A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Pools pose a
dilemma for small
communities
Commentary by Dave Fisher
Blue Mountain Eagle
When I set out to do a story
last issue on John Day’s municipal
pool and the problems it is experi-
encing I might as well have been
bacN home in Nehalem
As the crow flies, Nehalem is
roughly 175 miles from John Day
(over twice as far by automobile)
and located on the north Oregon
coast, sandwiched in-between
Man]anita and Wheeler 7he three
small coastal communities are of-
ten referred to as the three villages
So, why is this geography lesson
of importance to Grant County resi-
dents that live in the “two villages”
of John Day and Canyon City?
7urns out, that area of north 7il-
lamook County is having similar
problems with its aging pool and is
looking to replace it
Nehalem is home to the second
oldest pool (80 years and counting)
in operation on the West Coast
Who actually keeps track of these
fun facts, I don’t exactly know, but
that’s the story, according to the
North County Recreation District
(NCRD), which was formed in the
10s
7he pool is housed on the
ground level of what was once an
elementary school 7he district
came about shortly after the school
district consolidated its schools
and walked away from the 80-year-
old building, pool and all Not long
afterwards, NCRD was formed
and tasked to keep the year-round
pool open and operational Oth-
er programs evolved, but the pool
remains the heart and soul of the
recreation district
7he conversation of one day
replacing the pool probably was
initiated soon after the district was
formed but has become more se-
rious in recent years Consultants
were hired to guide the board of
directors in the decision-making
process, including an architect and
experts in fundraising How to pay
for a pool was the main sticking
point, as it is here in Grant County
Here’s what NCRD learned:
• A very basic four- to six-lane
covered pool with changing rooms,
showers, etc would cost anywhere
from $4 million for the smaller pool
to over $6 million 7hese numbers
are now three to four years old
• 7he district, in securing grants
and donations, could realistically
expect no more than $15 million
in outside funding, if that
7o NCRD’s credit, it has set
aside $1 million, thanks to voter
approval of a 5-year special oper-
ations levy in 2008 when the dis-
trict was in a financial pickle )ive
years later, the financial emer-
gency had passed but voters ap-
proved a similar levy to continue
to fund various programs Barring
a change of plans, the district could
have upwards of $2 million to kick
in towards a new pool before 2020
rolls around
7hat amount, even adding an-
other $15 million from outside
fundraising efforts, is still woeful-
ly short and who knows what the
cost of a new pool will be then
Construction costs, as we’re all
aware, have a tendency to go up,
not down, over time At the end
of the day, voters would likely be
asked to make up the difference
John Day’s mayor is spot on
in his observation that municipal
pools are not, for the most part,
money-making operations, par-
ticularly in smaller communities
Get too giddy with the bells and
whistles in the design phase and
a pool can be a real drain on the
community 7hat’s the concern on
the north Oregon coast as well
7he best advice is to keep it
simple )or its part, NCRD, at
last report, was no longer consid-
ering a six-lane pool, but sticking
with four lanes 7he district even
researched renovating or replac-
ing the pool where it currently is,
inside an 80-year-old structure
7he price tag, at about $2 million,
didn’t seem like a good use of tax-
payer money Putting a new pool in
an old building didn’t make sense
and construction was problematic
In addition, the pool, where school
children have learned to swim
since the 1930s, would have to be
closed for at least a year and, per-
haps, even longer
While everyone is pretty much
on the same page when it comes
to the need for a community pool,
how to pay for it is when the conver-
sation becomes strained My guess
is the pools currently in Nehalem
and John Day will be around a few
more years Who knows, Nehalem
may one day have the dubious hon-
or of being home to the oldest oper-
ating pool on the West Coast, with
John Day not far behind
Still, during the depression-era
1930s and later in the post-WWII
1950s the citizens of these two
small Oregon communities found
a way to finance pools
How did they do it?
More importantly, how will we
do it?
7hat’s the Tuestion that has yet
to be answered
Dave Fisher, a Nehalem resi-
dent and former owner, publish-
er and editor of the North Coast
Citizen, is the interim editor of the
Blue Mountain Eagle.
