NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
A7
Final planning session for Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Planning for the updated Grant
County Natural Hazard Mitigation
Plan comes to an end in May as the
committee moves on to the final con-
ference call for planning.
On May 12, there will be a virtual
meeting from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and
this will likely be the final steering
committee meeting prior to future
meetings to adopt the plan. The link
for the meeting is https://us02web.
zoom.us/j/99172788386pwd=UH-
k5MWNFWG9EZ2Jpb3E4aE82al-
hiZz09. The meeting ID is 991 7278
8386. The password is 433574.
This plan is created from an
assessment from the community
and their perceptions of the risks
faced from a range of natural haz-
ards, according to Katherine Daniel
from the Oregon Department of Land
Conservation and Development.
Another benefit is the opportunity
to work with the Oregon Depart-
ment of Geology and Mineral Indus-
tries, which provides an analysis of
the structures and people at risk from
floods, fires or other hazards.
“The goal of this is to reduce the
damage to property and the risk to
lives,” Daniel said.
The mitigation plan focuses on
eight hazards in the county, which
Eagle file photo
School teachers, staff and students joined other volunteers in sandbagging
along Canyon Creek to protect school property in April 2019.
are wildfires, severe winter storms,
floods and drought, followed by vol-
canic activity, wind storms, land-
slides and earthquakes.
Daniel said that this plan is an
update to an existing plan from 2014
that focused on the northeastern part
of Oregon and included four coun-
ties. The current work is updating the
plan with a focus on Grant County.
The Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency sets the planning pro-
cess and provides grant money for
the DLCD to participate in writing
a plan. FEMA also sets expectations
for the county to be as involved as
possible. After the planning process
concludes, the plan will be submit-
ted to the Oregon Emergency Man-
agement for review, and then FEMA
will look at the plan for approval and
comments before the next phase.
“I want to emphasize that one of
the big benefits of having a mitigation
plan that’s been approved by FEMA
is that it opens the door to FEMA mit-
igation grant funding, so the commu-
nity doesn’t have to support the whole
bill, but they have to be supportive of
the plan as a whole so their elected
officials have the authority to go for-
ward and seek grants that’ll be nec-
essary for some of the mitigation
plans,” Daniel said.
She said the average homeowner
can provide a unique perspective and
may also be aware of hazards they
are subject to and assist in provid-
ing a full picture of what the commu-
nity will support when the process of
adoption begins.
“In the end, community resources
may be required to put forth some
of these mitigation actions,” Daniel
said.
Ted Williams, the former Grant
County emergency management
coordinator, was central to planning
as he helped build the steering com-
mittee with Jason Gatley from the
DLCD, prior to Daniel. Williams
had the responsibility to make peo-
ple aware of the meetings and what
the content would be, according to
Daniel.
The steering committee is formed
from people from the state and
county officials, city representatives,
school officials, local fire chiefs and
first responders.
Even with the resignation of Wil-
liams from his position, the steer-
ing committee continues to plan and
work, but the open position will need
to be addressed for the next phase.
“I think Ted laid a really great
groundwork and did a great job at put-
ting together a cohesive group that
would show up and participate,” Dan-
iel said.
As the committee concludes the
plan, which will be effective for five
years, the next phase is to implement
the mitigation actions. Daniel said the
individual who would build the imple-
mentation committee would be the
emergency manager.
“The steering committee made the
decision at the last meeting that the
implementation committee should
meet every year,” Daniel said. “They
also decided that the emergency man-
ager, when in place, would be the con-
vener of that committee,” Daniel said.
Currently, the temporary emer-
gency manager is Dave Dobler until
the COVID-19 pandemic subsides,
according to Grant County Judge
Scott Myers.
“The writing of the plan may be
nearly done, but being involved in
educating yourselves or your neigh-
bors about how Grant County res-
idents can avoid the devastation
from floods or wildfires is import-
ant,” Daniel said. “It’s important to
be engaged with your government
and be aware that the county has a
whole separate plan that relates only
to wildfire.”
John Day purchases land, submits EDA grant application
City council
approves purchase
of land from Iron
Triangle
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
On Jan. 14, the John Day
City Council discussed its
interest in seeking assistance
from the Economic Develop-
ment Administration, which
could provide up to $20 mil-
lion in funding for various
projects in the Innovation
Gateway.
During a virtual city meet-
ing April 14, the city shared
the scope of the projects and
priorities that will be submit-
ted for the application. This
process went through stake-
holders and city council mem-
bers who voiced their input on
priorities for the application.
