Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 2019)
A18 NEWS Blue Mountain Eagle Budget Continued from Page A1 financial support for the Grant County Economic Development Office. The city contributes to the Grant County Emergency Communications Agency for 911 dispatch at $10 per police or fire call and pays 12.8 percent of the operating deficit left after accounting for state phone tax revenue. The city is also in the first year of a two-year operat- ing agreement with Grant School District 3 to provide a school resource officer. The district pays $45,000 and the city pays about $55,000 for this service, which enables the city to provide a fourth police officer at about 45 percent reduced cost, Green said. Ron Smith plans to retire as John Day fire chief this year, and the city plans to create a new position to replace him. The budget calls for a combined public works and fire chief posi- tion to keep costs affordable, Green said. Swimming pool One of the most talked about changes in the city is the possible sale of Gleason Pool and construction of a new pool. The city has been “very rational and deliber- ate” about the process, Green said, establishing a steer- ing committee and spending more than six months assess- ing options. “We recognize the pool is near and dear to the hearts of a lot of people in the com- munity,” Green said. “This is also a very frugal area. We like to own assets far and beyond their typical lifespan but do not like to pay taxes to maintain those assets.” The city sees the sale of the city park next to the Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site and Gleason Pool “as a strategic opportunity and one we are going to take seri- ously,” Green said. The city’s responsibility is to John Day taxpayers who will end up paying for the pool’s main- tenance after 2020 if it’s not replaced, he said. Green said the city’s goal is to establish a county service district for residents within a reasonable driving distance of the pool. The new district could issue operating lev- ies or capital improvement bonds and spread the pool’s cost among all its users, rather than just John Day. Revenue and debt With the transfer of 911 dispatch service to a new independent agency, city staff was reduced by 30 per- cent to 12 full-time and three part-time employees, Green said. With assistance from the Local Government Per- sonnel Institute, most staff received salary adjustments that made John Day salaries more competitive while pro- viding staff with more room for career growth, he said. Green said he will present ideas for new revenue sources in the coming months. One idea is to implement a tran- sient room tax for John Day that could be used to promote recreation, tourism and eco- nomic development. Another idea is to sell city land that is not in produc- tive use at fair market value, including a portion of the industrial park next to the air- port and a portion of the for- mer Oregon Pine mill prop- Wednesday, April 24, 2019 erty. The city will also look at building and operating a campground. In terms of the city’s over- all financial position, Green noted the city “has been operating at an incredibly fast pace in terms of fund- raising.” Not every fund has been performing the way the city would like, he said, but the city’s overall financial position is improving. “We are making smart investments, and we have been proactive in evaluating our decisions and re-evalu- ating them when conditions change,” he said. Following consolida- tion of several loans through Washington Federal, the city now has four outstanding debt obligations: $550,000 through 2030 in fire sta- tion bonds, $493,000 with 27 payments remaining for the purchase of the Oregon Pine property, $2.1 million to Washington Federal through 2022 and $57,000 in accrued compensated absences. Payments on the $350,000 Business Oregon loan to build three greenhouses may not start until the next fiscal year, Green said. ITEMS OF NOTE Specific proposed budget items of note include: • Electrical costs increase 10 percent across the board • Insurance costs increase 15 percent across the board • $379,380 cost for police personnel • $73,484 cost for fire personnel • $20,000 cost to remodel police offices after 911 dispatch move • Chlorine/phosphates for water system increase 10 percent • $115,000 set aside for water meter change-out • $585,000 in revenue from water sales • Heating costs for sewer increase 10 percent • $570,000 in revenue for sewer service • $72,036 in revenue from Canyon City for sewer service • $83,192 cost for greenhouse personnel • $65,900 cost for materials and services for greenhouse • $14,500 cost for propane for greenhouse • $43,250 in revenue from sale of greenhouse greens • $43,250 in revenue from sale of greenhouse vine produce • $276,612 net working capital balance available for street fund • $162,000 in revenue for street fund from federal forest pay- ment • $75,000 cost to improve and re-deck bridge at Oregon Pine • $200,000 cost to improve Charolais Heights intersection • $22,280 set aside for fire truck replacement • $100,000 carried forward for improvements to the shop at the Oregon Pine site, as the old city shop will be torn down along with the sewer treatment plant Wolf Continued from Page A1 The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union High School drama club members and directors Kathy Sherwood, far left, and Angela Smith, far right, gather at the close of ‘The Complete Tale of the American Civil War (Abridged)’ on April 10 at the school. Front row, from left, Fallen Bolman, Athena Tipton, Sammi Buckhaults, Emilie Updegrave, Sierra Cates and Maria Kerr; back row, Sherwood, Cierra Wyllie, Ellie Justice, Erika Dickens, Katie Johnson, Alyssa Hoffman, Logan Namitz, Will Carpenter, Ashleigh Ostberg and Smith. Play Continued from Page A1 Sherwood said several actors took on new roles at the last minute, due to “unforeseen circumstances” and performed with great skill. “They worked so hard, and we are very proud,” she said. The play was their final performance of the school year. The club also pre- sented Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” in January. Smith said the high school actors are looking forward to their annual trip to Ashland, April 25-27, to attend three plays. The group will see Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” the musical “Hair- spray” and “Mother Road,” a continuation of Stein- beck’s “Grapes of Wrath.” “We’re excited to pro- vide our high school drama club students with the opportunity to experience exceptional theater,” Smith said. Every other Monday in John Day at Blue Mountain Hospital 170 Ford Rd. • 541-575-1311 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! Blue Mountain Eagle MyEagleNews.com 98209 116572 Wild, Defenders of Wild- life, Cascadia Wildlands and the Center for Biolog- ical Diversity — pulled out of the talks, describing the negotiations as flawed and skewed in favor of killing wolves rather than priori- tizing nonlethal forms of deterrence. Steve Pedery, conser- vation director for Ore- Contributed photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gon Wild, said the group A new draft state wolf management plan has been released. remains concerned about the draft plan, and criti- carnivore and furbearer pro- Sristi Kamal, Oregon cized Gov. Kate Brown in a gram coordinator, said wolf senior representative for management is a polarizing Defenders of Wildlife, said statement. “With this wolf plan, topic that makes finding a the plan does not represent a Brown continues to ignore consensus difficult. consensus or compromise. science and the public “But regardless of peo- “It’s been over three while keeping Oregon on ple’s views on wolves, the years since the wolf plan an uninterrupted march to wolf population in Ore- was due for an update, and wolf hunting and trapping,” gon is growing in size, the each iteration has gotten number of packs and packs worse for wolves,” Kamal Pedery said. According to ODFW, reproducing, while expand- said. “The latest updates the plan does not call for ing its range,” Broman said. to the plan — which make Jerome Rosa, executive it easier to kill wolves in any controlled wolf hunts, and any such proposal director of the Oregon Cat- response to livestock pre- would require commission tlemen’s Association, said dations and declines in approval through a separate ranchers are glad to see the ungulate populations — are planning and hunt develop- draft plan is up for review, the predetermined outcome ment process. and look forward to the of a process that only fur- thers the agency’s agenda.” Derek Broman, ODFW process. Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710
