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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 2017)
News Blue Mountain Eagle TOWER Continued from Page A1 site is too close to the school and a residential area. Miller agreed it would be too close to the school. Phippen was also con- cerned about how the tower would hold up in windy con- ditions. Katy Nelson, in the audi- ence, said she lives between Prairie City and John Day and pays a lot for only a little cellphone coverage. “We desperately need to have a choice,” she said. After the council voted against the proposal, Miller said, “I don’t think we would not want it in our area, as long as it’s not in a highly populated area.” Primozic added, “We would love to have the tow- er. It’s just the location they picked couldn’t be worse from an aesthetic stand- point.” After further discussion, the council unanimously voted to approve of the cell tower, if it could be placed in the area of the city’s industri- al park. Malone said she would look into the new proposed site. City considers joining broadband coalition The city council meeting included a presentation from John Day City Manager Nick Green about the $1.82 mil- lion in broadband funding awarded to John Day. The funding from the state legislature will be used to run a 75-mile, 144-strand fiber cable on power poles from Burns to John Day. So far, John Day, Canyon City and Seneca are prepared to adopt the Grant County Digital Network Coalition agreement and ordinance. Patterson asked why Prai- rie City would want to be a part of it. “We wanted to give every city the opportunity,” Green said. “When you have one provider, you may not be in a good position five to 10 years from now.” He mentioned price con- trol and no competition as downfalls to not joining the coalition. Green said the city could join now or later, but there may be a cost to join later once the coalition is es- tablished. “My goal is to take the county from the second worst to the second best (in the state),” Green said. John Day Police Chief Wednesday, October 18, 2017 Tracey Malone, a zoning specialist from Faulk & Foster of Grand Rapids, Michigan, speaks about the proposed plans for a U.S. Cellular cellphone tower, including positive aspects such as creating competition and giving customers options. if I could see the end cost,” Hamsher said. Some of the pluses to the broadband project Green mentioned included fast- er speeds and competition, which could result in lower prices, and access to higher education. “If you’re not leading on the cutting edge of technolo- gy, then your economy slows down,” Green said. “It won’t solve our problems, but it would remove a barrier.” When asked, a majority in the audience raised their hands in favor of joining the broadband coalition. The council voted to send out a mass mailing to resi- dents with information and a survey about the project be- fore making a decision. Richard Gray, who was a long-time resident of Prairie City, said he approved of the project. “It would increase inter- net service,” Gray said. “I don’t think we’re risking anything.” Mayor Hamsher said Prai- rie City has faster internet than John Day and expressed concern about the city’s cur- rent problem of residents un- able to water their lawns. “It would be different Water workshop set for Oct. 18 Public Works Director Chris Camarena said an Or- egon Department of Envi- ronmental Quality inspection of the city water system had taken place that day, and he would have a report soon. He said sewer leaks have been an issue. He said the city is also running on bor- rowed time where the water pumps are concerned. “It they (break) it could be The Eagle/Angel Carpenter catastrophic,” he said, add- ing, “We’ve got to get another well by spring.” Hamsher set up a water workshop, which will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, at city hall, 133 S. Bridge St., and the public can attend. The mayor said he, the council and Camarena will look at proposed well sites to add additional water to the current system. In other news, attention was brought to the bill for porta-potties rented during the eclipse. The original bill was $7,200, yet many of them didn’t require being serviced every day. It was noted that city clerk Bobbie Brown saved nearly $4,000 by making calls about the issue, lowering the price to $3,276. Garrison said the group that brought vintage trailers to Christmas on the Prairie last year would like to invite more to join at this year’s Nov. 18 event. She asked if they could have permission to use the blacktop, the empty downtown parking lot, for dry camping, which the council approved. It was also noted the recy- cling center is seeking volun- teers. For more information, call city hall at 541-820-3605. 911 Continued from Page A1 17413 A8 GRANT COUNTY’S CHAMBER NEWSLETTER Hello Grant County, I hope you are enjoying these nice Autumn days, winter is right around the corner! Results of our annual election for Chamber Board of Directors are in and Scotta Callister has been re-elected for another term and Sally Knowles and Elaine Livran have been elected to serve on the board. Each term is three years. Board members and our new President Bruce Ward will be installed in a ceremony to be held November 8th at the John Day Elks Lodge. All Chamber members are invited and encouraged to attend. Dinner will be provided. Guest speakers will be John Day City Manager Nick Green and Oregon State Senator Ted Feriolli. Our October Board meeting and Membership Luncheon will be Thursday, October 19th. The board meets at the Chamber office at 11:00 AM and the No- host luncheon will be at the Outpost at noon. Guest speaker will be Representative