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