A18
News
wallowa.com
September 19, 2018
Will they rise soon? The straight
poop on Enterprise sewer rates
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
Enterprise residents are
nearing the end of their struc-
tured increases in water rates,
but changes may be afoot with
regard to sewer rates.
First the good news.
As part of its application for
the $4.8 million to complete
the 2014 water project (orig-
inally projected at $5.75 mil-
lion), the city had to come up
with a fee structure that would
meet the estimated $186,000
per year debt service.
That fee structure called for
a gradual increase in water fees
from $26.40 monthly for users
within city limits in July 2014
to $58.75 by July 2019.
It was a rate plan that
sparked a recall campaign to
replace the mayor and five city
council members. In the end,
no council members lost their
positions, but rate increases
remain a sore subject.
Nevertheless, the fee struc-
ture has proved to be ade-
quate to meet costs, according
NEZ PERCE
Continued from Page A1
The fisheries department is
divided into various divisions.
The Research Division, which
covers a number of aspects
of fish research and assess-
ment; the Production Division,
which includes aquacultur-
ists who actually trap, spawn,
rear and release the fish; and
the Watershed Division, which
works on habitat restoration.
The Tribe’s fisheries program
covers more than 13 million
acres of watershed in an area
that includes portions of Idaho,
Washington and Oregon.
Jim Harbeck works in
Research and is a 20-year
employee with the agency. He
holds a Master’s Degree in
Fisheries Science from Mich-
a year and the city was having
to transfer from the sewer and
water “sinking fund” approx-
imately $90,000 to the sewer
fund to balance the books.
Another problem that led to
the shortfall was a change in
billing structure.
Commercial units once
paid the same rate as residen-
tial. However, in 2012 the
rate structure changed and the
city began charging by water
usage, McQuead explained.
As a result, sewer revenues
igan State Uni-
versity.
He
started as a
project leader
on the Los-
tine River in
the ‘90s and is
Jim
now the Joseph
Harbeck
Field Office
supervisor.
He began work on the river
at a time of perilous salmon
population levels. He feared
that Chinook salmon might
disappear as Coho salmon did
decades earlier.
Harbeck said that Chinook
salmon and steelhead are listed
as “Threatened” under the
Endangered Species Act for
a variety of reasons, and the
agency works to protect them.
Dams, low warm water in river
and streams, rising ocean tem-
peratures that create a lack of
food, over-harvest and other
factors all contribute to the
problem.
“It’s additive,” Harbeck said.
“I don’t want to point fingers,
but we do a lot of things that
aren’t beneficial to these fish.”
Although the area’s riv-
ers provide ideal spawning
grounds for salmon, it wasn’t
always like that. In fact, with-
out the cooperation and collab-
oration of the Tribe, ODFW
and local landowners, few
salmon would inhabit the Los-
tine River now.
For example, during part of
Harbeck’s tenure, the Lostine
ran dry in the summers. In the
summer of 1999, the agency
managed to intercept only 13
returning salmon at its moni-
toring weir.
“I know there were a
few more, but that’s all we
REMAINING SEWER
AND WATER DEBT
• Treatment Plant DEQ:
$4,696,222 (Retires Sept.1,
2029)
• Treatment Plant Business
Oregon: $408,688 (Retires
Dec. 31, 2032)
• Water Improvements
Community Bank:
$237,565.06 (Retires Dec.
1, 2023)
• Water Improvements IFA:
$4,608,979 (Retires Dec.
1, 2047)
En
g
Fu land
rni a
tur nd
e o As
n S hel
ale y
ay nk
L
f
EZ l Pla 2.89/s
y at $
Vi a n rting
st
A
a
s
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r
y S
e
v
i
a
n
le
n
Up to 25% Off
Huge
Savings on
All Floor
Coverings
Save on
Hunter
Douglas &
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Fire guts Enterprise
mobile home Friday
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
to City Administrator Lacey
McQuead.
“At this time, we do not have
any plan to increase water rates
beyond the scheduled increases,
but that is all contingent on the
budget and possible increased
costs,” said McQuead.
Now the bad news.
The fee structure for sewer
service for Enterprise has not
proved to be as well structured.
The wastewater system was
completed in 2009, and sev-
eral decisions made at that time
have resulted in a system that
consistently runs in the red.
No fee structure was put
in place to address increased
costs over time as was done
with water.
One example of increased
operational costs is the elec-
tric bill.
In 2008-2009, the city paid
$12,000 for electrical power.
In 2009-2010 power costs for
the sewer system increased to
around $37,000. By 2014 then
city administrator Michelle
Young reported that the electri-
cal bill was more than $50,000
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Wallowa County Chieftain
that were $902,021 in 2011-
2012 dropped to $837,711 in
2012-2013.
For the past thee years, the
amount the city has transferred
to shore up the sewer budget
has been $100,000 per year.
That money is being taken
from the sewer and water sink-
ing fund. The sinking fund is
a savings fund from which
repair, replacement, upgrade,
emergency and other costs can
be taken.
