The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current, April 14, 2017, Image 7

The Baker County press., April 14, 2017, Page 7, Image 7

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Newspaper Page TextFRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017 THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7 Outdoor Rec / Local FARM / RANCH 12 yr.-old sorrel mare. 14 hands high. $1000. 541-519-5035. LEGAL NOTICES DISTRICT MEETING NOTICE Medical Springs Rural Fire Protection District Board of Directors will hold its regular monthly board meeting at Pondosa Station, on Monday, April 17, 2017 at 7 PM to discuss fire department operations. Equal opportunity provider. ‘Recreational’ fishing and its necessary accessories . . . Commission- er meeting in Febru- ary, hosted by Baker County Commission Chair Bill Harvey. I was curi- ous myself about the reason(s) “hunting” or “ﬁshing” suddenly THE OUTDOOR COLUMN appeared By Todd Arriola as “recre- ational,” so I asked Oregon The day I wrote this Department of Fish and article, I purchased an- Wildlife (ODFW) State- nual ﬁshing licenses for wide Wildlife Communica- myself and my wonderful tions Coordinator Michelle and delighted better half, Dennehy, and she said, via Brandi, and I purchased a email, that, “This change camp chair for my equally to ‘Recreational License’ wonderful and delighted occurred recently with year Airianna, with visions of 2016 licenses, and was Free Fishing Weekends— meant to save space on thank you, Oregon State documents.” Legislature, for that rare I should make it clear product of solidarity--and that I appreciate the timely other adventures in mind, responses and every bit for 2017. of information I receive Technically, I dub both from media contacts, but girls my better “three- that statement made me quarters,” but this phrase- scratch my head, because I ology may not be quite as and many others don’t tend popular, since Airianna to label hunting or ﬁsh- will inevitably outgrow her ing “recreational,” though infancy at some point not I chose not to pursue the many moons from now, subject further at the time, and I will then be required since I may have only con- to amend my hastily cre- fused myself again, while ated nickname for my loyal failing to ﬁnd some other duo. explanation that makes A note about the ﬁshing more sense. licenses I purchased—they As I was getting ready seem to have inexplica- to leave the store the day I bly metamorphosed into had purchased the ﬁshing “recreational” licenses in licenses, I couldn’t help recent years, a fact noted but notice a display near by the ever observant Tork the ﬁshing gear and GPS Ballard, Forest Access For units. All (FAFA) President, dur- When I say getting ready ing a First Friday with the to leave, I mean that I was looking for an excuse to spend more time in the ﬁshing aisle, and when I say I couldn’t help but no- tice a display, I mean that a video, part of a display, started playing, startling me and commanding my attention (like our beloved millennials, I sometimes become distracted with videos on small screens, too). This video drew me to a display for a software application (app), called HUNT, by onXmaps. I used maps and my own knowledge before to deter- mine where I was at, which properties were public and which were private, who owned what, etc., but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to download this extremely handy app to my cell phone (it can be loaded onto other devices, including GPS units, of course). The app—in my case, the Premium App Member- ship State-Speciﬁc Land Ownership Map, good for a year—cost me about $30, and includes Oregon private land ownership and public land information, private land that’s open to the public, hunting areas, roads and trails, topograph- ic maps, wildlife manage- ment units, aerial imagery, and a heck of a lot more. I gave it a test drive, and I have to say, I will give up using this app when it is pried from my cold, dead hands. Complementing this selﬁsh excuse to spend $30 on software for a phone that’s worth less than $20 now is more actual ﬁshing gear, in the form of poles, possibly the most impor- tant pieces of equipment in our arsenal. My standard go-to ﬁsh grabber is a seventy-inch Shakespeare Ugly Stick, with a Shakespeare spin- ning reel. I nearly lost the forward section of the pole one day at Anthony Lake, when it sailed into the water along with my line and lure during a cast, but I fortunately managed to reel the whole mess in. Somehow, this reminds me of my ﬁrst attempt at fly ﬁshing, which probably would have gone better, had I used the awkward, ninety-six-inch monstros- ity to spear the ﬁsh with instead. Brandi’s gear includes a sixty-six-inch R2F Per- formance Series pole and spinning reel, and Airianna became the proud owner of a kit that includes a Shake- speare Barbie-themed, twenty-four-inch, telescop- ing rod and spincast reel, a tackle box, sunglasses, and a practice casting plug (again, she’s three). For