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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (May 25, 2016)
Wallowa County Chieftain wallowa.com News May 25, 2016 Center for Wellness moves toward centralized care Mental health clinic secures commercial zoning for land near hospital By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness (WVCW) has received approval from the Enterprise City Council for rezoning on their 3.86-acre property directly across from Wallowa Memorial Hos- Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain pital. The center purchased the This 3.86-acre property across from Wallowa Memorial Hospital has property, originally zoned R3 res- been purchased by Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness for a future idential, from Viridian Manage- site of a planned Integrated Health Services building. ment, which owns the apartment complex backing the property. planning commission and council clinic and transitioning into a Enterprise City Council whole- will be planned in June.” nonproit organization in 1995. heartedly supported the zoning No dificulties are anticipated. The zoning change will com- change to commercial on the rec- The center paid approximate- plete step one in a plan to erect ommendation of staff — although ly $305,000 for the property. The an approximately $3.5 million no zoning change was actually high cost relects the value of integrated Health Services Cen- necessary. In reviewing the re- the development around it — all ter that will make the most of the quest, they noted that in keeping medical facilities costing millions proximity to all care facilities. with the city’s plan, a care facility of dollars. The property is ideally posi- of any type could be placed in any “No developer would make tioned for patient care and pro- zone. Nevertheless, rezoning just money on this property for res- vider convenience, and WVCW made sense, councilors decided. idential use,” said attorney for has seen a rapid growth in pa- “We’ve basically approved WVCW, Richard G. Hobbs of tients in need of integrated care it and it’s been approved by the Lostine. that can parse out physical and city council,” said Enterprise It is only because the nonproit mental conditions and provide Planning Commission Chair John center is the mental health pro- the best possible care across the Lawrence. “Now the city lawyer vider for the county and attractive board. will have a inding of fact (to to grantors that a purchaser was “We have grown exponential- make sure everyone’s ducks are found, Hobbs said. ly in the last year,” said WVCW in a row with regard to state goals The center has served Wallowa Executive Director Chantay Jett. and the council’s decision) and County for almost 30 years, be- “We’ve literally grown into all of a second hearing in front of the ginning as a county mental health our locations: WVCW ofices on First Street in Enterprise, the an- nex in the old Wheatland Insur- ance building in Enterprise.” The center’s mental health crisis team already is located in the medical ofice building and that has worked out well, Jett said. “It’s been a real win-win for all of us.” For that reason it is likely the crisis team will remain in the medical ofice building, Jett said. The new building will house WVCW main ofices, the annex, Building Healthy Families, other medical providers and hopefully a dentist who can accept Medic- aid. There is only one dentist in the county who can accept Med- icaid and he is extremely busy, Jett said. Funding for construction will be raised through grant writ- ing and other sources. The irst, primary grant of approximately $1.5 million is expected to be a federal grant. That grant must be “passed through” the county and because another Infrastructure Finance Authority (a Community De- velopment Block Grant) is still being completed, WVCW must wait for the next cycle to apply. A county may only handle one such grant at a time. Because the building comple- tion date is so far out — estimat- ed for 2020 — many other chang- es may be made in the meantime to streamline care for individuals with mental health issues. A3 GEMS plans to unveil Enterprise sign May 27 Wallowa County Chieftain Greater Enterprise Main Streets (GEMS) is planning a celebration to present the re- cently completed gateway entry sign to the city of Enterprise. The unveiling ceremony will take place at 9:30 a.m. Friday, May 27 at the sign’s location at the top of the hill overlooking Enterprise from the west on Highway 82 (across from Eagle’s View Inn & Suites). For trafic safety, park in the Baptist church parking lot adjacent to the sign‘s location. The monument, four years in the making, was completed through the effort and sup- port of many. As the GEMS group was form- ing in 2011, a need was identiied to give Enterprise more recognition than it currently receives from people traveling through the valley. The purpose of the sign is to strength- en the city’s identity and welcome visitors. From individual donations to larger con- tributions — from Community Bank, Paciic Power, Wallowa County, Glenn Martin, the Wallowa County Cultural Trust and the city of Enterprise — the project was truly a com- munity effort. The monumental sign was crafted from products that relect Enterprise. The Bowlby stone, quarried by Melville Stone, ties in to the historic buildings downtown. The wood represents the importance of natural resource economy (timber, farming, ranching, out- door recreation). The wood was locally har- vested and produced by JayZee lumber and was carved and painted by local artist Steve Arment. Ralph Swinehart generously drew up the blueprints needed. Darrell Brann was involved in the design committee work, or- ganized the construction and laid the Bowl- by stone columns with help from Tim Funk.