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Blue Mountain Eagle
TRUST
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public’s engagement with the
Forest Service, she said.
“The whole purpose of to-
night’s meeting is to improve
relationships,” Blue Mountain
District Ranger Dave Halemei-
er said. “I need to hear people,
and you need to know I’m lis-
tening, but there is a process I
need to follow.”
Halemeier said it was hard
to change the “paradigm,” but
at the same time people needed
to agree on terminology – such
as the meaning of cooperation
and collaboration.
“It would take another day
to go through all the topics
raised tonight,” he said.
One word that came up
several times at the meeting
was “coordination.” One man
noted that the word was miss-
ing from Ediger’s PowerPoint
presentation, and he claimed
that many government agen-
cies in the past had “refused to
coordinate.” A woman said she
wanted “coordination” put on
Ediger’s list because the public
doesn’t understand it.
“I’ve been hearing a lot re-
cently about coordination,” Edi-
ger said, adding that it involved
intergovernmental relationships,
such as between the Forest
Service and Grant County, and
there wasn’t enough time to go
into that topic that night.
The NEPA process
One man said that he tried to
obtain information through the
federal Freedom of Informa-
tion Act but was told he would
have to pay Forest Service staff
to collect the information. The
public had a right to know, and
he shouldn’t have to pay for
that, he said.
Sasha Fertig, a forest plan-
ner with the Malheur National
Forest, explained that deci-
sion-making for agency proj-
ects followed a formal process
under the federal National
Environmental Policy Act, or
NEPA. Decisions are made
based on public and agency in-
put using credible science and
other factors, she said.
Members of the public
could comment on proposed
projects during the scoping and
comment periods, but under
NEPA rules only those who
commented during those peri-
ods can file comments during
the objection period, she said.
It was also important for
comments not to be general-
ized. It was better to offer spe-
cific recommendations or to
request specific information,
Fertig said. A comment that
simply said “Don’t close any
roads” would be difficult to
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
interpret by agency staff, she
said.
“All comments are accept-
ed, but some are hard to inter-
pret without detail,” Halemeier
said. “More specificity gives a
comment more standing.”
Working with the agency
Wade Tait, a panelist from
the Eastern Oregon Trails Al-
liance, described the four-year
process his group underwent
to get Forest Service approval
for a network of mountain bike
trails in the Magone Lake area.
Starting in 2014, a “loose
group” of mountain bikers so-
licited feedback from local and
regional bikers and began to
verify Forest Service claims
that mountain bike trails al-
ready existed in the Malheur
National Forest, Tait said. The
trails that had been identified as
mountain bike trails were cov-
ered with fallen trees and were
WATER
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The city has three mu-
nicipal wells, but the No. 1
well is old and available for
emergency use, Camarena
said. The city uses nearly 400
gallons per minute in summer
and nearly 200 in winter. The
No. 1 well can produce 50
gpm but only for about six
hours before it “collapses,”
according to Councilor Geor-
gia Patterson.
The No. 2 well was rated at
150 gpm, but over time that fell
to less than 100 gpm. The well
casing was re-perforated in
2008 to improve performance,
but production fell to about 70
gpm, and the city looked into
the matter, Camarena said.
Sand and aggregate in the
No. 2 well damaged the pump’s
impeller, and hard water depos-
its had clogged holes in the well
casing, Mayor Jim Hamsher
said. The city was getting ready
to address the two issues when
the lightning strike occurred.
The upgrading work was
BENTZ
Continued from Page A1
legislation was finalized. One
of the reasons it was success-
ful – and was not referred to
voters for approval on the
ballot – was because people
were consulted and apprised
beforehand, he said.
Having the time to do so
was critical, he said, to edu-
cate voters and work through
issues.
After broad discussions,
the final version of the bill in-
cluded more funding for rural
areas – a $5 million small cit-
ies allotment and a $5 million
large county, low population
allotment – where fewer regis-
tered vehicles and more miles
of roads created funding dis-
parities, Bentz said.
The bill also contained
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
From left, Prairie City City Councilor Joe Phippen, Mayor Jim Hamsher, Councilor Carole
Garrison and Councilor Dottie Miller discuss options during an Oct. 18 water workshop.
delayed, and crews worked
to get the No. 2 well back
into service. By adjusting the
pump depth and variable motor
speed, the well was fine-tuned
so it could stay in operation
– but it was down to 50 gpm.
Now that the reservoir is up to a
safe water level, the city could
consider getting the needed
work done on the No. 2 well,
which requires taking it out of
operation.
Well No. 3 was drilled in
2011 and can produce 150 gpm
except in summer, when output
drops to about 50 gpm. The city
also obtains water from infiltra-
tion galleries near Dixie Creek.
The Dixie Creek water is
treated in a $2 million slow-
sand filtration system installed
in 2008 – two 50-by-50 foot
cells filled with special sand
and aggregate. The system is
shut down for maintenance in
summer because of low water
flows, Camarena said.
Hamsher said when he was
mayor in 2005, he wanted the
modifications to the low car-
bon fuel standard, which aimed
to reduce the carbon content
of fuel by 10 percent from
2015 to 2025. Bentz said he
is opposed to the standard and
worked to mandate disclosure
of the costs of the program and
to provide “consumer protec-
tions,” which would extend the
deadline in response to certain
situations to prevent economic
problems such as fuel shortag-
es and resulting price spikes.
The bill, which also in-
creased funding to each city
and county through increases
to the gas tax and other fees,
was largely hailed as a suc-
cess for both Republicans and
Democrats.
