A14
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Reopen
Continued from Page A1
The regions must also
show they have the ability to
test at a rate of 30 per 10,000
residents per week, and that
there are enough testing sites
that underserved communi-
ties can access. Hospitals also
must have enough room and
personal protective equip-
ment to address an outbreak.
As of May 12, Grant
County has administered 80
tests.
The governor’s plan also
calls for contact tracers, peo-
ple who interview those who
test positive for the virus and
then try to identify all people
who might have been in close
contact with that person.
The state’s plan calls for
15 contact tracers per 10,000
residents.
The Grant County reopen-
ing plan recommends the
governor’s office consider
hiring county-based state
contact tracers.
EOC employee Chris
Rushing, who presented
the county’s reopening plan
Thursday, said the EOC is
pushing for those jobs to be
local.
County officials, who
originally submitted the plan
Monday, submitted a revised
version to reflect the gover-
nor’s decision to allow restau-
rants and bars to open within
two weeks of the plan being
approved. Initially, Brown’s
plan called for restaurants and
bars to open up during the
second phase.
According to Oregon
Health Authority guidelines,
restaurants and bars would
have to comply with social
distancing, keeping tables at
least 6 feet apart, and employ-
ees would be required to wear
face masks.
The governor’s plan is less
restrictive in that it allows the
business to determine max-
imum occupancy to main-
tain social distancing require-
ments and limit customers
accordingly.
The plan limits dining par-
ties to 10 or fewer and does
not allow for restaurants to
combine parties who have
not chosen to sit together
for shared seating situations.
Bars will need to eliminate
most seating. Restaurants
and breweries are required to
close by 10 p.m.
The governor’s plan raises
the maximum allowed in
social gatherings from 10
people to 25 in Phase 1.
The
most
stringent
requirements are on barber-
shops, salons and tanning
booths. The businesses will
be required to ask custom-
ers prior to scheduling an
appointment if they have had
any symptoms of COVID-
19, or had close contact with
someone who has been diag-
nosed with the virus. If the
business is willing, the state is
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
encouraging owners to check
the temperature of each client.
The
businesses
are
required to keep the contact
information of each client,
which includes date and time
of their appointment and who
served them with the pur-
pose of tracking the potential
spread of the virus.
Should OHA approve
Grant County’s plan, the
county could begin reopening
as early as May 15. The first
phase could last 21 days, at
which point, absent a surge in
cases, the county could transi-
tion to the second phase.
After 21 days in Phase 1,
the state will begin Phase 2
of the reopening process. The
goal of the next phase will
be to expand gathering size,
allow some office work and
begin allowing visitation to
congregate care. The details
of Phase 2 will be based on
data collected during Phase
1, according to the governor’s
website.
Educators
Pool
Continued from Page A1
After a presentation, Ham-
sher said he would recom-
mend the city council send a
survey to residents.
“I would like to hear the
concerns and questions as a
mayor in my community and
the questions from the county
so I can do my best to repre-
sent the people,” Hamsher
said.
Hamsher added that there
are many large landowners
in the rural fire districts that
will have their taxes greatly
impacted, and they need to
have an ample opportunity to
have their questions asked and
answered.
Seneca City Manager
Amanda Born said the aquatic
center proposal will be on the
agenda for the next city coun-
cil meeting on May 12, past
press time. This will be an
opportunity for residents to
voice their thoughts and ques-
tions on the plan and give the
council an opportunity to dis-
cuss the report.
Continued from Page A1
“For John Day and Canyon
City, for about the same (pur-
pose) as Parks and Rec, there
will be two taxing districts,
and then a bond.”
Another concern Fischer
had was, while the hospital
bond retires this year, the new
aquatic taxing district has no
end date, and the decrease in
the overall taxes paid per year
would be temporary for some
homeowners.
While the aquatic dis-
trict tax rate cannot change,
Fischer said property owners
could see their property taxes
increase 3% annually due to
the assessed value of a prop-
erty rising each year. Oregon
law prevents assessed values
from rising more than 3% per
year.
While Fischer still has
questions and concerns, he
said it was important to hear
from the community in Can-
yon City, and then work
with the council to make a
decision.