good measure—and, pure- ly out of curiosity, and in an attempt to experiment— I picked up two, thirty-six- inch Dock Demon De- luxes, with accompanying spinning reels. Armed with the right gear, enthusiastic spirits, and plenty of bodies of water, our wonderful, adventurous, and loyal family unit will have three- quarters of the year left, in which to investigate and report on as many ﬁshing spots as possible. Notwithstanding work, northeast Oregon weather, and a sometimes tired and cranky, near-four-year-old, I believe we’ll ﬁnd the op- portunities ... Software system wouldn’t help County BY TODD ARRIOLA Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com The Baker County Board of Commissioners held a work session on Wednes- day, April 12, 2017, 9 a.m., which included discus- sions regarding issues with a State Building Codes Division software sys- tem, called Manufactured Home Ownership Docu- ment System (MHODS), service animals, an Oregon House Bill, and the general County budget for 2017- 2018. Present from the Board were Chair Bill Harvey, Commissioners Mark Ben- nett and Bruce Nichols, and Executive Assistant Heidi Martin. Presence also included Baker Coun- ty Assessor Kerry Savage, Baker County Administra- tive Services Coordina- tor Christena Cook, and Baker County Facilities Maintenance Foreman Dan McQuisten. Harvey called the session to order, and the Board began a discussion about MHODS issues with Savage. According to an Intergovernmental Agreement (unsigned by the County), MHODS is a system “...with a front end Web site and a back end database that interfaces to a document management system. The front end Web site will be for customers, including but not limited to manufactured structure dealers, lenders, and title companies, to search for information, submit ap- plications, upload docu- ments, and pay fees. The back end database will be for participating counties to use for issuing owner- ship documents and trip permits, and for recording interests in manufactured structures...” One issue Savage pointed out is the all of the fees collected for MHODS, which, according to the agreement, would be deposited with the state weekly, the State would keep $20 of each $55 own- ership document applica- tion fee, and would remit $35 of that fee and all of each trip permit applica- tion fee to the County on a monthly basis. Savage said that this setup would probably help the people with lower incomes, who’ve pur- chased a manufactured home, but if the County entered into the agreement, title company processing would change in a negative way (he said he feels that title companies would lose business). “...the problem I’m struggling with is, this system’s so complicated...” Savage said. Bennett agreed, and said, “This thing is totally backwards...” Bennett gave the example of the Baker County Justice Court, which doesn’t send col- lected fees to the State in full, with the County’s por- tion remitted to the County, but rather, sends the State’s portion. He said, “We don’t have to sign the darned thing (the agree- ment)...” and he said that there would be a huge bur- den placed on the County, since the County would be sending full deposits to the State initially, and the State would be collecting $20 of each $55, with the County doing all the work. Savage said that he has easier access to the cur- rent system, which makes the whole process more streamlined. Harvey asked, “If we don’t do anything at all, what happens?” Savage said, “Nothing...” He said that people could come in to his ofﬁce, he could give them all the forms they need, and they could ﬁnish the process on the Internet. Savage said he didn’t un- derstand why the State was changing the system, and Nichols said, “The reason they’re changing it is just for the sake of changing it—it’s my opinion.” Bennett said the State’s changing it to collect more revenue, but the County is saddled with additional burden. Harvey said the County isn’t obligated to enter the agreement by law, and Savage agreed, and said that it’s not mandated. Briefly, Harvey and the rest of the Board voiced their concerns regard- ing the subject of Oregon House Bill (HB) 3357, the Housing Alliance Fund, which, if passed into legislation, increases the amount of fees that are charged and collected by County clerks, to record or ﬁle certain property docu- ments and directs the trans- fer of the increased fees to Housing and Services Department accounts for housing-related programs. SEE COUNTY PAGE 9 Another wolf depredation meeting held BY TODD ARRIOLA Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com A Baker County Wolf Depredation Compensation Com- mittee meeting was held on Wednesday, April 5, 2017, 2:30 p.m., in the Commission Chambers of the Baker County Courthouse, to further ﬁne-tune and discuss ap- plication information provided by area livestock produc- ers for the year 2016. This was in response to Oregon Department of Agricul- ture (ODA) Grants Program Area Director Jason Bar- ber’s