THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — A3
LOCAL
Commissioners discuss
warming center for homeless
By SAMANTHA O’CONNER
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Sherrie Kvamme/Contributed Photo
Everyone in New Bridge decorated for Christmas last year — residents even put
lights and decor on the row of mailboxes.
LIGHTS
Other Richland events
Continued from A1
Local residents Mib and
Jacque Dailey were Santa
and Mrs. Claus for the carol-
ing event and handed out
candy.
Although the caroling was
fun, Cole wanted something
more to brighten the dark
December nights.
“We talked about decorat-
ing houses and lighting up
the community,” she said.
She presented the idea to
members of the New Bridge
Grange, who decided to sup-
port it and sponsor the prizes
for the Christmas lighting
contest: $100 for fi rst place,
then four $25 awards for the
runner up displays.
Cole put up posters about
the contest, and articles ran
in Halfway’s Hells Canyon
Journal newspaper.
“And when I saw some-
Eagle Valley Grange’s holiday fl ea market and auction
is Saturday, Dec. 4. The market starts at 9 a.m. and the auc-
tion begins at 2 p.m. There will also be food to purchase
(soup, chili, pies and cinnamon rolls).
On the following weekend, the Richland Christmas
tree lighting happens on Friday, Dec. 10, at 6 p.m. Santa
will be in attendance, and warming fi res to ward off
the cold.
one, I asked if they would do
lighting,” Cole said. “It was to
get people out of their house
and think of something other
than COVID.”
She had 18 people enter
the contest.
“But we had others who
didn’t enter but still decorat-
ed,” she said. “One guy kept
decorating until Valentine’s
Day.”
She said Richland Feed &
Seed couldn’t keep lights in
stock.
“He had to keep ordering,”
Cole said.
Sherrie Kvamme/Contributed Photo
Residents of Eagle Valley illuminated their yards and
homes during December 2020 for the fi rst lighting
contest sponsored by the New Bridge Grange. The
tradition is continuing this month.
She brought in anony-
mous judges from out of
town, and said people came
from around Eastern Oregon
and Boise to see the light
displays in Eagle Valley.
“The whole town of New
Bridge was full of lights. It
was wonderful,” she said.
(New Bridge is an
unincorporated community
about three miles north of
Richland.)
Cole is already spread-
ing the word for the 2021
version of the contest,
which she’s calling “Light
Up Eagle Valley.” Prizes are
again sponsored by the New
Bridge Grange.
Cole is accepting entries
now. Judging will happen
between Dec. 18-21, and the
winners will be announced
before Christmas.
“I’m hoping to have more
entries,” she said. “It’s to get
everyone in a better mood
and feeling good. It’s just a
happy time.”
For information about the
lighting contest, or to enter,
call Cole at 541-893-3285.
LOCAL BRIEFING
CASA plans multiple
events in December
CASA of Eastern Oregon
has a busy month, beginning
Friday, Dec. 3, with the tour
of gingerbread creations at
businesses in downtown
Baker City. This year’s theme
is Santa’s Village. A map of
where to see the gingerbread
displays will be available at
the CASA offi ce, 2024 Main
St., Crossroads Carnegie Art
Center and the Chamber of
Commerce.
Also on Friday, the Baker
Heritage Museum will have
a pop-up exhibit featur-
ing sleigh bells and other
wintery artifacts in front
of CASA during the First
Friday art walk. Also, the
museum is holding a toy
drive for CASA during this
pop-up exhibit.
Friday is also when gin-
gerbread houses decorated
by youth will be delivered to
the former location of The
Little Bagel Shop. These will
be on display for a week.
On Saturday, Dec. 11,
CASA will sponsor a walking
tour of historic home porches.
Maps can be picked up at
Lew Bros. Les Schwab, the
CASA offi ce, and the Cham-
ber of Commerce. Donations
will be accepted — this tour
is in lieu of CASA’s tradition-
al fundraiser of the historic
homes tour, which isn’t hap-
pening for the second year in
a row.
CASA is also holding the
annual toy drive for children
in foster care. Toys can be
delivered to Lew Bros. Les
Schwab. Gift tags are also
available at Crossroads
Carnegie Art Center — gifts
can be returned there or to
the CASA offi ce by Dec. 15.
