A10 LOCAL Wallowa County Chieftain Wednesday, April 14, 2021 Joseph gets ‘good surprises’ in grants Administrative roles focus of heated debate By BILL BRADSHAW Wallowa County Chieftain Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain The fl at-top membrane roof of Enterprise High School will be replaced with a peaked roof this year in an $8 million refurbishment project planned by the Enterprise School District. Other improvements, such as energy-effi cient windows and HVAC, also are planned. Roof replacement major component of bond project By RONALD BOND Wallowa County Chieftain ENTERPRISE — The Enterprise School District’s plan for how it intends to use the funding from the bond tax levy approved by voters in November is in place. Roof repair, HVAC update, asbestos abatement and installing energy-effi - cient windows are among nine projects that will be performed at all three schools in the district and paid for by the $8 million the district has on hand — $4 million from the bond levy 57% of voters said yes to late last year and $4 million matching from an Oregon School Capital Improvement grant from the Oregon Department of Education. The roof at all three schools will be tackled fi rst, as Superintendent Erika Pinkerton called that the most urgent component of the project. “We’re in crisis mode with the roof, to be hon- est,” Pinkerton said. She shared a story of being at a Christmas play in the school her fi rst year on the job and felt a drip of water hit her shoulder. She asked high school Principal Blake Carlsen, who was standing next to her, about it, and he pointed to a tarp on the ceiling full of water that was starting to drip. A fl at membrane roof is currently what is on the building, but there are ENTERPRISE BOND PROJECT Below is a list of the projects the Enterprise School District will perform with the funding passed through a bond levy voted on last November. For all three buildings: • Remove and replace damaged asphalt. • Safety and security up- grades. • Remodel key restroom to ADA standards. • Replace membrane roof. For the high school and junior high school: • Address stormwater runoff . • Remodel and update science rooms. • Install hydronic water piping to serve new HVAC distribution system. • Install elevator. • Abate asbestos. • Install energy effi cient windows. • Remove and replace damaged sidewalks. times that there is standing water on it, and when the water freezes then thaws, it causes cracks in the roof. “The installation quality was not at par,” Pinkerton said of the roof, which she said was put in place about 15 or 16 years ago. “There were multiple issues when that roof was installed.” The new roof will have a pitch on it to allow bet- ter runoff . Of the $8 million in the project, Pinkerton said $1.12 million is budgeted for the roof. She added that had the bond not passed, the district still would have addressed the problem, but it would have been build- ing by building and not the three schools at once. For the junior high school only: • Remodel locker rooms. • Install a ramp and a lift from the gym foyer to the gym fl oor level. Source: Erika Pinkerton “The roofs, there are multiple leaks throughout the entire campus, (and) there are harder-hit areas than others,” she said. Construction on the roof is slated to begin in June. The rest of the resto- ration or replacement proj- ects will begin later in the year and will run through next summer. Among them is another project of high impor- tance — getting the school to ADA standards. That includes remodel- ing restrooms and upgrad- ing wheelchair ramps cur- rently in the school that are too steep, Pinkerton said. Part of the upgrades also include installing elevators in the junior high and high schools, and at the middle school installing a lift and a ramp from the foyer to the gym. “I’m really excited about the lifts,” Pinkerton said. “There’s going to be an elevator. Our ramps are going to be at an appropri- ate incline.” She said that because of the current ramp slant, por- tions of the school are more diffi cult to access by some- one in a wheelchair. “There are parts that they cannot (access) or they are not equitable,” she said. Other parts of the proj- ect, such as remodeling and updating the junior high and high school science rooms, are still in the development stage. The architecture fi rm on the job, Design West — based in Meridian, Idaho — is meeting with science teachers this week to look at the four rooms set apart for the subject and how they need to be improved, as well as other facets of the job. Another part, which Pinkerton said should be completed by the summer of 2022, is replacing the asbestos fl ooring through- out all three schools. The superintendent said how much is in the fl oors is uncertain. “You just don’t know until you get in there,” she said. Pinkerton added a $600,000 contingency is built into the budget for the remodel and upgrades. ‘Fire Stories’ exhibit coming to Josephy Center Chieftain staff JOSEPH — A new exhibit of forest photos called “Fire Stories” will be on display at the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture April 23 to June 15, accord- ing to a press release. The photos were taken from fi re towers with Osborne panoramic cam- eras 80 years ago paired with modern replications from photographer/naturalist John F. Marshall. The con- trasts show how fi re and fi re suppression have changed the Wallowa and Blue mountain landscapes. Fire Stories is a historic and contemporary explora- tion of wildfi re in Northwest landscapes, according to the release. As humans, our relationship with fi re is tan- gled with how we live on the land and use its resources, the release stated. Native Americans had long learned to live with fi re and made it useful. European settlement brought a diff erent sensibil- ity and the tools and orga- nization to control fi re. Lit- tle was it known how fi re is essential to the function of nature, and in attempting SCHOLARSHIP to eliminate fi re, man has brought worse fi re on, the release said. How does nature live with fi re, and how can we? According to the release, these are questions that can- not be ignored in this unprec- edented time. This exhibit will provide some answers and stimulate more thought and discussion. Two special fi re programs also are planned at no cost. “Fire in the West” will be presented from 2-4 p.m. May 20. Stephen J. Pyne, author of Fire in Amer- ica and Between Two Fires, considered seminal texts on fi re, will be the presenter via Zoom. “The West is Burning” is a fi lm that will be presented via streaming at the cen- ter at 7 p.m. May 27. It will be introduced by producer Cody Sheehy. The Josephy Center is presenting the “Fire Sto- ries” exhibit in partnership with Wallowa Resources. For more information, Megan Wolfe of the cen- ter is the coordinator and can be reached at coor- dinator@josephy.org or 541-432-0505. Conatact Elaine at 541-263-1189 OPPORTUNITY The Wallowa County Fair Board Scholarship(s) will provide scholarship assistance to Wallowa County 4-H/FFA members. Applications are available from the Fair office for graduating high school students who will be attending college, vocational or trade school during the 2021 – 2022 school year. Amounts will range from $250 to $1000. Applications are available and can be picked up at the Wallowa County Fair office or e-mailed to you from wallowacountyfair@gmail.com. Candidates must submit the following by May 15, 2021 1. Completed and signed application. 