NEWS BlueMountainEagle.com Wednesday, April 10, 2019 A3 Opinions divided at pool stakeholders meeting By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Opinions were split about evenly over the future of a public swimming pool in Grant County during a meeting hosted and moder- ated by the John Day swim team. Roughly 40 people attended the April 2 meet- ing at the Grant County Regional Airport. Pool man- ager and swim team coach Sabrina Howard and swim team representative Haley Walker moderated the meet- ing as a neutral party. With negotiations between John Day and the state Department of Parks and Recreation for the sale of Gleason Pool and four acres of adjacent city parkland already underway, the pub- lic pool may cease to oper- ate after the 2020 season. Representatives from five stakeholder organizations also attended the meeting. Walker said the stakehold- ers have worked on the pool issue for about six months, but the only decision that had been reached so far was in favor of the most afford- able option — a six-lane outdoor pool. Pool options John Day City Manager Nick Green noted that the city and the John Day-Can- yon City Parks and Recre- ation District have agreed on a site for a new pool — the upper northwest fields at the Seventh Street Com- plex. He said it was a logi- cal site choice — out of the floodplain, near the Parks & Rec offices with beautiful views of the mountains to the south. Green also said, when the city purchased land from the Hill family for a new city park, it signed an agreement saying it would hold money from the sale of Gleason Pool and the adja- cent parkland for five years and dedicate it for a new pool. The new pool will pro- vide six lanes for competi- tive swimming. Walker said the narrower five-lane con- figuration at Gleason Pool poses safety issues during warm-up times prior to swim meets. At 61 years old this sea- son, Gleason Pool is the second oldest public pool in Oregon. John Day City Councilor Dave Holland, the city’s public works director in the past, said fixing the pool would be difficult. Supply and drain pipes were likely steel or gal- vanized steel, with a typi- cal lifetime of 10-30 years, Holland said. To replace rusted-out pipes, concrete decking and even the pool bottom would need to be demolished. Some pipes also were under the pool buildings, he said. Pool costs The target figures are $4.5 million for construc- tion of a new pool and about $100,000 per year for oper- ation, maintenance and a future pool replacement fund, Walker said. A county- wide bond measure is being considered to pay for build- ing a new pool, while stake- holders are discussing ways to come up with the annual funding, she said. Green said the city has already spent money on consultants for design alter- natives and to acquire new parkland. He said he looked at federal grant sources to help bring down a poten- tial bond figure, but federal grants for public pools are typically limited to those connected with a senior center or intended for tour- ists, he said. That leaves the state as the primary avenue for grant funding, he said. Initial talks with the The Eagle/Richard Hanners From left, John Day pool manager and swim team coach Sabrina Howard, John Day City Manager Nick Green, Grant School District 3 Superintendent Bret Uptmor and Grant County Commissioner Sam Palmer during a meeting at the Grant County Regional Airport on April 2. state over the land sale have focused on establishing the value of the Gleason Pool and city parkland, Green said. While the state has regulations limiting what they could pay for land, the sales money could be used as a match for future state grants. John Day Mayor Ron Lundbom noted that any “kicker” provided by the state in the sale negotia- tions could be lost if a bond election fails. He called the negotiations “very complicated.” Grant School District 3 Superintendent Bret Upt- mor said the school board has ruled out seeking a bond to build a new high school. The board wants to use remodeling and infrastruc- ture updates to keep exist- ing buildings in good shape. But speaking as an indi- vidual and as a school superintendent, Uptmor expressed support for a pub- lic pool in Grant County. He noted that Ontario, where he worked in the past, closed its public pool six years ago, which was a major set- back for the community. Walker noted that when the hospital bond sunsets in 2021, taxpayers could pay a smaller bond for a pool and pay less taxes overall. Spreading costs One option raised as a way to increase revenue to meet annual operating costs was to expand the Parks & Rec district to include Mt. Vernon and Prairie City. Board member Lisa Weigum, however, said the Parks & Rec board was defi- nitely opposed to that idea. Green said, if the pool remains open after the 2020 season, the city would need to consider a local option levy to pay for operations and maintenance. City tax- payers would end up paying to run the pool, he said. Lundbom expressed his concern that so many peo- ple want a pool but John Day could end up paying for it. About 40 percent of the Gleason Pool use has been by people from outside the city who basically swim for free, he said. The city also carried the burden for 911 dispatch and other services for too long, Lundbom said. Why is John Day responsible for provid- ing a public pool for the rest of the county, he asked. It was time for the county to step up and support a new pool, he said. Blue Mountain Hos- pital District board mem- ber Levi Manitsas said the board is discussing ways it can support a public pool, which provides a healthy activity. The hospital is one of the largest employers in the county, he said, and one option was to purchase annual pool passes for all of its employees. Greater need Walker said the pool issue is not just about the swim team, instead pro- viding a healthy environ- ment for the entire commu- nity. Weigum agreed, noting that the Parks & Rec district offered programs for adults, including aerobics and lap swimming. Howard said plans were being made to expand pool hours into the evening to accommodate more adults. Howard also said a pub- lic pool enables teaching a needed life skill — how to swim. Several audience members echoed that point, as did Grant County Com- missioner Sam Palmer, speaking as a stakeholder representing the county court. Weigum noted that Parks & Rec often waives fees for children who live outside the district and those in need. A simple conceptual drawing of a six-lane out- door pool with an attached gym featuring two basket- ball courts puzzled a woman in the audience. She said she thought the meeting was about a swimming pool. Weigum explained that a shortage of gym space exists in the county, which impacts adults who want to walk in winter. Lundbom noted that Parks & Rec could