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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 2017)
A8 News Blue Mountain Eagle VETERAN PLAN Continued from Page A1 Continued from Page A1 veterans through word of mouth, and sometimes by just striking up a conver- sation with them — “just not being afraid to say, when you see somebody’s hat or shirt, to say, ‘When did you serve?’” “In order to help vets, you have to have a good network,” she said. “You have to know who to call for transportation or call the local hospital to sign up for the Choice Card.” She plans to attend two meetings to further her ability to help other veter- ans, including a conference in Florence in mid-October and a training meeting in Salem later that month. Hoffman said she en- joys helping other vets be- cause it’s the right thing to do. “It’s my passion,” she said. “I’m a disabled vet, and nobody helped me. I won my (claims) through trial and error.” The new office hours are Mondays and Tuesdays 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednes- days noon to 6 p.m. and Thursdays and Fridays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Her office number is 541-575-1631, and her work cellphone number is 541-620-8057. “If the flag is out, I’m in,” she said, adding, “If a vet cannot come in, I will go to them.” planer shed that could be used for farmers markets and other community or tourist-related events, and a large shop build- ing that the city plans to use as a replacement for its existing shop. The city has requested a $519,000 loan from Business Oregon, a state agency, to reim- burse it for the initial payment for the site. A driving need behind the project is to replace John Day’s wastewater treatment plant on the 30-acre city property north of the river. The plant’s op- erating permit, issued by the Oregon Department of Envi- ronmental Quality, expired in 2007 and will not be re-issued because of the plant’s age and proximity to the river. Wastewater plant The new wastewater treat- ment plant will be modeled after the Water Hub facility in Atlanta, Georgia, and use hy- droponics to produce Class A water that can be used for greenhouses and botanical gar- dens. John Day’s municipal wells produce about 80 million gallons of water per year, much of which could be reclaimed and re-used after treatment. “Water is a scarce commod- ity here,” Green told the Eagle. A feasibility study for the treatment facility began in Sep- tember, with contracts awarded to Anderson Perry Associates of La Grande and Sustainable Water of Glen Allen, Virginia. Company representatives Wednesday, October 4, 2017 loans. Green said he will pro- vide more details on project financing at the Oct. 10 council meeting. The Eagle/Richard Hanners The city of John Day acquired the sawmill, in the back, and the planer shed when it bought the former Oregon Pine mill for the Innovation Gateway project. will attend the Nov. 14 city council meeting, and the Or- egon Department of Environ- mental Quality will review permitting requirements for the new treatment plan on Nov. 15. Preliminary engineering is slated to begin in 2018, and the project is targeted to be com- pleted in 2021. Reclaimed wastewater will be used by a commercial green- house to be built near the for- mer planer shed. A 5,000- to 6,000-square-foot greenhouse operating year-round could produce 31 tons of vegetables, which is what the local commu- nity consumes in a year, Green said. Additional greenhouses and botanical gardens using reclaimed wastewater could be built for research purposes once the city’s current treatment plant is cleared away, making land available for an academic campus. OSU partnership Green recently traveled to Oregon State University to explore potential partnerships for an academic campus and learned the institution is inter- ested in expanding its opera- tions into rural Eastern Oregon. “Oregon State doesn’t have this type of facility,” Green said. “This will draw attention to John Day.” The city could qualify for up to $2 million in Communi- ty Development Block Grant funding from the U.S. Depart- ment of Housing and Urban Development to help finance the new wastewater treatment plant. The council has budget- ed $8,000 for an income survey that Portland State University will conduct in February or sooner to determine if the city is eligible for the grant. According to the last feder- al census, about 40 percent of the city’s residents fell under the low- or moderate-income brackets, but the figure needs to be at least 51 percent to qualify for the block grant, Green said. The new survey will provide a more accurate income mea- surement, he noted. “It’s going to be tight,” Green said. “It’s one of those weird situations where you hope to do poorly.” Funding for the new waste- water treatment plant could include grants and low interest ADAIR 14882 Continued from Page A1 space for the digital network would be “the cleanest way to finish this building.” “Sounds like a great mar- riage to me,” Smith said. In addition to improving Other facets Land development for the overall 83-acre project will include construction of a riv- erside trail system, extending Seventh Street west along the north side of the John Day Riv- er to Patterson Bridge Road, building parking lots and in- stalling underground utilities, Green said. The project will affect neighboring