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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 2018)
News Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, February 21, 2018 A3 South Canyon Boulevard sidewalk may not get built Costs have doubled for a much smaller project By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Plans to build a sidewalk along South Canyon Boule- vard connecting Grant Union Junior-Senior High School to downtown John Day side- walks may have run into an insurmountable financial hur- dle. When the John Day City Council initially considered the project, they were hoping to construct a sidewalk from Fourth Avenue to the high school for about $840,000, City Manager Nick Green told the Eagle. “Where we stand now, we’re getting half of that area in sidewalk for more than double the cost,” he said. The city was awarded a Multimodal Transportation Enhancement Program grant and a Special City Allotment grant that would partially fund the project, and the city council approved a design al- ternative on June 13, 2017 — a shorter project from Sixth Avenue to the high school. The council chose a $1.34 The Eagle/Richard Hanners The Eagle/Richard Hanners The John Day City Council may walk away from plans to build a sidewalk along South Canyon Boulevard from Sixth Avenue to Grant Union Junior-Senior High School because of skyrocketing costs. million option that featured a 6-inch offset curb and a 13.5- inch swale between the curb and sidewalk for drainage. Bids were expected in 2018 with construction by 2019. But the cost of the project increased significantly after the Oregon Department of Transportation settled a $23 million lawsuit related to the Americans with Disabilities Act. The settlement approved by a federal judge in March 2017 committed ODOT to creating an audit of all cross- ings on state highways, com- pleting curb ramp upgrades at 30 percent of the locations by the end of 2022, complet- ing upgrades at 75 percent by the end of 2027 and fixing all of the curb ramp locations by December 31, 2032. The audit, completed about a month ago, rated only 3 percent of the curb ramps on state highways as “good.” Some were rated “fair,” but most of the rest were rated “poor.” In Grant County, every curb ramp was rated “poor,” and many had no ramp of any kind. ODOT Although the city of John Day was awarded funding for a sidewalk along South Canyon Boulevard, the cost of the project has increased to the point it may not longer be a viable option. Region 5 Public Information Officer Tom Strandberg said the agency has been fixing curb ramps as it completes other work. ODOT Transportation Project Leader Sean Malo- ney presented updated costs to the city council over the phone at their Feb. 13 meet- ing. He had been able to lo- cate $230,000 in additional funding from ODOT’s Side- walk Improvement Program, which brought the total fund- ing available to just over $1 million, he said. But that was only enough for Phase 1 work — com- pleting the preliminary engi- neering and design, acquiring all needed rights-of-way, relocating and replacing a shallow city water main and providing for contingency funding. Funding for Phase 2 — the actual construction of the sidewalk and swales — would include leftover mon- ey from Phase 1 along with funding from the Safe Routes to School program that has not yet been awarded. Malo- ney said the city could apply for the Safe Routes to School funding this year, and if it was awarded early enough in 2019, construction could start that summer. Otherwise, con- struction would be delayed to summer 2020, he said. Councilor Steve Schuette expressed concerns about tearing out old sidewalks to replace the water line and then leaving exposed con- struction work. Maloney said there wasn’t much sidewalk there to begin with, but he noted that provisions would need to be taken to comply with ADA requirements. Costs had gotten out of hand, Councilor Dave Hol- land noted. Several council- ors asked about what it would cost to back out of the proj- ect, and Mayor Ron Lund- bom asked whether many schoolchildren walked along that section of the highway. Former councilor Lisa Weigum spoke up, noting that schoolchildren went to get pizza for lunch and that the wrestling team ran along that section of the road. The council reached con- sensus that the city should approach Grant County about helping fund the project. They also directed Maloney to con- tinue planning for the project in the meantime. Green told the Eagle the next day that several council- ors had approached him after the meeting with their con- cerns about the project’s cost. “They asked me to get back to ODOT to see what our buy-out provision is and what it would cost to cancel the project,” Green said. The city may have to walk away from the project, he said. “I’m going to work with the school district over the next couple weeks, and we will put this on the agenda for our Feb. 27 meeting to discuss again,” Green said. But he was not optimistic. “I think there’s a pretty good chance these sidewalks are not going to be built,” Green said. ——— EO Media Group reporter Jade McDowell contributed to this report. John Day Innovation Gateway project moving forward Blue Mountain Eagle A poor return rate for a community income survey of sewer customers in John Day and Canyon City was the only setback cited in City Manager Nick Green’s update on the Innovation Gateway project at the city council’s Feb. 13 meeting. Survey information will be used to determine if the community is eligible for a federal Community Devel- opment Block Grant that will help pay for a new wastewater treatment plant that will serve the two cities located at the former Oregon Pine property the city purchased in 2017. Only 23 percent of surveys sent to 312 randomly selected customers had been returned, and the city needed a 90 per- cent response rate, Green reported. Volunteers will be sent out this month to contact households that have not re- sponded, he said. The city will need to