Page A-8
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, April 21, 2021
County renews contract
for inm ate services at jail
CJ Schatza
IVN copy editor
The Josephine County
Board of Commissioners was
joined by Lieutenant Ed Vincent
of JoCo Corrections Division to
detail a contract renewal with
Turnkey Corrections to provide
inmate commissary services at
Josephine County Jail.
“We’ve been with
Turnkey since 2011,” Vincent
said. “Initially the contract
was a three-year contract that
we’d agreed to and then after
2014 we were doing yearly
renewals with them. They
have come to the table with a
gracious offer, I believe. They
raised their commission rate
from 23% to 35%, and for their
communications side they raised
it from 23% to 30%, which is a
pretty good deal.”
Vincent continued,
“We’ve had a really good
relationship with them. I like
to say they’ve been with us
through thick and thin, and
this is a five-year contract with
them to continue our business
agreement, which looks like it’s
going to raise our inmate fund
approximately $20,000 annually
from about 165 or 166,000 to
about 196,000. They’ve been a
really good company to work
with in any issues we’ve had.
Unfortunately enough they had
an issue with distribution with
a distribution center here last
year and they fixed that and
unfortunately enough during that
process they lost one of their
lead individuals passed away. he
was a really good guy to work
with. And they overcame that
COUNTY... Continued from A-1
“We are going to,
basically when they need
environmental services, what
that amounts to is like septic
services and so on and so forth;
they are going to pay us to go
over and take those permits,”
Board Chairperson Dan
DeYoung explained.
Josephine County’s
helping hand extends not only
to Curry’s environmental health
program, but also to the WIC
(Women, Infants and Children)
program, which entails
providing food supplementation
to families with young children.
“We do have assurances
that there will be no expense
to Josephine County,” Weber
chimed in to note. “They’ll
cover all the expenses. We’re
just going to help them provide
for essentially the minimum
level of service that they need
to get them to the end of the
fiscal year, and then we’ll look
at some longer term solutions.”
Responding to questions
from the board, Weber
detailed the nature of JoCo’s
assistance to Curry County. For
environmental health, JoCo
staff will mostly be conducting
restaurant inspections. If
restaurants are not inspected
at least twice per year, once in
the first six months and once
in the second six, it can impact
the restaurants’ ability to stay
open, Weber explained. The
health director also noted that
Curry has hired an employee
to oversee the WIC program,
but they have not yet received
the adequate training so a JoCo
employee with the necessary
prerequisites will oversee WIC
in their stead until training is
complete.
Vice Chairperson herman
Baertschiger asked Weber how
challenge.”
Later in the meeting, the
board reviewed the annual
CAFFA (County Assessment
Function Funding Assessment)
grant agreement. Board
Chairperson Dan DeYoung
said, “The money is raised by
fees placed on most documents
recorded in the county clerk’s
office and a percentage of the
interest collected on delinquent
property tax accounts.”
DeYoung added that assessment
administration, valuation,
appeals, cartography, tax
collection and distribution, and
GIS and IT functions are the
areas of county operation that
the CAFFA grant can be used
for.
“The estimated revenue
to the county is approximately
$423,000,” DeYoung added.
helping Curry will impact the
involved staff’s workload, and
if overtime will become a factor.
Weber responded, “We may see
a little bit of overtime. If we do,
Curry County will cover the
expense. We have a little bit of
bandwidth and there’s some of
our projects that we can push
out into the next fiscal year. That
won’t have too much of an effect
on us operationally. It’s just
going to delay some things that
we’re working on.”
“This is a great chance
to be a good neighbor,”
Commissioner Darin Fowler
commented. “We’ve done it
in the past and we do it with
building services sometimes
too, and we now have DEQ
inspections of theirs, so this is
a good way to strengthen our
bond down here because I think
that southwest Oregon kinda
has noticed our commonality
during this pandemic and
during economic rough times.”
SEASON...