make money selling gym space in winter. He added that he was the “last to cave” on the idea of building an indoor pool. Walker pointed out that the only addition to the existing Gleason Pool facil- ity in the conceptual draw- ing was a “party room,” which could be rented out. She also said the meeting was about a public pool, not a gym. Palmer said public input over the pool’s future seemed equally divided, with nothing in the middle. He encouraged the public to speak with county court members and provide more input on the matter. Broadband promoters adjust to grant hurdles By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Federal grants The board agreed at their Feb. 19 meeting to revise their grant application plans, based on their con- sultants’ advice about the criteria used to award grant application winners. The federal ReCon- nect grant does not favor telecommunication routes through sparsely populated “frontier” areas that lack businesses, schools and health care facilities and requires pre-subscriptions by potential customers. The Community Con- nect grant has less restric- tive criteria. The board agreed to swap the two federal grant applications and slightly The Eagle/Richard Hanners A Blue Mountain Telecommunication Services worker on a bucket truck helps run an optical fiber cable along South Canyon Boulevard from the John Day Fire Hall to the Grant County Education Service District building on April 3. modify the project areas. The ReConnect grant appli- cation will now apply to the area along Highway 395 from the network’s hub in the John Day Fire Hall to Strawberry Lane in Seneca, and the Community Con- nect application will apply to the area that includes most of Seneca and the route south to Burns. Board members dis- cussed how to line up enough people to pre-sub- scribe. Areas where the res- idents are served by Viasat are off limits to the coa- lition’s pre-subscription efforts. Many of the large swaths of marked-off Viasat territory are ranches with only a single residence. Oregon Telephone Cor- poration, the coalition’s partner in the countywide broadband effort, is also seeking federal funding. The coalition board learned from Ortelco’s Garrin Bott on Jan. 5 that the com- pany planned to apply for a ReConnect grant to help pay for running an optical fiber cable north from Mt. Vernon to Long Creek and possibly west to Monument. Future funding Sen. Jeff Merkley, who helped secure $1.15 bil- lion for rural broadband projects through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, commented in a March 5 press release on the need to ensure that funding Attend a Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Dinner and Benefit Auction Where fun and fund-raising combine for a memorable evening. Date: Time: Saturday, April 20 4:00—Doors open 5:30—Dinner 7:30—Auction Place: Pavilion— Grant County Fairgrounds Ticket Information: Gale Wall (541) 575-2661 served rural areas through the Rural Broadband Capacity Pilot Program. The department received 25 applications totaling $4.8 million in requests for the $500,000 in available funding. House Bill 2184, cur- rently in committee, calls for lowering the surcharge on retail telecommunica- tions sales for wireline tele- phone customers in Ore- gon from 8.5 percent to 7 percent but also applying the surcharge to wireless communication. Up to $10 million of the surcharge receipts would go into a new Broadband Fund that would promote broad- band projects beginning in 2020. The Grant County Court agreed at its March 27 meeting to send a letter in support of HB 2184. Senate Bill 904, intro- duced by Sen. Cliff Bentz at the request of the Grant County Digital Network Coalition, called for appro- priating $3 million from the general fund to sup- port broadband infrastruc- ture in Grant County. It has so far failed to move out of committee. Small steps Meanwhile, the coali- tion has been moving for- ward with small proj- ects. The board approved a $33,333 bid by Blue Moun- tain Telecom on Feb. 5 to run an optic fiber cable from the John Day Fire Hall to the Grant County Education Service District office. The cable project was delayed, but crews began running cable April 2. The run is needed to provide internet access to 911 dis- patch before they relocate from the city hall to the fire hall. When the crew is fin- ished, it will head to Sen- eca to run optical fiber from the school to the city hall building. On March 26, the board approved a $55,743 bid, also by Blue Mountain Telecom, to install an optic fiber cable from the fire hall to city hall. A large capac- ity cable will be run north to North Canyon Boulevard and First Street and then a smaller cable will continue to the People Mover facil- ity, back to Highway 26 and then on to city hall. A man wakes up in the morning after sleeping on an ADVERTISED BED, in ADVERTISED PAJAMAS. He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR, have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE. Then it’s too late. AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK? DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it! A great time for a great cause. Proceeds benefit elk and other wildlife. 113905 Blue Mountain Eagle MyEagleNews.com 113900 Leaders in the effort to improve internet access in Grant County have to be nimble on their feet as they vie for competitive grants and design networks that provide the best service for the public. Last December, the Grant County Digital Net- work Coalition learned it had not been awarded a $2.9 million Community Connect grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The coalition had hoped to leverage a $1.8 mil- lion state appropriation it received in 2017 to begin running optical fiber cable south to Burns. The set- back meant the coalition had to look for new grant opportunities. reaches the communities it is intended to help. “Many Oregonians have expressed concerns that some of ReConnect’s designs limit accessibility for more residential areas with fewer medical centers, businesses and educational facilities,” Merkley said in a letter to Agriculture Sec- retary Sonny Perdue. The guidelines used to determine ReCon- nect grants make the pro- gram out of reach for many Americans in rural under- served or unserved areas, he said. “The need for greater broadband accessibil- ity is for both promoting economic growth and for expanding access to import- ant services like health care and education,” Merkley said in his letter. “Access to high-speed internet, espe- cially for rural communi- ties, is crucial in connect- ing our constituents to the wealth of information and resources that remains crit- ically underutilized in these areas.” In 2018, Business Ore- gon funded seven broad- band projects in under- Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710