News Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, October 17, 2018 A3 Sewer plant timeline moved up 911 transition By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle The timeline for John Day’s new wastewater treatment plant might move up six months because of a decision to seek federal Community Development Block Grant funding to pay for engineer- ing. The plant is eligible for up to $2.5 million in CDBG funding, City Manager Nick Green told the city council Oct. 9, but he had planned to use other funding for engineering and save the federal grant for construction. Submitting the complex application with a 116-page procedures manual two times posed a tremendous bureaucrat- ic hurdle, Green said, but after talking with Arthur Chaput at Business Oregon, he learned the second application would mostly duplicate the first. A facility plan for the project is com- pleted, and sufficient engineering anal- ysis has been completed to submit an application, Green told the council. He estimated the total engineering cost for the new plant at $350,000. The council unanimously directed Green to begin work on the grant application. In other council news: • According to a timeline present- ed by Green, the John Day Planning Commission will hold a hearing on an- nexation and rezoning requests for four city-owned properties on Oct. 23. The changes would become effective Jan. 1. This includes rezoning city park land around the Kam Wah Chung State Her- itage Site, including Gleason Pool, and newly acquired land along the John Day River near the north end of Canton Street as park reserve. The state plans to purchase city land around Kam Wah Chung for a state park facility, and the city plans to use Matt the Canton Street proper- Manitsas ty for a new city park. The city also wants to annex newly acquired property north of the river along Davis Creek and rezone it park reserve, and annex the former Oregon Pine mill site and rezone the portion south of the river as general commercial. Plans call for developing the former mill site as the Innovation Gateway. Further in the future, the city plans to annex Grant Union Junior-Senior High School and six properties north of the school and west of South Canyon Boule- vard. While taxes will slightly increase as the properties move from county to city jurisdiction, water and sewer bills could be cut in half. Green suggested waiving city taxes for three years for two of the larger lots, which are owned by Old West Federal Credit Union. Following discussion, the council agreed to waive the taxes but not pass on the benefit to new owners if the properties sell. • The council further discussed an is- sue raised Sept. 26 by contractor Joe Madden about the city’s new urban re- newal housing incentive plan. Madden said he was concerned that, because of the lag in awarding incentives, benefits could end up going to new owners and not the builders who took the risk to construct new homes or invest in expen- sive remodeling projects. Green said multi-party agreements could be complex and the city shouldn’t play the role of broker. He suggested that all parties to a building project, including landowners, builders and buyers, should draft and pay for legally-binding agree- ments that determine who should receive the city’s incentive payment. Councilor Paul Smith called the propos- al a fair solution that put the responsibility back on the builders. Green said he would draft new bylaws and present them to the urban renewal agency for approval. • Matt Manitsas, the city’s agriculture projects leader, described his recent trip to the EuroMex facilities in Mexico. John Day’s new commercial greenhouse will come from EuroMex, and Manitsas was sent to learn more about their agricultural operations. Manitsas spent seven days at the 110- acre Agricola Nueva Generacion farm, the largest in the state of Zacatecas, where 20 greenhouses produce bell peppers, cucum- bers and tomatoes. The farm had its own packaging plant, where children worked alongside adults. Hydroponic farming was new to the farm, Manitsas said, and while some green- houses were totally climate-controlled, others had dirt floors and tractors driving through them, creating an avenue for pests. The greenhouses were much taller than the one coming to John Day, he noted. The farm reacted overnight to changing prices in Texas, about eight hours away. Workers were paid about $6 to $7 per day, and Manitsas estimated that each worker was responsible for about 5,000 plants. • The council will meet again Oct. 23. B2H line faces final rounds of approval By Antonio Sierra EO Media Group The Boardman to Hem- ingway Transmission Line is churning its way toward regulatory approval from the Oregon Department of Energy, which is kicking off the review process with a series of public meetings across all four Eastern Ore- gon counties through which the line would run. Idaho Power is propos- ing a 500-kilovolt, 273- mile transmission line from Boardman to the Heming- way Substation in Owyhee County, Idaho, and just sub- mitted a final application for site certificate. The cost for the transmission line is estimated at $1 billion to $1.2 billion. The proposal has been contentious, and although the tour will not include time for public comment, Idaho Power spokeswom- an Julie Stutts said compa- ny representatives will be available to respond to res- idents’ questions and con- cerns after the meetings end in Pendleton, Boardman, La Grande, Baker City, and Ontario. Critics like JoAnn Mar- lette of Baker City contend that the transmission line would alter Eastern Ore- gon’s scenery, create nega- tive effects on the environ- ment and create noise issues for local residents. In an interview Thurs- day, Marlette said she has suggested Idaho Power in- stead bury the power lines or invest in microgrids — a small, local grid that has the ability to operate indepen- dent from the larger power grids — but her arguments haven’t halted the project. “It’s all about the mon- ey,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if they ruin Eastern Oregon.” Jeff Maffuccio, the fa- cility siting coordinator for Idaho Power, conceded that Boardman to Hemingway would likely change some of the views in Eastern Or- egon, but it’s taking steps during the planning process to make the transmission towers less intrusive. Maffuccio said none of the towers would have fenc- ing around them and the service roads would be dirt rather than paved streets. Boardman to Heming- way’s application is thou- sands of pages long, and al- though Maffuccio said he’s confident that Idaho Power has addressed any concerns up to this point, he wants to wait to receive more public input before he’s assured that the transmission will clear the