The Valley’s #1 News Source Since 1937
Illinois Valley News
Wednesday, April 13, 2016, 1 Section, Volume 79 No. 4
75c
Published Weekly Cave Junction, Oregon 97523
Pineville
profits while
Erickson still
flies at I.V.
Ouch!
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
2015 was a contentious year for I.V. Airport,
beginning with the collapse of a development deal with
Manor Community Development Corporation that would
have created an industrial park devoted to Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle research and ending with the loss of a deal
with Erickson Air Crane to develop a helipad and support
structures.
For two days last week, Erickson was flying in and out
of I.V. Airport, as they have done for many years.
In a recent email to Illinois Valley News, Josephine
County Airports Manager Larry Graves expressed his
frustration with the situation and stated, “Erickson is flying
at the I.V. Airport as much if not more than they would
have, had they gotten the lease for a training range, and
we’re not getting a nickel from them. Because we don’t
have a lease with Erickson, not only are we getting no
revenue and no capital investment, we have ZERO leverage
with which to negotiate better flying hours, days or flight
patterns.
“Erickson has every right to access our public use
airports, and I have no sympathy for the people who
prevented an economic contract between the county and
Erickson, a contract which might have given us some ability
to discuss the terms and conditions of their flight activities.”
In the email, Graves included information from Crook
County Airport manager Kelly Coffelt, detailing the amount
of economic activity that area has realized from Erickson’s
move to Prineville.
“The first month of fuel sales (March only) amounted
to $70,000 worth of fuel with an additional $1,500 in
fuel flowage fees. Erickson has provided approximately
$150,000 in improvements, including a staging area, helipad
and an access road. They have plans in the fall to place
concrete for the pad and asphalt in the staging area.”
Due to the distance from their Medford base, four to
eight man crews and pilots have been staying in Prineville
motels for three or four nights a week and going to area
restaurants.
The Prineville land lease is approximately $5,000
per year. The proposed I.V. Airport lease would have been
$8,500.
In the face of the impending loss of 60 jobs at Rough
and Ready Mill, many are wondering if our community can
forge a strategy to create or attract family wage jobs to the
Illinois Valley. If those jobs involve I.V. Airport, it is to be
expected that our valley will experience more noise.
Graves stated, “People need to realize that just one of
the many contributions of an airport to its community is as
a magnet for development and capital improvement funds.
This year and next, the FAA is pouring over $2 million into
capital improvements at I.V. Airport. Local companies can
and should bid on these projects when they come up.”
While some comments from I.V. Airport Advisory
Board (IVAAB) meetings have been incorporated into
the upcoming IVCDO 20/20 Visioning Strategic Plan, no
meeting has been organized to specifically gather ideas for
airport development acceptable to the community.
The I.V. Airport is already highly regulated. The
following facts about I.V. Airport and Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) rules should be considered in any
discussion.
I.V. Airport revenues are generated through fuel sales
flowage fees paid per gallon to the county; ground leases for
exclusive use land, including county, private and corporate
hangars; and emergency land use agreements with various
wildfire fighting agencies for helibases. The Airports
Enterprise Fund Operational Budget is over $700,000
annually for both airports. I.V. Airport is subsidized by
operations at Grants Pass Airport.
The I.V. Airport is a public facility funded by the
FAA and must be operated in a self-sufficient manner. FAA
Grant Assurance rules stipulate: “When airport owners or
sponsors, planning agencies, or other organizations accept
funds from FAA-administered airport financial assistance
programs, they must agree to certain obligations (or
assurances)...” A hostile environment to airport development
violates assurances made by Josephine County officials to
the FAA.
Current I.V. Airport based businesses include “The
Flying Machine” a full-service aircraft fuel, maintenance
and repair facility, “Captain Drake’s Family Aerial
Adventures” flight school, and “Kinetic Aerospace,” a
design consulting business. In addition, several Valley
businesses use airplanes based at I.V. Airport, including
Rough and Ready Lumber Company, Taylor’s Sausage
Country Store and Rogue Truck Body. I.V. Data Center
owns 12 hangars. The Smokejumper Museum operates on a
donation basis.
SEE AIRPORT ON A-10
(Photo by Dale Sandberg, IVFD Media Dept)
Roger Brandt plays the part of an injured resident during the CERT training held on Dick George Rd.
Saturday, April 9.
Getting ready for the ‘Big One’
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
The annual number of “great”
earthquakes nearly tripled over the past
decade, a reminder to residents of the
Pacific Northwest that unruptured faults
like the Cascadian Subduction Zone
running along the Oregon coast might be
due for the Big One. Scientists estimate a
magnitude 9 quake centered near Astoria
occurred in 1700.
