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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 2018)
GRANT UNION SWEEPS CONFERENCE – PAGE B1 The Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W edNesday , o ctober 17, 2018 • N o . 42 • 20 P ages • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com Larson, Palmer face off for county commissioner Two candidates face off this fall for the Grant County commissioner seat formerly held by Boyd Britton. The Grant County Court appointed attorney Rob Raschio interim commissioner on July 3 to fill out the remainder of Brit- ton’s term. With a 65.8 percent turnout in a six-way May primary election, Sam Palmer received 42 percent of the vote and Gordon Larson received 34 percent, moving both on to the November election. Larson wants to end divisiveness By Richard Hanners COUNTY COMMISSIONER Palmer wants better forest management By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle G ordon Larson, 54, of Canyon City grew up on a dairy farm in Scap- poose. He was serving in the National Guard when he was recruited by the Oregon State Police in 1987. Larson re- tired from OSP in 2014 after serv- ing on a gang strike force and a multi- state drug task force, as outpost com- mander in John Day and as re- gional commander based in La Grande. He served on the Grant School District 3 board for 12 years, 10 years as chairman. He now runs a ranch south of Canyon City. Larson said he’s been campaigning hard across the county. All communities matter and bring value to the effort to bring prosperity to the county, but resi- dents in outlying communities feel they lack a voice in the county court, he said. He suggested having a representative from these communities address every other county court meeting over speak- erphone to inform the court about infra- structure issues. Blue Mountain Eagle The legal settlement in lawsuits in- volving Sheriff Glenn Palmer are wa- ter under the bridge now, Larson said. Hopefully, the parties learned something about public process and those kinds of cas- es can be avoid- ed in the future, he said. It’s the obligation of elected officials to operate with- in best-practic- es guidelines so they can better serve their com- munities, he said. Larson said the county is better served by relying on a number of highly qualified agencies and in- dividuals for context on natural resource issues rather than appoint new com- mittees. If elected, he might be open to hiring a natural resource advisor, but the role would need to be carefully crafted to avoid any special agendas, he said. Joining the Grant County Digital Net- work Coalition was the right thing for the county, Larson said. In order for all com- munities to thrive, they must have access to modern technology, including broad- See LARSON, Page A10 Counties and cities need to work together S am Palmer, 53, of John Day was born and raised in John Day and is a graduate of Grant Union High School and Blue Mountain Communi- ty College. He’s been a registered nurse for 30 years and worked both locally and around the U.S. in “frontier medicine,” including a stint as a flight nurse in Las Ve- gas. He works sever- al days a week in Burns and will retire soon. Palmer said he’s been traveling around the county meeting with people. He said he turned down an invitation from the Grant County Chamber of Commerce to debate Larson because the chosen date conflicted with chemotherapy training sessions he had arranged long ago. In any event, ballots would have already been mailed out by the time the debate took place, he said. Palmer said people have asked him to take on so many issues that he’s turned to prioritizing them. He said he’s focused on “knowns,” such as forest management, the economy, funding schools and fund- ing jobs. Management of national forest lands is a major con- cern for Palmer, and he blames federal man- agement for wildfires. He said he put him- self through college fighting fires when they were typically 1,000 acres in size. Now fires range up to 100,000 acres and are killing peo- ple, he said. Private landown- ers don’t manage their property by closing access, and they reduce forest fuels by cutting timber and grazing, Palmer said. The county court should invoke co- ordination rules to give the county a voice in federal land management at the local level, he said. Palmer strongly supports the idea of establishing a natural resource adviser position with the county. He said it’s not a question of whether to establish the posi- tion but how to fund it. As for a proposed water resource advisory committee, Palm- er said he needs to learn more about it. See PALMER, Page A10 County needs to return to its economic roots Prairie City mayor race contested Garrison and Preston on ballot, Hamsher as write-in By Richard Hanners in campaign. Blue Mountain Eagle Carole Garrison Two candidates will appear on the ballot for a two-year term as Prairie City mayor, Carole Garrison and Frances Preston. Mayor Jim Hamsher did not file for re-election but recently has mounted a write- Garrison has been on the Prairie City Council since she was appointed in 2008. She grew up in central California and had a long career in ed- ucation as a counselor and helping deaf people learn to read and write. She and her husband were active in horsepacking, fly- fishing and team roping. They retired to Prineville in 2001 and then moved to Prairie City five years later when Prineville “got too big,” she said. Presently the longest serv- ing city coun- cilor, Garrison has served as council pres- ident, mayor pro tem, mu- seum commis- Frances sioner, office Preston commissioner and on vol- unteer committees. Serving on the council has been her main focus since moving to Prairie City, and she has no hidden agenda, she said. Garrison Carole said residents Garrison often contact her to find out what’s going on with city government because she’s Jim Hamsher known in the community for her trans- parency. Dis- pelling rumors is a common task, she said. The city has several large infra- See MAYOR, Page A10 Torrefaction plant awaiting permitting Planning commission to hear zoning request By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Eagle file photo While plans for a torrefaction plant in John Day are moving forward, with some new equipment al- ready in John Day, the companies’ conditional-use zoning application must go before the Grant County Planning Commission after neighbors raised issues about emissions, traffic and noise. The torrefaction plant will be owned and oper- ated by Restoration Fuels LLC, a subsidiary of the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, a 501(c)3 public charity. The facility is expected to an- nually produce about 90,000 tons of torrefied wood briquettes for use as an alternative fuel for coal- or biomass-fired energy facilities. The raw material, small-diameter biomass pro- A hearing will be held Oct. 18 on a conditional use permit for a torrefaction plant planned at the Malheur Lumber Co. mill in John Day. duced by current forest health restoration projects and stewardship contracts, will be trucked to the facility and then heated and compressed into energy-dense coal-like briquettes. Restorations Fuels operations manager Joseph Koerner told the Eagle the torrefaction plant could be operating by the second quarter next year, depending on permit approval. Final design of the densification equipment, and resulting total production, will de- pend upon customer demand, he said. Torrefaction addresses two important concerns, Koerner noted — what to do with small woody mate- rial removed to improve forest health and how to get large energy facilities off coal, which is blamed for global warming. Japanese companies were the most likely customers for the product, but U.S. companies have also expressed interest, he said. Planning report According to the Grant County Planning Depart- ment’s staff report, the companies need a condition- al-use permit for the torrefaction plant because the parcel is adjacent to a residential zone. The county planning commission hearing will take place at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, in the John Day Fire Hall. The torrefaction plant will be located on Malheur Lumber Co.’s 68.25-acre mill site and will operate in conjunction with existing operations, the report said. The new equipment will be located as far from See PLANT, Page A10
