A16
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Airport
Center
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
impose requirements to create
and maintain a certain number
of jobs.
Another barrier to selling
lots was the zoning. In addi-
tion to its industrial park zon-
ing, the property is covered
by an airport safety and com-
patibility zone overlay, which
imposes additional restrictions
on what types of operations
are allowed.
heightened level of hostility
and anger.
Nickel said she felt com-
pelled to say something after
hearing about the verbal
abuse toward public health
offi cials and contact tracers
at the Grant County Health
Department.
She said people owe Pub-
lic Health Administrator
Kimberly Lindsay and Health
Department clinic manager
Jessica Winegar an apology
for the verbal tirades they and
their staff have had to endure
when making contact tracing
calls.
“We owe her (Lindsay) an
apology,” Nickel said, “and
I hope that people will never
abuse a public health worker
like her or Jessica (Winegar)
at the health clinic again.”
Swing and a miss
Changing the game
After the Enviro Board
deal collapsed, the Grant
County Airport Industrial Park
continued to languish – even
as the city continued to make
payments on its $1.5 million
loan from the state. Then, fol-
lowing a City Council study
session late last year, the
city decided to try a diff erent
approach.
The council rescinded a
2015 ordinance prohibiting
marijuana businesses within
the city limits. It broadened
some defi nitions in the land
Emergency housing
Bennett Hall/Blue Mountain Eagle
This is one of eight 1-acre lots still available for purchase at the Grant County Airport Industrial Park. After a long period of dormancy,
activity at the park is heating up.
Bennett Hall/Blue Mountain Eagle
Sherri Dowdy, left, watches as Cindie Hunt preps an order for shipping at the HECS warehouse on
Wednesday, Dec. 8.
use code to allow more busi-
ness types in the airport indus-
trial park zone. It also dropped
the requirement that any new
business that wanted to set up
shop in the industrial park par-
ticipate in the enterprise zone
(although they still have the
option to do so).
All of those measures
helped, but the last one was a
game-changer for some poten-
tial lot buyers, according to
City Manager Nick Green.
“You had to create and
maintain at least three full-
time jobs, and almost nobody
could do it,” Green told the
newspaper.
The changes were codifi ed
in a new ordinance and res-
olution adopted by the City
Council in February.
At the same time, the city
reset the price on 1-acre lots
in the park from an artifi -
cially low $3,000 apiece to
one approximating real mar-
ket value: $15,500.
And then the dam broke.
In spite of the hefty price
increase, lots in the park
started selling like hotcakes.
“There are only eight num-
bered lots left out of 27,”
Green said. “That is pretty sig-
nifi cant considering we just
started selling them (in Feb-
ruary). It hasn’t even been a
year.”
In addition to the num-
bered 1-acre lots, some addi-
tional acreage has been sold
and some lots have been con-
solidated through a replatting
process. The sales are in var-
ious stages. While some have
gone through, others are pend-
ing and one is just a verbal
off er at this point. But if all of
them go through, it will mean
a signifi cant infusion of cash
for the city.
“If I’m doing my math
right, we have $297,000 in
sales completed or pending
since February,” Green said.
That money, he added, will
go into the municipal water
and sewer funds, which the
city tapped to secure the $1.5
million state loan for develop-
ing the industrial park in the
fi rst place.
Meanwhile, the city refi -
nanced the loan a few years
ago, consolidating the debt for
several city projects in a new
state loan with a signifi cantly
lower interest rate, according
to Green.
“We’re down to one pay-
ment,” he said. “We made a
payment in December of this
year and we’ll make one more
in December of next year, and
then we’ll be done.”
Will the city’s investment
pay off ?
“I think it will in the long
run,” Green said. “There’s
still a lot of land that could be
subdivided or sold off . (But)
where the payoff will come is
in new job creation and busi-
nesses moving into the area.”
Lundbom is less restrained
in his assessment.
“I think everything up
there so far is going to add to
the local economy,” he said.
“It’s all good news, man.”
Looking ahead
It’s not clear at this stage
how soon any of the new busi-
Support Grant County!