They also worked together
to determine which projects
to include in the scope of the
application for the Economic
Adjustment Assistance pro-
gram. John Day City Manager
Nick Green said the EDA’s
EAA program provides funds
for communities under a fed-
eral disaster declaration.
Because the floods were
declared a federal disaster and
because the city has a Com-
prehensive Economic Diversi-
fication Strategy approved and
funded by the EDA, the city
can apply for economic assis-
tance and recovery, Green
said.
The scope of the EDA pro-
posal consists of eight differ-
ent projects that will be sub-
mitted. The eight projects
are: the broadband expansion
and network modernization;
workforce housing; Innova-
tion Gateway industrial site
and grid modernization; street
and parking improvements to
make the site accessible; hotel
and event center/distillery;
flood mitigation and environ-
mental restoration; commu-
nity pavilion and the green-
house learning center.
The city council also voted
and approved the purchase
and sale agreement of 14 acres
Eagle file photo
John Day City Manager Nick Green and Mayor Ron Lundbom
during a city council in October 2019.
near the Innovation Gate-
way site and the right of way
from Iron Triangle, which will
be subject to final review and
approval by the city’s attor-
ney. This was done so indus-
trial land development could
be included in the scope of the
EDA application.
The council approved the
purchase of the property for
$495,000 along with closing
costs and the land acquisi-
tion and right-of-way dedica-
tion agreements, which were
$205,000.
The land planned to be
purchased is located between
the U.S. Forest Service office
building and Valley View
Assisted Living. The right
of way is between Patter-
son Bridge Road and Valley
View Drive to create the new
Government Entry Road and
complete the Seventh Street
Extension.
The meeting agenda states
that to complete the proposed
land acquisitions and devel-
opment clean up, the city will
need to approve a supplemen-
tal budget for Water Fund
expenditures that increases
capital outlay for this proj-
ect to $725,000. Following a
notice in the Blue Mountain
Eagle, the supplemental bud-
get could be approved at the
May 12 city council meeting.
The plan is to pay the
cost with $595,000 in loan
proceeds, $38,930 in grant
proceeds from Brown-
field Redevelopment Fund
grants and $91,070 trans-
ferred from the 2020 fis-
cal year contingency. Green
added that the city’s financ-
ing agreement for the prop-
erty purchase also includes
$60,000 as a forgivable loan
upon completion of any
environmental remediation
needed at the site.
John Day also received
another Brownfield Redevel-
opment Fund grant from Busi-
ness Oregon for $59,986 to do
a wetland delineation and site
characterization for the Ore-
gon Pine property, according
to Green.
“The grants we received
will allow us to make this site
certified shovel-ready through
the Oregon Business Devel-
opment Department within
the next 12 months,” Green
said. “As soon as we receive
the certification, our goal is
to sell all 12 lots at fair mar-
ket value to allow for business
expansion.”
Now that the application
has been submitted, if the city
is successful in funding, Green
said the city will see economic
gains such as creating new
jobs and increasing food secu-
rity by doubling production at
the greenhouse.
Also, the 12 lots have been
rezoned to allow for mixed
use, commercial and light
industrial, according to Green,
with no requirements for job
creation. He added that this
site is eligible to participate in
the enterprise zone tax credits
available in John Day if new
jobs are created as a result
of business expansion in this
area.
The goal is to receive
$20 million in EDA funding,
Green said. The grant funding
would require a 20% match,
and while local and state fund-
ing can be used for the match,
federal funds cannot be used,
Green said.
Debbie Ausmus
245 South Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845
OPEN WED. & THUR.
9 am - 5 pm
541-575-1113
24 hrs/7 days wk
debbie.ausmus@
countryfinancial.com
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541-523-6377
541-963-6577
541-573-6377
TOM CHRISTENSEN
CHRISTENSEN
TOM
CONSTRUCTION
541-576-2160
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(541) 410-0557 • (541) 575-0192
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CCB# 106077
REMODELS • NEW CONSTRUCTION • POLE BUILDINGS
CONCRETE EXCAVATION • SHEET ROCK • SIDING
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In order to be open during the Covid 19
quarantine, a lot of things have to be
done to keep everyone safe. Mother’s Day
orders for flowers & candy must be done
through the drive up or walk up window
or by calling in advance - which is highly
541-575-2112 • Call/Text/PM Me recommended due to the high demand.
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