LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
A9
RV park again
on Joseph City
Council agenda
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — A permit
to establish a recreational
vehicle park in a general
residential zone in Joseph
will once again go before
the city council when it
meets Thursday, Sept. 1.
The matter will be open
for a public hearing during
the meeting that starts at
7 p.m. at the Joseph Com-
munity Events Center.
An earlier public hear-
ing on the RV park was
held during the July 7
council meeting. At that
meeting, city resident
John Zurita asked the
council to change zoning
at 709 N. Main St. from
commercial to general
residential. Zurita wants
to locate a small RV park
at the site, which is on the
corner of Main Street and
Russell Lane.
But several people
spoke out at the hearing,
all of whom were against
the RV park. Opposition
was expressed based on
the possibility of traffi c
congestion caused by res-
idents turning into the RV
park and the alteration of
the downtown character
by having such a park just
as drivers enter the town.
Contributed Photo
Contractors working on a sidewalk ramp project help board up storm-damaged windows in Wallowa on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022.
Bad weather brings out best in people
By ANN BLOOM
For the Wallowa County
Chieftain
WALLOWA — Despite
being pelted by hail three
inches in diameter, and after
working a nine-hour shift,
crew members on the ADA
sidewalk ramp upgrade
project in Wallowa still
found it within themselves
to help the community in its
time of need, including aid-
ing a pedestrian to shelter
and helping board up broken
windows.
Henry Lugo, consultant
construction inspector for
the project who was on site
during the storm, said after
everything they had already
done during their shift, “they
still wanted to keep helping
and doing as much as they
could.”
The sudden midday
hailstorm on Thursday,
Aug. 11, caused several
injuries, broke windows,
knocked out car windshields
and stripped trees of leaves.
According to a press
release from the Oregon
Department of Transporta-
tion, vacuum truck operator
Randy Burns was respon-
sible for guiding a pedes-
trian to safety, providing
Contributed Photo
Willy Ramos of Global Electric takes plywood to a house in
Wallowa on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, after a sudden severe
hailstorm.
care until medical personnel
could arrive to treat her inju-
ries and transport her to the
hospital. The identity and
condition of the woman is
unknown.
During the storm, accord-
ing to Lugo, drill operator
Aaron Griffi ths and laborer
Willy Ramos began secur-
ing the roadway, clear-
ing it of traffi c cones and
some signs, to make a path
for emergency vehicles. He
said the debris was nothing
serious.
Lugo also said that Grif-
fi ths and Ramos helped
board up the broken win-
dows of a couple Wallowa
residences using plywood
from their trucks. He said the
plywood was on the truck
and used for multiple pur-
poses at other times. It was
donated to the homeowners.
Matt Murray, a journey-
man electrician, took up
the responsibilities of an
injured fl agger, directing
traffi c and emergency vehi-
cles until both lanes of traf-
fi c through town could be
reopened, according to the
press release.
All of the men now work
out of Portland and were
unavailable for comment.
Asked if the men had
training in CPR and fi rst aid,
Lugo said, in his construc-
tion experience, with com-
panies of this size, it is com-
mon for employees to have
such training.
“(It’s) very likely they
had CPR and fi rst aid. I
assume that to be true,” he
said.
Lugo wants people to
know that after the crew had
fi nished its work respon-
sibilities the workers were
still willing to go above and
beyond to help out in a time
of need.
“After their own work
responsibilities were done,
they kept going. At the end
of a nine-hour shift (they)
continued to go out and
help two hours after that,”
he said.
The ODOT OR 82 Wal-
lowa/Lostine ADA side-
walk ramp upgrade project
is managed and inspected
by Murraysmith of Port-
land. The general contrac-
tor is MJ Hughes, of Van-
couver, Washington. The
subcontractor is Global
Electric of Portland, which
employs Lugo and the other
crew members.
Fires burning in Eagle Cap Wilderness
Wallowa County Chieftain
BAKER CITY — Five
lightning-caused fi res are
burning in the Eagle Cap Wil-
derness, according to a Sun-
day, Aug. 28, press release
from the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest.
The fi res are currently
burning in remote areas and
pose minimal threats to pri-
vate property and other val-
ues, the release said. Firefi ght-
ers are closely monitoring fi re
activity and using strategies to
protect homes and property
near to the fi re.
The 40-acre Sturgill Fire
and the adjacent 324 Fire are
in the North Minam Drainage
and burning mostly in ground
fuels. The 20-acre Nebo Fire
is in the Upper Lick Creek
Drainage, 13 miles south-
east of Joseph. The one-tenth
of an acre Goat Mountain
1 and adjacent Goat Moun-
tain 2 fi res are in the Upper
Goat Creek Drainage, 9 miles
south of Lostine and have
shown very little fi re activ-
ity in the last two days, the
release said.
All of the fi res were started
by lightning strikes on Aug. 23.
At that time, Zurita
also was asked to con-
tact the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation to
see if a turn lane could be
installed at the location,
easing the traffi c concern.
Zurita was to contact
ODOT prior to the coun-
cil taking up the issue
again.
Listed as “new busi-
ness” on this week’s
agenda are two items that
have been addressed in
the past: system devel-
opment charges and the
urban growth boundary.
SDCs are charges
that a city or county may
assess to cover the “true
cost” of development and
include costs to exist-
ing and additional water,
sewer, transportation and
park services. The UGB
has been the subject of
controversy because of a
suggested “land swap” of
land within the UGB for
land outside of it.
The council also has
vacancies to fi ll — one
empty council seat and
three volunteer positions
for a proposed planning
commission. These were
not listed on the agenda,
but they are the subject of
ongoing business.
VISIT US
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WEB
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Meet Gary Hauck! Gary moved here about a year ago and spends
hours helping younger generations perfect their fishing skills.
Gary is always taking his grandchildren and great grandchildren
fishing as well as anyone else that is interested in learning
how to fish. This week we honor Gary as our
Person Making a Difference.
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Wallowa-Whitman National Forest/Contributed Photo
The 20-acre Nebo Fire, seen burning in this aerial photo
from the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, is burning in the
Upper Lick Creek Drainage.
The fi res are being man-
aged for multiple resource
benefi ts, including reducing
fuel loading and enhance-
ment of forest health, accord-
ing to the release. Matthew
Burks, a public aff airs special-
ist with the Wallowa-Whit-
man National Forest, said
the fi res are being allowed to
burn so that they can consume
fuels, reducing the likelihood
of larger fi res next summer
when conditions may be drier
than they are now.
“They will clean out
fuels,” he said.
Burks said that the burn-
ing will improve elk habi-
tat by creating more open
spaces, adding that as long as
the fi res, which are burning
close to the ground, remain
nonthreatening they will be
allowed to continue. How-
ever, should this change,
steps will be taken to extin-
guish them.
There are no closures,
however the public is advised
to use caution in these areas
and can expect to see smoke
and fi re activity. Signs are
posted at aff ected trailheads.
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