bud- get a $27,000 cash match for a $200,000 state Transpor- tation Growth Management grant for planning and design of the project. On Jan. 16, the city invited Grant County to The Eagle/Richard Hanners John Day city staff will solicit bids to side and paint the former Oregon Pine sawmill building that the city acquired last year as part of the Innovation Gateway project. a hearing on the resolution. Under the design-build method, one party provides both design and construction services, which is common among greenhouse compa- nies and will deliver “a better overall value to their clients,” Green told the council. According to findings in support of the resolu- tion, the city has budgeted $400,000 to build and equip a 5,500-square-foot green- house, including hydroponic systems, grow lights, mechan- ical systems, HVAC, “fertiga- tion” and related equipment. Projected operating costs for the greenhouse are $150,000 per year, the findings say. In other city council news: • Mayor Ron Lundbom recognized in a proclamation the lifetime achievements of Donn Willey, who passed away Jan. 25. Willey served as a city councilor for nine years and “was a friend, men- tor, advisor and colleague of city councilors and city staff both past and present,” Lund- bom said. • The council unanimous- ly approved providing the $4,945 in supplemental mar- ijuana tax from 2017 to the Community Health Needs Assessment Substance Abuse Committee to support educa- tion on substance abuse is- sues. The city received a request for the money from Blue Mountain Hospital District CEO Derek Daly in a Jan. 9 letter. Green has served as the chairman of the committee since January 2017. Expressing his concerns about the failure of past sub- stance abuse efforts in the area, Councilor Gregg Haber- ly asked for more information about how the money would be used. Others on the council also expressed their concerns be- fore agreeing to make a one- time payment for the request- ed amount from the city’s Community Development Investment Fund in this fiscal year and then replenishing the fund in the next year’s budget. A similar request for mar- ijuana tax revenue was made to the Grant County Court, but the item was removed from the Feb. 14 agenda. • The council approved a schedule for the fiscal year 2018-2019 budget process and appointed Green to serve as the city’s budget officer. Final budget proposals will be discussed during a March 5 staff meeting, and the pro- posed budget packet will go to the budget committee April 13. The council will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget May 22 and adopt the final budget June 12. • The city’s Annual Public Safety Report/Briefing will be presented at the council’s Feb. 27 meeting. The State of the City address will be present- ed at the council’s March 13 meeting. BLACK PANTHER (PG-13) After the events of Captain America: Civil War, T’Challa returns home to his isolated, technologically advanced African national to take his rightful place as king. FRIDAY (12:30) (3:45) 6:45 9:35 SATURDAY (12:30) (3:45) 6:45 9:35 (12:30) (3:45) 6:45 9:30 SUNDAY MON-THURS (1:20) (3:30) 6:45 10:00 GAME NIGHT (R) A group of friends who meet regularly for game nights find themselves trying to solve a murder mystery. FRIDAY (12:30) (3:45) 7:00 9:45 SATURDAY (12:30) (4:00) 7:00 9:45 SUNDAY (12:30) (4:00) 7:00 9:30 MON-THURS (1:20) (3:30) 7:00 10:00 PETER RABBIT (PG) Feature adaptation of Beatrix Potter’s classic tale of a rebellious rabbit trying to sneak into a farmer’s vegetable garden. FRIDAY (12:30) (3:45) 7:10 9:40 SATURDAY (12:30) (4:10) 7:10 9:40 SUNDAY (12:30) (4:10) 7:10 9:30 MON-THURS (1:20) (3:30) 7:10 10:00 $9 Adult, $7 Senior (60+), Youth 41612 By Richard Hanners contribute an in-kind, no-cash match to assist in the effort, Green said. The 2-acre area between the future city shop and the former planer shed was suc- cessfully removed from the floodplain map by the Fed- eral Emergency Manage- ment Agency. The city’s new greenhouse will be built in this area, Green said. Surveying has begun for a trail system around the proj- ect area. Some of the trails could be open to the public by this summer, Green said. Improvements to an existing bridge are undergoing prelim- inary engineering analysis, and funding for the bridge work would be included in the funding request for trail paving, he said. City staff were soliciting bids to repair and paint the siding of the former sawmill building to improve its ap- pearance until a future com- mercial use for the building was decided, Green said. Some vandalism and theft of tools had taken place at the building, and the city plans to install video cameras in the area to increase security, he said. The city council also unan- imously approved a resolu- tion to exempt the contract for the greenhouse project from the traditional competitive bidding process and allow an alternative design-build con- tracting method. No public comments were made during A TTENTION G RANT C OUNTY Monday - Thursday 7am- 6pm Friday 8am - 5pm Mendy Sharpe FNP V ETERANS : Did you know a service-connected disabled veteran is entitled to FREE use of Oregon State Parks? See your Grant County Veteran Services Officer today for more information, Katee located at Grant County Courthouse. Hoffman Call 541-620-8057 for an appointment Apppointments available 37759 Let our family of Pharmacists serve you! A man wakes up in the morning after sleeping on an ADVERTISED BED, in ADVERTISED PAJAMAS. Give us a call today He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR, have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE. Then it’s too late. 541- 676-9158 - Heppner 541- 348-2801 - Condon We welcome the opportunity to visit with you about our services! AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK? DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it! 41608 Poor response so far to community income survey Blue Mountain Eagle MyEagleNews.com 39439 Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710 Heppner & Condon 35636