Cliff Bentz. On Wednesday, October 18th, the Chamber will host a Forum on Ballot Measure 12-69 -the Local Option Levy to fund our local 911 Dispatch Center for five years. Bob Quinton will be the moderator. Representatives from the City of John Day and 911 Dispatch Center and a panel of representing Cities/County, Law Enforcement, and EMS will be on hand to answer questions and concerns and share their perspectives. Have you checked out our Interactive Travel Guide App? If not, you really should. Go to your app store and type in: grantcounty,or. When you see our Elk logo, download it. It’s not just for tourists and visitors to Grant County. Locals can benefit from it as well! You can access all kinds of information and maps. You can easily find and contact dining establishments who are Chamber members. You can call them right from the app. As of September 30, we have had nearly 3,000 people download our app. There seems to be a lot of interest in Grant County! If you are not a Chamber member, think about joining us, we’d love to have you! need to be familiar with local geography and history. He re- called a time when a dispatch- er in Idaho handled an incident involving a lost snowmobiler and didn’t know the local area. Mayor Ron Lundbom asked residents who hear neg- ative comments about the issue to contact the city councilors. He noted that the proposed tax amounted to the cost of two large pizzas per year. John Day Fire Chief Ron Smith told the Eagle he sup- ported the ballot measure for the reasons outlined by Green. Costs at the dispatch cen- ter keep rising every year, he said, and the fairest way to pay those costs would be through an increase in the statewide telephone fee that funds 911 dispatch service in Oregon. “Raising the fee won’t stop people from using cell phones,” he said. Smith also raised concerns about outsourcing 911 dis- patch to a regional center. “I’m afraid our service level will go down,” he said. “Local dispatchers know the local geography and the res- idents. Paying $38 a year for a $100,000 home would be money well spent.” Grant County Judge Scott Myers told the Eagle an in- crease in the state 911 tele- phone fee “is long overdue.” “It’s only fair that all phones are taxed,” he said. “Our local initiative only tax- es property owners. The state needs to step up and increase the tax, but it sounds like there was a promise made a long time ago between legislators that it would never increase. I don’t think it has been given a PALMER Continued from Page A1 The investigation found “insufficient evidence” that Palmer destroyed public records, Slauson said, and “the evidence does not support a conclusion” Palmer violated state concealed handgun license laws. “The scope of our investi- gation was limited to potential- ly criminal matters,” Slauson said in the letter. “Accordingly, we offer no opinion regarding whether Sheriff Palmer com- plied with relevant county pol- icies or public record retention laws; rather, our investigation simply has not revealed concrete evidence of criminal conduct.” Slauson said the department interviewed witnesses, reviewed records and policies, examined forensically reconstructed shred- ded documents and reviewed court documents from The Or- egonian newspaper’s public records lawsuit against Palmer and the sheriff’s office. The law- suit was dismissed once Palmer produced the records after the suit was initiated, but the judge ordered Palmer to pay $28,000 in attorney fees to The Oregonian. Palmer and Gray did not im- mediately respond to phone and email messages from the Eagle. very high priority for the next session, if it will be discussed at all.” Oregon State Police Sgt. Tom Hutchison told the Eagle of his concerns if local dis- patch was outsourced. “In my opinion, the local 911 dispatch center is crucial to the security of the citizens of Grant County, because of the ability to immediately dispatch law enforcement, local fire service providers and EMS,” he said. “The dispatchers have an intimate knowledge of the area that they are dispatching for, as well as for the first respond- ers that they are working with. This increases response times, which saves lives and reduces property damage. Although a dispatch center out of the area may provide adequate service to Grant County, I don’t believe it will be as efficient as the Grant County 911 dispatch center.” Rebekah K. Rand, direc- tor of emergency medical services for the Blue Moun- tain Hospital District, told the Eagle about the crucial role dispatch serves in pro- viding ambulance service. “Blue Mountain Hospi- tal District EMS is com- mitted to ensuring access to quality emergency med- ical care close to home,” she said. “One of our pri- orities is to protect and fa- cilitate our timely response to medical emergencies, as time is crucial, especial- ly in our frontier region of Grant County. The 911 Dispatch Center plays a crucial role in our ability to respond timely and accu- rately to our patients when medical and trauma emer- gencies occur.” A Big Thank You from the Rally for the Cure committee! We would like to thank everyone who participated, donated items and helped. Boyd & Bonnie Britton Pioneer Feed John Day Polaris Grubsteak Mining Co. Hair It Is 1188 Pub & Brewing Co. The Ugly Truth Bar & Grill John Day Hardware Jeanette Heuckman Sharon Livingston Mel McDaniels John Day Golf Club etc. Cloud Nine Tammy Bremner Manager, Grant County Chamber of Commerce 18296 Mitch Wilson Fabrications Roan Outwest Gardner Enterprises Jonna Joe’s Hair Care Nydam’s Ace Hardware Brenda & Roy Densberger Dick & Carlene Johnston Kim & Bruce Ward Kathleen Lee Terry & Linda Farrell Dan Propeck Maxine Day Vicky Mullany Micky Burke 18450
