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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2018)
News Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, June 20, 2018 A3 Hazardous materials to be removed from Weaver Building Asbestos was found throughout the structure By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Hundreds and hundreds of pounds of asbestos removal may be needed at the Weav- er Building on Main Street, City Manager Nick Green told city councilors at their June 12 meeting. The city closed on the 12,000-square-foot complex of four connected buildings sharing one roof in November 2017 using a $100,000 Main Street Revitalization Grant and began to line up a $200,000 loan to complete Phase 1 ren- ovation work. That work would consist of interior demolition of the top floor, removal of hazardous materials, required structural reinforcement and construct- ing a fire separation between the first and second floors. The city expected that rental income from the four ground- floor businesses would pay off that loan in 10 years, he said. The goal is to develop a mixed-use property, with commercial businesses on the ground floor and six condo- miniums on the second floor. Pinnacle Architecture estimat- ed the completed project could cost nearly $2 million. Green reported to the council that during an envi- ronmental evaluation, Paulsen Environmental Consulting of Vale had identified asbestos throughout the structure and lead in numerous locations. He said he was working with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to obtain grant funding to hire an asbestos abatement contractor to remove the hazardous ma- terials. That could amount to strip- ping the building down to its timber frame, Green said, leav- ing a clean building that would attract outside investment. At that point, the city could con- sider putting the building back on the market. The cost to the city would be a “small match” for the Eagle file photo The Weaver Building, which was purchased by the city of John Day, will require asbestos removal and fire safety improvements. grant funding, Green said, which he said was well worth the expenditure because it would leave the city with new residences and a “clean, healthy” building. He also not- ed the public sector needed to step up and take on this proj- ect because the private sector would not. Green also reported that during an inspection of the ground-floor unit once used by the Naturally Yours store, city staff discovered an open- ing between the ceiling and the apartment above. Decades-old magazines, beer cans and oth- er debris had fallen from the apartment. Green said the hope was to put the ground-floor unit back on the market, but the city may now have to install adequate fire protection between the two floors before renting the unit. In other city council news: • The council unanimously approved the 2018-2019 fiscal year budget. Appropriations and expenditures totaled $11.5 million, which included $1.4 million for the general fund, $1.2 million for the water fund, $1.5 million for the sew- er fund and $521,000 for the street fund. The $4.7 million for the IT fund included the $1.8 million state legislative appropriation to improve broadband in Grant County and an anticipated $2.9 million U.S. Department of Agriculture Community Con- nect grant not yet awarded. • The council unanimously approved applying for a 2018 Recreational Trails Program grant from the Oregon Parks & Recreation Department, which was primarily for rec- reational trail projects rather than utilitarian transporta- tion-based projects. The city will apply for $180,000, with the city’s 20 percent match bringing total funding for the proj- ect to $240,000. The match can be cash or in-kind labor, Green said. The goal is to improve access to the John Day River within the city limits, includ- ing connecting Prospector Trail at the Seventh Street Complex to Innovation Gate- way. Four miles of inter- connected paved and gravel paths, much of it ADA-acces- sible, would be developed. Four trails are proposed — one along the river from the sports complex to Innovation Gateway, one looping up to Northwest Bridge Street and back down to the river, one north up Charolais Heights and Davis Creek to Northwest Valley View Drive and one along Canyon Creek to the Kam Wah Chung State Heri- tage Site. Plans call for a pedestri- an bridge over the river west of Canton Street and gravel parking lots near the pedes- trian bridge and on Northwest Valley View Drive. • Consultants will pres- ent results from a wastewa- ter treatment plant feasibility study at the council’s June 26 meeting. Foreclosure auctions considered a success Natural resource adviser may be provided by OSU Extension By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Grant County earned about $168,000 from an open auction held May 17 to sell tax-foreclosed properties and about $155,000 on a silent auction with bids opening June 15 for the remaining properties. Thirty-one tax-foreclosed properties were deeded to the county April 10, and 13 of the properties offered at the open auction did not have buyers. The minimum bid at the open auction was set at 50 percent of market value. Grant County Assessor David Thunell told the Grant County Court at their June 13 meeting that 58 bids were submitted for the properties that didn’t sell at the first auc- tion. One property in Kimber- ly had 13 bids, he said. The court approved Thunell’s suggestion to accept the top two bids in the silent auction. If neither bidder pre- sented a check on June 15, the county would hold onto the properties for now. Checks for 12 of the 13 re- maining properties were sub- mitted, and the second bid for the 13th property was a good offer, Thunell told the Eagle. The Eagle/Richard Hanners Ochoco National Forest Supervisor Shane Jeffries updates the Grant County Court on upcoming projects during their June 13 meeting. All the sold properties will be on the tax rolls by July 1, he said. Thunell told the court de- linquent taxes on some prop- erties dated back to the 1980s, and he was glad to see them back on the tax rolls. He cred- ited District Attorney Jim Carpenter for fulfilling his campaign promise to file for judgment on properties that owed back taxes. County Judge Scott Myers said the earnings would be used to reimburse the vari- ous county departments that worked on the foreclosures. In other county court news: • The court approved changes to the draft fiscal year 2018-2019 budget. The gen- eral fund totals $5.1 million, Grant County Treasurer Julie Ellison told the Eagle. Included in the changes was $40,000 budgeted for a new natural resource adviser position. Myers said he was in talks with Oregon State Uni- versity to provide someone to fill that position through the extension service, with the costs shared between the county and the university. • Following an executive session, the court agreed to offer to sell the county health department building at 528 E. Main St. in John Day to Com- munity Counseling Solutions for $400,000 and to retain the “L” Building next door at 530 E. Main St. for use by the county. The vote was 2-1, with Commissioner Boyd Britton opposed. The “L” Building is currently occupied by the Economic Development Of- fice, Veteran Services Office, Emergency Management and the food bank. • New Ochoco National Forest Supervisor Shane Jef- fries introduced himself to the court and provided an update on the forest. Jeffries pre- viously worked as a deputy supervisor and district rang- er in the Deschutes National Forest. The Ochoco Forest man- ages about 740,000 acres, including 57,826 in Grant County. About half of the Black Canyon Wilderness is in Grant County, with access at the South Fork John Day trailhead. Volunteer and For- est Service crews will clear hiking trails in the wilderness this summer, Jeffries said. About 230,000 acres of the forest is included in the pro- posed Blue Mountains Forest Resiliency Project planned for the Ochoco, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman national forests, Jeffries said. The Ochoco Forest is working with the South Fork John Day Watershed Council, Bureau of Land Management and Rockpile Ranch to con- duct a restoration assessment for about 15 miles of Wind Creek, Jeffries said. A draft environmental im- pact statement on the man- agement of wild horses that wander from Big Summit Territory in the Ochoco for- est to the Murderers Creek area in the Malheur forest is planned for release this sum- mer, Jeffries said. Currently there are more horses than the environment can support, and reproduction is faster than mortality, he said. • The court tabled a request by Grant County Clerk Bren- da Percy for a stipend to com- pensate her for handling pay- roll. Myers initially motioned to deny Percy’s request. • The court’s next meeting will be June 27. Authors! Meet other local authors and sell your books at the Blue Mountain Book Fair Sponsored by the Juniper Arts Council August 18 12:00-4:00pm Canyon City Community Center Canyon City Oregon Contact Dave Driscoll phone:248-719-2122 email:driscolldg@gmail.com http://grantcountygazette-oregon.com Funded by a grant from the Grant County Transient Room Room Tax fund 64135 For more information contact Grant County Veterans 541 620-8057 61008
