of
The Peace Pro-Tem For
The Baker District, was
approved, with a motion
from Bennett, and a second
from Nichols.
According to the order,
Damien Yervasi was ap-
pointed to serve during the
absences of the Honorable
Don Williams, for a term
to expire on February 28,
2018.
Harvey began a dis-
cussion about a federal
lawsuit filed by Columbia
Riverkeepers, Idaho Rivers
United, Pacific Coast Fed-
eration of Fishermen’s As-
sociations, and the Institute
for Fisheries Resources,
against the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
and its new Administrator,
Scott Pruitt, to attempt to
force the EPA to form a
plan, including a budget, to
lower water temperatures
in the Snake and Colum-
bia rivers, in Oregon and
Washington.
Harvey said he’s in
strong opposition to
this lawsuit, the Board
discussed the potential
devastating effects from
the action, and commented
that efforts have histori-
cally been put into place,
to help lower the tempera-
tures, which is difficult,
that every body of water
needs a specific standard,
and that the Board will be
getting involved to show
its opposition, at some
point in the process.
Harvey mentioned a let-
ter addressed to the Board,
from the Deschutes County
Board of Commissioners,
requesting donations for
the Western Interstate Re-
gion Conference (affiliated
with the national Asso-
ciation of Counties), May
24-26, 2017. After some
discussion, a donation of
$2,000 was approved (this
amount was donated in the
past from the Board), with
a motion from Harvey, and
a second from Bennett.
An SRS Title III public
hearing had been sched-
uled to include Baker
County Emergency Man-
agement Deputy Director
and Fire Authority Gary
Timm, however, he was
unable to attend, and Ben-
nett explained Timm’s ab-
sence, and provided details
regarding the hearing.
He spoke about some
funding uses, the majority
going to personnel costs,
and this funding allocation
was approved to continue,
with a motion from Ben-
nett, and a second from
Nichols.
Hunsaker and Bogart
discussed a Baker Heritage
Museum Manager Em-
ployment Agreement with
the Board, between the
County, and Carly M.
Annable (formerly of
Community Bank), ex-
plaining that the decision
was made to enter into an
agreement with a contract
employee, in order to have
more organized structure
to the position, and to
ultimately save on costs.
About a dozen people had
applied for the position,
Martin said.
The proposed agreement
was approved, with a mo-
tion from Bennett, and a
second from Nichols.
According to the agree-
ment, Annable’s term of
employment is from March
5, 2017, through March
5, 2018, at the pay rate of
$2,028 per month.
Bennett began a dis-
cussion regarding the
anticipated issues with
County-wide services, in
accommodating the po-
tential number of visitors,
during the solar eclipse,
August 21, 2017.
He emphasized that the
County welcomes, appreci-
ates, and needs visitors, but
that the County needs to be
prepared for the event, in
order to create a positive
experience.
Harvey echoed Ben-
nett’s thoughts, and he said
there are some community
groups already stepping up
and preparing, to help ac-
commodate visitors, which
he strongly encourages
others to do, including
providing camping spaces,
rooms, etc.
Harvey emphasized that
citizens providing these
kinds of services will not
be charged transient lodg-
ing taxes.
Pendleton, which has very few if any rooms left, is
considering putting together a bus system to take people
to communities in the path.
The event gathering in the Ochocos, which was expect-
ing approximately 10,000 people, now has confirmed reg-
istrations for 35,000 people. They suggest that each local
planning team needs to designate a county-wide website
for information on emergency management, lodging,
events, etc that link back to the Travel Oregon website.
According to Elizabeth Farrar the challenge of estimat-
ing the number of visitors one should expect is that there
will be three types of visitors. The first is the international
traveler who will have already booked their stay and will
make a real trip of it staying a week or more.
The next is the domestic traveler who is booking their
stays now and will make a weekend of the event. Then
there is the most troublesome group the last-minute trav-
eler who will decide Sunday or even Monday morning
that they should probably head to a place where they can
view the eclipse or decide that where they have already
booked is not going to work because of the weather and
will head to a better spot.
The last-minute traveler communities have no way of
predicting but should expect last-minute travelers to come
from all directions and as Huntington has been touted as
the place to be, by eclipse websites, and should expect
mass gatherings there.
Tom Davis from ODOT Region 5 reported that ODOT’s
statewide goal is to keep highways safe and to respond to
incidents efficiently. They are expecting a million visitors
throughout Oregon.
They are working on a draft plan which will be submit-
ted in April and if approved published in June. They are
especially concerned about 26, which closely follows the
line of totality and is not made to handle the amount of
traffic expected.
ODOT employees have been told there will be no time
off given during the event and are being given safety
briefings and supplied with eclipse glasses. Construction
information trailers will be set up to quickly inform trav-
elers of needed information as well as timely updates to
tripcheck. The maintaining of telephone communication
is a concern as cell phone towers could become overload-
ed by the extra large use expected so regional represen-
tatives of Oregon broadband council are working with
telephone providers to address possible capacity issues.
Counties on the path of totality are all trying to gear-
up and be prepared for not only the solar eclipse but fire
season as well.
Baker County Commissioner Mark Bennett asked,
“How are we gonna do this without funds? Nobody is
stepping up with the money to prepare.”
Not only is there a lack of first responders in this area
but many areas don’t have ambulance service or are hard-
pressed to supply the necessary emergency equipment or
personnel to handle a normal fire season. New EMS and
call center personnel need to be trained and there is no
fire services at all for 50 miles on 26.
Mutual aid agreements between our local area and
outside agencies were suggested but the response was that
even those outside agencies have to have their fuel and
basic expenses paid for.
Craig Farley in response to this concern put together a
group of emergency managers to assess the needs as
a first step to looking for funding. At which point Alice
Trindle suggested the funding issue needs to be addressed
sooner rather than later as, “This is a ‘disaster’ we know
is going to happen.”
Present at the meeting where representatives of Emer-
gency Management from Malheur, Wallowa and Baker
Counties as well as Oregon Emergency Management,
Chamber of Commerce representatives from Huntington,
Ontario and Baker County, ODOT, BLM, Eastern Oregon
Visitors Association, Farewell Bend State Park, Life-
flight, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Baker County
Sheriff’s Office, Travel Oregon and the State Regional
Solutions Office.
Planning hearing to
focus on Sumpter
mining claim
On March 23rd, 2017 at 6 p.m., the Baker County Plan-
ning Commission will hold a public hearing to consider
the remand of County Case PA-16-002 from the Baker
County Board of Commissioners.
PA-16-002 is a proposal by Nodon Properties, LLC
to re-zone a ±9 acre property known as Tax Lot 1600
of Township 9 South, Range 37 East, Section 20 from
Rural Residential (RR-5) to Mineral Extraction (ME).
The property is part of the Sumpter Deep Gravel Mining
Claim patent.
The application and other materials are available from
the Planning Department and will be evaluated using
criteria listed in the BCZO Chapters 260 and 430, the
Baker County Comprehensive Land Use Plan, and OAR
660-023-0030, 660-023-0040, 660-023-0050 and 660-
023-0180.
All written testimony must be submitted to the Plan-
ning Department by no later than 5:00 p.m. on the hearing
date or submitted in person during the hearing.
If you have questions regarding PA-16-003, please
contact Eva Henes at (541) 523-8219 or at eceder@
bakercounty.org.
The Planning Department is located in the basement of
the Baker County Courthouse, 1995 Third Street, Suite
131, Baker City, Oregon.