NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
A3
Questions arise on acquiring land from Ironwood Triangle
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Negotiations
continue
between the city of John
Day and Ironwood Triangle
for the acquisition of prop-
erty that would be part of the
Innovation Gateway Project.
The city plans to pur-
chase the area to obtain the
right of way between Patter-
son Bridge Road and Valley
View Drive to create the new
Government Entry Road and
complete the Seventh Street
Extension.
This is a 14-acre par-
cel that includes two small
office buildings and a main
shop, according to John Day
City Manager Nick Green.
The barren land is located
between the U.S. For-
est Service office building
and Valley View Assisted
Living.
The city plans to demol-
ish the office buildings there,
complete the streets and
then replat the 14 acres into
smaller lots that can be used
for light industrial purposes,
Contributed image/City of John Day
The city of John Day is in negotiations with Iron Triangle to purchase property between Gov-
ernment Entry Road and Valley View Drive to create a connection as shown in No. 2 on this
map. No. 1 shows the proposed Seventh Street extension, and No. 3 is another proposed
connection between the new roads.
Green said. He also proposed
that, since the city does not
need more land, they would
subdivide the land, put it on
the market and sell it to offset
the acquisition costs.
The city completed a
property appraisal, which
valued the 14-acre parcel
at $495,000, and the envi-
ronmental remediation and
right-of-way acquisition was
estimated at a cost of about
$200,000. The land and
buildings were considered in
the appraisal.
Potential funds for the
acquisition would be a grant
from the Economic Devel-
opment Administration or a
loan through the remediation
program, if grants are not
available.
The agreement potentially
aids both sides of this agree-
ment with the city gaining
the right of way and Iron Tri-
angle using money from this
sale for the development of
Ironwood Estates phase 2.
“I look at this almost as a
joint development agreement
because we’ve got a property
owner who owns 30 acres of
residential land adjacent to
this industrial area and wants
to take the cash from this sale
and put it into land devel-
opment for housing,” Green
said.
Councilor Elliot Sky
expressed a concern with a
purchase being made with-
out much development hap-
pening. He suggested hav-
ing a timeline of expectations
for construction to be put into
the agreement.
“I’m less interested in try-
ing to barter down the price
as I am trying to get more
information on the timeline,
so that we feel confident in
where the city is going to put
this money in, and we have
confirmation that it (Iron-
wood Phase 2) will be devel-
oped in this time,” Sky said.
Sky also mentioned that
both parties in this agree-
ment benefit from the con-
struction of the road and said
that should be considered in
the price. Councilor Shan-
non Adair added concerns
about not being able to sell
the industrial pieces, which
would become the city’s
responsibility.
Green suggested the pos-
sibility of the city and Iron
Triangle forming a pub-
lic-private partnership and
that the urban renewal
incentives would motivate
construction.
The council agreed to
continue negotiations to see
if compromises could be
made.
The plan is to start the
Phase 1 environmental
assessment early in 2020
with the goal of complet-
ing the property purchase by
June 2020, but no later than
November, Green said.
New book by local author released to benefit ranchers
Signature coffee
table book
featuring ranchers
launches Rural
Relief Fund
Blue Mountain Eagle
Contributed photo
‘Sheltering Generations — The American Barn’ was co-authored by Nicole Lane Erceg of John Day.
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munity members gath-
ered to “watch paint dry”
and eat great beef. Sitting
around a plate of beef, peo-
ple from different back-
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how the barns were built,
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roofs and the cattle cared
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ing, worthy of preserving.
There’s the rancher
turned restauranteur in
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who started with a dream,
but no heat or water the
first winter in their farm-
house in Minnesota, and
now support nine fami-
lies from their herd. An
old dairy barn in Pennsyl-
vania became a classroom.
A chance meeting at a gas
station in South Carolina
led to the barn where their
children married and their
cattle are sold each year.
“We now have friends
scattered across the coun-
try, who trusted us with
their happiest memories,
biggest dreams and most
challenging
moments,”
Erceg said. “We could have
written a whole book about
each one, but put together
in a collection they give a
diverse look at the thread
that unites cattle producers
everywhere.”
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Contributed photo
Nicole Lane Erceg of John Day co-authored ‘Sheltering Gen-
erations — The American Barn.’
S164440-1
“Every time I see an
ambulance go by, I stop
and say a prayer because
odds are, I know the person
riding inside,” says Adam
Jones, a rancher near St.
Francis, Kansas.
It’s a sentiment many
in rural America share,
where neighbors may not
be just around the cor-
ner, but the bond of com-
munity is thick. His fam-
ily ranch, Crooked Creek
Angus, is one of 40 stories
included in the new cof-
fee table book “Sheltering
Generations — The Amer-
ican Barn.”
The book features sto-
ries of beef producers in
more than 20 different
states, cataloging ranch
life, rural community and
the role of barns in our
landscape.
Produced by Certified
Angus Beef LLC, each
family featured in the book
has one thing in common:
They all have the brand
logo painted on their barns.
In 2018, in a throwback
to “old school” market-
ing, the brand painted 40
barns to celebrate the 40th
anniversary.
Nicole Lane Erceg of
John Day and her colleague
Miranda Reiman of Cozad,
Nebraska, co-authored the
book in their roles with the
brand. Erceg, daughter of
Russ Lane and Andrea Fer-
reira, is a 2011 graduate of
Grant Union High School.
“Growing up in cattle
country, my love of agri-
culture was born in Grant
County,” Erceg said. “It’s
Captivating images and
short, entertaining stories
fill the pages of the book,
but in the spirit of the com-
munity that inspired it, the
funds from sales will sup-
port farmers and ranchers.
The entire purchase price
of each book will benefit
the newly launched Cer-
tified Angus Beef Rural
Relief Fund, helping cat-
tlemen recover from natu-
ral disasters.
“We’ve all heard some
weather event referenced
as the drought/flood/bliz-
zard/fire of our generation
too many times already,”
said John Stika, president
of the brand. “As a mem-
ber of the beef commu-
nity, when our farmers and
ranchers are hurting, our
brand is committed to pro-
viding help.”
The book is dual pur-
pose: a way to share the
stories of everyday ranch
life and to help provide
relief when those who pro-
duce it need aid.
“The next extreme
weather event may not be
tomorrow,” said Stika. “But
this spring when the head-
lines told of cattle being
washed away in Nebraska,
our phones began to ring.
It’s not the first time we’ve
seen the pain caused by
these events, and each time
those in cattle country, our
partners and consumers
look for ways to help. This
fund allows us to channel
that community spirit the
next time someone calls.”
In the sunny days
ahead, the book will con-
nect beef consumers to the
story of where each bite
begins.
“Sheltering Generations
— The American Barn” is
on sale now at shop.cer-
tifiedangusbeef.com
for
$19.95. Books will also be
available for purchase at
the brand’s culinary center
in Wooster, Ohio.
541-523-6377
541-963-6577
541-573-6377
541-576-2160