NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
The hurdle of financing a pool in Grant County
Even if a new pool can
be built, the ongoing
operational costs need
to be covered
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Gleason Pool’s final season has
passed as COVID-19 prematurely
cut the facility’s last year for open-
ing, but conversations on how to
move forward continued between the
Grant County Court and John Day
City Council.
John Day City Manager Nick
Green opened the discussion on the
pool during a joint work session on
Oct. 14 by saying the city spent all
the funds they can planning for the
replacement and plan to sell the land
to the state. He added that the state
is actively working on plans for the
new Kam Wah Chung Interpretive
The John Day City Council and Grant County Court discuss covering operating
costs if a pool was ever built in Grant County Oct. 14.
Center at the Gleason Pool site.
Green said, even if voters were
to put construction of a new pool on
the ballot through a citizen initia-
tive, operational costs still must be
covered.
He said he believes a reason other
cities were against the plan was
because of the permanent tax rate
proposed in the aquatics district that
would cover John Day, Prairie City,
Mt. Vernon, Canyon City, Seneca
and the corresponding fire districts.
To cover operations, the proposal
detailed a new taxing district with a
permanent rate of 20 cents per $1,000
of a property’s assessed value. For a
property assessed at $100,000, this
would cost $20 per year permanently.
To cover the 20-year capital bond,
property owners would pay a tempo-
rary rate of about 71 cents per $1,000
of assessed value. For a property
assessed at $100,000, this would cost
about $71 per year for 20 years.
“I can understand that. I can
appreciate that. I don’t know how
else you fund it unless there’s an
intergovernmental agreement where
we all agree to cost share out of our
current tax base,” Green said.
Green said the concern about the
permanent tax rate to fund the pool’s
operations is a solvable problem if
the communities choose to solve it.
“Getting it built wasn’t really
the challenge so much was figuring
out how we operate and sustain it,”
Green said.
Grant County Commissioner Jim
Hamsher said a reason why commu-
nities might not want to participate is
because of bad timing with the cur-
rent economy, unemployment and
shutdowns caused by the pandemic.
“Sometimes it’s bad timing when
you start surveying people who are
wondering how to buy groceries,”
Hamsher said. “I think a lot of it is
timing.”
Hamsher asked if it were possible
to retain the the property specifically
for Gleason Pool and put time into
remodeling. This was also a concern
A9
brought up by other leaders in the
community who wondered if Glea-
son Pool could still be retained.
Green said the challenge would be
building for the future. He said it was
not an ideal location, the size of the
pool does not allow for growth and it
would not allow Kam Wah Chung to
expand at its site.
“We’re going to be giving up cash
that we can realize from the sale, and
put toward a new facility, and we’re
going to lose the tourism dollars and
benefits of that multi-million dollar
state investment that the state is pro-
gramming to do,” Green said.
Green added that the Oregon
Parks and Recreation Department
plan has a building sitting on the
foundation of the current pool.
Grant County Judge Scott Myers
said, when surveyed earlier this year,
he supported Canyon City being
included in the proposed aquatic dis-
trict but said moving forward now
would be difficult.
Additional funding available for Grant County small businesses
Sheriff recognizes
deputies
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County small busi-
nesses have an additional
$500,000 available to them
through the Greater East-
ern Oregon Development
Corporation.
Stephanie LeQuieu, Ore-
gon RAIN rural catalyst, said
during a session of Grant
County Court Oct. 14 that
businesses that have already
received grant money in a pre-
vious round are eligible for a
supplemental grant.
She said the thresh-
old increased from $2,500
to $5,000. Businesses that
received $2,500 during the
first round of funding can now
apply for an additional $2,500.
While the county’s grant
money is available until the
funds are exhausted, the dead-
line for the grants through
GEODC is Nov. 16.
Tory Stinnett, the county’s
director of economic devel-
opment, said the process can
seem overwhelming, but all
businesses must do is fill out
the application and send it to
tstinnett@grantcountyoregon.
net or stephanie@oregonrain.
org.
“It’s a lot, so that’s why
we’re just asking people to
fill out the application and
send it to us,” she said. “And
we’ll send it off to the differ-
ent places because we want to
make sure that everyone is get-
ting the money.”
County Commissioner Jim
Hamsher said the “time is of
the essence” to get the applica-
tions turned in.
Full applications are avail-
able at grantcountyoregon.net/
DocumentCenter/View/871.
Supplemental applications
are available at grantcountyore-
gon.net/DocumentCenter/
View/872.
The court also approved
Stinnett’s request to hire a full-
time assistant. She said she is
budgeted for 30 hours, but she
needs a full-time staffer to get
resources to businesses “espe-
cially during COVID.”
