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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2019)
ANNUAL EAST-WEST SHRINE ALL-STAR FOOTBALL GAME Wallowa County’s three East-West Shrine game all-stars gave a good accounting of themselves | A9 Enterprise, Oregon Wallowa.com 135th Year, No. 17 Wednesday, August 7, 2019 $1.50 Wallowa County Fair GOES TO THE DOGS Ellen Morris Bishop Baily Vernam guide’s her young yellow lab, Paige, through the agility course at the 4H Mighty Mutt’s Dog Show Saturday at the opening of the Wallowa County Fair. By Ellen Morris Bishop Wallowa County Chieftain T he Wallowa County Fair kicked off its week-long run on Saturday with the ever-popular 4H dog show. About 20 4H mem- bers of the Mighty Mutts Dog Club brought their canines to the junior are- nas on the grassy fairgrounds lawn for friendly competition in obedience, showmanship, tricks, and agility. The 4H Fair Court of Dakota DeLyria, THE 4H HORSE SHOW began Sunday morning, and includes Western and hunt-jump classes, as well as green horses and roping. See photos on page 10. Destiny Wecks, and Quincee Zacha- rias opened the show with the Pledge of Allegiance. Dog Show participants kept two rings running at once, with obedi- ence trials in one and showmanship in the other. Obedience in the Junior, Intermediate and Advanced classes included walking at varying paces at heel, recall, fi gure –eight heel, long sit and long down-stay. Showmanship classes were more focused on showing off your dog, or as the judge said “Make me want to spend some time with your dog. And show See Fair, Page A7 Commissioner’s meeting sinks Rails with Trails By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain The June 17 Wallowa County Board of Commissioners meeting spelled at least the temporary end of the Joseph Branch Rails with Trails quest for a Conditional Use Permit. The meeting concerned the appeal of the County Planning Commission’s decision to deny the CUP to the RWT group. The Board of Commissioners consists of board chair, Susan Roberts, and commissioners Todd Nash and John Hillock. Roberts opened the meeting by asking if the board had any possible confl icts of inter- est that might infl uence their vote. Nash said that the main confl ict he heard about is the fact that his sister, Ramona Phil- lips, chairs the Planning Commission. For that reason, he does not attend Planning Commission meetings or discuss any plan- ning commission business with her. The commissioner added that he’d had ex parte conversations at different times with members on each side of the issue. Hillock declared that he owned four pieces of property that abut the proposed trail along the rail line. He added that he also had controlling interest in the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo grounds as a board member and that he’d had conversations with the trail group regarding the possibility of building an RV park adjacent to the rail. Roberts said that she serves as the co-chair of the Wallowa Union Rail Author- ity that owns the track and right-of-way and that WURA has given the group permission to proceed with the due diligence required of them by WURA; for example, to apply for and receive the CUP from Wallowa County, because it’s zoned differently than Union County. “I have not been opposed to it, that’s been quite clear all along,” Roberts said, “to pro- ceeding with the plans that we laid out for the Joseph Branch Trail group to do through the rail authority board, not from my posi- tion with the county.” She added that she had no personal property involved and that she’s spoken with a number of people over the years from both sides of the issue. Roberts then asked if anyone in the audi- ence or any of the commissioners would like any of the commissioners to recuse themselves. Ranch owner Annette Lathrop, who is an outspoken opponent of the trail, said that after the Planning Commission’s February denial of the CUP, she had spoken with Rob- erts in the commissioner’s offi ce ... “Where you told me you had looked at the evidence, See Trails, Page A8 School districts assess the state of their facilities Enterprise School District details costs to repair schools By Ellen Morris Bishop The Wallowa County Chieftain On Monday night, the Enter- prise school board received an estimate of costs to do deferred maintenance on their elementary school, junior high and high school buildings. The report, prepared by The Wenaha Group of Pendleton, was funded by the Oregon Depart- ment of Education and is part of a program intended to improve statewide K-12 educational facil- ities, especially in rural commu- nities. The preliminary estimates of the repairs recommended in the Wenaha Group’s study are expen- sive. They total $1.5 million for the elementary school, $3.6 mil- lion for the high school, and a whopping $11.6 million for the art deco junior high school, which was built in 1918. And this esti- mate does not include the costs of seismic retrofi ts and some struc- tural repairs that may include por- tions of the CMU walls in the ele- mentary school. “But we don’t have to do all of them,” said School board pres- ident Kate Fent. “We mostly want to fi x the roof and some other major problems.” Under the deferred maintenance assess- ment programs, Oregon will pro- vide grants that match whatever funds are raised through bonds or See Enterprise, Page A7 The facilities assessment that the Wallowa School District is beginning will determine whether Wallowa High School’s aging, fi nicky heating system needs repair or possible replacement soon. Funding available from the Oregon Department of Education can help make that happen. Ellen M Bishop Wallowa School District begins the assessment process By Ellen Moris Bishop Wallowa County Chieftain With a $95,000 grant under their belt, the Wallowa School District launched their facilities assessment project Monday evening. The nearly two-year process will thoroughly evaluate what repairs and upgrades the school buildings need, includ- ing the building physical plants (mechanical, electrical, and heat- ing) and seismic, and also assess the environmental hazard posed by radon. The work also includes devel- opment of a long-range plan for the school district, outlining renovations that might occur in the future. The district has contracted Pivot Architects of Eugene, who will pro- vide the assessment of building and facility conditions, needed repairs, and guide them through the pro- cess, including engaging the com- munity and if needed, proposing and passing a bond levy that the Oregon Department of education will match (for up to $4 million). “The board chose Pivot because they had excel- lent references for small rural school districts, and they seemed to be very knowledgeable and interested in how to work with us to solve prob- lems and involve the community,” said superintendent Jay Hummel. Wallowa’s principal concern has been the school’s aging, fi nicky heating system. But they also expect See Wallowa, Page A7
