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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 2015)
News Blue Mountain Eagle Rebuilding after the Canyon Creek ¿re Blue Mountain Eagle CANYON CITY – The Grant County Planning De- partment is available to as- sist those whose homes were destroyed or damaged by the Canyon Creek Complex ¿re and who are ready to begin rebuilding. Planning department staff share several items to consid- er and steps required in the process. For land use application: • The application needs to be completed within one year from ¿re. • Applications will be for replacement dwelling; acces- sory buildings/outbuildings; pre-existing non-conforming use/structure. • Multiple structures can be requested on one applica- tion. New structures that did not exist before, may be au- thorized on the same applica- tion • Deed copies necessary for application are provided by the clerk’s of¿ce free of charge. • ORMAP.net is a website resource for getting tax lot maps of your property For Department of Envi- ronmental Quality: • Property owners must have land use approval ¿rst. Planning fees waived for wild¿re victims CANYON CITY — The Grant County Court vot- ed unanimously Sept. 2 to authorize the Grant County Planning Department to waive planning fees for anyone rebuilding a structure destroyed by the Canyon Creek Complex ¿re. • Applicants will need property identi¿cation infor- mation for the DEQ process, for the township, range, sec- tion and tax lots. That in- formation is available at the assessor’s of¿ce, or the plan- ning department. For building permits: • Property owners must have land use and DEQ ap- proval before a building per- mit can be issued. • Permit fees are based on size, use and type of construc- tion. • Be sure that anyone do- ing work for you is properly licensed. • Property owners may work on their own homes, but still need a permit. • Two sets of plans are gen- erally required, unless they are on 11X17-inch paper or smaller. Address marker stake: • Those who need a new address stake, should call the planning department. Other helpful resources: • Rapid Response team of Oregon for clean-up assis- tance. 330-473-9659. • Army National Guard for clean up and/or resto- ration. Call the Grant County Fairgrounds of¿ce, 541-575- 1900. • Natural Resource Con- servation Service for reseed- ing recommendations. 541- 575-0135, ext. 3. • Farm Service Agency, for forage or livestock loss. 541- 523-7121. • Department of State Lands, for permits for in- stream and bridge work. 541- 388-6112. To contact the DEQ at the Pendleton of¿ce, call 541- 276-4063. For all other in- quiries, call the Grant County Planning Department at 541- 575-1519. OTEC rates are going up BAKER CITY – Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative rates are going up. OTEC’s 23,000-plus resi- dential members in Baker, Har- ney, Grant and Union counties will notice an increase in their monthly delivery charge, from $21.56 to $25.50. The residen- tial kilowatt-hour rate will re- main the same. The increase will be effec- tive in electric bills mailed after Oct. 1. In July, the Bonneville Pow- er Administration announced a rate increase of 7.1 percent average for wholesale power and 4.4 percent average for transmission scheduled to take effect October 1. At their Aug. 25 meeting, OTEC’s board of directors ap- proved an average rate increase of 5.8 percent for all members – 4.34 percent for residential members. “For the past eight years we have been extremely frugal in our costs unrelated to BPA power purchases,” said George Galloway, OTEC’s board pres- ident. “This is the ¿rst time in four years that a percentage of the increase – 2 percent – will be allocated to OTEC’s operat- ing expenses.” Increases, relative to OTEC’s operating expenses, have been passed through to its membership at a rate of one- half of a percent per year, far below the rate of inÀation, ac- cording to Galloway. With BPA’s announcement, soft natural gas prices, and an estimated wild¿re tab for dam- ages of approximately $1.5 million – and with little FEMA disaster assistance on the hori- zon – OTEC needs to cover its expenses to operate, he said. “We do not raise rates to generate pro¿t,” said general manager Werner Buehler. “But, at the end of the day when OTEC experiences an increase in power costs, we need to cov- er the cost of doing business and pass the increase along to the members who own the co- operative.” Wednesday, September 9, 2015 A7 Mitchell improves cellphone service with extenders By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian MITCHELL — Cellphone service is getting a boost from willing residents in the tiny Eastern Oregon city of Mitch- ell using in-home devices called “network extenders” to increase local coverage. Sold by Verizon Wireless, Network extenders act as mini cell towers with enough sig- nal strength to reach several blocks. Wheeler County of¿- cials recently bought four net- work extenders for Mitchell — population 130 — which were installed at strategic loca- tions around town. Volunteers agreed to have the equipment put in their own homes and businesses, creat- ing a makeshift wireless net- work that now covers most of the old pioneer settlement. Though AT&T has an ex- isting cellular tower east of Mitchell, it faces the wrong way to carry reception into the community. That’s led to public safety concerns for locals and tourists alike, especially after the nearby Painted Hills Na- tional Monument was named one of the “Seven Wonders of Oregon.” Mitchell is considered the gateway to the Painted Hills on Highway 26, which logged 70,000 visitors in 2014. