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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 2018)
News Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, August 22, 2018 A3 Greenhouse representatives tour John Day City agribusiness will begin in November By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle John Day Mayor Ron Lundbom escorted three rep- resentatives from EuroMex around the city last week, in- cluding a tour of the future In- novation Gateway site where the city’s commercial green- house will be sited. The John Day City Coun- cil last month approved a no- tice of intent to accept Euro- Mex’s $337,590 bid to build a 6,240-square-foot greenhouse that will produce 30 tons of produce per year, meeting the city’s demand. Eric Rodriguez, owner and CEO of EuroMex, George Brumis, business develop- ment manager, and Alex Res- cala, architect and design di- rector, spoke to the council at their Aug. 14 meeting. City Manager Nick Green noted the city was in good hands and that the EuroMex representatives had already pointed out improvements to the city’s initial plans, includ- ing changing the location for the greenhouse at Innovation Gateway and new ways to uti- lize the former Oregon Pine planer shed. The greenhouse is expect- ed to be in production by mid-November, and the shed, which will serve as a shelter for a farmers market, should be ready for use by next year, Green said. A member of the Ford Family Foundation board came to John Day with a pro- gram manager earlier this year to tour the Innovation Gate- way site, Green said. About a month later, they told the city they’d be willing to accept an application for funding that would assist in future farmers markets, he said. This is the first time Euro- Mex has had a city as a cus- tomer, Rodriguez said, and they recognized the potential for growth in that market sec- tor. Assisting John Day to en- sure its success would reflect well on EuroMex, he said. One of EuroMex’s busi- ness partners has offered to host John Day’s agribusiness manager, Matt Manitsas, for two weeks of hands-on train- ing in Mexico using the same EuroMex equipment John Day is purchasing, Green told the Eagle. Agritourism funding As initially proposed, the greenhouse’s three 16-foot The Eagle/Richard Hanners Eric Rodriguez, owner and CEO of EuroMex, explains how his company will work with the city of John Day to make its new commercial greenhouse a success during the city council’s Aug. 14 meeting. With him are George Brumis, left, business development manager, and Alex Rescala, right, architect and design director. high, 26-by-80-foot bays will have clear walls so visitors can view the facility without entering and potentially con- taminating the controlled en- vironment. Efforts to promote the city’s commercial greenhouse and other local tourist oppor- tunities could benefit from $140,000 in grant funding that will support a comprehensive economic development strate- gy, Green said. The council approved ap- plying for a $20,000 grant from Travel Oregon, requir- ing a $2,000 match, and a $50,000 Business Oregon grant that together could be Crews respond to northern county fires By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle State and federal crews have responded to several fires in northern Grant County that originated with the Aug. 19- 20 lightning storm. A Level 1 awareness notification has been issued for residents in the Mon- ument, Kimberly, Ritter and Dale areas. Quick action by crews from the Oregon Department of Forestry and Malheur Nation- al Forest limited a fire about 9 miles southwest of Fox near Forest Road 3950 to about 55 acres. The fire was about 15 acres when crews arrived by mid-af- ternoon Aug. 20 with five en- gines, two bulldozers and two hand crews. The use of aerial resources was limited by the heavy smoke that blew into the area from Washington and Can- ada. A sixth engine was called in, and by 6 p.m., the fire was 100 percent lined by bulldozer, according to a Malheur forest press release. A second fire near Fox was handled by a single ODF crew that had discovered the fire by using a digital lightning-strike map, John Day Unit Forester Ryan Miller said. The one- tenth-acre fire was quickly con- tained and mopped up, he said. ODF also assisted the Uma- tilla National Forest with two fires in Grant County. The Cup- per Canyon fire on the Heppner Ranger District about 4 miles northwest of Monument was discovered Aug. 20 about 12:47 p.m. The 50-acre fire was burn- used as a match for a $70,000 U.S. Economic Development Administration grant. If successful, the city’s $2,000 would be leveraged into $142,000 to support a comprehensive economic de- velopment strategy for John Day. The strategy would focus on launching a controlled-en- vironment agriculture indus- try and enhancing the city’s tourist economy, Green said. In-kind contributions by the city could boost the size of the federal grant. According to the city’s ap- plication to Business Oregon, the goal is to help John Day and surrounding communities recover from, withstand and avoid future economic shocks caused by the loss of the local timber industry by spurring investments in agritourism, ecotourism and recreation. The comprehensive eco- nomic development strategy “supports the city’s planned $20 million investments in the John Day Innovation Gate- way and other infrastructure projects along the John Day River that will result in eco- nomic expansion in new high growth industries,” the appli- cation states. The state grants will be awarded in September, Green said. His 1 percent adminis- trative fee, as approved by the city council May 22, would come to $1,400. Development of the com- prehensive economic devel- opment strategy would begin in November and culminate during a regional econom- ic development summit that John Day will host next spring, Green said. Federal agencies