Inquires about gift donations
can be directed to CASA,
541-403-0405. Mary Collard,
CASA executive director, said
items for teens are especially
welcome, such as gift cards.
Cultural Coalition seeking
grant applications
The Baker County
Cultural Coalition (BCCC) is
welcoming grant applications
for arts, culture and heritage
projects through Dec. 15.
BCCC receives a grant
annually from the Oregon
Cultural Trust to support
local heritage, arts and
culture projects in the county.
Over the past 18 years, the
coalition has awarded more
than $100,000 in grants
to local artists, programs
such as “Chalk It up to Art,”
local orchestra, children’s
program, Halfway music
events, heritage events such
as restoring the Haines
School bell, history summer
program at Baker Heritage
Museum and the Baker 5J
School District oral history
collection.
Grants are typically $500
and are not restricted to
nonprofi t organizations. Oc-
casionally grants are given
in larger amounts where
a project warrants critical
support. The BCCC board of
directors seeks applications
from any individual or group
who has a program or project
addressing arts and culture
in Baker County and it looks
forward to receiving creative
ideas.
The local grant process
through BCCC for 2022 is in
two stages. The fi rst deadline
is Dec. 15 for grants given in
January; the second stage is
May 15 for grants giving in
June for projects taking place
before the end of 2022. Grant
applications and instructions
for reports can be found on
the Baker County website at
www.bakercounty.org/cultur-
al_plan/contact_us.html.
Since few grants were
able to be given during 2020
and 2021 because of COVID
limitations on programming,
BCCC has money left over
from those years to support
more cultural activities.
With winter just around
the corner, Baker County
Commissioners discussed
the homeless situation in
Baker County and the pos-
sibility of fi nding a building
where people could stay
overnight.
During the Wednesday,
Dec. 1 meeting, Commis-
sion Chairman Bill Harvey
said he called the warming
center in La Grande and
asked operators there about
their center.
“They basically open
up right about four in the
afternoon and they lock the
door at nine o’clock at night
and it’s locked down until
seven o’clock in the morn-
ing when everybody has to
go out,” Harvey said.
The facility serves
breakfast daily and allows
people to sleep overnight
during the winter.
Harvey told fellow com-
missioners Mark Bennett
and Bruce Nichols that
the La Grande warming
center has a separate area
for women and children, a
kitchen to serve meals, and
a common area with tables
and chairs.
“I’m thinking we have to
have maybe a two-pronged
approach — one as a tem-
porary start up, trying to
accommodate basic needs
we have for this winter,
because it’s going to be quick
COUNTY
Continued from A1
The county disposed of that
material, as well as fi berglass
insulation and treated and
painted wood, in an open pit
on Orr Road near Halfway,
where the materials were
burned, according to the letter.
Oregon law prohibits those
materials from being burned.
Asbestos, a known carcino-
gen, was used in many build-
ing materials in past decades.
The debris remained in
the pit until May 2021, when
the county “properly packaged
and disposed of the material
as asbestos-containing waste
material,” O’Donnell wrote.
Laura Gleim, public af-
fairs specialist for the DEQ’s
Eastern Region, wrote in an
email to the Baker City Her-
ald that the agency learned
about the incident several
months after the demolition
when “a county employee
contacted DEQ to ask if they
should have followed asbestos
rules. The answer is yes.
The county then hired an
asbestos contractor to survey
and properly dispose of the
remaining ash and debris.”
The county has 20 days
to decide whether to appeal
the fi ne.
Mosier said county of-
fi cials will be discussing the
matter with DEQ, including
the possibility of reducing
the fi ne by doing an environ-
mental improvement project
somewhere in the county.
“So, the county’s going to
investigate that and try to
and down and dirty, if you
want to say that,” Harvey
said. “What I would like to
do is look at a building that
we could quickly facilitate,
throw some walls up, I’m
looking for something that’s
got enough space to accom-
modate dormitory style
sleeping and a common area
and some sort of kitchen
facilities with ideally bath-
rooms and showers.”
