NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
A3
Some events being moved for fairgrounds safety upgrades in spring
10-week project
expected to take
place between
March and May
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Safety improvements at
the fairgrounds have been
scheduled, but the work
will cause changes to some
events planned next spring.
Grant County Fair Man-
ager Mindy Winegar told
the Grant County Court Oct.
23 that the 10-week proj-
ect on Trowbridge Pavil-
ion is set to begin and end
between March 9 to May
11, depending on contrac-
tors and availability.
The construction proj-
ect is necessary because
roots on the north side of
the pavilion have lifted and
cracked the pavilion’s con-
crete floor and created a
tripping hazard.
While some events in
the pavilion have been
canceled, Winegar made
changes for the location of
several events. The Gun
Show on April 25, which
is usually planned in the
pavilion, will be moved
into the Heritage Building
or another facility on the
fairgrounds.
While all events can’t be
accommodated, Winegar is
working with other facil-
ities — the Grant County
Regional Airport, the Elks
Lodge, and others — to host
events. The fairgrounds will
lose approximately $1,000
in revenue, she said.
When asked why there
couldn’t be a temporary fix
for the biggest crack in the
pavilion to avoid cancelling
events, Judge Scott Myers
said, “We’ve attempted
to do that several differ-
ent times, but those cracks
have just come back. By
killing the trees and remov-
ing the trees, we are now
pulling the concrete up and
getting to the ‘root’ of the
problem.”
During the county court
meeting,
commissioners
decided that propane will
fuel the new heating sys-
tem for the pavilion. While
Winegar pushed to use oil
to avoid dealing with 1,000
gallon propane tanks, Com-
missioner Jim Hamsher
talked about the benefits of
propane.
“As far as cost goes,
heating oil is currently
twice the price of propane,”
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
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Fair Manager Mindy Winegar talks about plans for the
heating system in Trowbridge Pavilion at the Grant County
Fairgrounds.
Hamsher said. “In the long
term, with price fluctua-
tions in oil, propane will be
a more stable source since it
is produced domestically.”
While propane would
cost more money to install
than oil, Hamsher said
in time propane will be a
cheaper investment because
of the resource cost and
lower need for maintenance.
The county court advised
Winegar to look for bids for
a propane fueled heating
system.
In other county court
news:
• The court approved
two-year term dates for
the members of the Natu-
ral Resources Committee.
They also decided to stag-
ger the terms so half of the
committee would be up
for election each year, and
there are no term limits.
Dan Becker, Jim Bahren-
burg, Doug Ferguson, Steve
Baldwin and Billie Jo
George, were appointed to
serve a one-year term.
Judy Kerr, Haley Olson,
Scott McDonald, Pat Voigt
and Burke O’Brien were
appointed to serve a two-
year term. The terms were
alphabetically appointed.
From left, Commissioner Sam Palmer, County Judge Scott
Myers and Commissioner Jim Hamsher listen to presenters
Oct. 23.
• The court appointed
Richard Tirico as an addi-
tional death investigator
for Grant County. With the
inclusion of Tirico, there
are now a total of three
death investigators in the
county.
• The court appointed
Scott Myers, Bob Quin-
ton and Elisa Moore as the
2019-2020 Board of Prop-
erty Tax Appeals mem-
bers. This is a one-year
appointment.
• The court approved
their letter of support for
Harney and Wallowa coun-
ties and there participation
of Senate Bill 2.
Senate Bill 2 is a plan-
ning bill that allows local
counties flexibility on up to
50 acres for land develop-
ment, according to Myers.
“We have decided col-
lectively as 10 counties,
that instead of spreading
out $100,000 dollars (given
by the Oregon Legislature)
across 10 counties and get-
ting nothing done, two
counties decided that they
would like to have $50,000
each to proceed as demon-
stration counties to show
how this bill will roll out,”
Myers said.
Next year, Myers said
the legislature will likely
give a $500,000 grant so
other counties will be able
to try this program, but that
is not guaranteed.
John Day City Council chooses locations for future parking spots
Funding options
will be discussed
at next meeting
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Parking in John Day is
about to get easier for vehi-
cles that are as big as an RV
or as small as a Fiat.
The John Day City Coun-
cil decided on two locations
to develop for future park-
ing at its Oct. 22 meeting.
The lot next to the John
Day City Hall will be devel-
oped, and the old Chevrolet
parking lot on West Main
Street downtown will need
to be acquired before devel-
opment begins.
The future parking lots
are intended to help locals
and visitors find a parking
spot to enjoy downtown,
but parking for RVs and
vehicles of the same size
were also discussed.
“The biggest problem
that we have is not a matter
of where cars are going to
park,” said Sherrie Rininger,
the president-elect of the
Grant County Chamber of
Commerce. “We know it’s
more of an issue of where
these big vehicles are going
to park.”
Rininger continued by
asking why the John Day
Elks Lodge was not in con-
sideration when talking
about parking. John Day
City Manager Nick Green
said the parking lot at the
Elks Lodge is not owned
by the city. When the Elks
Lodge decides what they
want to do with their prop-
erty, then the option can be
re-evaluated, he said.