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, asked the federal First Re- sponder Network Authority to help upgrade the area’s cell service to reduce emergency response times. “As the situation now stands, in the event of a traf- ¿c accident or ¿re, one would need to visit a ranch, store or ¿nd the payphone on Main Street in order to call 9-1-1,” Wyden said in a letter sent June 10 to FirstNet Board Chairwoman Susan Swenson. Greg Castleberry, Mitch- ell’s ¿re chief and emergen- cy manager, said cellphone service has become absolute- ly necessary from a public safety perspective. Network extenders won’t solve the prob- lem entirely, he said, but do at least provide a temporary ¿x in town. “It’s very critical to get (victims) to medical services within that ¿rst golden hour,” Castleberry said. “If someone uses their cellphone to place a 9-1-1 call, we can respond that much faster.” The idea started with Glenn Raber, who manages the city’s wireless Internet service. Ra- ber bought his own Verizon Network Extender in April, and immediately saw its po- tential for the community. “They actually do quite well for what they are,” Raber said. “As soon as I saw how well it worked, I thought it might be a temporary ¿x for the city here.” Network extenders look like an ordinary wireless rout- er and work by communi- cating with the user’s mobile network through a high-speed Internet connection. Raber said he could get service up to three blocks away after installing the technology in his home. The Wheeler County Court agreed to purchase four more units at $250 each for the rest of Mitchell. So far, Raber said they have been well received. “This is the greatest thing here since sliced bread,” he said with a laugh. Trevor Humphreys, Wheeler County economic development director, said having cellphone service in Mitchell might also encour- age visitors to stop and stay longer in town. “It encourages people to come in, have a bite to eat or go by the store,” Humphreys said. “I think this is some- thing that could be emulated across a lot of small towns.” Humphreys said Verizon has looked at sites for a Mitchell cell tower in the past, but it hasn’t come to fruition. Wheel- er County’s two other cities, Fossil and Spray, both have cell service. “It’s been so hard to get an actual carrier to put in a cell tower,” Humphreys said. “This is kind of a Band-Aid that can at least provide service to folks coming through.” We, that live on Corral Gulch Rd., want to especially say a big THANK YOU to the two ODF crew members, Dave Myers and Kyle Reed, that worked so hard to save our homes. We are among the fortunate few that still have our homes. We are also very thankful that no lives have been lost in the fire. We also want to say thank you, with great appreciation, to OTEC, CenturyLink, ODOT and all those workmen helping to get the power on, the telephones working and clearing/cleaning up along highway 395. Our thoughts are with all our neighbors in the Canyon and Prairie City areas who have lost so much. We are Grant County strong and wouldn’t trade it for anywhere else. Gerald & Jean Sagert Neil & Nita Miller Dennis & Linda Dickenson Marian Greendale 02604 Advisory committee member sought The Northeast Oregon For- ests Resource Advisory Com- mittee is seeking nominees to serve on a 15-member Resource Advisory Committee. The committee’s duties in- clude recommending projects and funding to improve forest health, watersheds, roads and facilities on or adjacent to the Malheur, Umatilla and Wal- lowa-Whitman national forests. Past projects include: nox- ious weed control, trail con- struction, thinning and improve- ment of ¿sh passage to restore native species. Advisory committee mem- bers will be of¿cially appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture for a term of two years. They will not receive compensation, but a per diem allocation will be made to compensate for ex- penses associated with attending meetings. Members must be able to attend one or two full-day meet- ings each year. To the extent possible, mem- bers should reside within Grant, Baker, Crook, Harney, Malheur, Morrow, Union, Wallowa or Wheeler counties. To all our customers, friends and church brothers & sisters: Thank you for your support and patronage these past 25 years. We will be retiring and our last day is Tuesday, September 15th. God bless you all. Golden Dragon 02645 NON-PROFIT in Grant County? We need your help! The Blue Mountain Eagle is working to create a master list of non-profits in Grant County. We are looking for the NAME of the non- profit, CONTACT PHONE NUMBER, EMAIL ADDRESS, and WEB SITE if available to be added to, or updated on the list for this year’s Grant County Giving Back section, coming out in October. Either call the information into the Eagle Office at 541-575-0710 or email kristina@bmeagle.com 195 N. Canyon Blvd. John Day MyEagleNews.com 02640 | Photo by Tanni Wenger With Burned Timber Call IRON TRIANGLE, LLC • Finding best price for your timber • Fast removal to retain value • Assistance in cleanup • Getting permits Iron Triangle, LLC provides: • Experience • Qualified Staff • Marketing experience • Proper equipment Stephen & Janet Pang Are you part of a LANDOWNERS Contact Russ or Phil at: Iron Triangle, LLC (541) 575-2102