The Grant County Chamber of
Commerce reminds you to support
these local chamber members!
1st Choice Automotive
Anderson Sand Blasting
Advantage Dental
Bank of Eastern Oregon
Belly Acres Ranch
Benchmark Land Surveying
Berry Creek Ranch
Bisnett Insurance
Blue Mountain Care Center
Blue Mountain Chiropractic
Blue Mountain Eagle
Blue Mountain Hospital
Canyon Creek Clinic
Canyon Mountain Center
Chester’s Market
City of John Day
City of Long Creek
City of Mt. Vernon
City of Prairie City
City of Seneca
Claws & Paws Pet Sitting
Columbia Power Co-op
Come Ride with Us Motorcycle
Maps
Community Counseling Solutions
Country Preferred Realtors
Debbie Ausmus Country Insurance
Doug’s Motor Vehicle Repair
D.R. Driscoll Books
Driskill Memorial Chapel
Duke Warner Realty
Eastern Oregon Realty
Edward D Jones
ER Printing and Graphics
Families First of Grant County
Ferguson Surveying & Engineering,
Inc.
Fields Grassfed Beef
First Community Credit Union
Fossil Shift Bike Shop
Frontier Equipment
Grant County Farm Bureau
Grant County Genealogical Society
Grant County Heating & Cooling
Grant County Library Foundation
Grant County People Mover
Grant County OSU Extension
Service
Grant County Snowballers
Grant/Harney CASA
Heart of Grant County
John Day Farmers Market
John Day Golf Club
John Day Trailer Park & Laundry
Mat
Juniper Press
KJDY/News 102
K2 Ventures
Knowles Cattle Company
Land Title co Grant County, Inc.
MD Enterprizes
MK Party
Cupper Creek Land Company
North River Electric
Northfork John Day River Water-
shed Council
Old West Federal Credit Union
Oregon Telephone Company
Oregon Trail Electric Co-op
Oregon Trail Well Service LLC.
Solutions CPAs
Patriot Plumbing and Gear
Prairie Springs Fish Farm
Riverside Home Park
Robert Bagett PLS CWRE
Sally Knowles Property, LLC
Silvies Valley Ranch
State Farm Insurance
Sunrise Construction Specialists
Town of Canyon City
Valley View Retirement Center
Value Added Inc.
Virginia McMillan D.D.S.
Work Source Canyon City
nesses planned for the indus-
trial park will open, but Mike
Slinkard says he’ll be glad to
have a little more company
for his business.
“Sure,” he joked. “It’s
been basically a dog-walking
park.”
He said having more busi-
nesses up and running should
improve the security situation
at the industrial park, which
can turn into something of a
party spot for local teenagers
at night.
Slinkard added that it’s
been a good location for his
business, which is thriving.
HECS (an acronym for
Human Energy Conceal-
ment System) produces cloth-
ing using a patented carbon
fi ber grid that the company
says disguises and dissipates
the electrical signal produced
by the human body, enabling
the wearer to get much closer
to animals without spooking
them. The fi rm’s product line
includes base layers, pants,
face coverings and even wet-
suits, which it sells to hunters,
wildlife biologists and others
who want to get up close and
personal with wildlife.
While the manufacturing
is done overseas (Slinkard
says the U.S. lacks the neces-
sary textile production capac-
ity), HECS stores inven-
tory and ships orders from
its headquarters in the Grant
County Airport Industrial
Park.
Southwest Fourth Street,
the steep, winding road that
climbs up the hill from South
Canyon Bouelvard to the
park, can get a little icy in the
winter, Slinkard said, but it
has never stopped the deliv-
ery vehicles that keep his
business humming.
“UPS, FedEx, USPS
deliver up here every day,”
he said, adding that semis can
access the park by taking the
truck route up West Bench
Road from Highway 26.
“I wish more people would
take a look at this business
model,” Slinkard said.
“A lot of people pooh-
pooh (the idea of) business
in a rural area because of
shipping issues, but honestly
they’re not insurmountable.
There’s an awful lot of advan-
tages to being in a rural area,
especially with the things we
like to do.”
