NEWS
BlueMountainEagle.com
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
A3
Man saved by search and rescue matches funding request
Student educational
program to
receive $5,000
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County Search and Res-
cue received three letters in sup-
port of a program aimed at helping
school children learn about out-
doors preparation.
SAR Coordinator Dave Dobler
read a letter to the Grant County
Court on March 27 from the fam-
ily of Lucas Cavalle, who went
missing on Fields Peak and was
recovered Dec. 6. The family
acknowledged that their son was
not dressed properly or prepared
for his day hike during severe win-
ter weather.
Dobler also read a letter from
the Letosky family. Joe Letosky
Jr. and Joe Letosky Sr. drove their
trucks into the Deer Creek area and
got stuck in deep snow Feb. 21.
They had some emergency gear
but needed assistance from SAR
personnel. Their trucks were still
there, Dobler said.
He also read a letter from Ed
Westervelt, whose vehicle got
stuck in deep snow in the Mid-
dle Fork area. Westervelt tried to
hike cross-country to his cabin and
nearly froze to death.
Westervelt was fortunate his
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Grant County Search and Rescue volunteers who came to the March 27 Grant County Court meeting include,
from left, Nate Gordanier, Sam Palmer, Pam Powell, Russ Powell, SAR Coordinator Dave Dobler, Gretchen Dobler,
Steve Fletcher, Kim Kell and Carl Metler.
cellphone was able to reach 911
dispatch and had hypothermia
when he was found by SAR per-
sonnel. He promised in his support
letter to completely match Dobler’s
$2,500 request to the court for the
educational program.
The court approved the fund-
ing, which will be used to pay for
whistles, glowsticks, flashlights
and other items that will be handed
out to children at Humbolt Ele-
mentary, Seneca and Prairie City
schools during the presentations.
In other county court news from
March 27:
• The court approved a request
from Roadmaster Alan Hickerson
to purchase a $36,000 used Dura-
Patcher machine that uses a chip
sealing-type method to repair road
shoulders and fix potholes.
The machine is easy to use and
maintain, Hickerson said. DuraPa-
tchers are in high demand this time
of year and could be loaned out to
the local cities, he said.
• The court renewed a $6,000
contract for the sheriff’s office to
provide forest patrols to the Forest
Service.
• The court approved a letter
to the U.S. House Appropriations
Committee urging support of fully
funding federal payment-in-lieu of
taxes to counties with federal lands
in their jurisdiction.
“PILT
provides
critical
resources to nearly 1,900 counties
across 49 states to offset lost prop-
erty tax revenue due to the pres-
ence of tax-exempt federal lands
within their jurisdictions,” the let-
ter said.
The letter noted, without steady
and fixed annual PILT payments,
the counties face difficulties pro-
viding essential services to its res-
idents and visitors, including law
enforcement, search and rescue,
education, road maintenance and
public health.
• The court approved a first
reading for an ordinance updating
the county’s building permit fees
as required by the state’s Accela
online filing system. A second
reading of the ordinance will take
place April 24, and the system will
go live April 29.
In news from the April 10
county court meeting:
• The court approved a resolu-
tion allowing Commissioner Jim
Hamsher to sign legal documents
in place of Judge Scott Myers
for a federal Community Devel-
opment Block Grant that will
be used to pay for a new Heart
of Grant County domestic abuse
shelter.
• The court appointed Lance
Zweygardt to the OSU Extension
and 4-H Service District Advi-
sory Council and Stephen Baldwin
to the Senior Citizens Advisory
Council and the Wolf Depredation
Committee.
Professional pool assessment could be expensive
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
The John Day City Coun-
cil learned that a professional
condition assessment of the
Gleason Pool could cost from
$20,000 to $30,000. Council-
ors Steve Schuette and Bran-
don Smith were absent.
Senior Project Man-
ager Aaron Lieuallen told
the council April 9 this esti-
mate might not include a core
evaluation.
Former public works
director and City Councilor
Dave Holland said spend-
ing that much on the old pool
would be a waste of money.
City Manager Nick Green
said the money was not avail-
able in the budget.
The city’s application for
a Large Government Grant
from the Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department has
passed technical review,
Green said.
The $653,453 grant
would be used to pay for a
new parking lot at a possi-
ble new pool site, grading a
level pad for the new pool,
acquiring rights-of-way for
a trail connecting the new
parking area to a trail net-
work along the John Day
River, building a bicycle-pe-
destrian bridge over the river
at the new Hill Family City
Park, developing trails in
the new city park and con-
structing ADA-compatible
restrooms and a drop-off
parking lot at the north end
of the bridge.
The city will make a
10-15 minute presentation
supporting the grant appli-
cation in mid-June and learn
the outcome soon after that.
OPRD received 37 applica-
tions totaling $12.2 million.
About 16 applications will be
funded from the $5.2 million
available, Green said.
The city also will apply
for an OPRD planning grant
up to $40,000 to assist in
pool planning, including
funding for operation and
maintenance and timing for
a capital improvement bond
election.
In other city council news:
• The city, acting as the
fiscal agent for the Grant
County Digital Network
Coalition, will submit an
application for a $3 million
federal Community Connect
grant to improve broadband
in Grant County.
The funding will be used
to run a backbone optical
fiber cable from Burns to
Seneca and support fiber-
to-the-home connections in
Seneca and cable runs to six
critical community facilities.
The coalition will also
apply for a federal ReCon-
nect grant to pay for a back-
bone optical fiber cable from
Seneca to the network’s hub
in the John Day Fire Hall.
The $1.8 million legis-
lative appropriation the city
received in 2017 will be used
as a match for the two grant
applications. The 15 percent
match for the Community
Connect grant is $450,000.
• A fiber optic cable
installed between the Grant
County Education Ser-
vice District offices and the
fire hall enabled the Grant
County Emergency Commu-
nications Agency to move its
911 dispatch center from the
city hall to the fire hall April
10.
• The John Day Urban
CHOICES. CHOICES. CHOICES!
Renewal Agency board,
which has the same members
as the city council, also met
that night.
As a new agency, the
board appointed eight vol-
unteers to its budget com-
mittee: Tom Olson, Vincent
Maurer, Darin Toy, Robert
Raschio, Katrina Randleas,
Ron Hasher, Mike Miller and
Beth Spell.
The same members also
serve on the city budget
committee. Four of them
were reappointed to the city
budget committee: Olson,
Raschio, Miller and Hasher.
• The city council met in
executive session to discuss
real property transactions.
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