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Wallowa.com
Fuel:
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McQuead said some
departments,
such
as
administration,
won’t
require a budget increase,
since most of its cost is for
travel that has already been
completed.
“We have enough to be
able to carry the cost …
but we’ll see how long that
lasts,” she said.
Road work
One area that could be
aff ected is in road work,
such as paving. Most local
governments, as well as
the Oregon Department of
Transportation, get asphalt
from the Wallowa County
Road Department’s asphalt
plant located along High-
way 3 north of Enter-
prise. The petroleum that
is increasing in price is
a major component of
asphalt.
Enterprise Public Works
Director Shawn Young
said that the cost of asphalt
could rise to the point the
city won’t be able to do as
much paving as planned.
“It’ll change what we
can do. If we have to pay
double, it’ll keep us from
doing as much,” Young said
last week. “We’re all going
to have to button down a
bit and see where the dust
settles. … Hopefully when
dust settles it’ll be some-
where we can operate and
operate effi ciently.”
Roberts said she doesn’t
have a fi gure on how much
the county sells asphalt for
because — again — that
jumps almost daily.
“There is no ballpark
fi gure” to estimate the cost
of asphalt, Roberts said. “If
somebody wants a project,
we have to fi gure what it’ll
be” depending on the size
of the project, the quan-
tity of asphalt — and the
price of petroleum that
day. “These things are not
set in stone; they’re always
moving.”
Joseph’s interim city
Administrator Brock Eck-
stein said the skyrocketing
price of fuel won’t have a
serious impact on his city,
given its small size. How-
ever, he said March 28, the
city has already spent about
82% of the $10,000 it bud-
geted for fuel — an amount
that has to last until June
30, the end of the budget
year.
Eckstein said the city
also uses asphalt from the
county asphalt plant, but he
won’t know the actual cost
until any planned projects
are put out for bid.
“I think the biggest
impact it’ll have on the city
… is the cost of asphalt is
through the roof right now
so that’ll slow down some
of our paving operations,”
he said.
Eckstein has noticed
in his travels that some
places are opting for con-
crete instead of asphalt. He
said recently he saw proj-
ects in Boise, Idaho, and
on an interstate highway in
Wyoming that were doing
just that, and he suspects
it’s because of the high cost
of petroleum in the asphalt.
He admitted he wasn’t cer-
tain if those projects were
simply using a concrete
base and intending a thin
asphalt overlay, but it gave
him pause. Like other local
offi cials, he agreed the cost
of asphalt can be uncertain.
“I know there are lots
of cities using concrete
instead of asphalt because
it’s cheaper,” he said.
Eckstein said that some
of Joseph’s streets that
aren’t paved receive a
sprinkling of an oil-like
product, but road depart-
ments have moved away
from using petroleum in
favor of a type of banana
oil for dust abatement.
“It’s cheaper and more
environmentally friendly,”
he said.
Wallowa Mayor Gary
Hulse said his city has no
paving projects planned for
the coming construction
year, but that doesn’t mean
a need couldn’t arise.
“We’ll do what we have
to do, but it shouldn’t limit
what we have to do,” Hulse
said March 25. “It could
limit in other ways.”
Across-the-board pain
Hulse noted that it isn’t
just travel with Wallowa’s
few vehicles or paving that
are aff ected by the rising
price of petroleum.
“The price of fuel is
going to aff ect just about
everything the city has to
do, from the price of deliv-
ering freight to every-
thing else,” he said, not-
ing that the city is getting
started on its budget pro-
cess. “We’re watching the
price of everything because
we’re limited in what we
can spend in our budget.”
Hulse said Wallowa gets
its fuel from local suppli-
ers such as Coleman Oil
or Burns Oil, paying the
prevailing rate that ranges
from approximately $3.50-
3.65 a gallon. He didn’t
have a breakdown as to
the cost diff erence between
gasoline and diesel.
He said he anticipates
pain of the cost of fuel in
the foreseeable future.
“It’s going to (hurt),”
Hulse said. “Right now, we
still have some money in
our budget, but we’ll have
to watch it as we’re getting
into the budget year.”
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A7
Machine:
Continued from Page A1
the ability to create reports
required by State Elections.
The ballots also will be a bit
diff erent — a diff erent style
of border around the edge to
guide it through the machine.
