10
Blue Mountain Eagle
PROGRESS 2019: MT. VERNON
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Karen Hinton, owner of The Shiny Thimble, visits outside her shop with quilting friends Maudean Brown, Mary Lou Drury (behind Brown) and Frances Arneson. Hinton’s 11-year-old son
Mathew Delano is at right.
Mt. Vernon city leaders have projects in the works
Town receives gift of
building for new city
hall location
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Mt. Vernon city officials are
moving on three major proj-
ects, including wastewater system
upgrades, city park improvements
and a new location for city hall,
which will create space for a new
museum.
Wastewater treatment
upgrades
Upgrading the wastewater treat-
ment facilities has been on the city
agenda for years, before Mayor
Kenny Delano or City Recorder
Tami Kowing came on board.
Delano is in his second term as
mayor, and Kowing is in her sev-
enth year as city recorder.
The city received a $2 million
Community Development Block
Grant, plus an additional $255,000
CDBG grant and a $225,000 loan
from the Oregon Infrastructure
Finance Authority to upgrade the
wastewater treatment facilities.
Now the long wait is over, and
Kowing said HECO Engineering
of Idaho will do the leg work on
the outdated system, and the proj-
ect is expected to break ground
this fall.
“It’s just the first phase,” she
said, adding it’s an expensive
process. “They’ll get everything
repaired and do some testing and
see how much further we need to
go.”
Sewer lines will also be
extended to Rim Rock Lane on
the north side of town, which is
off Highway 395, and if residents
in that area would like to hook up
to the line, they can.
Delano said the town became
quiet after the school closed in
2011 due to budget cuts.
“There’s been no booming
industry,” he said. “When we lost
our school, that really changed the
genetics of the town — the school
was a huge draw.”
Although the town is small, it’s
still necessary to maintain an ade-
quate water system, he said.
“We want to be able to have
fire suppression, keep lawns green
and wash cars,” he said. “We’re in
excellent shape. However, those
things are prone to wear out.”
He added, “It’s a real struggle
to build up any capital money for
any large infrastructure problem.”
Delano said they can only
make small, incremental increases
to their water rates to take pre-
ventative measures. They can’t
charge the rates found in Bend or
Portland, he said.
“We’re doing OK with our
sewer getting work done with this
grant — that’s helpful,” he said.
City park improvements
Delano said he hopes to see
children playing at the city park,
currently under construction,
before the students head back to
The current location of Mt. Vernon City Hall, soon to be
moved across Highway 26 to a new location.
school this fall.
He said the timing depends on
how many setbacks they experi-
ence, but he added the work has to
be complete by October.
“Hopefully, the kids can enjoy
it for part of the summer,” he said.
Kowing said the park is the
first thing people see when they
enter the city from the east.
“We’re doing all sorts of
upgrades to draw more people,”
she said.
New playground equipment
was delivered earlier this spring,
but flooding and more rain pre-
vented them from completing the
first part of the park project, which
is adding underground sprinklers
to the grassy area.
All the old metal slides, jun-
gle gym and teeter-totters were
removed, and the new set includes
slides, bridges, a rock-climbing
wall, swings and a type of zipline.
Smaller children can also enjoy
playing on a horse spring rider.
Cement will be poured to
anchor poles and other areas. Then
a padded floor topped with Astro-
turf will be laid on the playground.
Lighting will be upgraded at
the park, and three new flagpoles
will be installed.
Delano said a park commit-
tee, formed just before he became
mayor three years ago, made the
park plans.
Kowing said surveys were sent
out to residents to add their input.
“It’s seems like everyone was
in support,” she said. “The resi-
dents love it.”
There are additional plans to
construct a walking path around
the park, so adults can exercise
while the children play, but it will
be included in a future grant cycle.
Mt. Vernon City Hall set for
new location
Once a plumbing permit from
the state is acquired, the location
of the city hall at 199 W. Main
will move kitty-corner across the
street to 250 W. Main.
The newer building, which was
owned by John La Liberte, once
housed Oregon Telephone Corpo-
ration. La Liberte’s late wife, Sue
Newstetter, used it as her office.
Newstetter is credited with writ-
ing the CDBG grant application
for funding the renovation of the
Mt. Vernon Community Hall.
Kowing said the Mt. Vernon
School Alumni Committee was
Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter
Suds Pub in downtown Mt. Vernon.
looking for a spot to house a pleth-
ora of trophies and other historical
school memorabilia, with some
items dating back to the 1920s.
The committee members knew
La Liberte’s property was for sale,
but the building is too large for
their needs. Then the idea formed
to move city hall to the bigger
building and start a museum in the
current city hall location.
Plans were made at a city coun-
cil meeting in January.
Mt. Vernon resident Mary
Ellen Brooks bought the build-
ing to hold until grant funding
could be secured, but a delay on
the grant occurred because state
offices were experiencing a gov-
ernment shutdown. Two months
later, she donated the building to
the city.
Brooks did not wish to be
named, but city leaders and oth-
ers involved were overwhelmed at
her kindness.
“It’s a very tight-knit commu-
nity, and they support each other,
and it’s just amazing,” Kowing
said.
Delano added, “I’m excited,
not just because of the new city
hall building, but the way that we
got it — a bunch of local people
came together wanting to display
Mt. Vernon’s history.”
