LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
County considers road service district
Commissioners
start work May
18 to protect
school funds
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — A new
road service district for Wal-
lowa County will soon be in
the works after the Board of
Commissioners agreed to put
the wheels in motion to take
advantage of a piece of legis-
lation that “fi xes a bad piece
of federal rulemaking,” as
board Chairwoman Susan
Roberts said.
At the end of their reg-
ular meeting Wednesday,
May 4, Roberts said that at
the next meeting, May 18,
the commissioners will start
work on a road service dis-
trict. She’s been working with
a law group that’s been doing
research for the commission-
ers to put together paperwork
to free up payment in lieu of
taxes (PILT) money and cre-
ate a road district.
Funds received through
the Secure Rural Schools
program provides addi-
tional funding to rural coun-
ties across mostly the western
United States, according to
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley’s web-
site. The counties that gener-
ally receive SRS funding are
those that have large tracks of
public, tax-exempt forestland.
In the latter part of the 1990s,
timber receipts from the U.S.
Forest Service and the Bureau
of Land Management began
to fall, impacting many rural
counties that received a por-
tion of those dollars from
timber harvests to fund ser-
vices. The SRS program is
designed to bridge that fund-
ing gap by providing funding
for schools, road maintenance
and other county services.
Roberts said the SRS
money will go into the new
road service district and not
into what are considered
county funds. The govern-
ing board will be just like that
for the Wallowa Lake County
Service District, it’ll have sep-
arate commissioners and a
separate budget meeting.
“What it does is it puts that
money from the payment in
lieu of taxes (PILT) back into
the General Fund, which then
allows us to fully staff our
sheriff ’s offi ce or other work
that we may have been put-
ting aside because we didn’t
have the funds to do it.”
Commissioner John Hill-
ock said counties outside of
Oregon have already taken
such measure.
“There are counties in
Montana that have done it
already,” he said.
Roberts declined to com-
ment further pending the out-
come of further research, but
said when the commission-
ers get started on May 18, it
will be the beginning of a long
process.
Other business
In other matters:
• Commissioner Todd
Nash brought up the proposed
bicycle playground planned
at Wallowa that is currently
in the fundraising process.
Roberts and Hillock agreed
that it is a worthwhile project
and Roberts said that she’d
like the county to be able to
donate toward it, but wants
more information and would
like to see a presentation on
the project. Ron Pickens, of
Building Healthy Families
in Enterprise, has made such
presentations before to other
public bodies and would be
requested to do so before the
commissioners.
• Was informed by county
counsel Paige Sully that her
legal practice is changing to
handle only government bod-
ies as clients. She has obtained
as clients a couple other cities,
she said, and the elimination
of private clients would allow
her more time to work on the
government clients and elim-
inate potential confl icts of
interest.
• Corrected the stat-
ute number for the county’s
drought declaration resolution
the commissioners approved
April 20 that followed up on
action they took April 6.
• Rescheduled a continua-
tion of a hearing on a petition
to vacate a roadway, submit-
ted by Matthew Graham and
Laura Noë. The commission-
ers agreed to hold that hearing
at their June 1 meeting, giving
them time to properly adver-
tise plans for it.
• Accepted the withdrawal
of a petition to vacate a portion
of Pollack Road requested by
petitioners Dale and Virginia
Mammon. A hearing on the
potential vacation had been
held after the April 20 meet-
ing. The Mammons informed
the commissioners that since
the hearing, they still wish
to obtain the property, but
believe it best achieved by
other means.
• Review and approval of a
resolution authorizing recon-
veyance of an interest in real
property owned by Steve
Roundy at Wallowa Lake.
Sully told the commission-
ers she needed their approval
to execute and record lien
releases for the Roundy prop-
erty so it can be sold and the
county can receive money
it is due. Sully said that after
the commissioners give their
approval, she would take the
appropriate documents to the
Wallowa Title Co. that day for
fi ling.
Employee action
The commissioners also
approved several employ-
ee-action notices. Those
included:
• Position and salary
changes for Winifred Conner
from fairgrounds manager to
a grants position and infor-
mation technology support.
She replaces longtime Grants
Manager Chrystal Allen who
retired this year.
• Grace Lathrop as a new
election worker in the County
Clerk’s Department.