Before transfers for the
2018-2019 fiscal year, the city
had just above $1.5 million in
its sinking fund, with approx.
$755,100 allocated specifically
for Debt Service Reserves.
Robbing Peter to pay Paul
is not a strategy the city plans
to continue.
“There were some changes
made in 2017 after we reviewed
the usage, so we are upwards
of $900,000 again,” McQuead
said.
A newly reorganized Pub-
lic Works Committee is now
looking into further ways to
further address the shortfall.
were able to catch,” he said.
“Despite all my experience
and education, there’s just one
thing I know for sure - fish
need water.”
Using financial incentives
through the Freshwater Trust,
the Tribe worked with Los-
tine River irrigators to retain
enough water for salmon
returns.
The Freshwater Trust is a
conservation nonprofit based
in Portland. Its mission is to
preserve and restore freshwa-
ter ecosystems.
“Now there’s hundreds,
and some years there’s thou-
sands returning,” Harbeck
said. “But it doesn’t matter if
there’s millions of fish com-
ing back. If there’s no habitat
for them when they return, it
doesn’t matter.”
Wallowa County’s fish
populations are jointly man-
aged with the ODFW, it may
surprise people how closely
the Tribe works with the State.
“It’s due to the treaties,”
Harbeck said. “Through the
course of time, they’ve been
interpreted to mean that the
Nez Perce Tribe has co-man-
agement authority of these
No one was injured in a
blaze that destroyed a manu-
factured home at 600 Green-
wood St. Space 26 Friday
morning. Enterprise Fire
Department and emergency
services personnel responded
to the blaze shortly after
4 a.m. Arriving on scene,
they discovered a dou-
ble-wide trailer home com-
pletely engulfed in flames
and requested Joseph Fire
Department as backup.
Enterprise Assistant Fire
Chief Dan Niezen said the
crew battled to keep the
blaze from destroying nearby
structures. The fire melted
the canopy and taillight of
the property owner’s truck
parked next to the structure.
Niezen said that the
neighbors who woke up
smelling smoke and burn-
ing plastic and reported the
blaze were able to rescue the
building’s sole occupant. He
was later transported to Wal-
lowa Memorial Hospital by
ambulance.
fishery resources in this part of
the state.”
Harbeck said that although
the Tribe partners with a num-
ber of entities to improve
salmon populations, the part-
nership with local property
owners is paramount. In fact,
about 75 percent of their work
is done on private property.
“A lot of our work is done
on private property,” he said.
“If we didn’t have the cooper-
ation of these Wallowa County
landowners, we’d be dead in
our tracks.”
The agency is funded
through a number of differ-
ent avenues, such as the Bon-
neville Power Administra-
tion, which supplies and sells
a portion of power throughout
the Pacific Northwest. In the
‘70s, the federal government
decided that a portion of those
fees be paid toward fish and
wildlife losses because of the
dams it operates.
The agency submits pro-
posals to the Power Adminis-
tration for funding. Harbeck
said it is not limited to fish and
wildlife agencies and that any-
one can submit a proposal for
funding. An Independent Sci-
“It was a tough one to
fight, but thankfully, there
was no one in it,” Niezen
said. “It’s a sad deal, but it’s
a good day when everybody
lives.”
Fire crews were able to
keep the blaze from spread-
ing by surrounding it and
attacking it from all sides.
“If you can get on it and
start knocking the flames
down, and you don’t have a
wind pushing it, that helps
get a handle on it,” Niezen
said. “That’s why we have
big hoses and lots of water.”
Although Niezen said that
fires in manufactured homes
will often destroy the entire
structure, the metal shell also
helps keep the fire contained,
much like an oven.
He added that it can be
a drawback for the interior
as the sheathing acts like a
chimney in helping the fire
roar from one end to the
other.
The cause of the blaze is
yet undetermined. A state fire
marshal was on scene shortly
before 9 a.m. and is investi-
gating the incident.
entific Review Panel reviews
the proposals and then rec-
ommends what projects are
funded.
It’s not just the protec-
tion of the fish that benefit the
county. The Tribe employs 20
full-time workers and offers
outstanding insurance benefits,
which Harbeck said is indica-
tive of the Tribe’s commitment
to its employees and their fam-
ilies. The agency also hires
6-8 part-time employees who
generally work in the spring
season.
Harbeck said that even cit-
izens who don’t have an inter-
est in fish benefit from the
presence of the Tribe. Much
of the agency’s budget, which
is considerable, is spent inside
the county with local vendors.
“The fact that we do our
projects here and spend our
money here is a good thing for
the local economy,” he said.
“We’ve got good people here
who make a good contribu-
tion to Wallowa County and
contribute to the local culture.
Because the Tribe maintains a
field office here, there’s good
things happening in Wallowa
County.”
Diane Daggett
for Wallowa County
Commissioner
We’re facing critical issues
that are changing our
rural way of life.
I need to hear from you:
daggett4commissioner@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/daggett4commissioner/
541.398.1297