concerns regarding the total submitted for missing livestoc—$54,787, the largest claim in the history of the program, with only $150,000 to $160,000 available to the whole state—among other details. Committee presence included Chair and Baker County Commissioner Mark Bennett, Tom Van Diepen, Mike Colton, and Steve Edwards, joined by Baker County Commission Executive Assistant Heidi Martin. Since the last committee meeting, on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, 2:30 p.m. (as detailed in the Friday, March 31, 2017 issue of The Baker County Press), Bennett said that more requested information had been received from Ontario-based livestock producer Earl Andersen , and Richland-based producer Deven Thomp- son. Bennett noted a consensus that the two producers’ applications were considered complete, and they would be submitted as presented. Bennett said, “On (Richland-based producer Chad) Del Curto’s, I think it’s important that we have it on the record, that we have not adopted a lot of criteria, but the producers have provided what information they have... My thought is...we just take and use what the historical averages of loss are in that (radio-collared gray wolves) OR 29, OR 36, area of known wolf activity (AKWA)...” Del Curto had originally submitted a claim for the loss of eleven cows, and forty-one calves in the Fish Lake area, the largest claim the committee received. Edwards said, “I would make it clear that we are recog- nizing that as an area of known wolf activity...The second part of it, I would be more forthright, and focus on the cows, and not the calves...” Bennett said he agreed, Mar- tin asked, “What are you saying, then?” and Van Diepen said, “We’re going to amend the submission on Del Curto, to reflect normal losses for that area.” Bennett said that the benchmark for normal losses for that area would be amended, and that the committee, as Edwards suggested, would not try to determine preg- nancies of the cows, and the speciﬁcs of the calves, but rather, focus on the number of claimed missing cows. Martin said she spoke with Barber, and, “...he said that they’re (ODA) probably going to be coming up with...a guideline, of questions to ask (producers)...He said they’re going to try to get that pulled together in the next few weeks, and ship it out to us.” The committee discussed the number of cattle turned out by Del Curto, stated on his original application as two hundred pair. Using the amended criteria, the commit- tee decided to submit Del Curto’s application, with one percent considered normal loss, and three percent above that claimed as missing livestock, or six pair (six cows, and six calves). The six bred cows, whose weight was stated as 1,400 pounds each, valued at about $.96 per pound, came to about $1,350 each, using Intermountain Livestock’s (IML) rate as a guide (Del Curto didn’t have a contract). The six calves, stated at around 650 pounds each, were valued at about $1.19 per pound, or about $770 each, also using IML’s rate. Bennett brought up the subject of the Range Rider pro- gram, and he asked the committee how members would like to see it implemented this year (whether it still would be, and whether the County may contract directly with a rider, rather than a rider contracted through the Baker County Soil and Water Districts, or BCSWCD). Bennett said, “The SWCD is not that terribly inter- ested in being involved in it...” He said that the County discussed the idea before, and decided against it, and then he asked Van Diepen about the possibility of Van Diepen applying for the position, which could be performed by horse, or by plane (Van Diepen’s a licensed pilot). Van Diepen said, “I would like to do that...” Bennett said, “The application’s pretty quick--you want it, you got it...” noting the difﬁculty in ﬁnding someone to ﬁll the position. Edwards said he thinks that’s a good idea, because, “... if one of this committee had direct intelligence about what’s going on out there, it would be money in the bank, I’m telling you.” Colton suggested contacting the Wallowa County com- mittee, for some guidance on how that committee uses its VHF (very high frequency) direction-ﬁnding antennas for locating wolves (Baker County has three of these anten- nas). Bennett said that the Range Rider should provide more speciﬁc information to the committee, including riding locations, riding days and times, any signs of wolves, applicable photographs, etc. (basically, a more thorough log book), and there should be more interaction with the livestock producers. Van Diepen said, “It wouldn’t hurt to interview him, when we have the meetings,” and Bennett said, “Really, I guess he should be attending the meetings...” Last year, Halfway-based James Chetwood performed the task of Range Rider, logging 318 hours of riding time, at $22 per hour, for a total of $6,996. BCSWD District Manager Whitney Collins said earlier this year, Chet- wood indicated interest in continuing with the position, if funding is available.