Brooks is not on the alumni
committee but is well-known for
her love of Mt. Vernon history. She
and Lyle Williams wrote a 320-
page book of the city’s history
titled “Mt. Vernon: the Town, the
People, the Horse” available for
sale at city hall and local stores.
It can also be found at the Grant
County Library in John Day.
The newer city hall will include
the council chambers, offices for
Kowing and Public Works Direc-
tor Bill Cearns and more room for
storage.
Currently, the city is painting,
replacing flooring and upgrading
the bathroom for ADA access.
Delano said the soon-to-be-for-
mer city hall will be leased for a
modest amount, and the city will
pay for water and take care of
any future repairs needed for the
building.
Mt. Vernon happenings
The city hasn’t seen any new
business starts in the past year, but
the Silver Spur Cafe now has new
owners, Mt. Vernon resident Jackie
Osborne and her husband, Todd
Donohue, who bought it in Decem-
ber of last year.
Osborne is not new to the
business.
Her sister Brenda Coley — the
current owner of John Day’s Snaf-
fle Bit Dinner House — bought
the Silver Spur 30 years ago, and
Osborne worked there as a cook
and waitress at that time.
“Coffee was 40 cents,” Osborne
said of the earlier days.
Now she has plans to give the
cafe a facelift with fresh paint and
hanging flower baskets, and she’ll
open up the patio.
Hours are 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Tuesdays through Sundays.
“We bought it because we
didn’t want our local restaurant to
close,” Osborne said.
One other restaurant in town
is Suds Pub, which offers beer on
tap and barbecue meals. It was
started by Jesse and Joe Mad-
den three years ago, and is hold-
ing steady along with a few other
businesses in town.
Oregon Telephone Corpora-
tion, with its main office in Mt.
Vernon, has been making big
plans to bring broadband service
to smaller Grant County commu-
nities through a public-private
partnership with the Grant County
Digital Network Coalition. Both
entities have submitted grant
applications to fund the projects.
Ortelco General Manager
DeeDee Kluser told the Eagle that
Ortelco has sufficient fiber back-
bone and employees to absorb the
needs of new customers.
Other Mt. Vernon businesses
include Ferguson Surveying &
Engineering, gas stations Blue
Mountain Mini-mart and Chevron
Triangle Mini-mart, Shiny Thim-
ble quilt shop, Blue Mountain
Lodge, Mt. Vernon RV Park and
Hamilton Winery.
Mt. Vernon Grange is a meet-
ing and greeting spot, located
across Highway 26 from Clyde
Holliday State Park, known for an
annual pancake breakfast served
by Grange members and the
Christmas bazaar in November.
They also rent the building out
weekly to the Seventh-day Adven-
tist Church for services on Satur-
days and a Mennonite church on
Sundays.
During election season, polit-
ical forums are also held at the
Grange. Harold Preston is the cur-
rent master of the Grange, Frances
Preston is secretary and Brooks is
treasurer.
Grange members focus on
community service, including
their involvement in “Words for
Thirds,” giving away dictionar-
ies to third-graders at Monument,
Dayville and Long Creek schools
and homeschool students. They
also join with members of the
American Legion Auxiliary Ellis
Tracy Unit 77 to give the books to
students at Humbolt Elementary in
Canyon City and Seneca School.
The Mt. Vernon Grange has
been around for 92 years. It burned
to the ground in the late 1940s
when it was located at the now-
empty Crossroads Service Station
— when it burned, it was the first
fire responded to by the new Mt.
Vernon fire truck. It was rebuilt in
1953 in its current location.
Brooks said Leslie Holland and
his family donated the property for
the current Grange location, and
it was built by the organization’s
members.
Mt. Vernon Community Hall on
Ingle Street sees plenty of activity
for meetings, fundraisers, bazaars,
weddings, funerals and more.
Kowing, who handles rentals
for the hall, said sometimes a party
that is rained out at Clyde Holliday
park will call to move their gather-
ing indoors.
Newstetter, who died in 2015,
was credited for securing grant
funding for the hall’s big overhaul,
which was completed in 2008.
Delano, who is a staff surveyor
at Ferguson Surveying, is a long-
time Mt. Vernon resident.
He said that he and the other city
leaders, including councilors Lori
Kerr, Bryan Montague, Mitch Wil-
son and Mike Cearns Sr., “work
exceptionally well together.”
City council meetings are on the
second Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at city
hall.
“Everyone listens to everyone’s
opinions, and we’re all local people
and have been here a long time,”
Delano said. “We want to take care
of our citizens as a governing body,
but we don’t want to be an over-
bearing governing body.”
He said they’re looking ahead
to a water system master plan, and
a chance to receive ODOT’s small
city allotment program funding to
work on streets.
“I’m hoping we’ll get that grant
this year,” he said, adding they
were passed over last year because
they had received it the previ-
ous year. “We’re formulating the
things we have to work on the most
in town.”
Delano said a Memorial Day
flash flood last year and spring
floods this year brought out the
best in their volunteer firefighter
and public works staff.
“We have an exceptional volun-
teer fire department, our city guys
and our rural guys,” he said. “They
were up at the crack of dawn.”
He added, “We didn’t lose any
infrastructure, thanks to the vol-
unteers that came out — we were
able to keep everybody pretty
safe.”