J m « m
i Record-Courier
5
THURSDAY, APRIL 21,2016
Baker City Fire Department Winning Team
Photo by Chris Galiszewski
The 12th Annual Baker County Fire Service Task Performance Exercise was held last
Saturday. The winning team this year was Baker City Fire Department. Pictured from left is
BJ Lynch, Tabbitha Jensen and Brandon Hargous. Jason Jacobs was part of the team but
is not pictured.
Lease No Longer a Dollar
By Emily Braswell
5J Kindergarten Assessment to
be Held April 27-29
The Baker School District will be conducting individual
assessments for children planning to enroll as kindergarten
students in August, 2016. This screening is offered to assist
parents and teachers in determining the readiness skills of
preschool children for kindergarten entry in the fall. Children must
be 5 years of age by Sept. 1,2016, to be eligible.
The assessment covers three main areas of child development:
motor skills, concepts and language. Children participate for
about 45 minutes, one-on-one, with an adult in a variety of
activities at four separate stations. Upon completion, the
coordinator will share the results with parents and discuss any
potential areas of concern or interest. Most children who are
currently enrolled in a pre-school will be screened at their
pre-school.
Children who are NOT enrolled in a pre-school will be screened
at the Baker School District Office, 2090 Fourth Street, Baker City
on April 27, 28 and 29 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30
p.m.
Please contact Ellen Dentinger at 541 -524-2260 to schedule
an appointment, allowing 45 minutes to an hour to include
consultation. During the assessment, parents will be asked to
pre-register their child to assist the school district in planning for
the next school year.
The child's birth certificate (or a copy) will be recorded at that
time. Other pre-registration forms and information will also be
available. Even if the child is unable to participate in the actual
screening, it is important to complete the pre-registration portion
at the District Office and have a copy of the birth certificate made.
All students will, however, need to be officially registered in
August with an updated immunization record.
Senior Meal Menu
April 22 -Baked Cod Cup/Clam
Truck &RV Wash
Chowder, Baby Carrots,
Coleslaw, Roll, Pudding: Entrée
Sponsor Anne Bowling
April 25 - Hot Beef Sandwich,
Potatoes & Gravy, Broccoli,
Blend Veg, Carrot
Raisin Salad, Ice Cream Entrée
Sponsor Terri Evarts
April 26 - Boneless Chicken
Breast w/Cream Gravy, Rice
Pilaf, Mixed Vegetable,
Sauerkraut Salad Roll, Brownie
Entrée Sponsor Settler’s Park
April 27 - Baked Ham,
Scalloped Potatoes, Peas &
Carrots, Jello w/Fruit, Roll
Birthday Cake** Entrée
Sponsor Baker County Veteran
Services
April 28 - Meatloaf, Potatoes
& Gravy, Tomato, Green Beans,
Broccoh Bacon
Salad, Roll, Bread Pudding
Entrée Sponsor Support Kody
Justus for County
Commissioner
Ap'ril'29 - Chef Salad, • ' '
Cup/Vegetable Soup, Cottage
Cheese w/Fruit, Garlic
BreadSticks Entrée Sponsor
Phyllis Galloway, IMO Harry
Galloway
We wash anything on wheels'.
Exit 304 off 1-84
2410 Plum Street, Baker City
541-523-5070
541-519-8687
Gift Certificates Available.
www.paradisetruckwash. com
BLUE
I MOUNTAIN
OU
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The Petroleum Company
Jeremy & Ashlee Yerrick
288513th Street, Baker City
541-523-4779 / 541-403-0215
Cardlocks
• Baker City • Haines
• North Powder
Individuals, Partnerships
and Corporations
Tax Preparation
Nichols & Mitchell, PC
Certified Public Accountants
Photo from www.bakeroregonhistory.org
Sumpter Valley Railway (SVRy) Depot building circa 1933. Note the smoke from the train behind the
building.
Attorney for Baker County, Dan Van Thiel,
was present at last week’s Commission Work
Session. He presented an overview of events of
the past year related to the Sumpter Valley Rail­
way (SVRy) Depot building. The building is
owned by Baker County but sits on a portion of
property on the north side of the railroad cross­
ing at Broadway owned by Union Pacific Rail­
road (UPRR). The County missed the deadline
to renew the lease agreement.