She said it counts at a rate of
300 double-sided ballots per
minute.
“People need to know
that the appearance of the
ballot is going to look diff er-
ent than in past elections,”
Lathrop said.
The tabulation machine
will get its debut in the
upcoming May 17 primary
election.
“We usually do not get as
big of a turnout in (the) pri-
mary election as in the gen-
eral elections,” Lathrop said.
“But given the political elec-
tion environment, it will
probably be a little higher
than it has been in the past.”
Prevailing price
According to the U.S.
Energy
Information
Administration
website
March 24, in February, reg-
ular gasoline cost $3.52 a
gallon in the Northwest,
while diesel fuel was $4.03
a gallon.
Both regional fuels
appear to have peaked on
March 14 at $4.675 for reg-
ular and $5.416 for diesel,
the website said. By March
21, both had eased off a
little coming in at $4.671
for regular and $5.319 for
diesel.
The website also pro-
vided a breakdown of
how much per gallon goes
where.
In paying for a gallon of
fuel, 61% of the cost of reg-
ular gasoline goes toward
crude oil, while 53% of the
cost of diesel goes toward
crude. An estimated 14%
of cost per gallon for each
goes toward taxes. Refi n-
ing and marketing costs
were comparable to the
cost for taxes.
Roberts said local gov-
ernments are not able to
avoid paying the taxes on
fuel.
In Enterprise, the cost
of regular was $4.79 a gal-
lon for regular on March
28, and $5.89 a gallon for
diesel.
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
On the ballot
The May primary will
largely be to whittle down
the number of potential can-
didates who will appear on
the general election ballot in
November. The deadline to
get on the ballot was March
8. The last day to register to
vote or change party affi lia-
tion is April 26, Lathrop said.
With no presidential elec-
tion this year, the top offi ce
on the ballot is that of gover-
nor. As Gov. Kate Brown is
no longer eligible for reelec-
tion because of term limits
restrictions, the fi eld is wide
open.
Running to replace the
Democrat incumbent are
David Beem, Julian Bell,
Wilson R. Bright, George
L. Carrillo, Michael Cross,
Ifeanyichukwu Diru, Peter
W. Hall, Tina Kotek, Keisha
Merchant, Tobias Read, Pat-
rick Starnes, Dave Stauff er,
John Sweeney, Michael
Trimble and Genevieve
Wilson.
Vying for a spot to oppose
the eventual Democrat nom-
inee are Republicans Ray-
mond Baldwin, Bridget Bar-
ton, Court Boice, David
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa County employee Ashley Christman, who will
volunteer as an election worker, watches as test ballots fl y
through a central count tabulation machine Tuesday, March
22, 2022, that is new to the county.
Burch, Reed Christensen,
Christine Drazan, Jessica
Gomez, Nick Hess, Tim
McCloud, Kerry McQuis-
ten, Brandon Merritt, Bud
Pierce, John Presco, Stan
Pulliam, Amber Richardson,
Bill Sizemore, Stefan Strek,
Marc Thielman and Bob
Tiernan.
Other federal offi ces up
for election include that of
U.S. senator. Incumbent
Democrat Ron Wyden has
fi led to run, as have two fel-
low Democrats who wish to
replace him: William E. Bar-
low III and Brent Thomp-
son. Seven Republicans are
challenging the winner of
the Democratic nomination:
Jason Beebe, Christopher
Christensen, Robert Flem-
ing, Darin Harbick, Sam
Palmer, Jo Rae Perkins and
Ibra Taher.
In the staunchly Republi-
can 2nd Congressional Dis-
trict, incumbent U.S. Rep.
Cliff Bentz has two challeng-
ers for the GOP nomination:
Mark Cavener and Katherine
Gallant.
On the Democrat side,
two have fi led to run: Adam
Prine and Joe Yetter.
No state senators are up
for reelection, but state Rep.
Bobby Levy of the 58th Dis-
trict has one challenger for
the GOP nomination: Skye
Farnam. No Democrats have
fi le to oppose the winner.
Countywide offi ces on
the ballot include county
Commissioner John Hillock,
who holds Position 3; Dis-
trict Attorney Rebecca Fro-
lander and Lathrop as county
clerk. All are running unop-
posed. Also on the ballot will
be party precinct commit-
tee representatives that vary
with the precincts.
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