W EDNESDAY , O CTOBER 4, 2017
The
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Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
A Grand Plan
John Day’s massive Innovation
Gateway project moves forward
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
According to Innovation Gateway
project plans, the planer shed at
the former Oregon Pine mill site in
John Day could be used for farmers
markets and other community or
tourist-related events.
By Richard Hanners
N.W. Seventh
Street extension
Blue Mountain Eagle
Existing city property
N.E. Seventh St.
John Da y River
New trail
W. Main Street
N
. Third Ave.
N.W
26
New property
500 feet
John Day
Innovation Gateway
26
The city of John Day is purchasing 50 acres of
property to open a trail along the river and to
integrate community, technology, education
and commerce in a single complex.
Source: City of John Day
S. Canyon Blvd.
J O H N D AY
N.W. Bridge Street
Road
Patterson Bridge
Valley View Drive
A
high-tech $8 million to $12 million wastewater
treatment plant and conceptual plans for com-
mercial and research greenhouses, botanical
gardens and an academic campus are key compo-
nents of John Day’s Innovation Gateway project.
With land development plans, annexations, fl oodplain
amendments, engineering and fi nancing needed for the com-
plex project, John Day City Manager Nicholas Green on Sept.
26 presented the city council with a Plan of Action and Mile-
stones to track progress in the project.
The overall goal is to revitalize the local economy with
job creation and new revenue sources by developing a shut-
tered timber mill site and putting reclaimed wastewater back
to work.
The 53-acre former Oregon Pine mill site the city purchased
from DR Johnson Lumber includes a two-story sawmill build-
ing that could be used by a private investor, a single-fl oor
See PLAN, Page A8
Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
“
John Day City Manager Nick Green.
Oregon State doesn’t have this type of facility. This will draw attention to John Day.”
Nick Green, John Day City Manager
Adair appointed to John Day city council
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
The John Day City Coun-
cil on Sept. 26 unanimously
appointed Shannon Adair to
fi ll the position that was va-
cated when Councilor Lisa
Weigum resigned.
Five city residents applied
for the seat, and the council
considered diversity, civic en-
gagement, commitment and
qualifi cations when reviewing
the candidates.
Adair, a 1985 Grant Union
High School graduate with a
bachelor’s degree in business
administration from Oregon
State University, is a co-own-
er of the 1188 Brewing Com-
pany in John Day. She has
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Shannon Adair, co-owner of the 1188 Brewing Company,
has been appointed to the John Day City Council. “I love
this area and want to see it succeed and prosper in the
future,” she said in her application for the position.
been involved in children’s
dance programs and coach-
ing and currently serves on
the Grant County Chamber of
Commerce board of directors.
Several councilors noted
that they appreciated Adair’s
role as a business owner. In
her application, Adair said she
was excited to see the direc-
tion that the city was heading
and wanted to be part of the
growth that she expects to see
in the future.
“I grew up in John Day
and have since raised my chil-
dren here and built my busi-
ness from the ground up with
my family,” she said in her
application. “I love this area
and want to see it succeed and
prosper in the future.”
In other city council news,
Councilor Paul Smith noted
that City Manager Nicho-
las Green had lined up more
than $2.7 million in external
funding for the city since he
started work in John Day in
July 2016. A $142,000 Fed-
eral Emergency Management
Administration grant to assist
fi refi ghters is still pending.
The largest of the 11
awarded programs is $1.82
million in broadband fund-
ing from the state legislature
which will be used to run a
75-mile 144-strand fi ber cable
on power poles from Burns to
John Day.
Green said John Day, Can-
yon City and Seneca were
prepared to adopt the Grant
County Digital Network
Coalition agreement and or-
dinance. Grant County and
Prairie City had not formally
committed to the project, he
said.
Once the project is certi-
fi ed by the Oregon secretary of
state, the coalition’s board of
directors will issue a contract
for technical advisory services,
solicit bids for the design and
construction of the network
infrastructure and issue a con-
tract for operation and mainte-
nance of the system.
Green noted that 2,000
square feet of unfi nished
space in the city’s new fi re
hall could be used as a ter-
minal for the digital network.
The contractor’s estimate was
$290,000 to fi nish that part of
the fi re hall.
“We don’t have that mon-
ey,” Green said. Using the
See ADAIR, Page A8
Veteran takes over as new service offi cer
Katee Hoffman
serves Grant
County veterans
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Katee Hoffman started her
new position as Grant Coun-
ty’s veteran service offi cer
last month, on the anniver-
sary of the 9/11 terrorist at-
tacks.
A disabled veteran herself,
Hoffman said she’s ready to
assist local vets.
“I’ve been a veteran ad-
vocate for about 12 years,”
she said, adding that as a
volunteer she’s helped vet-
erans file for medical care
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Katee Hoffman, Grant County’s new veteran service
officer, stands outside her office at the courthouse in
Canyon City.
and disability claims.
“Navigating the VA (De-
partment of Veterans Af-
fairs), if you don’t under-
stand how it works, it’s a
nightmare,” she said. “Some
vets give up.”
As a veteran service offi -
cer, Hoffman works 30 hours
a week to help veterans ob-
tain the assistance they need.
She said she can help vet-
erans from any era, whether
they’ve served in a time of
war or peace.
Some of the ways she can
assist include applications
for medical care, disability
claims, spouse benefi ts (such
as Dependency and Indemni-
ty Compensation), education
benefi ts, transportation and
grants for assistance.
Hoffman, who’s lived in
the Mt. Vernon area for more
than seven years, served in
the Army for nine years,
starting in 1978 as a helicop-
ter electrician.
She said she decided to
join the Army when she
was in sixth grade when her
teacher’s husband was shot
down in Vietnam.
“It was kind of a wake-up
call that people were dying
and not coming home, and it
was affecting the people in
my life,” she said.
She said almost all of her
dad’s and mom’s brothers
served in Vietnam.
Hoffman said she enjoys
learning history in her con-
versations with vets.
“When you’re talking
to World War II vets, and
they’re talking about Pearl
Harbor, I like the interac-
tion,” she said.
She said she also likes
winning their claims to help
ease their fi nancial burdens.
Hoffman said she’s helped
See VETERAN, Page A8