regulatory process. While the line has alter- native routes, the general path of the line is the same. From the Oregon-Ida- ho border, the line snakes between Vale and Harper before charting a similar path to Interstate 84. The line bypasses Huntington, Baker City and La Grande, splitting from I-84 around Meacham. Boardman to Heming- way crosses Highway 395 south of Pilot Rock before taking a hard turn north to- ward Boardman after cross- ing Highway 207 in Mor- row County. Maffuccio said Idaho Power has altered the route based on local concerns, like moving the transmis- sion line south after realiz- ing how many people lived in McKay Creek area north of Pilot Rock. “We didn’t realize that there’s a lot of houses until we got on the ground,” he said. Maffuccio said Idaho Power is also working with Morrow County farmers and the Boardman Bomb- ing Range to address any of their concerns. Boardman to Heming- way won’t go unopposed at the upcoming series of public meetings. Marlette said she plans to attend the meetings in Ontario, Baker City and La Grande. The Pendleton meeting will be held at the Pendle- ton Convention Center on Oct. 18 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The SAGE Center will host the Boardman meeting at the same day and time. Following the public meetings, the department of energy plans to submit a draft proposed order to En- ergy Facility Siting Council for either approval or denial in the first quarter of 2019. Once the order is sub- mitted, the department will hold public hearings in all five counties and begin ac- cepting testimony and pub- lic comment on the project. Idaho Power projects to have final regulatory approval from the state in early 2021 and complete Boardman to Hemingway in 2025. won’t come cheap New workstation console could cost $46,000 By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Progress is being made on preparing the new 911 dis- patch center in the John Day Fire Hall, but it won’t be cheap. In a May 21 draft offer to the Intergovernmental Coun- cil that will oversee the Grant County Emergency Commu- nications Agency, the city of John Day offered to pay up to $90,000 for building im- provements to the fire hall and $28,000 for furniture and equipment replacement. The city council on April 10 also approved financing from Washington Federal to complete the construction of the fire hall, which would in- clude rooms to be used by the new 911 dispatch center. The $118,000 in funding for the dispatch center will come from the Washington Federal loan and the $420,000 appropriation that the city got from the legislature to make up the operations budget shortfall for the biennium. Bids approved More details on these costs became evident during the John Day City Council’s Sept. 25 meeting. Two bids were approved for equipment and console casework that could total $100,156. The council approved a $34,609 bid from Webster Communications Services to install the new communica- tions equipment and a video security system for the fire hall, to relocate the existing communications equipment and to establish a backup 911 dispatch console at the John Day City Hall. The council also approved a $57,947 bid from Evans to manufacture a custom-de- signed console center for two 911 workstations. The 18-foot long console would include lift columns with control equipment, forced-air heaters for each station and ergonom- ic-positioning equipment for monitors and keyboards. City Manager Nick Green explained that the existing console equipment is 20 years old and does not fit the dimen- sions of the new dispatch cen- ter. He also said the price was awarded through a competitive selection process through a cooperative purchasing agree- ment in Texas. The cost of the equipment drew a reaction from Mayor Ron Lundbom, who asked if the dispatch center was getting mahogany fur- niture. Green noted that Dis- patch Manager Valerie May- nard believed she could ne- Kenny gotiate the Ev- Delano ans bid down to $46,000. The Intergovernmental Council board on May 21 vot- ed 6-0 in favor of leasing space in the fire hall from the city for the dispatch center. The tenta- tive terms for a 15-year lease were $750 per month for the first 10 years and $1,000 per month for the next five years. County approval The Grant County Court unanimously approved an or- dinance for the creation of the Grant County Emergency Communications Agency on a second reading at their Sept. 26 meeting. Grant County Judge Scott Myers noted that the court had about 90 days to get the ordinance into effect. A number of questions had been raised at the first reading on Sept. 12. Commis- sioner Rob Raschio had said he recognized the need for a 911 system but had concerns about the structure of the In- tergovernmental Council. John Day and Prairie City each would have two votes — one for the city and one for the rural fire department — while the county would have only one vote, he said. Commissioner Jim Ham- sher said, according to the current budget, combining the sheriff’s office’s user share with the county’s share based on assessed property value came to 58 percent of the total cost share for the 911 system, or about $117,513. Maynard told the court the county would not start paying for the new dispatch system until July 2019, when the new fiscal year starts. If the Oregon Legislature raises the 911 telephone tax next year, local agencies would not see the benefit until the additional revenue was col- lected, which would be after the start of the next fiscal year, she said. Kenny Delano, Intergov- ernmental Council chairman, told the court he had heard no opposition to creating the new agency from the eight partici- pating cities. Hamsher noted that Prairie City, where he serves as may- or, will pay about $6,000 to the agency but had budgeted about $20,000. He called the system fair for Prairie City. Raschio noted that the county could withdraw from the agency if the court finds it necessary. NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH 2018 Are you or someone you know the victim of physical or emotional abuse? Do you find yourself being abusive toward your partner? GET HELP TODAY AND COMMIT TO A BETTER LIFE FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR CHILDREN. CALL NOW OR CONTACT YOUR LOCAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CENTER FOR THE HELP YOU NEED TO MAKE A CHANGE. HEART OF GRANT COUNTY: 541-620-1342 GRANT COUNTY VICTIM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: 541-575-4026 This project was supported by Grant No. 2015-WR-AX-0008 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. The USDOJ and Grant County Victim Assistance Program are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, religion, sex, or age. 82167