Rayme Lacey, an advo-
cate at Heart of Grant County,
said she is trying to fi nd sta-
ble housing for people living
in the shelter, but the county’s
housing shortage has made it
diffi cult.
Currently, she said she
is working with roughly
10 people in abusive situa-
tions. While those situations
are not necessarily violent,
they are still unhealthy living
conditions.
“I’m extremely worried
for their safety,” Lacey said.
“We don’t have the room to
house everybody, and they
have no place to go, and
we’re juggling a lot to try and
keep them safe.”
As someone who experi-
enced domestic violence for
a large part of her life, Lacey
said she can empathize with
what her clients are going
through.
Lacey came to Heart of
Grant County as a client and
lived in the shelter while get-
ting back on her feet.
“When you’re living
in abuse, you just get torn
down,” Lacey said, “and you
don’t think much of yourself,
and you don’t think that you
can do anything.”
Lacey said that the staff at
Heart of Grant County helped
her believe in herself and
change her mindset.
She said it is important to
her to make sense of her trauma
and use that experience to help
someone out of theirs.
“It’s hard to see a way out
when you’re in it,” Lacey
said, “and I’m passionate
about letting people know
that their life can change.”
Lacey said both her faith
and a support network within
the community helped keep
her going.
Before that, Lacey said
she had given up all hope of
having a happy life. How-
ever, she said her life turned
around when she got to Heart
of Grant County. She said
that the organization gave her
time to heal and the resources
to go to Community Counsel-
ing Solutions.
Coming back from addic-
tion, she could get into drug
and alcohol programs and
work with mental health
counselors, she said.
It took a whole commu-
nity, she said: “All of the peo-
ple that I have now to use as
partners to help other people
get out of it.”
There’s No Place Like Home
For The Holidays
121
John Day
Day
331 E.
W. Main,
Main, John
541-575-2710
541-575-2710
Fax
541-575-2610
Fax 541-575-2610
Fax 541-575-2610
Fax 541-575-2610
www.RMLS.com
We’d like to deliver our sincere best wishes to
your door this holiday. May the season bring
much happiness, health, and good fortune to
you and your loved ones.
If you’re looking for a home for the holidays
and beyond, please keep us in mind. We’ve
been helping area residents find the perfect
place to call home for many years.
eastoregonrealestate.com
www.country-preferred-realtors.com
Grant County Chamber of Commerce
301 W. Main St. John Day, OR 97845
541-575-0547
S267752-1
Wendy Cates
Principal Broker/
Owner
541-620-4239
Amy Denman
Principal Broker
503-577-7029
Fred Winegar
Broker
541-620-1506
Debbie Brown
Broker
541-419-8156
Mike Moore
Broker
541-542-2059
S269211-1
S215894-1
Still, Lundbom said, there
was signifi cant interest from
a number of out-of-town com-
panies in those early days,
including Tillamook Cream-
ery and a fi rm that manufac-
tures armrests for airplane
seats. But there were no takers.
Then, in 2012, Enviro
Board Corp. announced plans
to buy land in the park to
manufacture environmentally
friendly building panels out of
agricultural waste fi ber.
In January of 2013, the
company signed a deal to buy
7 acres at the industrial park.
Armed with a $3.5 million
business energy tax credit from
the state, company co-chair-
man William Peiff er said he
intended to build a state-of-
the-art,
40,000-square-foot
factory that would create as
many as 100 jobs.
Then-City Manager Peggy
Gray called the agreement “an
incredible opportunity for our
community,” according to an
article at the time in the Blue
Mountain Eagle.
By May, however, the deal
was dead in the water over
Enviro Board’s failure to put
up $10,000 in earnest money.
By that time, Lundbom
was mayor of John Day. As
he recalls the situation, Peiff er
wanted to use his tax credit to
cover startup costs including
the earnest money payment,
but that’s not how the BETC
program worked – the credit
only kicked in after the project
was completed.
“I think that kiboshed the
deal,” he told the Eagle last
week. “All of a sudden it just
went away.”