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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2017)
News Wallowa County Chieftain wallowa.com Agency seeking committee volunteers City Hall in Joseph gets facelift By Katherine Stickroth For The Chieftain The addition of new siding to the Joseph City Hall is an indication of change on the way. “We’ve been talking for some time about updating the appearance of City Hall,” said Mayor Dennis Sands. “We’ve had some real problems here on the south side of the build- ing with rot. Where big dou- ble doors once stood at this former garage, the wall was pulling away from the struc- ture, allowing water to pour in. “For years we’ve had a line item on the city budget where money is regularly put away for a building fund. Over time that account has built up. We had a goal-setting session, and repairing and the east and south walls of the building were priorities.” At the entrance to the of- fi ce stands a bronze bust of Chief Joseph, donated last summer to the city by Fred Weatherford Phillips and his The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is seeking volunteers for posi- tions on two recreational ad- visory committees. Four vacant positions are available on the All-Terrain Vehicle Advisory Committee. The positions are for an ADA representative, rural fi re protection district representa- tive, emergency medical ser- vices provider representative, and Oregon Vehicle Dealer Association representative. The ATV Advisory Com- mittee meets two to four times per year at locations throughout the state to advise the Parks Department on ATV issues relating to safety and vehicle classifi cations. The ADA representative will also serve on the ATV grant subcommittee, which meets about twice per year to recommend grant application funding for ATV related proj- ects. The interest form and ap- plication are available on-line at www.oregonohv.org under the ATV Committees section, or by contacting the Oregon Parks and Recreation Depart- ment. The department is also seeking to establish a list of candidates to serve on the State Scenic Bikeway Com- mittee in an at-large position. One seat is open on the 11-member committee. Mem- bers of the committee are ap- pointed by the OPRD director to a four-year term and are eligible for reappointment. The committee meets about fi ve times per year, usually in Salem, for an all-day meet- ing with additional fi eld trips throughout the state to pro- posed and designated Bike- ways. The at-large position is a volunteer appointment and authorized for travel reim- bursement. The committee advises OPRD on ways to strength- en the existing program and the proponent groups asso- ciated with each designated Bikeway. The committee also makes recommendations to the department on matters pertaining to the Bikeways program. Those interested in serving must submit a Bikeway Com- mittee Interest Form by Feb. 28. For information or to ob- tain an interest form, go to http://www.oregon.gov/oprd/ BIKE/Pages/info.aspx or contact Alexandra Phillips at alex.phillips@oregon.gov or 503-986-0631. By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Joseph Mayor Dennis Sands is about to take the con- dition of Joseph’s roads to the state house. Sands is one of the regional representatives for small cit- ies with populations of 5,000 or less in Morrow, Umatilla, Union and Wallowa counties. In an October meeting sponsored by the League of Oregon Cities in Elgin, Sands met with two representatives from Oregon Department of Transportation. It was an op- portunity for the small cities to talk about their transporta- tion and infrastructure issues. Sands brought up the is- sue of Special City Allotment grants for infrastructure im- provements in small cities in his region. “ODOT used to give $25,000 grants to cities begin- ning in 1991 but they realized that wasn’t much and upped it to $50,000 about three or four years ago,” Sands said. However, when that change was made, ODOT did not up the total amount of funds available for the grants — effectively cutting the number of small cities that would receive the grant in half. Joseph received a grant two years ago, but has not been able to garner one since. Enterprise received one in 2013 and City Administrator NOW OPEN First Saturday of the Month 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 105 NE First Street, Enterprise Basement of Odd Fellows Hall Open Monday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Tuesdays 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. wallowacountysoroptimist.org ek We Student of the ENTERPRISE HIGH SCHOOL Katherine Stickroth/For The Chieftain Joe Vinni places new siding on the Joseph City Hall building. wife, Evelyn Phillips. Their daughter, Marti S. Abbott who lives in Bend, says, “They had an interest in Chief Joseph, which began when we were children and we camped at Wallowa Lake. My parents visited a local foundry, and the bust was lat- er purchased from the Lincoln City Art Gallery in 1985.” Abbott’s father had ties to Eastern Oregon. Though he grew up in Portland, Phil- lips was a descendant of the A3 Weatherford family, one of the oldest wheat ranching families in Oregon. The sculpture created by artist Gary M. Hornbeck of Hood River will have a place of prominence in the future large-scale renovation and ad- dition to the Joseph City Hall building. “The repairs currently un- derway were the fi rst step in updating the building. Future plans include expanding the building to better serve our residents. Right now our of- fi ces are laid out ineffi ciently and do not afford privacy for the discussion of bill pay- ments. We need to get better organized,” Sands said. “The expansion will in- clude enlarging the library and adding a meeting room for public use. Funds are available for City Hall’s por- tion of the new construction.” Preliminary plans for the project have been drawn and the Friends of the Library will soon begin a fundraising cam- paign to complete construc- tion of their portion. Sands will fi ght for city street money at capital THRIFT SHOP Whitney Evans February 1, 2017 Whitney Evans has earned a cumulative 3.83 GPA here at EHS. She values education as evidence by her participation and success in such classes as AP Literature and Composition, Pre-Calculus, Advanced Biology and Chemistry. She excels in the sciences currently taking 3 advanced science classes this year in Physics, Animal Science, and Anatomy. She recently completed a 200 level college math class. Congratulations Whitney on an outstanding performance here at EHS. Proudly sponsored by Joseph 432-9050 Enterprise 426-4511 Wallowa 886-9151 The Student of the Week is chosen for academic achievement and community involvement. Students are selected by the administrators of their respective schools. Michele Young said that al- though they apply every year she thinks they will be lucky to get one every nine to 10 years. As a result of the informa- tion and encouragement gath- ered at the October meeting, Sands encouraged Eastern Oregon Cities to go on a letter writing campaign, informing legislators that they needed the ODOT Grant budget to be increased. Sands will again discuss the issue with ODOT at the North East Area Commission on Transportation bi-monthly meeting Feb. 2 in La Grande. THANK YOU The family of Tom Morgan would like to thank all of those who sent cards, made phone calls and offered words of sympathy for the loss of our youngest brother. There will be a memorial service for Tom on April 8th, at 1:00 at the Community Church. The Morgan Family He will be in Salem on “City Day,” Feb 8. City Day at the Capitol is local govern- ment’s major event of the leg- islative session and includes personal visits with legisla- tors. The League of Oregon Cities will also approach Reps. Greg Baretto, R-Cove, Greg Smith (R-Heppner) and Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Athena) as well as lobbyists for the League to address the appro- priate committees that have some say in how the money is appropriated. Citizens can write their legislators and ask them to request ODOT funding is in- creased for the Special City Allotment. In its March 2016 Infra- structure Survey Report the League of Cities identifi ed $3.7 billion in capital needs for highway and non-high- way transportation projects ($2.6 billion highway/$1.1 billion non-highway). In ad- dition, for the 120 cities that participated in the survey, the report shows a budget shortfall for operations and maintenance of about $217 million per year. This week’s athlete of the week is Enterprise High School graduate David Ribich. He is a student and track star at Western Oregon University in Monmouth. Last week, Ribich, 21, was rated the nation’s top-ranked runner in the mile race for Division II colleges. He is also a member of WOU’s mens distance medley team, also the top-ranked team in the Nation. This week the National Collegiate Athletic Association named Ribich as its Div. II national track athlete of the week. Proudly Sponsored By: Eastern Oregon’s Full Service Propane Supplier 201 E. Hwy 82, Enterprise 541-426-0320 www.edstaub.com David Ribich