Bentz said the first step to-
ward a similar bipartisan ap-
proach to the major issues of
spending and tax reform was
to select the right people for
the committee. He said they
would then have to agree on
the definition of the problem.
“You can’t solve a problem
if you don’t agree on what it
is,” he said.
However, he admitted the
transportation package was
much easier because the prob-
lem of crumbling roads and
bridges was known and unan-
imous support existed to come
up with a solution.
With issues such as taxes,
health care, education and state
employees and benefits, Bentz
said agreeing on the problem
would be difficult because per-
spectives vary dramatically.
He said, however, he believes
the committee could help
solve the problems, despite the
difficulty.
“You don’t do this job un-
less there’s a big challenge out
there,” he said.
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206 S. Humbolt St., Canyon City, OR 97820
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Have a Happy, Healthy & Safe Halloween!
Here are some tips to keep your little goblins and
ghouls out of harm’s way.
KIDS
• Walk with a group or trusted adult.
• Walk from house to house, and look both ways before crossing the street. Don’t run, and use
sidewalks and crosswalks when possible.
• Put reflective tape on your costume or treat bag, or carry a flashlight with you.
• Examine all of your treats to make sure they are safe and sealed before eating them.
• Don’t approach dark houses when trick-or-treating, and never go inside a stranger’s house.
• Don’t approach pets while wearing a
Halloween costume. They may not recognize you.
PARENTS
• Provide healthier or non-edilbe options for trick-or-treaters.
• Slow down and be on the lookout for trick-or-treaters when driving.
• Accompany your child if they are under age 12, and make sure older children are with a group of trusted friends.
• Go over the planned trick-or-treat route with your child, and be sure to set a curfew.
• Keep your porch and walkway well-lit, and move any potential tripping hazards out of the path of trick-or-treaters.
• Keep family pets away from trick-or-treaters, even if they are friendly.
• Limit the amount of candy your kids eat each day, and encourage them to give away excess.
city to invest in a new well at
Fainman Springs rather than
the slow-sand filtration system.
The city holds water rights at
the location but not access. The
Fainman Springs well could
produce up to 600 gpm – twice
what the city needed, Hamsher
said.
The estimated $900,000
cost of a well at Fainman
Springs would include two
miles of pipe, a pressure-re-
ducing valve, bringing in three-
phase power and building an
A7
“completely unrideable,” he
said. This established a “need”
for their proposal, he said.
Tait’s group followed the
NEPA process, working with
the Forest Service’s recreation
planners, holding meetings and
soliciting comments. Suitable
areas needed to be identified
using input from silviculturists
and botanists, Tait said.
To be successful, a group
needs to limit the scope of its
proposed project and to de-
velop the “capacity” to perse-
vere through the many years
required under the NEPA pro-
cess, Tait said. Identifying and
dealing with potential conflicts
early in the process would be
beneficial, he said.
“Collaboration is key,” he
added.
A final decision approving
the Magone Lake mountain
bike trail system was made on
May 3, Tait said. Next up was
raising the $750,000 needed to
construct the trail system.
A second panelist, Kath-
erine Rose, helped organize a
program under the North Fork
Watershed Council that provid-
ed jobs for youths performing
restoration work on Forest Ser-
vice and other lands.
She had managed to obtain
funding and work for about 50
youths and their crew leaders,
but she said it was frustrating at
times. She cited long wait times
and having to show up in per-
son at Forest Service offices to
get things done.
Rose said she’s already
started organizing next year’s
program, but with the turnover
at the Forest Service, she’ll
need to start over again. The
past summer’s turnover created
a “perfect storm,” she said.
“It’s always a puzzle,” she
said. “My current goal is to start
the process now.”
access road. Hamsher suggest-
ed cost savings for that project
could include using a propane
generator rather than running
power lines and using the city’s
equipment to build an access
road.
Prairie City resident Mel-
anie DeJong spoke to the
council about selling a piece
of land with a residential well
capable of producing about 50
gpm. The DeJongs spent about
$55,907 in 2008 on the proper-
ty and would offer the city fi-
nancing, she said.
“I just want to see the city
have a more reliable water sys-
tem,” she said.
The city is also working on
a new master plan for its water
system with a two-year dead-
line. The city has applied for a
$20,000 grant to pay half of the
engineering costs for the plan,
Hamsher said.
Finding funds for all this
work could be difficult. The city
used low-interest U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture Rural De-
velopment loans to pay for the
slow-sand filtration system and
the No. 3 well, and the USDA
said it would not refinance the
city’s outstanding loans, Ham-
sher said. Also weighing on the
city’s finances is a $1.8 million
sewer project that will go to bid
in a few months, Hamsher said.
Although the city’s well wa-
ter can smell or taste “funny”
at times, Prairie City’s water is
safe to drink, Hamsher empha-
sized at the meeting.
“There is nothing wrong
safety-wise,” he said. “I’ve
been drinking city water for
years. If I thought Prairie City
water was not safe, I’d be using
bottled water, which I’m not.”
The council directed Ca-
marena to bring some cost es-
timates for the various options
to their next meeting on Nov. 8.
He noted that preliminary en-
gineering for a new well could
take until January, but planning
could be accelerated by using
the same engineering firm that
handled the No. 3 well.
“We can’t expect our cit-
izens to go through another
summer like this one,” Patter-
son said. “If we need a new
well, then we need to start drill-
ing.”
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