• Susan Moody as a new
911 sergeant in the Wallowa
County Sheriff ’s Offi ce.
• A position change for
Sianna Williams from 911 dis-
patcher to juvenile counselor.
• Position and sal-
ary changes for Candi
Staigle
from
property
appraiser trainee to Property
Appraiser 1.
• Ryan Moody as a new
patrol deputy with the WCSO.
Wallowa Memorial again on top 20 list
Chieftain staff
ENTERPRISE — For
the fi fth time in the past
six years, Wallowa Memo-
rial Hospital has again been
ranked among the top 20 crit-
ical access hospitals for over-
all performance in the coun-
try and the only hospital to
make the esteemed list in all
of Oregon, according to a
press release.
The top 20 hospitals
scored best as determined by
the Chartis Center for Rural
Health for Overall Perfor-
mance. The rankings were
recently announced by the
National Rural Health Asso-
ciation. In September an
awards ceremony will be
held during NRHA’s Critical
Access Hospital Conference
in Kansas City, Missouri.
The top 20 CAHs have
achieved success in over-
all performance based on a
composite rating from eight
indices of strength: inpa-
tient market share, outpatient
Wallowa Memorial Hospital/Contributed Photo
A drone photograph shows Wallowa Memorial Hospital. The
hospital has been named one of the top 20 critical access
hospitals in the nation for the fi fth time in the past six years.
market share, quality, out-
comes, patient perspective,
cost, charge, and fi nance.
This group was selected from
the Chartis Center for Rural
Health’s 2022 top 100 CAH
list, which was released ear-
lier this year.
The top 20 CAH best-prac-
tice recipients have achieved
success in one of two key
areas of performance:
• Quality index: A rating
of hospital performance
based on the percentile
rank across rural-relevant
process of care measures.
• Patient perspective index:
A rating of hospital perfor-
mance based on the per-
centile rank across all 10
HCAHPS domains.
“Wallowa Memorial is
proud of the eff orts of our
hardworking physicians and
staff who have contributed
to our hospital achieving
this designation,” said Larry
Davy, hospital CEO. “The
support of our community is
also a signifi cant part of this
success. It has allowed us to
add several desired services
that are often not off ered in
rural communities. These
services include but are not
limited to orthopedics, exten-
sive rehabilitation services
and outpatient therapy for
cancer patients. Our results
as an overall top performer
means our community can
count on us to deliver the ser-
vices they need now and in
the future.”
Wallowa
Memorial
Hospital is a 25-bed Crit-
ical Access Hospital and
Level IV Trauma Center.
The current hospital was
built in 2007 and serves
the residents and visitors of
Wallowa County.
Hansell, Lively appointed to cultural trust board
Chieftain staff
SALEM — State Sen.
Bill Hansell (R-Athena) has
been appointed to the Ore-
gon Cultural Trust board of
directors by Senate Presi-
dent Peter Courtney.
Hansell, a third-term sen-
ator who represents District
29 in Eastern Oregon, fi lls a
spot held previously by Cliff
Bentz, who now is the 2nd
District representative in the
U.S. House.
“It’s an honor to serve
on the Cultural Trust Board
of Directors,” Hansell said
in a press release. “I am
excited for the opportunity
and the work we will be
able to accomplish.”
A second appointee to
the board, Rep. John Lively
(D-Springfi eld), has ties to
the region. Lively was born
in La Grande and lived in
Wallowa County before his
family moved West in 1963.
Lively, a former Springfi eld
mayor who has been in the
Legislature since 2012, was
appointed by former House
Speaker Tina Kotek, replac-
ing former Rep. Margaret
Doherty.
“Cultural arts are an
important part of the quality
of life in every Oregon com-
munity,” Lively said. “It is
an honor to serve on the Cul-
tural Trust Board which sup-
Soroptimist Fellowship Award - $2,000
Woman Continuing Her Education by Earning a Post-Graduate
(Master or Doctorate) Degree
Applications available on the Soroptimist website:
wallowacountysoroptimist.org Deadline June 1, 2022
Mail Applications to: Soroptimist, P.O. Box 127, Enterprise, OR 97828
For More Information call 541-398-0189
Soroptimist is a global volunteer organization working to improve the lives of women and girls
through programs leading to social and economic empowerment
Facebook: Soroptimist International of Wallowa County
Website: wallowacountysoroptimist.org
ports eff orts to sustain and
enhance off erings through-
out our state.”
