NEWS
BlueMountainEagle.com
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
A3
Main Street revitalization includes events
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
Several
downtown
John Day businesses have
expressed interest in Main
Street Revitalization grants
from the state worth up to
$200,000 apiece, City Man-
ager Nick Green told the
city council Feb. 12.
Green said he met with
downtown merchants sev-
eral times since December
to discuss the program. The
grants support downtown
improvement projects for
communities that belong to
the Oregon Main Street Net-
work, which means the city
will be the designated appli-
cant. The applications were
scheduled to be reviewed by
the council on Feb. 26.
The money can be used
for acquiring, rehabilitating
and constructing buildings
and facilitating community
revitalization that will lead
to private investment, job
creation or retention, estab-
lishing or expanding via-
ble businesses or creating
a stronger tax base, Green
said.
town, as other communities
do, Adair said.
City projects
Special events
The council also dis-
cussed event planning pro-
posals presented by Coun-
cilor Shannon Adair. A
street fair intended to
increase foot traffi c down-
town and bring visitors to
John Day could mean clos-
ing Main Street from the
stoplight to Dayton Street
during the weekend of
March 22-23.
Approval by the Ore-
gon Department of Trans-
portation would be needed
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
The John Day City Council considered plans to close part
of Main Street for a March street fair during their Feb. 12
meeting.
to close Main Street. A
newly formed art council
has expressed interest in the
idea, and the John Day-Can-
yon City Parks and Rec-
reation Department might
participate, Adair said. The
council gave its consensus to
move ahead on the proposal.
Adair also said she has
been talking to RC Huerta,
the program director at
the parks and recreation
department, about holding
a 3-on-3 basketball tourna-
ment in summer. The event
could be held at the Seventh
Street Complex or down-
In other city council
news, the council approved
a $75,924 payment to Alpine
Abatement Assoc. of Bend
for asbestos and lead abate-
ment at the Weaver Building
on Main Street.
The payment will be
covered by a Department
of Environmental Qual-
ity brownfi eld reclama-
tion grant and a Main Street
Revitalization grant. The
city purchased the building
in 2017 using a $100,000
Main Street Revitalization
Grant.
Following DEQ and fed-
eral Occupational Safety
and Health Administration
guidelines, Alpine Abate-
ment removed the skim coat
and plaster from framing,
fl oor coverings and a water
heater cover that contained
asbestos. They will return in
the spring to remove exte-
rior paint that contains lead.
Green said now is the
time for the council to dis-
cuss the disposition of the
Weaver Building before
electrical or other work pro-
ceeds. The city could sell
the building by bid or set a
price based on criteria. The
city could also enter into
a partnership with a new
owner that would terminate
once all the rehabilitation
conditions had been met.
The
council
also
approved a $49,987 pay-
ment to L&L Excavating of
Mt. Vernon for excavation,
backfi ll and concrete curb
work for the Canton Street
improvement project.
Getting the word out on Firewise communities
estry representative, Jerome
said. After she writes up
a report, the community
develops a timeline and
project list and the docu-
ments are sent to Salem and
the National Fire Protection
Association for approval.
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
Residents and land-
owners in the Dog Creek
and Marysville area con-
cerned about wildfi re risks
might want to contact Grant
County Firewise Coordina-
tor Irene Jerome.
The area east of Canyon
City and John Day is a per-
fect candidate for a Firewise
community, Grant County
Judge Scott Myers told the
county court Feb. 13.
Rules governing use of
federal Title III Secure Rural
Schools funding to protect
homes and property from
wildfi res has been tightened
up since 2008. The funding
is only available to autho-
rized Firewise communities,
Jerome said.
Firewise process
Grant County is home to
the fi rst Firewise community
in Eastern Oregon, estab-
lished in the Pine Creek
area about two years before
the Canyon Creek Complex
fi re bore down on the area,
threatening people, live-
stock and property.
The residents, led by
Pine Creek Firewise board
chairman Howard Gieger,
a former arson investiga-
tor, worked together prun-
ing branches, mowing tall
grass and weeds, thinning
trees, improving access
routes, building an emer-
gency bridge for ATVs and
locating water sources ahead
of the 2015 fi re.
“After the fi re passed
major vehicle accident could
block access. A live drill is
planned in the Middle Fork
area in April, Jerome noted.
Organizing
Firewise
communities can leverage
the infl uence of residents
when dealing with govern-
ment agencies, Jerome said.
A fuel reduction project on
public land adjacent to the
Laycock Creek area, for
example, was scheduled to
take place about eight years
from now, but the newly
formed Firewise community
there has prompted the For-
est Service to move the proj-
ect up.
“It’s been documented
that the Firewise program
saves lives,” Jerome said.
“But it also helps build
communities.”
Firewise projects
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Irene Jerome, the Grant
County Firewise coordinator,
updated the county court on
the program at their Feb. 13
meeting.
through and the smoke sub-
sided, all of the Firewise
participants’ homes sur-
vived,” Bill Dean, the pub-
lic information offi cer for
the Canyon Creek Complex
fi re, wrote at the time.
Since then, Firewise
communities have been
established in the Ritter,
Middle Fork and Laycock
areas. Firewise is a commu-
nity-driven program, Jerome
explained shortly after Pine
Creek was recognized.
“Our population is so
sparse and so scattered it is
diffi cult to form a group that
can fulfi ll the few small steps
necessary to get the Firewise
recognition,” she said.
The process begins with
a risk assessment conducted
by a local fi re chief and an
Oregon Department of For-
Gieger told the court
how he removed “tons of
brush” around his home in
Pine Creek before the Can-
yon Creek Complex fi re. He
said his neighbors thought it
was excessive, but as the fi re
blew in from the east and
south, it “fell to the ground”
and didn’t destroy the home
he built in 1978. Since the
fi re, Pine Creek residents
have upgraded bridges
and helped neighbors and
seniors remove “thousands
of tons of slash.”
The speed of the wind-
blown fi re caught many Pine
Creek residents by surprise,
Gieger said, resulting in
confusion about evacuation
routes. The Firewise group
is now using GPS units
to identify bridges, water
sources, turnouts and other
important features to mark
on a printed map to be pro-
vided to residents and fi re-
fi ghting agencies, he said.
Gieger noted that Pine Creek
residents back the GPS proj-
ect 100 percent.
The Firewise group in
Ritter has held a fi re emer-
gency
simulation
that
focused on how to evacu-
ate residents on a 20-mile
long road with poor cell-
phone coverage where a
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G r a n t S o i l & Wa t e r C o n s e r va t i o n D i s t r i c t ’ s 2 0 1 9 A n n u a l
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Water is abundant within the stream systems of Grant County, but is
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