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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 11, 2015)
Tackling the pneumonia problem in our county’s Bighorn Sheep PAGE A11 www.wallowa.com Enterprise, Oregon February 11, 2015 $1 Hospital steps up debt repayment Administrator says recent donations will help By S.F. Tool Wallowa County Chieftain ENTERPRISE — Wallowa Memorial Hospital Adminis- trator Larry Davy announced the hospital’s intention of re- ducing its long-term debt by early and more frequent loan repayments. Davy made the announcement at the Jan. 26 Wallowa County Health Care District board meeting. Board OKs water 7KH KRVSLWDO KROGV ¿YH long-term loans. Three were for its own construction and one each for construction of Wallowa Valley Senior Liv- LQJ DQG WKH 0HGLFDO 2I¿FH Building. The loans, which total nearly $19.5 million at present, break down as fol- lows: • USDA 30-year loan for hospital at 4.125 percent in- terest with current balance of $6,891,937.58. • Community Bank 30- year loan for hospital at 4.75 percent interest with current balance of $5,132,838.47. • Community Bank 30- year loan for hospital at 4.75 percent interest with current balance of $2,138,682.79. • Northwest Farm Cred- LW ORDQ IRU 0HGLFDO 2I¿FH Building at 3.15 percent in- terest with current balance of $2,310,163.59. • Zions First National Bank loan for Wallowa Val- ley Senior Living at 1.2 to 3.7 percent variable inter- est with current balance of $2,813,000.00. 'DY\ VDLG WKDW KH DQG ¿ QDQFLDO RI¿FHU -RH :DQQHU Rob Ruth/Chieftain recently started discussing the Three of five loans that the Wallowa County Health Care loans. See DEBT, Page A9 District is trying to pay off early were taken out to build Wallowa Memorial Hospital. STORM COVERAGE ON PAGE A3 WIND BROKEN WURA trail study report on schedule By Rocky Wilson Wallowa County Chieftain Cemetery’s connection to be restored By Rob Ruth Wallowa County Chieftain ENTERPRISE — Fac- ing a groundswell of public sentiment pressing it to act, the Enterprise Cemetery’s three-member board has de- cided to reconnect the cem- etery to the Enterprise city water system, an expenditure of approximately $5,000 and a QHFHVVDU\¿UVWVWHSWRZDUGUH storing irrigation at the facility, which has gone largely unwa- tered the past three summers. On Thursday, Feb. 5, midway through a nearly Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain 90-minute session of the cem- This shop building on North Lake Street in Joseph was one of the many locations in Wallowa County where property etery board that drew a stand- was damaged by high winds that began overnight on Thursday and continued throughout most of Friday. ing-room-only crowd to the Wallowa County Courthouse’s PDLQ ÀRRU PHHWLQJ FKDPEHU board chair Susan Roberts informed the audience of the panel’s decision, which had evidently been made at the proceeding’s outset and had escaped attendees’ notice. Minutes before Roberts’ announcement, Ella Mae Hays, a founding member By Rich Rautenstrauch of Friends of the Enterprise Wallowa County Chieftain Cemetery, a group formed last year mainly in response to the IMNAHA — It’s often a good thing continuing absence of irriga- tion, had delivered a prepared when two community members get to- gether and talk. Occasionally the question statement. may arise: What can be done to make the See CEMETERY, Page A9 community a better and safer place? This is precisely the course the conver- WA L L O WA C O U N T Y sation took when Imnaha resident Mellica McIntire visited with local friend Shari Wallowa County’s Warnock. They came up with a plan to Newspaper Since 1884 install helicopter landing lights on the Im- Volume 132 Issue No. 43 naha Christian Fellowship parking lot, en- © 2015 EO Media Group DEOLQJ/LIHÀLJKWWUDQVSRUWVWRODQGLQWKHLU isolated community at any time of the day or night. It was sometime last summer when a case underscoring this need arose. McIn- WLUHDQH[SHULHQFHG¿UH¿JKWHUDQGPHGLF has worked with helicopters in the past. She recognized the need and today the lights are in place. Warnock became the facilitator and spokesperson for the proj- ect and it just “snowballed from there,” Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain Warnock explained. Local ranchers Tim and Nancy Roberts Shari Warnock of Imnaha takes time off from sorting cows to show off the new became involved. Tim Roberts contacted helicopter pad lights that community members recently installed in the church 7LP3HFNWKH/LIHÀLJKWEDVHPDQDJHUDW parking lot. The lights are visible to wearers of infrared goggles and are placed in Wallowa Memorial Hospital, and the two a pattern that Lifeflight pilots recognize. came up with a plan. Roberts researched the type of lights that were needed and him with the idea, Peck thought it was WR¿QGWKHODQGLQJ]RQH7KHOLJKWVFKRVHQ was also responsible for contacting Avista great. “Any time you can cut down re- UHÀHFWGRZQZDUGRQWKHSDGLWVHOI Power, the largest donor to the project. sponse time in an emergency situation it See HELIPAD, Page A10 3HFN VDLG ZKHQ 5REHUWV ¿UVW FDPH WR really helps. We use night vision goggles Community’s residents pitch in for new helipad landing lights C HIEFTAIN Although the number of players is not large, Rails With Trail feasibility study Project Manager Dana Kurtz says, as a whole, work on that project is proceeding on schedule and VKH DQWLFLSDWHV D ¿QDO UHSRUW will be shared with the Wal- lowa Union Railroad Author- ity (WURA) at that group’s December 2015 meeting. Kurtz is a graduate student at Eastern Oregon Universi- ty and her counterpart on the study where invested time far exceeds invested dollars, Ore- gon Department of Parks and Recreation Trails Coordinator Rocky Houston, feels the ef- fort is on pace as well. According to Kurtz, the only element of the study cur- rently lagging behind sched- ule is an economic impact assessment, and two students working on that portion of the study plus two econom- ics professors from EOU will SUHVHQW HDUO\ ¿QGLQJV RQ WKH matter to a Student Internship Advisory Committee on Feb. 11. One month beyond that and the same foursome will DQQRXQFHWKH¿QGLQJVRIWKHLU work. See REPORT, Page A9 BOC urges delisting of wolves By S.F. Tool Wallowa County Chieftain The Wallowa County Board of Commissioners has approved Resolution 2015- 001 urging the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to remove wolves from the state’s endangered species list. The resolution cited the IXO¿OOPHQW RI ¿YH SRLQWV LQ the Oregon Wolf Management 3ODQWKDWTXDOL¿HGWKHZROIIRU removal from the list: • Unlikelihood of the wolf’s endangerment or ex- tinction in the near future. • Reproductive potential not limited by population numbers or disease. • Most range/habitat not in danger of imminent or active deterioration. See WOLVES, Page A9 INVENTORY REDUCTION SALE! 3 DAYS ONLY! Feb. 13,14 & 16 Laminate Flooring, Carpet, Window Covering & Mattresses 800 S. River Street, Enterprise, Oregon • 541.426.9228 • carpetonenterprise.com in See deta i i n l s s ert! today’s