LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
A3
Funding for dam again mulled by Legislature
Delayed a year
by pandemic,
hopes remain it
will go through
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA LAKE —
Although sales for bonds
to fund refurbishment of
the Wallowa Lake Dam
were supposed to begin this
month, the Oregon Leg-
islature had to put that on
hold for a year because the
COVID-19 pandemic caused
a sharp drop in Oregon Lot-
tery revenue.
But lawmakers and dam
stakeholders are optimis-
tic the funding will come
through this year.
“What they have decided
to do is include those in dis-
cussion for this year’s fund-
ing cycle. Because they were
in the governor’s, that gives
us some options,” state Sen.
Bill Hansell, R-Athena, said
Thursday, March 25.
He said that although the
lottery funding is “trend-
ing in the right direction,” it
may not be necessary to rely
on the bonds and the fund-
ing could come out of the
fund out of general fund or
another fund.
“We won’t need to go to
lottery bonds in that case,”
he said.
The plan was to raise
$14 million through sale
of bonds from lottery reve-
nue and begin selling them
this month, with work on
the dam to begin after irri-
gation season ends Sept. 30.
Another $2 million of the
$16 million project will be
raised from “other sources,”
said Dan Butterfi eld, pres-
ident of the Wallowa Lake
Irrigation District, which
IN BRIEF
Joseph City
Council to meet
Thursday
JOSEPH — The agenda
for this week’s Joseph City
Council meeting includes
two resolutions, one on a
Corrective Action Plan and
another on spending limita-
tions, according to a press
release.
The meeting will take
place at 7 p.m. Thursday,
April 1, at the Joseph Com-
munity Events Center.
In addition to the vari-
ous department reports, the
council will continue to dis-
cuss short- and long-term
goals for city government,
the materials to be used
this year for the Oregon
Department of Transporta-
tion to upgrade sidewalks
around town and the Citizen
Involvement Committee.
There are opportunities
for residents to address the
council and Mayor Belinda
Buswell during the meeting
for items not on the agenda.
Flora School
Days to be
online again
owns the dam.
“There’s been some out-
side interest expressing a
desire to help,” he said. “But
we may have to fund that
ourselves.”
He said the project is
waiting for the state money
to be assured before seeking
the additional funds.
“That has to be solidifi ed
before we break ground,” he
said.
Butterfi eld was encour-
aged that the governor and
lawmakers seem enthusias-
tic about funding the dam
this year.
“She’s the reason we
got put on the budget in the
beginning,” he said of Gov.
Kate Brown. “It’s nice to
have support at that level.”
In addition to the irriga-
tion district, the stakeholders
in the dam project include
the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife, the Nez
Perce Tribe and the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation.
Last fall, all four enti-
ties signed a memoran-
dum of agreement to sup-
port the project. The latter
three stakeholders are pri-
marily interested in natu-
ral resources concerns at
the dam, such as a fi sh pas-
sage from the Wallowa River
to the lake and downstream
watersheds. The irrigation
district manages the lake
level and outfl ows for agri-
cultural irrigation.
The dam and more than
30 other projects were put
on hold when the June lot-
tery report came in below
the four-to-one ratio needed
to sell bonds to fund them.
That means $4 million in lot-
tery revenue must come in to
sell $1 million in bonds. The
report came in at only 3.1 to
one.
Hansell said fi nal word on
lottery funding won’t come
in until June. If it’s suffi cient,
bonds can be sold beginning
in April 2022, with construc-
tion to begin that fall.
Plans call for an improved
spillway, to add more con-
crete for weight, replac-
ing the fi ve conduit gates
with new ones and to
upgrade the electrical and
instrumentation.
The most diffi cult ele-
ment in the plans is that of
the addition of a fi sh passage.
and herbal gathering of food.
The mission of the event
is to keep pioneer skills
alive and to restore the now-
closed Flora School.
Come June, tune into
the Flora School Education
Center’s webpage at www.
fl oraschool.org to view the
demonstrations.
For more information,
contact the center at 541-
828-7010 or fl oraschool@
tds.net. Also, learn more on
Facebook, Instagram and
the center’s YouTube chan-
nel and Instagram site.
allowed in each class. Walk-
ins are welcome.
To read more, visit
https://library.josephy.org/
book-group/.
Paint your wine
glasses at
Josephy Center
JOSEPH — A class in
Wine Glass Painting will be
off ered at the Josephy Cen-
ter for Arts and Culture in
Joseph from 5-7 p.m. each
Wednesday through Aug.
11, according to a press
release.
Instructor Pamela Beach
will lead the free, in-person
class — which started March
24 — to teach artistic friends
and neighbors to help paint
wine glasses. The glasses
are then given to those who
purchase opening-night tick-
ets for the Wallowa Valley
Festival of the Arts.
Wine glasses, glass paints
and brushes are all provided.
No experience is necessary.
For everyone’s health and
safety, masks are required. A
maximum of six people is
Book Group to
discuss The Yellow
House: A Memoir
JOSEPH — A copy of
The Yellow House: A Mem-
oir by Sarah M. Broom is
being off ered to those inter-
ested at the Josephy Cen-
ter for Arts and Culture in
Joseph, according to a press
release.
The book costs $17, but
Book Group members get
a 15% discount. Anyone
can become a member, the
release stated.
It’s part of the centers
Book Group, which meets
regularly to discuss various
books.