She said she was not sure if
there were any grants to pay for
an assistant, but she said part
of her department’s funding
comes from the Oregon lottery.
She said the lottery funding
does not show up on her bud-
get, but that under “transpar-
ency in Oregon” on Oregon.
gov, it will show how counties
spent the money. Stinnett said
it shows Grant County spent
part of the money on an assis-
tant in the economic develop-
ment office.
According to the county
expenditures on the State Lot-
tery Fund page, $59,532.87
was used: “A .31 full-time
equivalent Economic Devel-
opment Coordinator was
employed during this time to
work with cities and non-profit
entities securing grants and
event planning to bring tour-
ism into the county. The bal-
ance of these funds was used to
sustain employees at the fair-
grounds and airport who also
host events to bring tourism
into the county.”
Stinnett said as a third of it
goes to both the airport and the
fairgrounds. She said she did
not want to take the funding
away from either department
but wants to meet with them
to see how the lottery money
is spent.
Myers said funding the part-
time position raises a “question
of sustainability.”
Palmer moved to fund the
position, and Hamsher sec-
onded the decision.
LeQuieu asked if the court
intended on renewing her con-
tract as manager of the John
Day Farmers Market. Myers
said, if funding is left, that it
would continue.
Sheriff recognizes
deputies
Grant County Sheriff Glenn
Palmer recognized Sgt. Josh
Wolf and deputy Wade Wadell,
who completed 52 hours of
supervisory training through
the Oregon Department of
Public Safety Standards and
Training and the Command
Council.
Sheriff Palmer said Under-
sheriff Zach Mobley and Sgt.
Danny Komning completed
the DPSST supervisory train-
ing too.
The sheriff said the office
had issued Komning’s certifi-
cate, but he still wanted to rec-
ognize him, nonetheless.
“The training is very, very
intense,” he said. “And it goes
right into the evening, so I
just wanted to recognize these
gentlemen.”
Flood ordinance hearing
postponedPlanning director
Shannon Springer requested
the court push back its
approval of the flood ordinance
to Nov. 18. Springer asked the
court to postpone adopting the
ordinance in August so that the
maps could include the Sil-
vies watershed. At the court’s
direction, the Planning Depart-
ment sent notices. Since then,
Springer said she received calls
on behalf of a couple of prop-
erty owners who would like to
participate in the hearing.
Rock crushing on
Highway 395
County Roadmaster Alan
Hickerson said the rock crush-
ing project on Highway 395
near Izee is set to enter the
intent to award process. He
said the low bid came in at
$287,850.
Hickerson
requested
approval to exchange the
snowplow the department pur-
chased last month. He said
there was a miscommunica-
tion with the sales represen-
tative and the one that arrived
“will not work.” He assured the
court that there would not be a
return fee. The plow will cost
an additional $2,300.
Hickerson
requested
approval to have the air ducts
cleaned at the Road Depart-
ment building. The office
manager, Hickerson said, is
having breathing issues, and
they believe the cause is the
air ducts. The air ducts in the
15-year-old building, he said,
have not been cleaned, but
Ryan Palmer cleans the air fil-
ters every three years.
The court approved $886
to be written into the budget
to have the air ducts cleaned
and to have it done as “routine
maintenance.”
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE
I’d like to address two points regarding Mr. Carpenter’s endorsement of my write-in candidacy to be your Circuit Court
judge that have been raised with me.
1. Should I be “tarred with the same brush” that caused Mr Carpenter to withdraw from this race? Keep in mind
that Mr. Carpenter endorsed my candidacy, not the other way around. When he decided to suspend his campaign, Mr.
Carpenter could have done three things:
A. He might have endorsed my opponent.
B. He might have remained silent on the issue; or,
C. He could endorse me.
Mr. Carpenter endorsed me, and he explicitly asked those of you who
have been his supporters to cast your write-in votes for me. When Mr.
Carpenter weighed his options, he decided I was the best, most feasible,
candidate to run for this position. How did he know that? Simple. If the
same citizens who voted for Mr. Carpenter in the primary vote for me
now (as he’s asked you to do), and the same citizens who voted for me
in the primary do so again, I win. 3193 to 2814. If the numbers didn’t
support the decision, I would not be running.
2. People have concerns regarding the allegations surrounding Mr Carpenter and, somehow, those concerns apply
to me. They don’t. My record is clear and unblemished. Mr. Carpenter suspended his run for reasons specific only to
him. He wanted Grant and Harney voters to have a real, feasible, logical, CHOICE for Circuit Court judge, and he did the
math.
If you were previously supporting Mr. Carpenter, please follow his endorsement and write in John Lamborn for Circuit
Court Judge. Thank you.
S211869-1
