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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 22, 2017)
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2017 Business / Agriculture Compassion Center offers its first free clothing day BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com On Saturday, September 16, the Northeast Oregon Compassion Center held a Free Clothing Day in the Family Life Center, part of the Nazarene Church. The Compassion Center is in the same building as the Nazarene Church and they are not a part of the Church. “We get so many dona- tions that it’s overwhelm- ing our normal boutique, that there’s not enough room to be able to sell it,” explained Brenda Rilee, one of the organizers for the event. “They sell it for a very reasonable price, like a $1.50 for shirts I think. So really, really, inexpensive but they’re just getting overwhelmed and we have so much. “And our community, the people that truly need it, will come on a free day and that’s what they need. If they need clothes, this is a great opportunity, a Saturday when everybody can make it, so that’s really what inspired it, seeing people that need it.” This is the first year they have held a Free Clothing Day. Leticia St. Cyr, the other organizer for the event, explained that someone donated the racks most of the clothes were hanging on. They had clothes on tables as well as the hang- ers, they had two larger trailers usually used to haul The citizen said that in 2015 and 2016, the Craw- fords had actually complet- ed two separate additions to their 1,068 square foot home, originally built in 1920, which is located outside the Halfway City limits. Kitzmiller said, of receiving reports from citizens, “People are sometimes conflicted--they don’t want to be a ‘tattle tale’ necessarily, but at the same time, they want people to be safe.” Kitzmiller said that she saw no indication there were any structural permits issued for the Crawfords’ address since 2009 (the electronic archive goes back that far), property which they owned since December 11, 2012, but there was one electri- cal permit for a service upgrade, originally pulled (applied for) in 2014, and approved in August 2015. Kitzmiller said, “Nor- mally, when you’re build- ing a house, or doing an addition to a house, you have to address all four components: structural, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing (depending on the structure). Plus, you have to get a zoning clearance to change the footprint...” At the same time Kitzmiller initiated her investigation, ID No. 124- 17-000219-INV, she sent Baker City Building Of- ficial Ken Hall and Baker County Planning Director Holly Kerns emails, advis- ing them of the report. Friday, September 15, 2017 — Eastern Oregon Prices trended generally steady. All prices reported today are 2017 crop, unless otherwise noted. Sporadic rain showers and thunderstorms in hay growing areas have increased rain damaged hay availability. Fires and smoke throughout the state have slowed movement of hay due to high- way closures and fire mitigation. Retail/Stable type hay remains the largest demanded hay. The export market demand has increased as compared to prior reports. Tons Price Range Wtd Avg Alfalfa / Orchard Mix Large Square Good 200 125.00-125.00 125.00 USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov — Cattle Market Report — Wednesday, September 18, 2017 Vale, Oregon Cattle sold through the auction: 834 Steer Calves 300-400# Bulk 154.00-170.00 Top 171.00 400-500# Bulk 137.00-171.00 Top 176.00 500-600# Bulk 142.00-158.00 Top 159.50 Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press The Compassion Center utilized the gym at the Nazarene Church and distrib- uted free clothing from there last Saturday. wood, was filled with totes of clothing. They had everything from sweaters to shirts, pants, shoes, dresses, men’s dress clothing, and much more. “We have everything,” said Rilee. “Everything! It’s amazing.” “We still have enough clothes to fill the Compas- sion Center a couple of times, this was just extra,” explained St. Cyr. “The community has donated it all to the Compassion Cen- ter, so, we’re going to turn around and donate it back to the community.” They came up with the idea about three months ago and put it together with a couple of weeks’ worth of work. They originally planned to have the clothing outside of the Compas- sion Center on tarps, but the wind was blowing that morning and they were concerned the clothes were going to be blown away. “They have a food bank over there,” explained Rilee. “They have the clothing room and the clothing room is their main, to provide income for them, to be able to give it out. “They have people who come in for food weekly, daily, they have people that come in for clothing, they provide for people— there’s people who will be traveling through who run out of gas, and they’ll ask for gas vouchers and there’s a process and, through that, how that has to happen, there’s people that are kicked out of their homes, and women who are abused, and they come through MayDay, and they come over and they provide that service to them too. “We try to work as a community with all the other establishments. There’s a few other ones that are out here in our community that they work together with.” Planning Commissioner investigated CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 — Weekly Hay Report — Hall requested the address, 35850 West Carson Lane, be added to the list of medium priority “drive- bys” to determine whether there were any obvious additions. The address wasn’t considered a higher priority, since the work had reportedly already been completed. Hall tried to perform the initial drive-by on three separate occa- sions—April 3, June 20, and June 22—but, ac- cording to Kitzmiller, the Department’s workload for inspections was too large, especially