LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
A3
County recycling progress continues Wallowa City
Council starts on
storm recovery
Nearly all plastics
now acceptable
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
in helping fi eld calls both
off ering help and request-
WALLOWA — The ing it, was out sick, so that’s
Wallowa City Council got slowing things down a bit.
“Everybody was worn
started Tuesday, Aug. 16, on
what it needs to do to help out and tired, I know that,”
the city recover from the Hulse said.
In other matters, the
Aug. 11 hailstorm when it
met in regular session at city council:
• Approved a request for
hall.
“I was talking about how a variance made by Travis
we were working on trying Goebel for his son to con-
struct a home shop
to get funding and
on an undersized
other help,” Mayor
lot. Hulse said a few
Gary Hulse said
people showed up
Aug. 17.
who were curious
He said the
about the size of the
council agreed to
structure.
have a Zoom meet-
• Approved a
ing Aug. 29 with
Hulse
request that the city
various stakehold-
pay half the cost of
ers, such as those
in government agencies maintenance of restrooms
or others who can provide at Wallowa Memorial Park,
with the other half paid by
assistance.
“Anybody who can assist the park fund. Hulse said
us in getting money,” Hulse the restrooms are only open
during the summer months
said.
He said that after the so that would amount to
Zoom meeting, the coun- about $45 a month.
• Tabled a request for
cil will hold a meeting to
inform the public what it an extension of a sidewalk
as recommended by Terry
learned.
He said city Adminis- Journot of Anderson Perry.
trator Carolyn Harshfi eld, The council wanted more
who has been instrumental information on the matter.
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Recy-
cling services in Wallowa
County continue to expand
and now residents can recy-
cle nearly all types of plas-
tics, Peter Ferre told the
Wallowa County Board of
Commissioners at its meet-
ing Wednesday, Aug. 17.
Discarded plastic is one
of the major concerns of
any recycling program, said
Ferre, of the Friends of Wal-
lowa County Recycling,
who was there to update the
commissioners on recycling
work in the county.
“There’s enough plastic
thrown away every year to
circle the globe four times,”
he said.
He said recycled plastic
uses 20% less energy than
making new plastic.
“For every ton of plastic
that’s recycled it saves the
equivalent of about 1,500
gallons of gasoline, which
seems like a good idea,” he
said.
He congratulated Mike
Grover, who operates the
recycling center on Fish
Hatchery Lane.
“Mike’s done a great job
of fi nding a new plastics
buyer,” he said. “Now we’re
able to accept virtually all
plastic packaging. In the past,
we could only accept No. 1s
and No. 2s. … Now we’re
able to accept yogurt contain-
ers, clamshells. We just can’t
accept anything that’s rigid
plastic, i.e. lids, automotive
parts, bicycle parts.”
Rigid plastic, Ferre said,
is “something you could
break easily.” It also includes
caps to jugs of milk, bleach
and other containers because
they’re made of a diff erent
kind of plastic that is small
and stiff and gums up the
machines that handles them.
He said plastic bags also
remain unacceptable, but he’s
working on getting Safeway
— one of the main sources of
IN BRIEF
Storm-damaged
property may
qualify for tax break
ENTERPRISE — Prop-
erty owners who sustained
damage in the Thursday,
Aug. 11 hailstorm that
centered on Wallowa are
advised that the state will
give a tax break until the
damage is repaired, accord-
ing to a press release from
the Wallowa County Asses-
sor’s Offi ce.
“Anyone who is the legal
owner of a property and
whose property was dam-
aged by the recent storm
could qualify,” the release
stated. “If your property
qualifi es this will be a pro-
ration of the taxes on your
property for the months that
it was damaged.”
The tax break is for prop-
erty damaged by fi re or an
“act of God.” An act of God
is defi ned as an act of nature
without human interference,
according to the release.
If the property qualifi es,
the tax break will be a prora-
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Peter Ferre of the Friends of Wallowa County Recycling gives an update on recycling activities
in the county to the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022.
The recycling center can now take nearly all plastics.
such bags — to once again
have a repository for the
bags. He said it costs Safe-
way nothing to ship them,
as they just put them on the
trucks that deliver goods to
the store and return them to
where they came from.
Ferre also emphasized
how recycling items such
as paper and tin save water,
high,” he said.
Ferre said volunteers at
the recycling center have
donated about 225 hours
so far this year, but labor
is always needed. He sug-
gested the possibility of a
work crew from County
Corrections might be used,
but no decision was reached
on that idea.