Harvey said this is not a
permanent housing scenario,
but rather a temporary
emergency services program
to get through this winter, so
offi cials have more time to
plan a permanent situation.
“And then a long-term
strategy — funding, staffi ng,
facility,” he said.
Harvey said the county
needs to coordinate with
New Directions North-
west, the Baker City Police
Department and the Baker
County Health Department.
He said the long-term
goal should be to help people
fi nd permanent homes.
“I don’t want to be spend-
ing tons of money every year
just to keep them as they
are,” Harvey said.
Bennett said the county’s
emergency management
department has cots and
blankets that could be used
at a warming center, as well
as sleeping bags.
Harvey said he was
prompted to raise the issue
by recent comments from
the public about an increas-
ing number of homeless
residents in Baker City.
“We need to do some-
thing,” Nichols said.
“If we don’t, we’re only
going to be reactive,” Ben-
nett said.
Baker City Police Chief
Ty Duby said last month
that he plans to ask the
Baker City Council to ap-
prove an ordinance limiting
where, and when, people
can camp on public property
within the city limits.
Duby said the city’s
homeless population seems
to have increased over the
past few years, based on his
own observations and from
what he’s heard from other
police offi cers and from the
public.
This summer the police
department received mul-
tiple complaints from resi-
dents about people camping
beneath the bridges along
the Leo Adler Memorial
Parkway, Duby said.
Nichols said he wants to
talk with New Directions
and Community Connection,
and get Baker City offi cials
involved in the discussion.
The commissioners will
also be looking into funding
opportunities for the project.
“We know there are state
funds out there, so what we
need to know is what we
have as a match, because
that’s the fi rst thing they are
going to ask,” Bennett said.
make a good outcome,” Mosier
said. “There are some things
that we may be able to appeal
but it’ll be up to the commis-
sioners to decide if they want
to go that route or invest in a
local project with the penalty
funds.”
In addition to the county’s
proposed fi ne, the DEQ has
notifi ed Rodney Tarter, who
owns the property where the
material was disposed of,
that the agency is fi ning him
$3,300 for maintaining an il-
legal solid waste disposal site.
According to DEQ docu-
ments, on April 19, 2021, an
accredited inspector collected
samples from the material in
the pit on Tarter’s property.
A subsequent analysis
showed the 60% chrysotile
asbestos concentration in the
wallboard.
On May 5, a licensed as-
bestos abatement contractor
removed about 10 cubic yards
of material from the pit and
disposed of it.
The proposed $7,400 pen-
alty includes three separate
violations:
• $3,200 for failing to have
an accredited inspector exam-
ine the mobile home before
demolition.
• $2,400 for performing
an asbestos abatment project
(the demolition qualifi es as
such) without a license.
• $1,800 for disposing of
material in a non-permitted
site.
In her email to the Herald,
Gleim wrote: “DEQ under-
stands the county’s goal in
demolishing the mobile home
was to eliminate the safety
hazards it posed to the public.
But in doing so, the county
put the public, as well as its
employees, at risk of exposure
to asbestos and other harmful
chemicals.”
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Second asbestos-related
issue in 2021
In late March, DEQ noti-
fi ed the county of a proposed
$8,400 fi ne, also related to the
removal of asbestos-contain-
ing material.
The agency alleged that
Bill Harvey, chairman of
the Baker County Board of
Commissioners, had removed
asbestos-containing fl ooring
in the summer of 2020 from
the building at 2200 Fourth
St. that the county bought as
headquarters for the Baker
County Health Department.
Harvey, who is a building
contractor, denied that the
fl ooring he removed contained
asbestos.
DEQ later rescinded
its proposed fi ne after the
county’s attorney provided
evidence that the fl ooring
Harvey removed matched
other sections of fl ooring in
the building that tests showed
did not contain asbestos.
Gleim, the DEQ public
affairs specialist, said in
July 2021 that although the
county did not have photos or
other documentation confi rm-
ing that the two sections of
fl ooring were the same, the
agency also did not have evi-
dence to contradict the county
attorney’s claim that the fl oor-
ing Harvey removed was the
same as the sections that did
not contain asbestos.
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