C ORRECTION
In last week’s article regarding
the forest access public listening ses-
sion, Sabrina Stadler’s ¿rst name and
job title were inadvertently omitted
in the ¿nal version She is the Blue
Mountains )orest Plan Revision team
leader, working out of the )orest Ser-
vice of¿ce in Baker City
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
195 N. Canyon Blvd. • John Day, OR 97845
541-575-0710 • Fax 541-575-1244
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
USPS 226-340
John Day ReÀections
By Andrew Janssen
7o the Blue Mountain Eagle
Medicine is not for the faint of
heart Like many of my colleagues
I entered medicine with compassion,
commitment, hope and the aspiration
that I could bring helpful change
Somehow through years of education
and training I thought I would be able
to touch lives, bring healing
Now as I reÀect on ten years in
John Day I ¿nd myself captured not
by medical success but by the patients
who have inspired me, my heroes
Many are people others hardly notice
± they go unacknowledged, unknown
But I have had the privilege to sit and
listen and watch as they live through
challenges that I cannot imagine We
are told early in medicine that we
learn the most from patients Often
and appropriately, this refers to dis-
ease processes and treatments Yet, if
we allow ourselves to be partners to-
gether, if we are willing to “enter the
chaos” and have our hearts broken,
we can walk through pain, suffering,
resilience and hope together 7ogether
we live 7hese people are my heroes,
my memories of this place I expect to
meet many more in Ethiopia but my
Upset about
Zild¿re
protection
I’d like to voice myself
On July 13, 4:30 to 5:00,
we had an active lightning
cell coming over the Mon-
ument area, heading north
of the 7op area 7wo of the
lookouts announced they
were leaving this lookout
to go back to Heppner We
have no state lookout in
our area that can cover us
Well, I’m upset I
worked for 20 years for
the Oregon Department
of )orestry (OD)), was
on every lookout in Grant,
Wheeler and Crook coun-
ties When you had an
active storm, you called
dispatch or your super-
visor, and he would have
you stay in the lookout
till 21:00 or later Also,
any lightning strikes were
marked on windows and
the next day you watched
John Day, Oregon
Marissa Williams, marissa@bmeagle.com
editor@bmeagle.com
Kristina Kreger, kristina@bmeagle.com
Cheryl Hoefler, cheryl@bmeagle.com
Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
Lindsay Bullock office@bmeagle.com
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break and self-centeredness – I found
myself torn apart Yet, I have been
encouraged by a man who set out to
walk, losing weight he never thought
possible By a frail but incredible
woman who shares her life with ex-
change students I have smiled with
the older woman who daily chooses
to live and control her blood sugars
even when it is dif¿cult
I have been blessed by patients
who have forgiven my hurriedness,
my impatience, my oversights and
my mistakes 7hey have shown me
grace beyond measure
7ogether we are all God’s peo-
ple, broken and needing each other
I am grateful for the trust and grace
I will carry many of you in my heart
as we prepare to share the passions
and skills we have been given Once
again, our hearts will be broken But,
once again, as we are all God’s peo-
ple, Americans and Ethiopians, I will
be blessed to be part of their lives
Andrew Janssen, MD, is a Family
Physician. He worked at Strawberry
Wilderness Community Clinic from
2005 until recently. He and his fam-
ily will soon be serving in Ethiopia.
He may be reached at Andrew.jans-
sen@sim.org or janssenfamily.org.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
these areas closely I would
like to know why we lose
protection right when an ac-
tive storm comes in
What’s wrong with your
people? It’s like a ¿re gets
started, you’re proud that it
burns 3 or 4 thousand acres
plus When we use to have
¿res, the ranchers would
watch and were on them
with gunnysacks and shov-
els and have the ¿res out
Now, with all the eTuipment
and manpower you can’t
put one out
I know for a fact we had
a ¿re here on Dustin Point
south of Monument, two
ranchers had the ¿re all but
out 7he State drove up, sat,
wrote and called on the ra-
dio instead of getting out
and working the ¿res and it
blew up and burned several
acres 7hese pumpers had
water; why weren’t they
out putting water as soon
as they drove up? I’ve seen
so much of this the last few
years and it’s our money
you’re spending I would
like to see our state lookout
back up here, but it will nev-
er happen 7hey say it costs
too much to run them Well,
they can’t cost as much as it