In 1961, Broom’s mother,
Ivory Mae, bought a shot-
gun house — a narrow rect-
angular domestic residence
— in the then-promising
neighborhood of New Orle-
ans East and built her world
inside of it. It was the height
of the Space Race and the
neighborhood was home to
a major NASA plant. The
post-World War II opti-
mism seemed assured. The
widowed Ivory Mae mar-
ried Sarah’s father, Simon
Broom, and their combined
family would eventually
number 12 children. After
Simon died — six months
after Sarah’s birth — The
Yellow House would become
Ivory Mae’s 13th and most
unruly child.
allowa posted big
Lute Ramsden of s’ W hard-fought loss to
ugar
w for
numbers in the Co . Th
e quarterback thre
23
ch
Crane on Mar d three touchdowns, including
241 yards an big brother Zeb that briefly
a scoring pass to 22-20 lead late in the fourth
gave Wallowa a before the Mustangs scored
quarter
e battle.
last to win the clos
udly
Pro onsore d b y
Sp
Ceramics
class off ered at
Josephy Center
JOSEPH — A class called
Foundations in Ceramics for
Beginners will be off ered at
the Josephy Center for Arts
and Culture in Joseph from
5:30-7:30 p.m. April 19 to
June 7, according to a press
release.
Preregistration required
by April 15. A cost of $195
is charged for the recurring
event.
The in-person class will
be taught by Pamela Beach,
a ceramicist and instructor in
the project-based clay-mak-
ing journey. Students will
learn the fundamentals of
hand-building with lessons
in design, texture and glaz-
ing. The class includes clay,
glazes, fi ring and three open
studio sessions, off ered Sat-
urdays, May 1, May 22, and
June 12.
The class is for adults 18
years and older. No experi-
ence necessary!
For everyone’s health and
safety, masks are required at
all times.
— Chieftain staff
What type of passage has yet
to be determined, Butterfi eld
said. The tribes want the fi sh
passage to restore the abil-
ity of sockeye salmon —
and other fi sh — to make
Wallowa Lake their home.
Steelhead, coho salmon, bull
trout, mountain whitefi sh
and rainbow trout are all spe-
cies that can live in the lake.
At their March 17 meet-
ing, the Wallowa County
commissioners agreed to
send a letter addressed to the
governor and the top offi cials
in the state Senate and House
of Representatives express-
ing their support for the dam
project.
“Understanding the proj-
ect was delayed due to bud-
get constraints the state
weathered over the past year
The most valuable and
respected source of
local news, advertising
and information for
our communities.
eomediagroup.com
Births
A daughter, Chloe Jane
Starner, was born March
17, 2021 in Enterprise
to John J. Tye and Cindi
Starner of Lostine. Grand-
parents are Terrie & John
Wynans, George
Starner, Terri Tye and
John P. Tye.
A son, Matthew Kelly
Bickell, was born March
23, 2021 in Enterprise
to Steven Bickell and La
Gina Fowler of Enterprise.
Grandparents are Darin
Fowler, Jill Bickell
and James Steve Bickell.
301 W. Main, Enterprise • 541.426.3177
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LUTE RAMSDEN
OF
THE
FLORA — Once again,
the annual Flora School
Days will be held online
instead of in person because
of the COVID-19 pandemic,
according to a press release.
The pioneer demonstra-
tion gathering held each
June will make a sched-
ule change from February’s
CANT (Crafting a New
Tomorrow) and last June’s
viral productions. School
Days Online 2021 will start
Tuesday, June 1, and end on
the usual Saturday, June 5.
The weekday presenta-
tions will be from 6-8pm
Tuesday through Friday,
June 4. Each pioneer skill
will be prerecorded, but
each presenter will be live
to answer questions on the
skills presented.
The Saturday folk arts
will be live and once again
viewers can ask questions.
Presentations will be tan-
ning hides, smithing hinges
and nails and cutlery, carv-
ing a bowl, using a wood
cookstove, nine-patch sew-
ing by hand and machine
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
The century-old Wallowa Lake Dam is slated for a $16 million refurbishment, $14 million of which was to come from state
lottery funds that have been put on hold. The Oregon Legislature is in the process of adding the dam project to the budget for
the 2021-22 biennium.
caused by the eff ects of the
COVID-19 pandemic, we
trust that fi xing the Wallowa
Lake Dam will continue to
be on the forefront of prior-
ities for rural Oregon,” the
letter stated in part.
“All indications are that
there’s an overwhelming
amount of support” for the
project, Commissioner Todd
Nash said during the meet-
ing. “We were bumped back
in the queue for the next
funding round of lottery
funds that weren’t what was
anticipated.”
Hansell said he had seen
the letter and was encour-
aged by it, but believes sim-
ilar letters from other coun-
ties with projects on the line
have been sent.
Butterfi eld said that as
discussion of the various
interests among the stake-
holders continue, their rela-
tionship has improved.
“We’re developing a
really good relationship with
Nez Perce Tribe, the Confed-
erated Tribes and ODFW,”
he said.
All entities are remaining
optimistic.
“We’re assuming we’ll
get funded,” Butterfi eld said.
“We’re hoping to have a big
party in a year or so” to cel-
ebrate the funding coming
through.
Sunday, April 4th
8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Adults $29 • Senior Citizens $25
Children $20 • Under 6 FREE
RSVP 509-256-3372