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
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