properties, but the city is not ready to handle land exchanges and annexations, he said. Planning under a state Transportation and Growth Management grant the city received in September might not be completed until March 2019, according to a time line Green presented to the city council. “It’s hard to gauge impacts to neighboring properties right now,” Green told the council, noting that some owners cur- rently pay higher water bills and may want to volunteer for annexation. In addition to land exchang- es, the city has asked the Fed- eral Emergency Management Agency to amend the flood- plain map for the project area. According to Grant County Assistant Planner Shannon Springer, the existing map was created in the mid-1980s using data from the 1970s, but the area has been re-mapped since then using more accurate LI- DAR, a remote-sensing system carried by aircraft. The deadline for removing internet access for county residents, the new optical fiber cable could provide redundancy for the area’s two telecommunication pro- viders, CenturyLink and Oregon Telephone Corp., Green said. A damaged Cen- turyLink optical fiber line about 10 miles from Bates Intermountain Law, PC Welcomes Krischele Whitnah, Attorney at Law Krischele Whitnah has joined our firm effective October 1, 2017. She is licensed in Oregon and has been practicing law since 2006. Her practice will emphasize family law (divorce/custody/support), guardianship and third-party custody, and estate planning. Intermountain Law, PC David R. Auxier ~ Andrew G. Martin Martin Leuenberger ~ Krischele Whitnah 3370 10th Street, Suite H, Baker City, Oregon 97814 (541) 523-6535 1513 North Whitley Drive, Fruitland, Idaho 83619 (208) 452-6535 16225 www.bakercitylaw.com Are you or someone you know the victim of physical or emotional abuse? Do you find yourself being abusive toward your partner? GET HELP TODAY AND COMMIT TO A BETTER LIFE FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR CHILDREN. CALL NOW OR CONTACT YOUR LOCAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CENTER FOR THE HELP YOU NEED TO MAKE A CHANGE. HEART OF GRANT COUNTY: 541-620-1342 GRANT COUNTY VICTIM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: 541-575-4026 This project was supported by Grant No. 2015-WR-AX-0008 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. The USDOJ and Grant County Victim Assistance Program are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, religion, sex, or age. 15099 equipment from the sawmill was extended to Oct. 23. If the deadline isn’t met, the city can keep the contents, and DR Johnson Lumber will forfeit $58,000 from the purchase agreement. Mayor Ron Lundbom said he doubted the equipment could be removed in time, and Councilor Paul Smith asked if any of the equipment had historical value for tourists. Green told the Eagle that a pri- vate investor would likely be more interested in the former sawmill if the equipment was gone. Other components of the project include marketing and branding the launch of the In- novation Gateway project. “Areas to explore include regional agritourism, recre- ational tourism and marketing our locations as a destination for corporate retreats,” Green said in a memo to the council. Green said he’d like to see harvesting at the greenhouse by August 2018. He said he’d bring the council a proposal for a kick-off event that could include music and a barbecue contest. Monte Legg, the city’s pub- lic works director, recently traveled to Central Point for the Battle of the Bones bar- becue contest and brewfest. The sanctioned contest drew 17 teams and 89 sponsors, the parking lot was full, and on- line tickets were sold out for the event. Legg said the event’s orga- nizer believed a similar event could be held in John Day next year with six to eight teams and double that the following year. caused extensive landline and internet outages in Grant County for much of the day on Sept. 20, including 911 dispatch in John Day. The council also learned the Oregon Department of Transportation’s position on a proposal to place a cross- walk on South Canyon Bou- levard at the fire hall and to extend the 25 mph speed limit zone south to Third Av- enue. John Eden, ODOT’s per- mitting specialist, told the city that ODOT in general discourages marking cross- walks at uncontrolled inter- sections, such as the mid- block location by the fire hall. Encouraging pedestri- ans to cross where emergen- cy vehicles may emerge at any time was also a concern. “Marking a crosswalk at an inappropriate location may in fact put a pedestrian more at risk than if it were not marked at all, as it may give the pedestrian a false sense of security,” Eden said. Green suggested the city wait until sidewalk con- struction along South Can- yon Boulevard is completed before following up on the proposals. Councilor Dave Holland said he wasn’t sur- prised at ODOT’s response. “We could push back,” Green said. 15571 For breast cancer prevention and detection, Dr. Keith Thomas suggests: • Have a yearly mammogram at 40 years of age and every year after. • Participate in self breast awareness and talk with your doctor if you notice any changes. • See your family doctor for a yearly check or even sooner if you haven’t been feeling well. 14827 Keith J. Thomas, MD, FACS Board-Certified General Surgeon Blue Mountain Hospital • 170 Ford Road, John Day • 541-575-1311