will at- tend the summit to identify federal funding opportunities to help finance the city’s pro- grams and initiatives, Green said. Floodplain maps Green also informed the council on updates to the floodplain maps for the John Day and Canyon City area. A public hearing will be held in the Grant Union Junior-Se- nior High School gym Oct. 24 to present the revised maps. The Army Corps of Engi- neers completed a flood study along 5.3 miles of the John Day River and 3.2 miles of Canyon Creek in December 2014. The city and the county then asked the Federal Emer- gency Management Agency to update the area’s Flood In- surance Rate Maps. The current maps, which became effective in February 1982, are based on topograph- ic surveys conducted in 1970 and 1975 and do not accurate- ly reflect the flood risk today, Green said. Changes in tech- nology and the topographical or hydrological environment have occurred over the past 40 years, he said. The city will send letters to the 320 affected proper- ty owners, who may submit a letter of map revision to FEMA if they can document the need for a revision to the flood data, Green said. Some property owners may learn they are in the 100-year floodplain and will need to pay for insur- ance with their mortgage payments. But saying they have lived at the same place all their life and never seen it flood will not qualify as evidence of a low flood risk, Green said. Prairie City man one of eight killed in Harney County crash Names of eight dead released by state police By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle The Eagle/Richard Hanners Smoke blowing in from Washington, Canada and Central Oregon filled the John Day Valley Aug. 20. ing in grass, brush and timber and threatening a structure about half a mile away. Re- sources responding to the fire included one helicopter, two single-engine air tankers from Grant County Regional Air- port, three ODF engines, one ODF hand crew and one Uma- tilla forest engine. By Tuesday morning, the fire was mostly lined by bull- dozer at about 50 acres, Miller said. Agencies will call in a lot of firefighting resources when a fire threatens a structure, he said. A larger fire was burning near the Morrow County line about 12 miles north of Mon- ument. The Gilman fire, which was burning grass and timber on Gilman Flats in the Heppner Ranger District, was discov- ered about 6 p.m. on Monday. Originally estimated at 1,500 acres, the fire was down- sized to about 650 acres by Tuesday morning, Grant Coun- ty Emergency Management Office coordinator Ted Wil- liams said. A Type 3 incident command with ODF and Umatilla forest crews was slated to take over the fire on Tuesday. Residents in Grant Coun- ty north of Highway 402 and west of Highway 395, includ- ing Monument, Kimberly, Ritter and Dale, were given a Level 1 awareness notifica- tion, Williams said. Tailored for slow-moving events, the notification is intended to en- able people with disabilities or livestock to begin considering plans for leaving in event fire danger increases, he said. Firefighters were hiking in to a new fire discovered about 2 miles south of Olive Lake in the North Fork John Day Wil- derness on the Umatilla forest, about 16 miles west of Sumpt- er. Thick smoke was preventing aerial resource from responding to the Harrison Fire, but thermal imaging provided an estimated size of 30 acres Tuesday morn- ing, Umatilla forest spokesman Darcy Weseman told the Eagle. A 48-year-old Prairie City man was killed Aug. 13 in a head-on collision south of Crane that took the lives of eight people alto- gether. According to an Oregon State Police press release, Mark R. Rundell was the driver of the white 1999 Toyota 4Runner that was westbound on Highway 78 in Harney County when it veered into the opposite lane and struck an eastbound vehicle. The seven people in the eastbound vehicle, a 2016 Contributed photo Eight people, including a Prairie City man, died in a head- on collision Aug. 13 on Highway 78 south of Crane. Toyota 4Runner, were pro- nounced dead at the scene of the crash. They included the driver, Erika C. Boquet, 29, Tacoma, Washington. The passengers of the east- bound vehicle included Kyla M. Brown, 28, Arianna M. Brown, 10, and Xavier K. Johnson, 2, all of Olympia, Washington; and Isabella E. Boquet, 11, Elizabeth A. Bo- quet, 8, and Tytis M. Boquet, 6, all of Tacoma, Washing- ton. Emergency personnel re- sponded to the crash around 10 a.m. The state police were assisted by the Harney Coun- ty Sheriff’s Office, Hines Police Department, Harney District Ambulance, Burns Fire Department, Range Land Fire Protection Associ- ation and the Oregon Depart- ment of Transportation. Motorcyclist dies after Harney County crash Blue Mountain Eagle A 74-year-old motorcyclist died after a Harney County crash Tuesday, Aug. 14. At approximately 3:25 p.m., a semi-truck with two trailers loaded with hay op- erated by Randolph Pointere, 67, of Hines was traveling north on Highway 205 near milepost 2, according to an Oregon State Police press release. Pointere was turning left onto Hotchkiss Lane when a motorcycle, operated by Da- vid McNeill, 74, of Belling- ham, Washington, attempted to pass the semi-truck. The motorcycle slid un- der the first semi-trailer be- fore coming to a stop. The semi-truck and trailers were able to stop without running over McNeill. McNeill was transported to Harney District Hospital and then transported by air to St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise, Idaho. At approx- imately 9:30 p.m. Wednes- day, Aug. 15, McNeill died from his injuries sustained in the crash. Pointere was not injured, and the semi-truck was driv- en from the scene. OSP was assisted by emergency medical services, Burns fire, Burns police, Hines police, Oregon De- partment of Transportation and the Harney County Sher- iff’s Office. 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