“THERE’S ENOUGH PLASTIC
THROWN AWAY EVERY YEAR TO
CIRCLE THE GLOBE FOUR TIMES.”
— Peter Ferre, Friends of Wallowa County Recycling
as much less is used to recy-
cle them than to make new
paper and water. He also
said recycling cardboard
saves room in the landfi ll.
He said the price for
recycled aluminum cans has
gone up dramatically. Where
they used to receive about
$300 a ton, a recent load
brought $1,000 a ton.
“It was a big deal for us to
learn that the price was that
He said eff orts to pro-
mote recycling at the coun-
ty’s schools also continue. A
grant early this year paid for
a part-time worker to han-
dle recycled items from the
schools, but that worker had
to quit due to illness. The
county is now looking for a
replacement, he said.
On the money side of the
recycling eff orts, Ferre said
his group continues to apply
tion of property taxes for the
months it was damaged. It
would start with August —
the month of the damage —
and continue until the dam-
age is repaired.
An application and a
site visit by someone from
the Assessor’s Offi ce are
required. The applications
are due by June 30.
For
more
informa-
tion, contact the Assessor’s
Offi ce at 541-426-7746 or
541-426-7748.
New York City and on the
Grand Ole Opry. In 2020, she
was inducted into the West-
ern Music Hall of Fame. In
2021, she was voted the
Western Music Association’s
Entertainer of the year.
Tickets are $20 and can
be purchase at the Dol-
lar Stretcher or the Book-
loft in Enterprise. They also
can be purchased online at
Eventbrite.
Wallowa County’s own
Ghost Wind will open for
Harms at 7 p.m. She takes
the stage at 8 p.m.
Western singer to
raise money for
Cross the Divide
ENTERPRISE — A fund-
raiser for Cross the Divide, a
Christian organization dedi-
cated to helping combat-in-
jured veterans and their fam-
ilies, will be held Saturday,
Aug. 27, in Enterprise at the
OK Theater.
Doors open at 6 p.m.
Nationally known West-
ern music artist Joni Harms
will perform with the Harms
Way Band.
The
fi fth-generation
rancher from Canby has
played at Carnegie Hall in
Chamber has list
of Wallowa relief
resources
ENTERPRISE — The
Wallowa County Chamber
of Commerce has posted a
list of resources for victims
of the Aug. 11 hailstorm in
Wallowa.
The list includes:
• The Lostine Presby-
terian Church has created
a relief fund where online
donations may be made.
• A form to apply for
$500 in recovery aid is
available at Wallowa City
for and receive grants to
help support it.
He said a measure in
the Oregon Legislature —
the Recycling Moderniza-
tion Act, Senate Bill 582 —
may help, and that the the
need for recycling should
be expressed during the
Department of Environmen-
tal Quality’s statewide needs
assessment.
“As long as we keep
doing what we’re doing
and express our interest in
the program, even though
we’re a small-sized popula-
tion, we’ll have the opportu-
nity to receive transportation
money, which means our
shipping costs might fully be
reimbursed,” Ferre said. “We
spend more money on ship-
ping than all that we receive
for all the recyclables we
send out. So that’s a huge
economic impact for us.”
Even donations from
county residents can help.
He said the community has
donated about $2,100 that
the Friends used to purchase
additional bins.
“It shows people are
interested,” he said.
VISIT US ON THE WEB AT:
www.Wallowa.com
SUMMER HOURS
10 AM - 8 PM WED, THURS, SUN
10 AM - 9 PM FRI AND SAT • 541 569 2285
Hall/Fire Department or at
the Wallowa Senior Center
• Those who qualify
for SNAP/TANFF bene-
fi ts may visit Wallowa City
Hall/Fire Department for
replacement food resources.
• The Wallowa Food
Bank at 211 E. First St. is
open seven days a week
right now and anyone in
need of food may stop in,
regardless of eligibility.
• The Wallowa Resale
Store is off ering free
replacement items to Wal-
lowa residents. The store
is open Monday through
Saturday from 10 a.m. to
4 p.m.
• Plywood and tarps are
available at Wallowa City
Hall/Fire Department.
Anyone aware of a
resource that has not been
included in this list is asked
to email it to info@wal-
lowacounty.org or call the
chamber at 541-426-4622.
— Wallowa County
Chieftain
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