A2
Wallowa County Chieftain
NEWS
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
OBITUARIES
Enterprise mulls need for utility rate hikes
Carol R. Garnett
City council
will receive
proposal Feb. 10
April 29, 1935 — December 25, 2019
By Bill Bradshaw
Wallowa County Chieftain
The city of Enterprise is
currently putting together
fi gures to determine how
large of a rate increase to
charge residents for water
and sewer services. Those
calculations are not com-
plete, but Recorder Lacey
McQuead hopes to have
most of that information to
present to the City Coun-
cil at its Monday, Feb. 10
meeting.
McQuead said at the Jan.
13 meeting that she is propos-
ing to stagger the increases
so the water increase will be
implemented July 1, and the
sewer increase on Jan. 1.
“I’m hoping this will
open up the conversation for
us,” McQuead said Jan. 13.
In addition to the stag-
gered implementation of the
increases, McQuead said she
has yet to learn if an increase
of 1%, 1.5% or 2% will be
necessary to meet the ris-
ing costs of supplying water
and sewer service to city
residents. Council members
agreed they hoped to keep
the rate increase to $2 per
household.
She presented a graph that
showed a steady increase in
water rates since 2015.
In January 2014, the
council passed a resolu-
tion designed to develop a
rate structure for a fi ve-year
period in order to meet the
debt obligations according
to the loan for the Enterprise
Water Improvement Project.
The last water rate increase
was July 1, when water was
increased to $39.15 per unit
for service inside the city
limits.
Sewer costs were a bit
different.
“Sewer has bounced a lit-
tle bit for a couple of rea-
sons,” she said Jan. 13.
One of those is a $514
actual cost for liability insur-
ance for the sewer depart-
Photos by Bill Bradshaw
TOP Enterprise Public Works Director Ronnie Neil explains how sewage is treated at the
Enterprise Sewage Treatment Plant. He stands by the rag removal system that would cost
about $60,000 if it needed to be replaced. LEFT Effl uent at the Enterprise Sewage Treatment
Plant goes through several clarifi cation tanks before becoming 98% pure and then routed
into the Wallowa River. RIGHT Dry solid waste that has been removed from effl uent at the
Enterprise Sewage Treatment Plant goes into a dumpster that is taken to the landfi ll where it is
mixed with topsoil to help grass grow over land that has trash buried below.
ment for this year.
Another is a list of
replacement parts for sewer
department equipment.
McQuead was supplied
with estimated costs of
potential replacement items
by the sewer plant operator
and presented them to the
council Jan. 13. Those units
and their costs are:
•
Dewatering
unit
$235,000.
• Blower $45,000 for
each of the four units.
• Submersible pump:
$25,000.
• Electric actuator: $2,000
per unit.
• Grit removal system:
$40,000.
• Rag removal system:
$60,000.
• Backup generator:
$90,000.
• Ultraviolet system:
$5,000 per year. Each of the
18 UV bulbs running at any
one time costs $250. They
last about 12,000 hours —
or about 13 months, accord-
ing to Public Works Director
Ron Neil.
McQuead emphasized
that the rate hikes have noth-
ing to do with comparing
Enterprise’s rates with those
in other cities of similar size
and circumstances.
In 2012, an assessment
of the sewer rates was com-
pleted including evaluat-
ing the average water use
during the winter, McQuead
wrote in an email. At that
time, the rate for sewer was
$56.50 (the same rate since
2009) and stayed at that rate
until 2013-14. That year,
the sewer rate increased to
$58.50 and in 2014-15 it
went up to $59.50.
There has not been a
sewer rate increase since,
she said.
McQuead wrote that
another increase is needed
to help the emergency or
backup funds for the water
and sewer departments stay
afl oat by providing enough
money to replace vital
equipment.
Carol R. Garnett, for-
merly of Elgin and Enter-
prise, died early morning
of Christmas day which
was her favorite day of the
year. She died at
a care facility in
Hermiston at the
age of 84.
Arrangements
are entrusted to
Daniels-Knopp
Funeral, Crema-
tion & Life Cel-
ebration Center
in La Grande. A
celebration of her life will
be announced later.