“We are waiting to dis-
cuss the resolution once we
have what we feel is adequate
feedback from our constitu-
ents, and then we will vote as
a council,” Fischer said.
Question and concerns
EOC
Continued from Page A1
The county court approved
$125,000 in funding to hire
staff, purchase supplies and
COVID-19 test kits when
the center was established in
March. Myers said the EOC
should first look to bring on
county employees who could
not work from home to see if
they were a good fit. Myers
said approval was needed from
the court for any purchase over
$200, and he instructed Dobler
to avoid overtime hours as
well to avoid burnout of both
him and his staff.
Dobler, who initially
requested $250,120, was
instructed by the court to go
over the budget and reassess
whether additional funding
was needed after 45 days.
Meanwhile, the EOC has
Contibuted photo/Rhonda McCumber
Contributed photo
Andrea Combs, a special education teacher at Grant Union,
gets ready to start a Zoom meeting with students.
Erin Beil, an instruction assis-
tant at Humbolt Elementary.
we’re at is where we’re at, and
we are going to get there.”
Even with the challenges
at hand, schools and families
continue to work together to
overcome tribulations.
“Our teachers across the
county have stepped up, and
I would venture that, if you
were to interview the teach-
ers, (general education) as
well as (special education)
teachers, they’re going to tell
you, ‘Yeah, I used to work
from 7:15 in the morning to
4:00 in the afternoon.’ What I
hear now is: ‘Holy crap, I’m
up at 6. I’m worried about
this. I’m working until 7 in
the evening and then Sunday
I come in and try to figure out
“From then to now, I think a
lot of territory has been cov-
ered, and I am proud of our
families, kids and our teach-
ers of making the best of the
situation.”
Watterson added that
schools and educators around
the county are in this together
to overcome the current
obstacle.
“I feel that together we
are one, even though we are
at different schools, serv-
ing different kids, we’re all
in this together and we all
understand what our needs
are,” Watterson said. “Even
though we’re in different
places and different situa-
tion, we’re in this together.”
how to do this or that,” Wal-
tenburg said. “We have some
rock stars across the county.”
At the start of distance
learning, Watterson and
McCumber shared that par-
ents and educators have come
a long way since they started.
Watterson said her con-
versations with parents
were about 20-30 minutes
long when distance learn-
ing started because they were
figuring out the best way to
implement distance learning.
Now the phone calls average
5-10 minutes.
“At the beginning our par-
ents were really stressed and
asked, ‘I don’t know how to
do this,’” McCumber said.
emergencies.
Dobler said, as a taxpayer,
he understands that people in
the community want to know
where and how their money is
being spent. He said now, with
the county hoping to move
into Phase 1 of reopening and
with the EOCs infrastructure
in place, he and his staff have
the time to share information
with the media and public.
Dobler said the EOC has
spent roughly $117,000 of
its budget. He said the caveat
folks need to remember is that
the EOC, though approved
for funding March 31, was
formed in early March.
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
“I start from the beginning
Seth Klingbeil, Emergency Operations Center communications of the month,” Dobler said.
lead, said the EOC website answers frequently asked questions.
The county’s PPE inven-
Klingbeil said he helped build the new website, grantcounty- tory as of May 5 shows 100
covid.com, with the help of the Economic Development office.
COVID-19 test kits, roughly
150 face shields, 250 N95
built an infrastructure at the radios and a high-powered masks and upwards of 750
airport that includes a new antenna to communicate with procedure masks across the
website,
high-frequency neighboring counties during county.
BLUE MOUNTAIN EAGLE
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For the May 27th Edition
Ad, Classified & Legal Deadline
Thursday, May 21st by 5 p.m.
Hamsher said one thing
he would still like to see is a
cost estimate for repairing and
maintaining Gleason Pool.
Canyon City Mayor Steve
Fischer said he would like to
know this as well and stated
that he was disappointed that
he never saw an estimate on
fixing Gleason Pool.
“I just wish that we could
look at it, and if we’re told
by a legitimate, licensed con-
tractor that to fix Gleason
Pool, it’s going to be $6 mil-
lion, then you would have to
go, ‘Well, might as well build
a new pool,’ but I don’t think
it will be that much,” Fischer
said.