If such a thing were to happen
today, thousands would be killed as
a wall of water would come ashore
well inland, and Illinois Valley would
feel the effects of the earthquake
itself. Kenneth Murphy, who directs
the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) Region X, the division
responsible for Oregon, Washington,
Idaho and Alaska, was quoted in a 2015
article in “The New Yorker” magazine
as saying, “Our operating assumption is
that everything west of Interstate 5 will
be toast.”
Some Illinois Valley residents are
planning and preparing for the Big One
by completing Community Emergency
Response Team (CERT) training. April
9, the I.V. CERT team staged a training
session at Bridgeview Church to practice
triage techniques in the case of an
earthquake.
I.V. Fire District (IVFD) Division
Chief Kris Sherman said, “This past
weekend was part of the quarterly
training we do to keep our skill sets up in
event of an emergency. CERT volunteers
are part of the I.V. Fire District. In
the event of a major earthquake, our
volunteers will go out to check on their
neighbors and do home assessments for
earthquake damage.
“We had simulated victims so
the CERT volunteers could practice
triage. It’s our job to assess the needs
in our valley and report up the chain of
command. If roads are open we would
figure out the number of ambulances
needed or the number of helicopters and
get them to the right hospitals. In a very
large quake, area hospitals would be
overwhelmed and we might need to send
critically injured people out of the region
to Bend or elsewhere,” he said.
IVFD will be offering a free six day
CERT Basic Training Class over three
weekends, April 22-23, April 29-30 and
May 13-14. Applications are available
at Fire Station One, 681 Caves Hwy. in
Cave Junction.
IVCDO chair Roger Brandt,
who played one of the victims during
this practice session said, “The CERT
training will help assure there is someone
in your neighborhood who has the
ability to communicate with other CERT
members during catastrophic events to
provide immediate and well informed
updates that will help residents get help
quickly and evacuate safely.”
SEE CERT ON A-10
RCC looks to expand services in Kerby
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
Rogue Community
College (RCC) operates an
outreach facility at the Kerby
Belt Building (KBB). An
upcoming ballot measure
proposed by RCC, #17-69 is
a 20 year bond levy of 5 cents
per thousand of assessed
value for property owners.
This levy would amount
to $10 per year for a home
with an assessed value of
$200,000.
If passed, the levy
would allow RCC to further
develop the commercial
kitchen at the KBB as part
of their Small Business
Development Center (SBDC).
In a telephone interview,
SBDC Director Ronald Goss
stated, “If the bond passes,
we would be able to use
some of the funds to do a lot
more expansive job on the
commercial kitchen project.
This bond is focused on
career and technical education
training. In our rural area,
that’s sorely needed to have
those kinds of opportunities.
We’re all interesting in having
our kids succeed.”
“We have approached
Josephine County to provide
initial seed funds to upgrade
the current range to a
commercial propane gas
range. We’re also looking
at a refrigeration upgrade to
a 35 cubic foot commercial
unit,” Goss said. “We’re in the
process of getting commercial
certification for the kitchen.
The bond would then provide
additional funds for a Steam
Proofer (steam cabinet)
Steamer (vegetables), and a
commercial dehydrator; all
essential farm-to-table food
processing equipment.”
“We plan to partner with
the OSU extension office
to create a food technology
group that would create
labeling and evaluate potential
shelf life. This way we could
help entrepreneurs to turn
their home grown recipes into
commercial products,” Goss
said.
RCC SBDC partners
with the Illinois Valley
Community Development
Organization (IVCDO) in
managing the I.V. Business
Entrepreneurial Center
(IVBEC) at the KBB.
Goss said, “The
IVBEC is poised to increase
utilization of the kitchen and
through our SBDC micro-loan
enterprise project, we can
help potential entrepreneurs.
We hope to make this facility
more of an enterprise center
to support business ideas for
folks who want to grow or
expand a business. The real
key to getting them started
is access to capital, and the
IVCDO Small Business
Revolving Loan Fund (RLF)
does just that.”
IVBEC business
development coordinator
Kenny Houck said, “The
IVCDO Small Business RLF
is the only small business
lending fund available in our
county whose sole purpose is
for small business loans and
development. We currently
have $280,000 lent out in 20
active loans.”
Classes currently offered
through the SBDC at the KBB
include: Quickbooks, Excel
and social media marketing,
business planning through
“Smart Start Your Business”
and assistance with human
resource management. For
example, last year SBDC
consultant Tim Busald helped
management at the Chateau at
the Oregon Caves with team
building exercises that helped
improve employee morale and
cohesiveness.
In addition to these
services, longstanding RCC
services at the KBB include
remedial training to prepare
students to pass the General
Education Development
(GED) test, a high school
equivalency diploma in
science, math, social studies,
reading and writing.
SEE BELT ON A-10