The original land lease agreement between
Baker County and UPRR was entered into June
of 1995 in preparation for relocation and restora­
tion of the SVRy Depot. The land lease allowed
use of the building after it was complete, with the
provision that a fence or barricade be built in
specific locations on the property, for a rental
price tag of $1 per year. In order to renew the
lease, Baker County was to advise UPPR in
writing at least 90 days prior to the end of the
initial 20-year term, which occurred June 1,
2015. UPRR did not receive any written re­
quests for the land lease agreement renewal
from Baker County.
Consequently, negotiations in creating a new
..land lease agreement, began after Van Thiel re­
ceived the land lease files and notifications for
lease termination in May of 2015. At one point
in the negotiation process, the land lease had
Baker County’s rent at $4,500 plus additional
-administrative charges. In the end, Van Thiel ne­
gotiated an automatic three-year renewal agree­
ment to lease the property for $3,000 per year,
with an annual three percent increase, cumula­
tive and compounded. The Commissioners can
entertain lease negotiations again before the
■lease agreement is up again in December 2017.
Both the County and UPRR utilize the build­
ing and the Board ultimately agreed that it is not
in any danger of being torn down or destroyed.
Baker County especially stands to protect the
historical integrity of the building there. This is in
contrast to earlier statements made by Commis­
sioner Harvey to multiple County staff members.
?A staff report by Dan McQuisten on March 3,
2016 outlined costs and responsibilities of the
County should the Depot be torn down or aban­
doned. McQuisten also reminded Commission­
ers at that time about the significant investments
made by members of the community for the
. restoration of the Depot.
Due to the historical nature of the building, its
• upkeep falls under the Baker County Parks and
Recreation Department. Ed Elms, director of the
Baker County Parks and Recreation Advisory
Board, said his board was not involved in nego­
tiating or approving the new year-to-year land
lease with UPRR.
Harvey replied, “I was not notified until the
first of May that we were having problems with
the contract. At that time, Karen [Spencer] re­
quested us to get involved because she was
making no headway with their negotiators. It
was past the point of options at that stage.”
According to Commissioner Mark Bennett,
the Depot building is in the process of being
listed on the Historical Register.
Elms was also unaware of the need for the
process of competitive bidding for contract serv­
ices for the County. He spoke about his depart­
ment’s recent change of sanitation vendors,
saying, “As a Director, I was confused in regards
to that. We’ve had multiple vendors over the
years and we’ve never had a contract with any
of them, so why would we be required to have a
contract now with someone to do our waste dis­
posal?”
•
Harvey answered, “Because you have some­
body interested in bidding. There’s many people
out there upset about this because of the
process taken.”
The Commissioners discussed the creation
of a new procedure requiring all County depart­
ments to bring topics of interest to the larger
community in front of the Board for discussion.
McCarty Attorney Fees
A court hearing was set for 1:15 p.m. last Fri­
day for clarification of the judgement on the Mc­
Carty case. The 9 percent interest fee for a
judgment raises concern to get correct informa­
tion as soon as possible. The judge had granted
reasonable attorney fees and signed the judg­
ment. The County was sent a bill in the amount
of approximately $306,000 plus roughly an ad­
ditional $24,000. Last Friday’s hearing should
have given the Board clarification on that mat­
ter.
Tri-County Weed Board
Tri-county Weed Board’s budgets are still not
being made public. Baker County intends to par­
ticipate with the Board, but would like to see the
office moved back to Baker County where it
originated and the budget needs to be transpar­
ent due to the pass through dollars from state
and federal funds needing to be accounted for.
Possible Sale
Commissioner Harvey asked the Board for di­
rection regarding the possible sale of 2.75 acres
of industrial zone land owned. Baker County
was approached by one of the manufacturing
companies asking for the option to purchase
that land. The property value from the asses­
sor's office is set at $42,000. Discussion among
the Commissioners reiterated the original pur­
pose of the land and pricing within the industrial
park: to be a draw for industrial companies and
create more jobs in the community.
Bruce Nichols, CPA
Stan Mitchell, CPA
country ;
Tax Preparation & Electronic Filing
Payroll Services - Estates & Trusts
Located at 2550 Broadway
in Baker City ,
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541-523-6471
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Baker City
541-524-9930
541-519-2612 Cell
www. countryfinancial. com
/cindy.endicott
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27
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Vote for the right candidate,
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Republican Candidate for
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