in June, and she and Hall agreed that Hall would make another drive- by attempt this fall, since the work was reportedly already completed and covered. On Tuesday, September 12, Kitzmiller called the Planning Department, and was told by Senior Planner Eva Henes, who immedi- ately recognized the own- ers’ last name, that there had been no zoning or land use permission either applied for or approved, for any additions on the property. Henes said to Kitzmiller that, based on Henes’ expe- rience around Robert, as he served as a Planning Com- mission member, Henes didn’t think there was an intentional effort to avoid the permits. Nevertheless, Henes told Kitzmiller that the Crawfords would need to bring the property into compliance. Kitzmiller asked Henes whether the Planning De- partment wished to contact the Crawfords first, or have the Building Department handle that, and Henes told Kitzmiller she would like Kitzmiller to contact the Crawfords first, with a notification letter. The letter would emphasize the point that the Building Department wants to work with the Crawfords, not against them. Kitzmiller would require the Crawfords to file an ap- plication with the Planning Department within 14 days of that notification, though she said that the applica- tion would most likely be approved without an issue, in this case. Kitzmiller was surprised to learn that Robert is a County Planning Com- mission member, having served in that position since January of this year, and re-appointed this month for a four-year term, though that played no role in her investigation. She was previously unaware of that appointment, and she had already initiated an investigation beginning in April, based on that citizen complaint. On Thursday, September 14, Hall was successful in completing the initial drive-by, the additions were obvious, and he took photos of the work from outside the property, which he’d sent to Kitzmiller (staff of the Building Department would first ask permission from the property owner to inspect inside the property bound- aries). With just exterior photos, Kitzmiller said, the Department could still estimate the size of the structure, to determine the difference between the original dimensions, according to the County Tax Assessor, and the new dimensions, using com- parisons of known sizes of objects in the photos, such as a nearby vehicle, for example. Kitzmiller said, “Here’s the reality: as a home- owner, you are absolutely allowed to do your own work, but normally, any addition has to be permit- ted and inspected, and it has to receive planning and zoning approval. That’s State law, not County law. The building codes are not dictated by the City, or the County–just the zoning part of it, by the City, or the County. In their case (the Crawfords,), it would be the County.” She added that the Building Department can’t enforce City or County ordinances, but rather, building code law. In referring to the Crawfords’ additions, she said, “This would be a violation of building code law.” Kitzmiller said that the Building Department could require the Crawfords to expose any completed work (if not already in an exposed state) in order to make an inspection, but alternatively, if there are any pictures that were taken while the construc- tion was taking place, those could be used, or an engineer could be hired by the Crawfords to inspect and sign off on the work. SEE PLANNING COMMISSIONER PAGE 5 Heifer Calves 300-400# Bulk 149.00-162.00 Top 165.00 400-500# Bulk 138.00-155.00 Top 155.00 500-600# Bulk 127.00-143.00 Top 147.00 Yearling Steers 600-700# Bulk 138.00-151.00 Top 151.00 700-800# Bulk 133.00-144.00 Top 148.00 800-900# Bulk 129.00-135.00 Top 136.00 900-1,000# Bulk 113.00-122.00 Top 123.00 Yearling Heifers 600-700# Bulk 127.00-138.00 Top 138.50 700-800# Bulk N/A Top N/A 800-900# Bulk 118.00-127.00 Top 128.00 900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A Thin Shelly Cows 51.00-62.00 Butcher Cows 63.00-69.00 Butcher Bulls 64.00-79.00 Stock Cows N/A Younger Heifers 68.00-87.00 Stock Cows Young - N/A ProducersLivestock.com 541-473-3136 — Log Price Report — Prices are based on the majority of saw mills in Northeastern Oregon and Central Idaho. The prices listed below are a composite prices of various saw- mills willing to visit with me about this topic. Ponderosa Pine—small diameter class 8-11 inches diameter class $250 per mbf. Only one sawmill was willing to buy small diameter pine at this time. Ponderosa Pine—medium diameter class 12-17 inches diameter class $300 to $350 per mbf Ponderosa Pine-large diameter class 18 plus inches diameter class $380 to $410 per mbf The Pine prices are still approximately $40 per mbf below average lumber/log market due to 2017 fire salvage Doug Fir & Western Larch—$380 to $420 per mbf. Normal prices typically ranged between $425 to $475 per mbf. White Fir-$300 per mbf. Normal prices typically ranged between $340 to $360 per mbf. Engelmann Spruce—$350 at one Idaho sawmill, other sawmills including with White fir prices. In general, the log prices still impacted from 2015 fire season and fire salvage that resulted. Sawmills are starting to get log yard inventory in line with sawmill production needs. With a new Administra- tion as of 1/20/2017, a more normal economic envi- ronment should result and hopefully a more healthy housing situation will result in a better climate for Northeast Oregon Sawmill and private forest land- owners. Courtesy of Arvid Andersen, Andersen Forestry Consulting — Precious Metals Report — Price per ounce, USD Gold: $1,303.30 Silver: $17.10 Platinum: $939.67 Palladium: $911.73 Bloomberg.com — Ag Commodities — Corn: $350.00/bu/USD Wheat: $449.75/bu/USD Soybeans: $970.00/bu/USD Oats: $246.25 bu/USD Rough Rice: $12.81/cwt/USD Canola: $492.90 CAD/mwt Live Cattle: $116.25//lb./USD Feeder Cattle: $157.28/lb./USD Lean Hogs: $59.93/lb./USD Bloomberg.com