does now, plus any homes
and all are in danger
I’m voicing myself as
I’ve heard from so many
people that feel the same
way as I do Remember,
it’s our tax money you’re
spending
Darlene J. Forrest
Monument
Asian doves
an invasive
nuisance
I’m writing this in re-
sponse to Judy Kerr’s re-
cent letter to the editor
I have no concern as to
the logistics of her build-
ing, but as to the fact that
she’s wanting to “house
Asian doves,” you don’t
even have to go on the In-
ternet to read how they are
an invasive species ! All
one has to do is step out-
side and there they are, ev-
erywhere! 7hey have run
off most of the small ‘na-
tive’ morning doves and
they breed like Àies
If you have ever lived
around a place where pi-
geons have taken over, you
can understand my wor-
ries as to someone helping
these birds to breed easier
7o me, they are like the
invasive thistles, pretty to
look at, but they take over
any area, if they are al-
lowed to grow
Around where I live,
over the past ¿ve years, I
have not seen any morning
doves 7hey used to sit on
the wires in back of my
house every morning
Something to think about
before it’s another “problem”
Nancy Randleas
John Day
W HERE TO WRITE
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
P UBLISHER
E DITOR
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heart will be forever touched by those
who have let me be part of their lives
I know a child born with hip prob-
lems that could cripple but now he
runs and plays I also know a woman
who still bears that disability, not hav-
ing access to treatment many years
ago Yet, she goes on, feisty and per-
sistent My heart breaks for a child
who struggles daily to breathe yet he
never visits without a smile And I
smile with the 90+-year-old woman
who also uses oxygen and often needs
the reassurance of gentle touch to face
the storms of age
I cry out inside for the many single
mothers I have known whose love for
their children empowers their lives
despite daunting ¿nancial and so-
cial pressures I am in awe I cringe
to think of the men who have used,
abused and left their responsibilities
for Àeeting distractions At the other
end of life I rest in the comfort of cou-
ples who have held each other for 40,
50, 60 plus years 7heir lives have not
always been easy but the love they
demonstrate through such attentive-
ness provokes deep admiration
7here are many others 7hose
whose lives have been broken by
abuse, alcoholism, previous heart-
Salem
Gov Kate Brown, D ²
254 State Capitol, Salem
97310 Phone: 503-378-
3111 )ax: 503-378-6827
Website: wwwgovernor
stateorusgovernorhtml
Oregon
Legislature
² State Capitol, Salem,
97310 Phone: (503) 986-
1180 Website: www leg
stateorus (includes Ore-
gon Constitution and Ore-
gon Revised Statutes)
State Rep Cliff Bentz,
R-Ontario (District: 60),
Room H-475, State Cap-
itol, 900 Court St NE,
Salem OR 97301 Phone:
503-986-1460 Email: rep
cliffbentz#stateorus
Website: wwwlegstate
orusbentzhomehtm
L
State Sen 7ed )errioli,
R ² (District 30) Room
S-223, State Capitol, Sa-
lem 97310 Phone: 503-
986-1950 Email: sen
tedferrioli#stateorus
Email: 7)ER2#aolcom
Phone:
541-490-6528
Website: wwwlegstate
orusferrioli
Oregon
Legislative
Information ² ()or up-
dates on bills, services,
capitol or messages for
legislators) ² 800-332-
2313
Grant County
Grant County Court-
house ² 201 S Humbolt
St, Suite 280, Canyon
City 97820 Phone: 541-
575-0059 )ax: 541-575-
2248
Canyon City ² PO
Box 276, Canyon City
97820 Phone: 541-575-
0509 )ax: 541-575-0515
Email: tocc1862@centu-
rylinknet
Dayville ² PO Box
321, Dayville 97825
Phone:
541-987-2188
)ax:
541-987-2187
Email:?dville@ortelco
net
John Day ² 450
E Main St, John Day,
97845 Phone: 541-575-
0028 )ax: 541-575-1721
Email: cityjd@centurytel
net
Long Creek ² PO
Box 489, Long Creek
97856 Phone: 541-421-
3601 )ax: 541-421-3075
Email: info@cityoÀong-
creekcom
Monument ² PO
Box 426, Monument
97864 Phone and fax:
541-934-2025
Email:
monument@oregontrail
net
Mt Vernon ² PO
Box 647, Mt Vernon
97865 Phone: 541-932-
4688 )ax: 541-932-4222
Email: cmtv@ortelconet
Prairie City ² PO Box
370, Prairie City 97869
Phone:
541-820-3605
)ax: 820-3566 Email:
pchall@ortelconet
Seneca ² PO Box
208, Seneca 97873 Phone
and fax: 541-542-2161
Email: cityseneca@cen-
turytelnet
etters policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues. Brevity
is good, but longer letters will be asked to be contained to 350 words. No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person. No thank-you letters.
Submissions to this page become property of the Eagle. The Eagle reserves the right to edit letters for length and for content. Letters must be original and
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