News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
A3
John Day City Council starts work on annexations
Plans for
greenhouse
are finalized
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
With a delay in the pro-
cessing of a state planning
grant for the Innovation Gate-
way project, the John Day
City Council has turned its
attention to annexations and
lot line adjustments related to
the project.
The lot line adjustments be-
tween the former Oregon Pine
mill site and Mills Building
Supply, JD Rents and Clark’s
Disposal initially were de-
layed until the new commer-
cial greenhouse could be sited,
City Manager Nick Green told
the city council Aug. 28.
Because the annexation
process can be complicated,
Green advised combining
the annexation of the Oregon
Pine property, which the city
acquired in 2017 for the Inno-
vation Gateway project, with
other annexations.
That includes a portion of
the Hills property recently ac-
quired by the city, an island
of land near the Charolais
Heights Road intersection that
is in the county but totally sur-
rounded by the city.
The city is also consider-
ing annexing Grant Union Ju-
nior-Senior High School and
nearby properties owned by
the Old West Federal Credit
Union, which lie in between
the cities of John Day and
Canyon City.
The council will hold its
first study session to discuss
the annexations at 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 4, at the John
Day Fire Hall.
Bureaucratic delays have
held up the state Transpor-
tation Growth Management
grant, worth nearly $200,000
including city’s $27,000
match, Green said. The grant
will provide a framework for
planning, financing and im-
plementation of the Innova-
tion Gateway project.
A public process for the
planning will include three
meetings of the city’s advi-
sory committees, three open
houses for the public, a joint
working session with the city
council and city planning
commission, public hearings
before the city council and
city planning commission
and a launch event at the con-
clusion of the public process
sometime next summer.
Greenhouse plans
The council also reviewed
final plans from EuroMex
for the city’s commercial
greenhouse and approved a
purchase and sale agreement.
The total price came in high-
er than originally submitted
at $367,320, but it includes
about $39,000 in add-ons at
no extra cost.
EuroMex threw in a public
art package for an outdoor sit-
ting area worth $14,000 that
the city must assemble, grow
lights and outdoor lighting
worth $10,000 and a two-
week training trip to Mexico
for John Day Agribusiness
Manager Matt Manitsas worth
$12,000.
The final design, tweaked
by EuroMex officials who re-
cently visited John Day, calls
for three 2,000-square-foot
bays offset to maximize view-
ing by visitors on Highway
26. The public viewing area
features a show room area
with tempered glass.
Joe Hitz of Sisul Engi-
neering sited the greenhouse
to allow two more bays to be
Durr sworn in as chief
John Day Police
Department now
fully staffed
Contributed image
The final conceptual drawing by EuroMex for the commercial greenhouse at the
Innovation Gateway includes three offset bays and a public viewing area.
built to the east, Green said.
EuroMex will send a crew to
install electronics and oversee
local workers who will as-
semble the greenhouse.
The Grant County Plan-
ning Commission approved
the city’s land-use application
for the greenhouse Aug. 23
but requested a revised map
showing access from High-
way 26.
A special public works
fund loan of up to $350,000
from the Oregon Business
Development Department’s
Infrastructure Finance Au-
thority will be used to pay for
the greenhouse. The 25-year
loan carries a 3.43 percent in-
terest rate.
The estimated total cost for
the greenhouse is more than
$400,000, including engi-
neering, design, construction,
contingency and legal costs.
The city expects to make the
loan payments from the sale
of produce from the green-
house, which is expected to
be 30 tons of vegetables per
year — enough to meet the
city’s needs.
New Umatilla National Forest staff
introduce themselves to court
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
The John Day Police De-
partment and Emergency
Communications Center are
both up to full staffing levels,
and construction of dispatch
center facilities at the city fire
hall is making progress, City
Manager Nick Green told the
city council Aug. 28.
Inter-
im Police
Chief Mike
Durr was
sworn in as
the city’s
new police
Mike Durr
chief
at
the meet-
ing. He has also taken on the
duties of a school resource
officer for Grant Union Ju-
nior-Senior High School.
Durr joined the John Day
Police Department in April
2014 after retiring from the
Oregon State Police. He re-
ceived his advanced certi-
fication from the Oregon
Department of Public Safety
Standards and Training in De-
cember 2015.
He left to work for the
Baker City Police Department
in 2018 and then returned in
April to become interim po-
lice chief during former John
Day Police Chief Richard
Gray’s absence.