Heather
Rookstool,
an employee at Java Jun-
gle, agrees with the lack of
parking for big vehicles and
believes this issue creates a
general parking problem for
smaller cars.
“If it’s not going to be
policed, I don’t really see
many of the downtown
merchants being super
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
The Chevrolet parking lot could provide parking for the west side of downtown, if acquired.
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
John Day City Manager Nick Green and Mayor Ron Lundbom
listen to Mike Ricker talk about the Riverside Mobile Home
Park.
keen on paying for some-
thing that the city is not
willing to police,” Rook-
stool said. “Say an RV does
park in front of a business,
we don’t have any man-
power to say, ‘Please move
your vehicle down to the
RV designated parking.’”
Councilor
Shannon
Adair echoed what she said
during the last meeting and
talked about using signs to
address the problem.
“I think that we can han-
dle that with signage that
says the certain amount of
time a vehicle can park,”
Adair said.
Rookstool also asked
about the issue of distance
between each parking lot
and their distance from
downtown.
The council quickly
addressed that issue by
talking about the People
Mover as an option for
people who do not want to
walk.
The lot behind Dream-
ers Lodge was presented
again as an option for more
parking for employees
and business owners. The
city council and commu-
nity members both agreed
the lot wasn’t necessary
because the area is too
narrow to address the RV
problem and current work-
ers are doing fine finding
parking.
The estimated develop-
ment cost for the lot next
to the John Day City Hall
is $83,281. It will cost
$60,000 to acquire the
Chevrolet parking lot and
approximately $112,392
to develop the area. Both
lots will feature a public
restroom, which the city
currently does not have.
Initial plans include a total
of 26 new parking spots for
cars and four pull-through
spots for RVs.
The city now plans to
gather more information
on how to make these lots
possible. Several options
for funding the lots were
discussed, such as the city
taking out a loan or hav-
ing business owners help,
but no decision was made.
It will be discussed at the
next city council meeting.
In other city council
news:
• Mike Ricker, a resident
at the Riverside Mobile
Home Park, shared his con-
cerns about hazards at the
park.
Cats and fleas, fenc-
ing and signage and speed
bumps were some of the
concerns Ricker shared.
“I have to watch my dog
because of fleas and those
cats,” Ricker said. “I have
seen feral cats about three
trailers from me, and they
have fleas.”
The main thing that the
city can do is pursue code
enforcement at the mobile
park, Green said.
“We can put a group
together within the city and
go down there and iden-
tify any code violation of
development code or a nui-
sance violation that are
occurring,” Green said.
The city has done this to
pieces of the park before
but not the entire park.
Green will talk to the
mobile park manager,
Chris Fox, and come up
with plans to address this
issue to present at the next
meeting.
• The city council
approved Green to work
on the property line adjust-
ment for Third Street with
Grant County. The city
will accept land on Third
Street, which would be
donated from the county.
This adjustment will make
it easier for three property
owners to connect with the
city sewer system.
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Free Writers Workshop with Rick Steber: Saturday, November 2, 1:00 - 2:30 PM
at Canyon City Community Hall. Join Rick as he discusses the writing process and
shares his writing experience.
Author Night: Rick Steber: Saturday, November 2, 4:00 - 5:00 PM at Canyon City
Community Hall. Award-winning author Rick Steber will talk about his books based
on characters with rural Oregon connections.
Piano Lessons: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday piano lessons with Jamie Wylie-
Lupien. Register at any point in term.
Flute Lessons: Mondays, starting October 28, 6:30 - 7:00 PM. Group flute lessons
with Leanna Perkins. Register at any point in term.
Intro to Music: Tuesdays, starting October 29, 6:30 - 7:00 PM. Group introduction
to music lessons with Leanna Perkins. Register at any point in term.
Chamber Choir: Thursdays, starting November 7, 5:00 - 6:00 PM. Choral ensemble
instructed by Stephanie LeQuieu. Register at any point in term.
Decoupage with Dave: Thursdays, starting November 7, 5:30 - 7:30 PM. Turn old
boxes, furniture, trunks, etc. into durable, useful, and beautiful works of art.
Friday Art Club: Fridays, 8:00 AM - 5:15 PM. A Friday-only arts program open to
children ages 5-12. Your child will have exposure to music, arts, crafts, and more!
Knit a Hat with Magic Loop: Saturdays, starting November 9, 10:30 AM - 12:00
PM. Learn to knit while creating something beautiful and warm.
Beginning Traditional Rug Hooking: Saturday, November 16, 10:00 AM - 3:00
PM. Learn the basics of traditional rug hooking (P.S. It’s different than latch hooking).
Arts After School: Ongoing, Mon-Thus 3:30 - 5:45 PM, and Fri 8:00 AM - 5:45 PM.
Follows school calendar. Your child will have exposure to music, arts, crafts, and more!
Sponsored By:
Youth Arts Program: Ongoing, Monday 6:00 PM rehearsals
through December.
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Mt. Vernon Grange Hall
Located across from Holliday
State Park on HWY 26
We encourage you to come out
and support the grange and all the
vendors for the Christmas Bazaar.
Serving: Stew with fresh baked
rolls, pies, cakes and cookies.
Eat lunch here or take it home
for dinner.
S150266-1
