W edNesday , F ebruary 21, 2018
• N o . 8
The
• 18 P ages
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
Grant Union’s Lusco wins state wrestling title. Page A10
Grant Union, Prairie City basketball teams all advance to state. Page A10
Report:
Economy
does not
support
scheduled
air flights
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant County area
does not have the popula-
tion, employment and income
levels needed to support reg-
ularly scheduled passenger
service at Grant County Re-
gional Airport.
That’s the conclusion of
a recent report on rural air-
port services presented at the
Grant County Court’s Feb. 14
meeting. The Grant County
area has seen declining popu-
lation and household income
over the past decade. It has
also seen a significant drop
in manufacturing sector earn-
ings, which is
positively cor-
related with
demand for
air service, the
report said.
“The re-
gion has lim-
ited demand
for passenger
air service,”
ECONor-
Grant
thwest said
County
in its report.
Regional
“This is due to
Airport.
the area’s rel-
atively small population and
limited economic footprint.”
Airport manager Haley
Walker said she contacted the
Oregon Department of Avia-
tion in fall 2016 about apply-
ing for a Critical Oregon Air-
port Relief grant to support
a passenger air service study
and was told a study was al-
ready underway.
The department had con-
tracted with ECONorthwest
to describe passenger air
service distribution across
Oregon using the framework
of supply and demand. The
study was completed in Janu-
ary and includes a case study
for Eastern Oregon, with a
section on Grant County Re-
gional Airport and John Day.
According to Federal Avi-
ation Administration data
provided in the report, Grant
County Regional Airport saw
251 enplanements in 2007
and 102 in 2009, but none
were reported after that date.
See AIRPORT, Page A18
PLAN LOOKS AT
AGING FOREST
FACILITIES
Contributed photo/Rex Kamstra
The Aldrich Mountain Lookout on the Malheur National Forest.
Malheur National Forest goal:
sustainable infrastructure
By Richard Hanners
Gloomy finances
Nationwide, the Forest Service has
identified 3,374 buildings that it wants to
he message in the Malheur Na- decommission. These buildings need $195
tional Forest’s recently issued million worth of repairs, while the mainte-
draft Facility Master Plan is nance bill for all Forest Service buildings
is estimated to be $1.1 billion.
bleak but not unique.
Locally, the Malheur National Forest
Insufficient funding and ac-
cumulating deterioration have created a owns 133 fire, administration or other
“national junkyard”
(FAO) buildings and
within the Forest
leases two more.
Service’s portfolio of
Replacement value
40,000 administra-
for these buildings,
tive, recreation and
including
guard
research buildings
stations, firefighter
nationwide, accord-
housing and look-
ing to an InBusiness
outs, is estimated
Magazine article cit-
to be $36.8 million,
Contributed photo/U.S. Forest Service
ed by Teresa Dixon, The Raddue Guard Station on
while maintenance
a program manager the Malheur National Forest was
funding needed to
at Malheur National abandoned about 15 years ago.
keep them up is $1.1
Forest, in her talk to
million.
the Grant County Court Feb. 14.
The forest also has 45 developed rec-
Deteriorating buildings pose safety reation sites with 94 associated buildings
risks, with rotting floorboards, collapsing — mostly toilets. The forest has 31 de-
foundations — even swaying lookouts. veloped campgrounds, including 21 that
They also pose health risks, including charge fees, as well as five recreational
hantavirus and mold. While much damage rentals, four snow parks and five miscel-
is environmental, some is human-caused laneous sites. Replacement value for these
— including vandalism, graffiti and bullet
See FOREST, Page A18
holes, Dixon noted.
Blue Mountain Eagle
T
Contributed photo/U.S. Forest Service
The Frazier Lookout on the Malheur National Forest.
Blueprint presented for
new housing stimulus plan
Four duplexes
planned along
John Day River
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
The city of John Day is
getting closer to establish-
ing an urban renewal area
intended to encourage new
home building in the com-
munity, the John Day City
Council learned Feb. 13.
City staff presented pre-
liminary boundaries for the
program to the Project Ad-
visory Committee during its
Jan. 29 meeting, City Man-
ager Nick Green told the
council.
State law limits urban
renewal areas to 25 percent
of a city’s land area and 25
percent of its assessed value.
John Day’s 1,376 total acres
City to support new
housing project
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
This empty lot in the Valley View/Ironwood Estates
neighborhood could be included in John Day’s proposed
urban renewal area and be eligible for subsidies.
are assessed at about $100
million. The city’s consultants
at Elaine Howard Consulting
recommended including up
to 286 acres in order to leave
room for future amendments.
Under the city’s current
proposal, new home construc-
tion would be encouraged by
offering a 7 percent cash re-
See PLAN, Page A18
A spurt in new home
construction could be seen
as early as this summer,
with four duplexes planned
for a 1.19-acre property
along the John Day River at
the end of Canton Street in
John Day.
Only three new homes
have been built in John Day
over the past decade, City
Manager Nick Green told
the city’s Planning Com-
mission Feb. 13 as they
took a first look at Sally
Knowles’ eight-unit project.
The project fits in well with
the city’s goal of encourag-
ing new home construction,
Green said.
According to plans sub-
mitted by Knowles, two
1,371-square-foot, two-sto-
ry duplexes, each unit with
three bedrooms and 2 1/2
bathrooms, will be built on
the north side of the prop-
erty along the river, and
two 1,265-square-foot, sin-
gle-story duplexes, each
unit with three bedrooms
and 1 1/2 bathrooms, will be
built on the south side.
Knowles told the plan-
ning commission that she
See PROJECT, Page A18