2A — BAKER CITY HERALD
MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2019
MONEY
Continued from Page 1A
B AKER C OUNTY C ALENDAR
TUESDAY, OCT. 29
■ Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative Board of Directors:
9 a.m., OTEC Headquarters, 4005 23rd St. in Baker City.
■ Baker Airport Commission: 5:30 p.m., City Hall, 1655
First St.
FRIDAY, NOV. 1
■ Live Music by Keith Taylor: Ragtime piano, 4:30 p.m. to
5:30 p.m., Crossroads, 2020 Auburn Ave.; no charge.
■ First Friday Art Shows: Baker City art galleries are open
late to showcase the month’s new artwork; opening times
vary between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.
MONDAY, NOV. 4
■ Haines Fire Protection District Board: 6 p.m. at the
Haines Library. (New time begins this month.)
TUESDAY, NOV. 5
■ Local Community Advisory Council in coordination
with the Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care
Organization (which serves Oregon Health Plan
members in the region): Community meeting, noon to
2 p.m. at the OTEC Building, 4005 23rd St.; to hear public
comment about health improvement efforts and shared
strategies under the state’s next phase of coordinated care.
T URNING B ACK THE P AGES
50 YEARS AGO
from the Democrat-Herald
October 28, 1969
The possibility of establishing a tri-county youth care
center to serve Baker, Union and Wallowa counties will be
explored further.
25 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
October 28, 1994
About 50 small earthquakes, the two strongest mea-
suring 3.9 and 3.7 on the Richter scale, gently rocked the
Baker County Panhandle this week.
No damage or injuries were reported, though residents
from Richland to Oxbow felt the 3.9 quake, which occurred
at 8:35 p.m. Wednesday.
10 YEARS AGO
from the Baker City Herald
October 28, 2009
Baker City voters rejected by more than a 2-to-1 margin
an effort to recall Mayor Dennis Dorrah and Councilor
Beverly Calder.
ONE YEAR AGO
from the Baker City Herald
October 29, 2018
Baker City Manager Fred Warner Jr. said a Michigan
man has accepted the job as Baker City Fire Chief, contin-
gent on a background check and drug test.
John Clark would take over for interim chief Cliff Hall,
who has been in that role since Chief Tom Wills retired this
summer.
Clark, 57, most recently served as chief of the Delta
Township Fire Department in Lansing, Michigan. In July,
he resigned from his position where he had served seven
years as the chief. His stated reason for leaving was that
he want to relocate to a new area, according to a story in
the Lansing State Journal newspaper.
Prior to serving as the chief, Clark worked for almost
40 years as a fi refi ghter. Clark was previously one of two
fi nalists for another job in early September in Pleasant
Hill, Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register. The city
didn’t end up hiring either of the candidates after one of
the candidates withdrew his application. The Pleasant Hill
administration didn’t disclose which candidate withdrew.
That problem has been —
and until 2021 will continue
to be — alleviated by the
Baker City Fire Department’s
award of a Staffi ng for Ad-
equate Fire and Emergency
Resources (SAFER) grant.
The $426,099 federal grant
allowed the city fi re depart-
ment to add three additional
40-hour fi refi ghter/emergency
services positions. Baker
County added a $99,000
match over the life of the
three-year grant to fund the
positions.
To prepare for the grant to
expire, the county, which is
responsible for establishing
ambulance service areas and
choosing allowed providers,
sent out letters of interest to
21 potential providers last fall
for the Baker service area,
which includes Baker City
and about half of the county,
including Baker Valley.
The Baker City Fire
Department is the current
provider for that area.
Four agencies responded.
And as part of the process,
the county sent out requests
for proposals seeking bids
on the ambulance service
contract to those four.
In addition to the Baker
City Fire Department, two
private ambulance services
submitted bids: Med Trans-
port Inc. of North Powder and
Metro West Ambulance Inc.,
a Hillsboro fi rm. At the advice
of county counsel, those bids
have not been made public.
According to the schedule
outlined in the RFP, the
contract, for a minimum of
10 years, is expected to be
awarded by June 1, 2020.
In the meantime, Yencopal
says he’s got a lot of work
to do to prepare for that
deadline.
He plans to schedule public
meetings starting in Novem-
ber to hear what the public
is willing to support in terms
of ambulance service. The
County will entertain any
suggestions brought to the
table, Yencopal said.
But how that will look, who
will be asked to pay, and how
much is yet to be determined.