Mrs. Garnett was born
April 29, 1935, in Marys-
ville,
California,
the
daughter of Willard Evert
and Leora Andree (Phil-
lips) Yerkes. She was edu-
cated in Marysville and
graduated with the class of
1954. On June 13, 1954,
she was married to Robert
Jackson Garnett in Marys-
ville. They had a small
dairy farm and she worked
at the Yuba City Auction
yard and canning in Del
Monte Cannery during
peach and pear harvest.
Most of her life was spent
caring for her family. They
had a ranch at Imnaha,
worked on ranches in cen-
tral and southern Oregon.
Later they lived in Enter-
prise before moving to
Elgin.
Carol was a member of
the Cowbelles in Califor-
nia and was very involved
in the Imnaha
Grange.
She enjoyed
sewing,
cross
stitch, crochet-
ing, was an avid
reader and loved
cooking
and
feeding people.
Surviving rel-
atives include her
children and their spouses,
William and Debbie Gar-
nett of Warden, Washing-
ton, Randol and Liz Gar-
nett of Joseph, Joseph and
Shelley Garnett of McCall,
Idaho, Roberta and Ray
Temple of Hermiston; 7
grandchildren, Bo, Becky,
Chris and Corie, Megan,
Ben and Sam; 10 great
grandchildren;
siblings,
Flora Agnew of Tucson,
Arizona, Elanor McBride
of Enterprise, Jim Yerkes
of Marysville, California;
other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in
death by her parents, a
brother Roland and her
husband, Robert.
Contributions in mem-
ory of Carol Garnett may
be made to the FFA Chap-
ter of donor’s choice.
Wallowa County Beekeepers
hold fi rst 2020 meeting
porting beekeeping in
Wallowa County. We help
each other through the
frustrations and joys of
beekeeping.
Ordering bees happens
now. The person we order
bees from, Jan Lohman
in Hermiston, only pro-
duces a limited amount
of fi ve frame nucs. I have
reserved an order of fi f-
teen nucs that can be pur-
chased by people in our
group.
By Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Wallowa County
Beekeepers will host their
fi rst meeting of 2020 on
Wednesday Feb. 12, 6:30
-8:30 p.m. at the Hurri-
cane Creek Grange.
Wallowa County Bee
Meetings are open to any-
one interested in bees and
beekeeping. Bring friends.
We are a very informal
bunch learning and sup-
Electric siren fi re alarm received will be placed on roof of I.O.O.F.
ninety miles an hour, the
wind tore away almost the
entire south section of the
bleachers at the CJD arena.
The home of Mr. and
Mrs. Don Venetti in Enter-
prise caught fi re Wednes-
day and considerable dam-
age was done to the rear of
the house. Mr. Venetti was
one of the last ones to the
scene, and he was very anx-
ious about a pair of blue
pants, which contained, he
said, $160.
OUT OF THE PAST
Compiled by Cheryl Jenkins
100 YEARS AGO –
JANUARY 22, 1920
Three Enterprise streets
will be paved to the depot
and warehouses, and each
crosses Prairie creek. On
two, the bridges are pioneer
structures, with stringers of
heavy logs and top of plank
which has to be repaired
several times a year.
Plans were presented
for scientifi cally designed
concrete bridges to replace
the old structures, and the
plans were admired greatly.
The estimate was that each
bridge might cost a max-
imum of $5,200, a sum
so much greater than has
ever been put into a bridge
in town in the past that the
Enterprise councilmen were
rather staggered. But the
designs call for a structure
with very artistic pattern and
will last for centuries.
The electric siren fi re
alarm received some months
ago for trial in Enter-
prise will be placed tem-
porarily on the roof of the
new I.O.O.F. building. If it
proves satisfactory the mak-
ers will ask the city to buy it.
H. M. Swan and J. K.
Lawler were bound over
®
The Chieftain offi ce occupied this building on East Main
Street, Enterprise from 1902 to 1908.
to the federal grand jury
under bonds of $1,000 each,
charged with making liquor.
It was alleged that they
worked under an arrange-
ment by which Swan was to
make the moonshine whisky
and Lawler to furnish the
materials and to sell the fi n-
ished product.
70 YEARS AGO –
JANUARY 19, 1950
Marvin Bork and his
ski-mobile have been called
upon several times the past
week to go places where all
other modes of travel were
impossible. His machine,
consisting of an airplane
motor and pusher propeller,
mounted on skis, took Lewis
Kerr on the Chico star mail
route, Rueben Dunbar to his
ATTENTION
DEER
HUNTERS
The Wallowa County Chapter of Ducks Unlimited has a
W. Blue Mountain (#649B) LOP tag on Hancock lands.
It will be auctioned off Saturday, Feb 8th at the annual
banquet and auction in Enterprise. For complete bidding
information, contact Gene at 541-828-7795
prior to the event or plan to attend.