Continued from A-1
Medford National Weather Service
meteorologist Brett Lutz said current
conditions in the Illinois Valley are classified
as “moderate drought.” While over the
course of the winter season this area saw
“some improvement” as far as drought goes,
he noted that “it’s a bigger issue the farther
east you go, because there’s been less rain.
There’s still drought stressed vegetation out
there. Fuels are already approaching record
dry for this time of year - which is certainly
concerning.”
Trying to find an optimistic spin, Lutz
also pointed out that last year’s situation was
similar, but then “May was unusually wet.
Obviously, that’s not a forecast, but there
certainly is a possibility that May could
turn around. That’s what we’re hoping for,
because if it doesn’t, we’ll be marching into
fire season promptly.”
Lutz explained how the three-month
outlook for April, May and June indicates
“increased probability for warmer and dryer
than normal. The caveat being that either
May or June could still end up being cooler
and wetter... In other words, we could have
two months that are warmer and dryer - and
one month that is cooler and wetter, which
could improve our situation.”
The shorter-term question is: When will
it rain again?
SPACE...
Continued from A-1
Experts say to start with the house
and work outward. Be sure to remove fuel
sources close to the house, including gas
cans, chemicals, organic mulch, juniper
bushes or any other flammable plants.
Wind-cast embers or creeping ground fires
can ignite fuels in this zone and carry flames
to the structure.
Plants within 100 feet of homes
should be low-growing and well-irrigated.
Adequate spacing between trees and shrubs
is also important; trees should be pruned
six to ten feet up from the ground. Also,
create fuel breaks, such as driveways, gravel
walkways and green lawns - as a fuel break
can stop the advance of a fire by starving it
of flammable vegetation.
Fire officials also want the public
to pay attention to their driveways. Trees
should be limbed or pruned and shrubs
trimmed back from the driveway and brush
Open 10 a.m.
to 11 p.m.
40 max capacity
“There are some indications the week
of April 19 through the 26 could bring some
precipitation,” he said.
“This past winter we’ve been in a
moderate La Nina weather pattern, which
typically brings cooler temps, which can
result in a near- to above-normal snow pack.
This year that snowpack peaked in March,
which is not unusual. But what is unusual
is that the snowpack is rapidly dwindling
due to the warmer temps and lack of spring
precipitation. That’s concerning - because
the fuels up there can cure faster and become
more flammable.”
Whether any particular year is classified
as El Niño or La Nina refers to equatorial
Pacific oceanic temperatures in a region
generally south of the hawaiian Islands.
Impacts to the Pacific Northwest can vary
greatly.
“In the simplest terms, it’s all about the
strength of the systems,” Lutz explained. “La
Nina typically results in near-to-cooler temps
in winter months, while an El Niño year
can mean warmer weather. If either of these
systems are strong enough, they can result in
wetter weather, but, if the signals are weaker,
then it can stay dryer.”
Regarding this spring he said, “A lot
remains to be seen - and keep in mind that
long-range precipitation forecasts tend to
beless accurate - though these days a forecast
that calls for warmer than normal weather is
often right, due to the general climatic trend
toward hotter drier weather.”
cleared away, to provide safe access to
firefighters. Fire engines must be able to
enter and exit properties without running a
gauntlet of flame.
Even after the burn ban is declared,
people should keep working on these
projects - chipping the brush, sticks and
limbs, or if that’s not possible, creating
brush piles well away from the home,
preferably in an open field away from trees
or other live brush. Also, move firewood
away from structures.
For more information about the ODF’s
fire season regulations or to get more fire
safety tips, call 541- 474-3152 or the Illinois
Valley Fire District at 541-592-2225.
To get more fire safety tips or info
about fire season regulations call 541- 474-
3152 or the Illinois Valley Fire District at
541-592-2225. keep track of fire activity in
the region at www.swofire.com.
Firewise.org also provides great
safety tips to help folks keep their homes
and lands in the best condition to withstand
wildfires.