NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
A7
City opts against parking lot
Resident pitches temporary
alternative with space for food trucks facelift for John Day entryway
Green to pursue
grant for original
plan of parking and
restrooms
Improvements would
beautify mill corner
until Innovation
Gateway is complete
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Food trucks on Main
Street?
The John Day City Council
opted not to pursue an alterna-
tive design for a parking lot
downtown that would have
provided four spaces for food
trucks in addition to parking
and restrooms Jan. 26.
The council decided to
focus first on the parking and
restrooms and directed City
Manager Nick Green to apply
for a grant to help fund the
planned parking lot at South-
west Canton Street and High-
way 26, the former Wright
Chevrolet lot.
The original design the
council chose includes seven
single-vehicle parking spots
with one ADA accessible spot
and three pull-through spots in
the middle.
The alternative design
would have created up to
four spaces for food trucks
and a food court, and would
have converted the three
pull-through spots in the cen-
ter to single-vehicle parking
for a net gain of four parking
spaces.
Both designs include pub-
lic restrooms and could be
used as a location for events
in the city.
“At the bare minimum, it’s
an opportunity for the farmers
market,” said Councilor Dave
Holland.
Green said the alternative
design would be eligible for
funding through Travel Ore-
gon’s Destination Ready grant
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
A future parking lot is planned along Southwest Canton Street
and West Main Street at the former Wright Chevrolet lot in John Day.
program because the proj-
ect classifies as a Main Street
improvement project that
would create outdoor public
places for people to eat, drink
and patronize. Up to $50,000
in funding is available for
shovel-ready projects apply-
ing for this grant.
Councilor Heather Rook-
stool said there was a restau-
rant owner who saw the design
and shared a worry that, while
business is great in the sum-
mer, winter is tough.
“I get we’re trying to build
businesses, but there’s some
worries with some of the local
businesses downtown about
direct competition and the
city making a profit off of it,”
Rookstool said.
While it would be a council
decision, Green said the idea
would be to provide free utili-
ties for the farmers market and
not charge rent initially for the
start-up food trucks.
Council members also
expressed concerns about RV
parking because one of the
original goals was to address
the amount of oversized vehi-
cles parking on Main Street.
“I guess one of the pur-
poses that was requested ...
was to try and get some of
the RVs off Main Street,”
Holland said. “I like the idea
of the food court. It makes it
more usable, more commu-
nity friendly... My opinion is
as long as we can accommo-
date two or three RV situa-
tions, I still think we accom-
plish what we were looking to
do and maybe put a little bit
better use to the property with
the new idea.”
Holland asked if add-
ing the farmers market into
the grant application would
help the city qualify for the
grant versus the food carts.
Green said the property could
be presented in the grant as
a multi-use space for the
farmers market, restrooms,
parking
and
additional
activities.
The council directed Green
to apply for the grant, focus-
ing on providing restrooms,
parking and a multi-purpose
area.
“At least if we get the
grant, and we can put in the
public restrooms and at least
get a portion of it (parking)
started,” Holland said. “It
would be easier to fund more
of it later.”
Seven projects for under
$20,000 could improve the
look for the mill corner in
John Day.
Grant County resident
Bruce Ward shared with
the John Day City Coun-
cil on Jan. 26 ideas on pro-
viding temporary improve-
ments for
the appear-
ance of the
mill corner
on the west-
ern entrance
to John Day
with com-
munity-sup- Bruce Ward
ported proj-
ects, such as an area for a
drive-in theater, retouching
the planar shed and imple-
menting a pool to teach kids
how to swim.
“If you would loan us that
piece of property, the com-
munity, we would like to do
a project on it to improve
the look of our community,”
Ward said. “I did a lot of
research on this, and there
are people willing to step up
for this community and fund
what I’m willing to do, and
it’ll cost less than $20,000.”
Ward said he is proposing
a temporary facelift until the
city can continue the prog-
ress on their plans with the
Innovation Gateway.
“I also think right now,
the way the world is, this
community needs a feel-
good project,” Ward said.
Eagle file photo
A welcome sign in front of the planer shed at the former Ore-
gon Pine mill site at the western entryway into John Day.
“There’s a lot of people who
want to participate in this
and feel good.”
The idea for the pool is to
use one of the empty build-
ings and dedicate it for a
pool to teach people how to
swim. The pool would be 18
feet wide, 40 feet long and
4 feet deep, according to
Ward.
The first project he pre-
sented is to put a new roof
on the south-facing part of
planar shed. Ward said he
already got pricing on the
project and contractors who
would donate their time to
install the new roof.
Another idea would be to
add blue pine on the old Ore-
gon Pine building and pro-
vide fill to allow more park-
ing opportunities on the site.
Ward said on the pla-
nar shed there are seven big
bays that are open, which
could be used for adver-
tising or adding drapery or
banners from an artist that
would have no structural
impact on the building.
He said the east side of
the big steel building has a
wall that could be a possible
location where a projector
could be used for advertising,
events or a miniature drive-in
movie.
“Right now, with the
world we’re living in, you’re
seeing people watching mov-
ies on the side of Macy’s or
wherever they can get,” Ward
said. “I’m not saying it would
be easy to put a screen on
there, but you could put it up
and do it.”
On the west side of the big
steel building, which is vis-
ible coming into John Day
from Mt. Vernon, he said they
could add a bigger welcome
sign.
The city council expressed
interest in the ideas and asked
Ward to put the plans and
designs together on paper.
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