2. High school transcript or statement of GPA from Registrar. 3. Three letters of reference with one being advisor or leader. Cats available now! Brought to you by, Available for Adoption $65 adoption fee http://www.wallowacountyhumanesociety.org/ JOSEPH — The Joseph City Council received some “good surprises” from city Administrator Larry Braden, at its Thursday, April 1, meet- ing when Braden passed on word of two major grants the city is receiving. According to recorded minutes of the meeting pro- vided to the Chieftain, Bra- den told the council that each year, the city applies for a small-cities paving grant that, although it’s usually only awarded every other year, Joseph was one of two cit- ies to score high enough this year to receive a grant with- out aff ecting its eligibility for next year. “We were notifi ed a cou- ple weeks ago that our appli- cation scored high enough that we actually will get $100,000 this year and we’re still eligible for the following year,” he said. “So we’re sit- ting currently on $200,000 of paving that we’re going to start going out for bid next month probably. For a town our size, that’s really good news. We were not expecting that and I thought, ‘No, this can’t be right.’ So I made the call and was told it’s exactly right and they explained it to me. … We’re still 100% eligi- ble for the upcoming (grant). We’re looking at — if we play it right — we could pos- sibly fi nish our goal, which is paving the city way ahead of schedule.” The other “surprise,” Braden said, was the fed- eral American Rescue Plan Act that President Joe Biden signed March 11 that will pro- vide the city with $229,109. “That’s also a lot of money for us,” Braden said. “It’s not in concrete, either, exactly what the program will look like … it is COVID relief. We’re going to have a lot more freedom to spend the money than with the CRF (Coronavirus Relief Fund) … it’s not a reimbursement. We get half up front and then half a year after that.” He said the two grants should help the city considerably. “With those two grants for the city, those were two very nice surprises in the past month,” he said. In another matter, Braden introduced an issue that led to a heated exchange between Mayor Belinda Buswell, Councilwoman Kathy Bing- ham and elicited a couple comments from audience members. Braden said there appears to be confusion over the role of the mayor and the city administrator and the day-to-day function of what he is supposed to do. “It’s very frustrating for me to do my job. We cur- rently are not compliant with the city charter. We are not compliant with the council rules and almost every sin- gle aspect of my employ- ment contract has been vio- lated. Doing my job in a functional, effi cient man- ner is almost impossible right now. … There are seri- ous lines being crossed in the charter, the council rules and my contract,” Braden said. “You, the council, need to make the decisions now, not later, and this talk has been going on for three months. You need to decide if you’re going to support the charter, the council rules and in what- ever capacity to support my employment contract to run this city. You will make that decision. You have to. Now, not later. It has to be done, because you have to decide what the role of the mayor is and you have to decide who holds administrative respon- sibility on a day-to-day basis. Is it the administrator or is it the mayor?” Bingham pointed out that the mayor’s duties are limited to conducting meetings and appointing committees. “We as the council can- not be involved in running the city. That has to stop,” she said, adding that some city residents appear to not under- stand that, either. “We need to send out letters to every single business, professional organization, consultant that the city has used to make sure they understand that their only contact is the pub- lic works supervisor, if it’s a public works issue, or the city administrator/recorder. … No one on this council has the right to call an attorney, has the right to call an accounting fi rm, has the right to call any- one we work with. That has to be the administrator.” Buswell said there appears to be confusion between her and Braden’s understanding of her role as mayor. “He has a set of person- nel policies that also stip- ulates that the council will make certain contracts and that is where, when I spoke with Larry, we asked to have a document created … I just want a document that clearly stipulates for him and myself that says what he’s going to do from now on. We have confl icting documents.” After nearly an hour of discussion, it was agreed to abide by the city charter and council rules and leave the actual day-to-day admin- istration work to Braden. Buswell, Bingham and others on the council voiced their support of Braden and his work and agreed there was nothing personal about the misunderstanding, but that it was purely professional. The council also approved lists of long- and short-term goals for the city, which will help with the upcoming bud- geting process that must be completed by June 30. The list of short-term goals, aimed for completion in the next couple of years, includes a citywide cleanup day, work on the city’s web- site, work on the city library and the city park. The long-term goals, with a 2- to 5-year time frame, include developing an indus- trial task force to research possible industries for city, fi nish paving all city streets, committee for recreation space programs/commu- nity center and a commu- nity recreation center. Other goals were included in each, but were not audible in the recording. A list of each group of goals is to be posted at City Hall.