8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017
Local
Rep. Bentz gives legislative update to County
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Baker County Board
of Commissioners held its
second, regular session of
the month on Wednesday,
August 16, 2017, 9 a.m., in
the Commission Chambers
of the Baker County Court-
house, which included a
legislative update from
District 60 Republican
State Representative Cliff
Bentz.
Present from the Board
were Chair Bill Harvey,
Commissioners Mark Ben-
nett and Bruce Nichols,
and Executive Assistant
Heidi Martin. Atten-
dance also included Blue
Mountain Community
College Small Business
Development Center
(BMCC SBDC) Advisor
Jeff Nelson, Art Sapp-
tington, Sherrie Conklin,
Bobbie Danser, Ed Hardt,
Ken Anderson, and John
Creighton.
Harvey called the meet-
ing to order, provided the
Invocation, and led in
recitation of the Pledge of
Allegiance. The agenda
was adopted, with no noted
additions or changes, with
a motion from Bennett, and
a second from Harvey.
Citizen Participation
included Hardt, Nelson,
and Sappington. Hardt
said that the U.S. Forest
Service is requiring miner
Tom Griffi th to provide a
bond of $5,000 for a bridge
in the Eagle Creek area,
and there is a question of
Revised Statute (RS) 2477
road status.
Harvey provided some
road maps which Hardt
and Anderson investigated
during the session.
Nelson discussed a few
topics, among them, ribbon
cuttings for three new busi-
nesses, held on Thursday,
August 17, 2017: Chill’z
Frozen Yogurt, at 1 p.m.,
Appliances & More, at 2
p.m., and MC Taco Bus, at
3 p.m.
Nelson said that the
dedication for the Baker
City Labyrinth, located
along the Leo Adler Me-
morial Pathway in Central
Park (east of Resort Street,
between Washington and
Valley avenues), is sched-
uled for Saturday, August
19, 2017, 10 a.m.
Nelson also discussed
the next SBDC-sponsored
“Pub Talk,” titled “Suc-
cess in Women-Owned
Businesses,” scheduled
for Thursday, August 31,
2017, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.,
at Lefty’s Tap House, 1934
Broadway Avenue, Baker
City.
The event includes
speakers Janet Soto from
Business Oregon, Amy
Pearl from Hatch Or-
egon, Lisa Dawson from
the Northeast Oregon
Economic Development
District (NEOEDD), Garla
Rowe from Haines Sell
Rite, Yeni Arteaga from
MC Taco Bus, and Gaynell
Nielsen from the Blue
Door Inn.
Sappington requested
the Board look into the
possibility of a County
ordinance to address issues
with RS 2477 road closure
and gate status, and he
mentioned specifi cally the
H.A. Stevens Road, in the
County.
The minutes from the
Wednesday, August 2,
2017 regular session were
approved, with no noted
changes, with a motion
from Harvey, and a second
from Bennett.
Intergovernmental
Agreement No. 11084,
between the County and
the Oregon Department of
Education Youth Devel-
opment Division, for the
second stream of grant
funding for the purpose of
juvenile crime prevention,
was approved, with a mo-
tion from Bennett, and a
second from Bruce.
According to the agree-
ment, the County will be
reimbursed by the State, of
up to $45,000, for expens-
es incurred in providing
crime prevention services.
Temporary closures of
Durbin Creek and Lime
roads, due to the Total So-
lar Eclipse event (August
21, 2017), were approved,
with a motion from Har-
vey, and a second from
Bennett.
According to the discus-
sion, these closures were
authorized by County Road
Master Jeff Smith. The
Board also discussed the
possibility of temporar-
ily closing Marble Creek
Road.
Bentz provided a
legislative update, which
included a slide show
presentation, and copies
of a handout regarding the
benefi ts of investing in
transportation, in anticipa-
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Rep. Cliff Bentz visited Baker City Wednesday to give updates on the last legislative session to Baker
County Commissioners.
tion of the increases in fuel
tax, over the course of the
next seven years.
Among the topics
discussed is the continuing
situation with the Public
Employees Retirement
System (PERS), which
Bentz says is “out of con-
trol,” an issue he said was
created 35 years ago, and
because of bad decisions,
has not yet been resolved
by the State.
He said, “Oregonians
continue to vote for ballot
measures without voting
for taxes to pay for them,”
using Measure 98, the
High School Graduation
and College and Career
Readiness Act of 2016,
as an example (he voted
no on the measure, which
passed by a large percent-
age).
Bentz said that the public
is often misinformed or
uninformed, about the
lack of funding available
to support a program,
referencing the State’s $1.8
billion shortfall.
Of 80 bills Bentz had
drafted, only four passed,
he said (the hospital pro-
vider tax bill, the trans-
portation package bill, the
tax credit bill, and the fi sh
screen tax bill), emphasiz-
ing the diffi culty with the
process and in gaining
support for a bill.
Among other bills and
taxes discussed, Bentz said
that the $5.3 million State
transportation package
was passed, which will
mean $250,000 in addi-
tional infrastructure and
maintenance funding for
Baker City each year, as
well as $786,000 for Baker
County.
Bentz said that he sup-
ported neither House Bill
2705, nor House Bill 2706,
aimed at measuring water
usage at points of diversion
and charging water rights
users an annual manage-
ment fee, which he said is
unfair and “simply wrong.”
He said, “92% of the
water generated in Oregon
goes to the ocean...There
are a lot of people using
the 92%...Have they been
asked to pay for it? No...”
a point he emphasized no-
body had bothered to make
before.