The school resource officer
position went into effect Aug.
27 following talks between
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Mike Durr is sworn in as the John Day chief of police by
City Manager Nick Green on Aug. 28.
Green and Grant School Dis-
trict 3 Superintendent Bret
Uptmor. A memorandum of
understanding between the
city and school district will be
drafted later and submitted for
approval to city council and
school board, Green said.
Funding for the position
will be split 50/50 between
the city and the school dis-
trict. The additional funding
enabled the city to get back up
to a full staffing level of four
officers, including Durr, Scott
Moore, Andrew Martin and
Sam Stinnett.
Stinnett, who was a cor-
rections deputy at the Grant
County Jail, started with John
Day July 9. He will attend the
state police academy from
October through February to
receive his police officer cer-
tification, Green said.
Construction at the John
Day Fire Hall for the 911 dis-
patch center has been mov-
ing right along, Green said.
A CenturyLink technician
traveled from Salem to install
emergency communications
wiring on Aug. 29.
The Oregon Office of
Emergency Management has
approved the fire hall location
for the new dispatch center
and will provide $36,928 for
the move from the John Day
City Hall, Green said. The
Intergovernmental Council
will take over management of
the dispatch center from John
Day on Jan. 1.
The dispatch center is also
up to full staff with the hiring
of Ryan Palmer on Aug. 11.
He will attend basic telecom-
munications training from
Oct. 29 through Nov. 11 and
emergency medical dispatch
training from Nov. 12-14,
Green said. Palmer will tran-
sition to management under
the IGC in January.
Umatilla National For-
est Supervisor Eric Watrud,
Heppner District Ranger
Brandon Houck and North
Fork District Ranger Paula
Guenther introduced them-
selves to the Grant County
Court Aug. 29.
All three are new to their
jobs at the Umatilla Forest.
Watrud, who worked for a
time as a regional silvicul-
turist in Portland, expressed
a strong interest in working
with local counties. Houck
and Guenther moved to Or-
egon from Wyoming.
Guenther, who is based
in Ukiah, explained that the
large response to the 30-acre
Harrison fire in the wilder-
ness near Olive Lake re-
sulted from its proximity to
Greenhorn and the availabil-
ity of firefighting resources
at that time. Otherwise, the
Forest Service might have
left the fire to “creep around”
and reduce forest fuels that
had been building up in the
area, she said.
She also explained that
the former ranger station in
Dale was slated for dem-
olition as funding became
available to handle hazard-
ous materials in 14 buildings
at the site. The site had been
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
From left, Heppner District Ranger Brandon Houck,
Umatilla National Forest Supervisor Eric Watrud and
North Fork District Ranger Paula Guenther.
scheduled for decommis-
sioning for the past 15 years,
she said.
Grant County Judge Scott
Myers explained how the
county had been interested in
making use of the facility 10
years ago, before the build-
ings were overrun by pack-
rats and started to decay.
Several members of the
public joined the court in
expressing interest in seeing
the site converted into an RV
park or a campground once
demolition is completed and
the site cleaned up.
The court also approved
an ordinance that establish-
es a process to reduce the
two-year redemption period
for tax-foreclosed properties
based on statutory criteria
and procedures.
The court will use the
process to take ownership of
two properties in Long Creek
and Prairie City that have be-
come significant nuisances
and hazards to neighbors and
other residents.
The court’s next regularly
scheduled meeting is Sept.
12.
I would like
to thank everyone and
all of my friends who sent
cards or flowers or brought food
while I was in the hospital
for my heart surgery.
Monday - Thursday
7am- 6pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
Mendy Sharpe FNP
77206
Apppointments
available
Sincerely,
Judy Nelson
71665
The Juniper Arts Council, The Oregon Cultural Trust
and the John Day United Methodist Church
cordially invite you to an evening with
Oregon Poet Laureate Kim Stafford
Thursday 9/13 at 7 PM
at the John Day United Methodist Church.
Readings of his poetry with dessert reception to follow.
For more information call Kris Beal at 541-932-4892.
Kim Stafford, founding director of the
Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis & Clark
College, is the author of a dozen books of
poetry and prose, including
The Muses Among Us: Eloquent Listening
and Other Pleasures of the Writer’s Craft
and 100 Tricks Every Boy Can Do: How My
Brother Disappeared.
541-523-6377
541-963-6577
541-573-6377
541-576-2160
76266