Before the meetings are
scheduled, the county will
form a seven-member com-
mittee (including Yencopal
and county counsel as
nonvoting members) to work
through the contract-award
process, Yencopal said.
Baker County Commis-
sioner Chairman Bill Harvey,
along with Commissioners
Mark Bennett and Bruce
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S ENIOR M ENUS
■ TUESDAY: Cheese manicotti with meat sauce, green
beans, roll, fruit ambrosia, tapioca
■ WEDNESDAY: Meatloaf, potatoes and gravy, succotash,
roll, pea-and-onion salad, birthday cake
Public luncheon at the Senior Center, 2810 Cedar St., 11:30
a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; $4.50 donation (60 and older), $6.75 for
those under 60.
“We have a good relationship with the county. We
just feel like the public needs to understand where the
process is going.”
— Baker City Fire Chief John Clark
Nichols, next are expected to
review information gathered
in those meetings and from
the evaluation committee
near the end of January.
Yencopal said information
gleaned from the meetings
will be used to gauge pub-
lic sentiment about which
aspects of ambulance service
are deemed most important.
As part of the consider-
ation, the county will deter-
mine whether funding would
require voter approval of a
bond measure, a tax levy or
formation of a special district.
Baker City Fire Chief John
Clark wants Baker City resi-
dents to pay attention to the
process and to let their city
and county representatives
know their preferences as
the process develops. And he
will be asking the Baker City
Council to chime in as well.
Clark says he hopes Baker
City residents, and those who
live outside the city limits, ap-
preciate the service provided
by the city’s professional fi re
department employees.
About 76% of the fi re
department’s ambulance calls
are within the Baker City
limits, Clark said. The other
24% of calls are outside the
city.
Clark is concerned that if
the county should place a bal-
lot measure before only those
voters outside the city, they
would be making the deci-
sion on emergency medical
services for everyone.
“City residents need to
make their position known
and express their concerns,”
Clark said.
The chief concern is that if
the county chose an ambu-
lance provider other than the
Baker City Fire Department,
the department, due to a sig-
nifi cant cut in revenue from
ambulance calls, would have
to make signifi cant staffi ng
cuts.
As Yencopal points out,
decisions are yet to be made,
and will take into account
comments provided during
the public meetings.
In support of his employees,
Clark wants residents of the
1,600-square-mile ambulance
service area — slightly more
than half the county’s area
— to understand that Baker
City Fire Department fi re
and rescue workers live in the
community and are rooted
here.
“We have a huge commu-
nity connection,” Clark said.
Because his employees are
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community members, they
are involved in organizations
such as the Elks Lodge, Boy
Scouts and sporting events.
And they participate in the
Miners Jubilee, rodeos and
the Shrine Parade.
“This is their permanent
career,” he said. “This is the
only concern they have:
Baker City and Baker County
residents.”
The level of training and
experience refl ected in the
staff would be hard for a
contracting agency to beat, he
maintains.
“The average person has
been here more than 10
years,” Clark said. “They have
read through thousands of
EKGs and they have had
thousands of patient interac-
tions.”
And then there is their
personal knowledge and
experience with the region.
They are familiar with re-
mote areas of the mountains,
including Forest Service
roads, he said.
Plus, the department has
fostered relationships with
the volunteer departments
around the county over the
years.
“We work like clockwork,”
Clark said. “We don’t miss a
beat.”
If an outside company
were to be awarded the bid to
provide ambulance service all
of that would be lost, Clark
believes.
While the RFP requires a
minimum of four people and
two ambulances available
per day, the Baker City Fire
Department offers fi ve full-
time EMT/paramedics, plus
Clark, available daily. The
department also has a small
group of part-time emergency
service workers to call in as
needed as backup.
Clark said over the past
three years, two ambulances
were on calls simultaneously
an average of 200 times a
year. Baker City Fire Depart-
ment has the ability to cover
four back-to-back calls. A
contracted service with only
two ambulances would not,
Clark points out.
The department also
provides free training in the
community to the quick re-
sponse and rural fi re depart-
ments throughout the county
and CPR training monthly in
the community at no cost.
Ambulance revenue makes
up 44% of the Fire Depart-
ment’s budget and assures
that current staffi ng levels
O BITUARY
four years. He
Mathew Hubert, both of
received train-
Baker City; his stepchildren,
Willard “Butch” Hubert Jr., ing as a diesel
Malaina and Jimmy; and
73, of Baker City, died on Oct. mechanic and
many grandchildren.