Hansell and Lively both
will “serve in an advisory,
ex offi cio nonvoting capac-
ity per the Cultural Trust
statute,” according to the
release.
“We are extremely proud
that two such passionate
and dedicated Legislators
have committed their tal-
ents to the Cultural Trust,”
Niki Price, chair of the Cul-
tural Trust Board, said in the
release. “We welcome their
breadth of experience and
expertise and know they will
make substantial contribu-
tions to our work in protect-
ing and strengthening Ore-
gon culture.”
The trust was established
in 2001 by the state Legisla-
ture as an “ongoing funding
engine” for arts and culture
in Oregon. Residents gave a
record $5.55 million to the
trust in 2021.
IN BRIEF
Scholarships
available through
WVHCF
ENTERPRISE — Three
scholarships are available to
health care workers at Wal-
lowa Memorial Hospital
or another local nonprofi t
health care organization
through the Wallowa Valley
Health Care Foundation.
The scholarships —
two at $2,000 and a third at
$1,000 — are available for
workers “who wish to fur-
ther their professional devel-
opment through training,
certifi cation or education,” a
press release from WVHCF
states.
Scholarship
require-
ments include that recipi-
ents be committed to staying
in the county at the conclu-
sion of their training, cer-
tifi cation or education, and
that the investment furthers
their career and improve or
expand county health care
services, according to the
release.
The scholarships are:
the $2,000 Coffi n Memo-
rial Scholarship, the $2,000
Edgar Burbridge and Fran-
ces Boyd Burbridge Schol-
arship, and the new Gail
Swart Memorial Scholarship
in the amount of $1,000.
Applications are available
online, and due by June 2.
Visit www.wchcd.org/schol-
arship to apply or for more
information, or call 541-426-
1913 for information.
More than 71,000
Oregonians to
receive money
SALEM — As part of
a countrywide settlement,
Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum secured $2.1
million for Oregon from Tur-
boTax, Intuit Inc., for deceiv-
ing over 4.6 million consum-
ers nationally into paying for
tax services that should have
been free.
In Oregon, Intuit will send
out checks to 71,230 Orego-
nians for $29.64 in restitu-
tion each. Impacted consum-
ers will automatically receive
notices and a check by mail.
As part of the settlement,
A3
Intuit must suspend Turbo-
Tax’s “free, free, free” ad
campaign that lured custom-
ers with promises of free tax
preparation services, only to
deceive them into paying for
services. All 50 states and the
District of Columbia have
signed onto the agreement
Controlled and
premium hunt
deadline is May 15
SALEM, Ore. — Don’t
wait until the last minute to
apply for a controlled or pre-
mium hunt as the May 15
deadline falls on a Sunday
this year.
Apply online at ODFW’s
Licensing System (which
accepts applications until
11:59 p.m. on May 15) or at
a license sale agent during
store hours. Applications
are $8 per hunt series (buck
deer, antlerless deer, elk,
pronghorn, bighorn sheep,
Rocky Mountain goat) and
an annual hunting license is
also required.
As of May 1, 164,706
controlled-hunt
applica-
tions have been sold. Last
year, a total of 526,361
controlled-hunt
applica-
tions were received with
most applications coming
in the last week before the
deadline.
Issues with an online
account can be addressed
by calling Licensing at 503-
947-6101 or email odfw.
websales@odfw.oregon.gov.
Four named to
EOU dean’s list
LA GRANDE — East-
ern Oregon University
named 590 students to the
dean’s list for the 2022
winter term. Qualifying
students achieve and main-
tain a grade point average
of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0
scale while completing a
minimum of 12 hours of
graded EOU coursework.
Ella Anderson and Karli
Bedard of Enterprise and
Gracie and Heidi Niezen of
Joseph were named to the
dean’s list.
EOU
congratulates
each of these high-achiev-
ing students, and acknowl-
edges their dedication to
academic excellence.
— Chieftain staff
Tell Me
Everything
The Story of a Private Investigation
by Erika Krouse
107 E. Main St. Enterprise OR
541-426-3351
manager@bookloft.org • bookloft.org
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