The John Day City Coun-
cil learned on April 16, 2019,
that a professional condi-
tion assessment of Gleason
Pool could cost from $20,000
to $30,000. The final report
states that neither John Day
nor the John Day-Canyon City
Parks and Recreation District
have sufficient funding in their
budgets to conduct an inspec-
tion of Gleason Pool.
“The city’s consulting team
estimated the cost for repairs
could be between $540,000
and $810,000 or more, though
it is difficult to accurately
assess the cost without a com-
plete on-site inspection,”
according to the final report.
“In addition, repairs to the
facility would likely extend
the life of the pool another
10–15 years at most. At that
point, the entire structure
would need to be replaced.”
The report also states that
the current pool location
would impair expansion of
the Kam Wah Chung Interpre-
tive Center since the location
impedes on the Oregon Parks
and Recreation Department’s
plans to construct a new inter-
pretive center, according to
the final report.
Fischer also raised con-
cerns regarding the imple-
mentation of a new taxing
district when Canyon City
is already a part of the John
Day-Canyon City Parks and
Recreation district.
“For us, a $6 million bond
is one thing, but creating a
new taxing district when we
are already in Parks and Rec
is another thing. The idea
behind Parks and Rec was
to cover the swimming pool
when it was Gleason and the
city couldn’t afford it, and
that’s where Parks and Rec
came into play,” Fischer said.
Social media feedback
On social media, a prom-
inent comment about the
pool is that it should be open
year-round.
“I am definitely support-
ive of a pool/rec center being
built,” said Alicia McLane
from Mt. Vernon. “However I
feel it’s a waste of resources
if it’s not retrofitted for cov-
erings to be used year-round.
Swim lessons year-round is
very necessary.”
John Day City Manager
Nick Green said during a
city council meeting on Dec.
18, 2018, that operations and
maintenance costs for an out-
door pool depend on the
length of the season.
An extended season drives
up costs for heating and
labor, and with insurance and
other benefits, five full-time
employees can cost $300,000
over a full year, Green said.
Expected annual costs for
the proposed aquatic cen-
ter’s operations, maintenance
and equipment replacement is
$90,000.
The proposed aquatic cen-
ter anticipates that the use of
the pool could be extended
from 10 weeks per summer
to 12-14 weeks per summer,
according to the final report.
“The years of memories
and entertainment this will
bring to the children and fam-
ilies in our community is
totally worth the tax!” Heidi
Wolf said in a post. “...Would
it be awesome if it was year
round, of course. But if that’s
not something we can do then
this sounds like the next best
thing.”
Ellen Bush said the pool
would cost too much for how
long it would be open.
“The cost is also too
great for the number of peo-
ple that will use a seasonal
pool,” she said. “It’s a no for
me.”
“I agree that the property
tax increase seems a little
steep for just a couple months
of access,” said Jeannine Sib-
ley of Prairie City. “I really
wish the county could find
a way to keep it open year-
round... not just for the kids,
but for older adults seeking
low impact exercise, physical
therapy, etc.”
John Day published the
final report on May 8, which
can be viewed at cityofjohn-
day.com/planning/page/final-
report-central-grant-county-
aquatics-center-published.
A MAN
WAKES
UP in the
morning
after sleeping on...
an advertised bed, in advertised
pajamas.
Our Office will be closed May 25th
in observance of Memorial Day
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!
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When Watterson talked to
parents, a shared difficulty
has been for parents still
working full time and finding
a way to manage their time
with work and finding time to
help their kids.
“If they’re working from
home now and figuring out
that schedule with their kids’
schedule to help them with
school work, usually it was
things here and there that stu-
dents could finish at school,
but now it’s everything,” Wat-
terson said.
With the increase in partic-
ipation from parents in their
kids’ education, it has added a
new stress when making sure
their child is learning and pre-
pared for the new school year.
However, Grant County ESD
Superintendent Robert Wal-
tenburg wants to assure par-
ents not to worry and know
that teachers and adminis-
trators continue to provide
support.
“Don’t worry, when they
come back in the fall and
things return to a more struc-
tured setting for us, we’re
going to get your kids where
that kid needs to be, and we
appreciate their work and
partnership,” he said. “Where
Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710