5, 2019, at his home.
worked for the
He was preceded in death
A celebration of his life will City of Baker
by his father, Willard Hubert
take place on Saturday, Nov. from 1979 until
Butch
Sr.; his mother, Laura Tom-
Hubert
9 at 2 p.m. at the Baker City 1998, where
linson, and his stepfather,
Eagles Lodge, 2935 H St.
he started as a
Roland Tomlinson.
Butch was born on July
mechanic and was promoted
To light a candle in
17, 1946, at Oregon City
to shop foreman.
memory of Butch, or to leave
to Willard Hubert Sr. and
Butch loved riding his
a condolence for his family, go
Laura Nettleton. He attended Harley-Davidson, taking care to www.grayswestco.com
Powers High School in Pow-
of his family and helping
ers, Oregon, and graduated
people out. He was a member
EWS OF
in 1965. After high school,
of the Eagles, Elks and VFW.
Butch joined the United
Survivors include his
ECORD
States Army and served for
sons, Raymond Hubert and
‘Butch’ Hubert
Baker City, 1946-2019
N
R
“Youʼll love the work we do. I guarantee it.” - JR
C ONTACT THE H ERALD
1668 Resort St.
Open Monday through Friday
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Telephone: 541-523-3673
Copyright © 2019
Fax: 541-833-6414
Regional publisher
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Publisher
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ISSN-8756-6419
Serving Baker County since 1870
Published Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays except Christmas Day by the
Baker Publishing Co., a part of EO Media
Group, at 1668 Resort St. (P.O. Box 807),
Baker City, OR 97814.
Subscription rates per month are:
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can be maintained, Clark
said. But that money also
funds dual service — ambu-
lances as well as fi re trucks.
“A fi refi ghter paramedic or
a fi refi ghter EMT can treat
and put out a fi re,” Clark
said.
Without the ambulance
contract, the department’s
staffi ng likely would be re-
duced to two people per day,
he said.
Four people are required
at a fi re scene before any of
them can go inside a build-
ing.
“It’s the two-in, two-out
rule,” Clark said. “We have to
have two outside before we
can put two inside.”
Staff reductions also would
likely result in higher fi re
insurance costs for property
owners, he said.
And it would affect the de-
partment’s ability to provide
mutual aid to the rural fi re
departments.
“Clearly, because of the
staffi ng model we have,
we have the ability to help
them,” Clark said. “If we
return to two people in the
station, there would be no
mutual aid.”
The same would be true for
fi re calls involving vehicles
that might include the need
for extricating vehicle occu-
pants along Interstate 84.
The city has a contract
with the Oregon Department
of Transportation to respond
to freeway calls between
Weatherby and the south
Baker City limits.
That practice would end
with reduced staffi ng, he said.
Clark hopes the county will
look at all of the examples he
has pointed to when award-
ing a contract for ambulance
service.
“We have a good relation-
ship with the county,” he said.
“We just feel like the public
needs to understand where
the process is going.”
And Yencopal echoed that
sentiment from the county’s
view in a press release about
how the county plans to
proceed:
“I want to assure you that
the County has not under-
taken this process due to any
issues or hard feelings by any
group or jurisdiction.
“This process is to gather
information so Baker County
residents can make an
informed decision about the
care they’d like to receive, and
the costs of that care.”
County Commissioner
Mark Bennett said this sum-
mer that the city fi re depart-
ment has “provided excellent
levels of service” in the am-
bulance service area and that
the county does not intend to
harm the department.
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FUNERAL PENDING
Liz Peyron: A celebration of
her life will take place Saturday,
Nov. 16, at 11 a.m. at the Baker
City Christian Church, 675 High-
way 7. Friends are invited to join
the family immediately following
for lunch, a time to mingle and
share stories. Online condolenc-
es can be made at www.tamispi-
nevalleyfuneralhome.com
POLICE LOG
Baker City Police
Arrests, citations
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLU-
ENCE OF INTOXICANTS: Ronald
James Carter, 45, of Omaha,
Nebraska, 2:53 a.m. Sunday,
in the 1500 block of Campbell
Street; jailed.
CRIMINAL MISCHIEF II (Mal-
heur County warrant): Ronald
Ervin Franek, 51, of Durkee, 6:23
pm. Sunday, on Interstate 84 at
the north Baker City limits; jailed.