Register on-line at Ducks Unlimited Wallowa County for
a three meat buffet including Stangel buffalo, plus raffles, games,
auctions, decoy painting for the kids and more.
ranch in the Dry Salmon dis-
trict, and a load of groceries
were taken to Mrs. Drake on
Crow Creek pass.
Old Man Winter brought
winds, snow and sub-zero
temperatures during the
past week, resulting in one
of the severest storms seen
in Wallowa county within
the memory of living res-
idents. Last Friday, with-
out warning, a violent wind
of hurricane force swept in
over the Wallowa mountains
and roared across the val-
ley for fi ve hours. Visibility
dropped to fi fty yards and
so great was the intensity of
the wind that it was almost
impossible for people on
foot to stand. Sweeping
down on Joseph at a veloc-
ity of from seventy-fi ve to
50 YEARS AGO –
JANUARY 22, 1970
Second Lieutenant Penny
J. Preece, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. William R. Preece,
Enterprise, was graduated
from the Women’s Army
Corps Offi cer Basic/Offi cer
Candidate Course, Dec. 12,
at the Women’s Army Corps
Center, Ft. McClellan, Ala.
The Wallowa Cougars,
rated the No. 1 “B” school
team in the state, posted a 64
to 49 victory over the Enter-
prise Savages. Greg Oveson
led Wallowa’s scoring with
20 points, followed by Tom
Childers and Harold Stitzel
with 14 and 12 respectively.
Enterprise was led by Lee
Weaver with 19 and Dave
Melville with 11.
The Enterprise Cham-
ber of Commerce held
their annual election Mon-
SPACE RESERVATION
DEADLINES
for weekly display advertising is
5pm Friday for the following week.
Ad copy is due on Monday at 10am.
Ads must be approved by
12pm Tuesday
day. Elected to lead the
group were Norm Potratz,
president; Jack Orr, sec-
retary-treasurer; and Joe
Schneider, vice-president.
Others elected to leadership
spots on the board of direc-
tors were Vic Cronin, Don
Foster, Roy Stonebrink, Bill
Noland and Jerry Weaver.
25 YEARS AGO –
JANUARY 19, 1995
Joseph’s new assisted
living facility for elderly
and handicapped residents
is taking shape rapidly on
the Steve Zollman property
across from Harley Tucker
Memorial Arena in Joseph.
It is scheduled to be com-
pleted this spring.
Gay
Fregulia
was
appointed by the Wallowa
County Court to succeed
Andy Fairchild on the Wal-
lowa County Planning Com-
mission. She joins Mike
Hayward, Bruce Dunn,
Mike Mahon, Ken Wick,
Carol McCrae and Marshal
Thiesen.
The question of replace-
ment space for Indian camp-
ers during CJD was among
topics discussed at the Nez
Perce Tribal Council con-
ference in Lapwai. Private
property across from the tra-
ditional tepee grounds previ-
ously donated to the cause is
now the home of the Joseph
assisted living facility, cur-
rently under construction.
Weather Forecast
Courtesy of Weather Underground • wunderground.com
High Low
Conditions
Jan. 23
39
33
Cloudy
Jan. 24
38
30
Rain/snow showers
Jan. 25
40
34
Rain/snow
Jan. 26
39
30
Snow
Jan. 27
37
28
Few snow showers
Jan. 28
38
31
Snow showers
Jan. 29
39
31
Rain/snow showers
Phases of the moon
Jan. 24
Feb. 1
Feb. 8
Feb. 15
New Moon
1st Quarter
Full Moon
Last Quarter
WALLOWA COUNTY SUNRISE & SUNSET JAN. 23-29
(from the U.S. Naval Observatory)
To advertise call Jennifer at 541-426-4567
209 NW First St. Enterprise, OR 97828 • www.wallowa.com
THUR
FRI
SAT
SUN
MON
TUES
WED
7:18
4:43
7:17
4:45
7:16
4:46
7:15
4:47
7:14
4:49
7:13
4:50
7:12
4:52