He said that the bills
were not passed, but he
has no doubt they will be
presented again.
In reference to the battle
over the State’s compli-
cated low-carbon fuel
standard, Bentz said, “I’m
sure this is why I had a
heart attack—I mean it...”
He explained why he was
so worried about the bill—
the signifi cant increases in
cost felt at the gas pump,
without resulting in any
reduction in CO2 levels.
He explained that most
drivers probably don’t
know what extra cost
they’re paying at the pump
(about 1/2 cent per gallon
currently for the program),
but that it could be 22
cents per gallon at some
point, which he said the
majority of Oregonians
will not support, if they’re
aware of it.
He said he was success-
ful in getting that type of
cost information passed
into law.
Bentz said that the 950
miles of Baker County-
owned roads ranks 35th
among the 36 Oregon
counties, as far as condi-
tion is concerned. “You
guys are in bad shape here,
and you know it...” which
is why the Board pushed
for Bentz to acquire
funding for infrastructure
and maintenance for the
County, he said.
Bentz said that he plans
to focus on three major
issues between now and
the 2019 regular legislative
session—spending, rev-
enue reform, and PERS.
He said that he people
can come together to
accomplish goals, as he
noted there has been major
divide among parties, and
Harvey said that one-party
State control has been
devastating.
Bentz can be reached at
541-888-8866, or cliff-
bentz@oregonlegislature.
gov.
After a short break,
Resolution No. 2017-
1026, Appropriation Of
Unanticipated Funds
To Be Expended In The
Veterans Department Of
The General Fund, was
approved, with a motion
from Bennett, and a second
from Nichols.
According to the resolu-
tion, $42,353 in pass-
through funds was received
from the State of Oregon
Veterans’ Affairs.
During Commissioner
Update, the Board dis-
cussed the County’s prepa-
ration for the weekend of
the Total Solar Eclipse,
which Bennett said, among
other resources, will in-
clude 16 Sheriff patrol cars
and additional dispatchers,
25 Army National Guard
personnel to patrol the I-84
corridor, fi ve helicopters,
and two Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation
(ODOT) tow trucks.
All three Commissioners
said they will be present
throughout the weekend,
and Harvey said that the
County Courthouse will
be closed between 10 a.m.
and 11 a.m. on Monday,
August 21, in order for
staff to have an opportunity
to view the eclipse.
Inmate found dead at correctional facility
An Oregon Department
of Corrections inmate died
unexpectedly late Satur-
day night at Two Rivers
Correctional Institution in
Umatilla. As with all un-
anticipated deaths in state
prisons, the Oregon State
Police Criminal Investiga-
tion Division is conducting
an investigation.
At approximately 9:39
p.m. on Saturday, Au-
gust 12, 2017, Benjamin
Yzaguirre, 64, was found
unresponsive in his cell.
Security and medical
staff immediately began
life-saving efforts, which
continued by Uma-
tilla Emergency Medical
Technicians, to no avail.
Yzaguirre was transported
to a local hospital where he
was pronounced deceased
at 10:55 p.m.
Yzagiurre entered DOC
custody on July 2, 2015,
on one count of rape and
one count of sodomy out
of Marion County. His
expected release date was
June 11, 2021.
Next of kin has been no-
tifi ed. No other details are
available at this time.
TRCI is a multi-custody
prison in Umatilla that
houses approximately
1,800 male inmates. TRCI
participates in prison
industries with Oregon
Corrections Enterprises
including institution and
industrial laundry, mat-
tress manufacturing, and
sewing. Other institutional
work programs include
reparation and cleaning of
irrigation ditches, main-
tenance of local baseball
fi elds, and work with local
cities and the Hermiston
School District. The facil-
ity provides a range of
correctional programs and
services including educa-
tion, religious services and
behavioral health services.
TRCI opened in 2000.
Tripcheck launches statewide speed map
In an update to Oregon’s
traffi c and road conditions
website, TripCheck, motor-
ists can now see how fast
(or slow) traffi c is moving
on nearly all roads across
Oregon.
Previously, this feature
was only available in the
Portland metro area and
was called the Portland
Speed Map. Now, a new
statewide layer of data is
using near real-time traffi c
congestion information to
refl ect movement on road-
ways throughout Oregon.
ODOT has partnered with
Esri/ HERE to provide the
traffi c data.
When you visit Trip-
Check.com, simply zoom
in to see the traffi c fl ow on
the various roads. Traffi c is
displayed as a percentage
of free-fl ow speeds (fre-
quently the speed limit or
more practically, how fast
cars tend to travel when
unencumbered by other
vehicles). The streets are
color-coded as follows:
Green (fast): 85 - 100%
of free-fl ow speeds
Yellow (moderate): 65
- 85%
Orange (slow): 45 - 65%
Red (stop and go): 0 -
45%
When you are on the
website, to see what the
colors mean, click on the
Live Traffi c drop down
menu on the left.
There, you’ll also see an-
other signifi cant enhance-
ment to TripCheck: the in-
teractive map legend. The
map layer controls are now
integrated with the legend,
simplifying the layout and
providing a cleaner mobile
experience.
You can click on layers
such as Waze Traffi c to add
Subscribe today for as little as $29.95 per year! See page 9 for how!
or remove information.
TripCheck will receive
another update later this
year with a freshened
interface for searching text
reports.
This update will allow
users to create custom que-
ries to search for incidents,
weather, cameras and more
based on their criteria.