A16
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Access
Continued from Page A1
In June 2021, county com-
missioners, citing a state law
that deals with the designation
of public roads, passed a res-
olution “declaring the neces-
sity for the legalization of Pine
Creek Lane.”
McCarty challenged the
county, and on July 29, 2021,
Senior Judge Stephen P. Forte
granted McCarty a temporary
restraining order that prohib-
ited the county from continu-
ing its eff ort to “legalize” the
road through McCarty’s prop-
erty and secure access to the
public.
The county contested that rul-
ing, and on Nov. 5, 2021, Senior
Judge Russell B. West dissolved
the restraining order. West also
ruled that the county can survey
Forum
Continued from Page A1
Offi ce could not police John Day
and the rest of the county.
“I think we need to put the
ball back in John Day’s court,”
Knepper said. “They’re the ones
that defunded the police, primar-
ily by putting the ballot mea-
sure as a special ballot measure
on the ballot and not a general
election.”
The special election ballot
measure last August, Knepper
noted, had to pass with a double
majority for the John Day Police
Department to stay in existence.
As soon as possible, Knepper
said, John Day offi cials need to
put a policing measure back on
the ballot and take responsibil-
ity for funding the city’s police
force.
John Rowell, a Marine vet-
eran who served in the Vietnam
War and the First Gulf War and
later retired after a career in the
lumber business, said he has
been “intimately involved” in
helping to fi nd a solution on how
to fund policing in the county.
Along with current Grant
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
the portions of McCarty’s prop-
erty that the Pine Creek Road
crosses.
The county had the road sur-
veyed last fall.
Residents urge access
The April 19 public hearing
was the next step in the county’s
eff ort to declare the road a public
right-of-way.
Many of the people who
spoke during the hearing live in
the Pine Creek area, about 10
miles northwest of Baker City,
and all told commissioners that
they and their families have
enjoyed spending time in the
canyon.
Tom Lager, who with his
wife, Betty, owns 11 parcels in
the area, as well as the Timber
Tiger Lodge rental cabin, called
Pine Creek “the most beautiful
canyon in Baker Valley.”
The Lagers own property
that is accessed by the road
behind the gate that McCarty
installed, including the Timber
Tiger Lodge.
“We love it — it’s our back-
yard,” Tom Lager said. “We
enjoyed that country so much
that we have purchased those
parcels.”
Lager said the gate has lim-
ited his family’s ability to reach
their own property.
He also said that since McCa-
rty bought the 1,560 acres, Lager
was unable, for the fi rst time in
13 years, to bring to Pine Creek a
young hunter who has a terminal
illness for a guided hunt through
the Hunt of a Lifetime program.
Lager accused McCarty of
“greed” and of trying “to take it
away from the public.”
“They don’t own the road,”
Lager said. “They own the 1,560
(acres) they purchased.”
Lager said that although the
road also passes through some
of his property, he has never pre-
vented or even discouraged peo-
ple from using the road.
Carmen Nelson, who with
her husband, Jeff , lives on Pine
Creek Lane, said she tries to
hike to Pine Creek Reservoir
at least once every summer to
enjoy the views.
“Everything you see is gor-
geous,” Carmen Nelson said.
“Wildfl owers, colors.”
Nelson said she has vis-
ited Pine Creek since she was a
child, including many trips with
her father in a Willys Jeep.
She said the family used to
camp at the reservoir, and no
one ever questioned whether
the road was public.
“I could believe it,” she told
commissioners. “How could
this happen?”
Jeff Nelson, who said he had
his fi rst hunting trip in the Pine
Creek canyon, said he believes
the road should remain open to
the public.
“One person should not jus-
tify the damage they’re doing to
this community by putting up a
gate,” he said.
Robert Seymour, who owns
the Baisley-Elkhorn Mine,
which is near the North Fork of
Pine Creek and accessed by the
Pine Creek Road, told commis-
sioners he believes “that road
should be a county road.”
Seymour said he believes the
road predates the creation of the
U.S. Forest Service in 1905, cit-
ing historical documents that
reference the developments at
the Baisley-Elkhorn Mine years
before 1905. That date can be a
factor in determining whether a
road qualifi es as a public right-
of-way under a 19th century
federal law, RS 2477, that was
superseded in the 1970s but is
sometimes still cited for roads
that predate the creation of the
Forest Service or other signifi -
cant federal actions.
Several speakers said they’re
disappointed by the eff ects of
logging that McCarty has done
since buying his property.
Mike Thompson, who said
he fi rst visited the Pine Creek
canyon in 1963, when he was
13, mentioned the logging.
Thompson also said that the
county had made repairs to a sec-
tion of the road after it washed
out several years ago.
“It’s a real shame that some-
one comes in and says, ‘I own
this, and to heck with the rest of
the country,’” Thompson said.
“That’s not right. We need to do
something to keep it open for
everybody.
“You’re shutting off recre-
ation and enjoyment to many
people in this town. We have a
tendency to resent it.”
County Commissioner Sam
Palmer, Rowell has met to dis-
cuss the issue informally with
McKinley and John Day City
Councilors Gregg Haberly and
Heather Rookstool.
Rowell said he agreed with
some of Webb’s ideas and that
when he was in Long Creek,
he had heard the same concerns
regarding speeding. He said he
did not know the real answer
to policing but said the county
would have to look at what it
can do concerning fi nances and
bringing on additional patrol dep-
uties. He said whether it’s arrang-
ing policing agreements with
various cities — something the
county does not currently have
with any municipality — or other
options, the county has to do
something.
“There’s no doubt that the
county right now is understaff ed
to provide necessary services
without wearing out the current
offi cers,” he said.
are paid for. Hamsher said at the
county’s April 13 budget com-
mittee meeting that the job is at
least half-time and the commis-
sioners should be paid for 20
hours a week.
Hall asked the candidates
how many hours they would
expect to put into the job if
elected and what their position
was on Hamsher’s proposal.
Knepper said he thought
the position is “naturally” a
20-hour-per-week job and that
getting paid for those hours
would be appropriate.
Rowell said he is retired
and did not care one way or
the other. However, he pointed
out he did not get paid when
he served on the Grant School
Board for eight years. For that
reason, he said, it is “great” that
commissioners get paid at all.
Nonetheless, Rowell said he
did not have an opinion on the
matter one way or the other and
said he would work more hours
if he needed to for the county’s
citizens.
Webb, a county judge from
2007 to 2013, said that while
he is not sure what the current
commissioners’ workload is, he
recalled that the county com-
missioners worked less and
were paid a little less while he
was in offi ce.
The expectation, he said,
was that the commissioners
put in the time that was needed
to do the job. Additionally, he
said, the understanding was that
the job would not be a regular
salaried position.
Webb added that, during his
term, the county transitioned
mental health and addiction
services — public health ser-
vices that the county is sup-
posed to provide — to an out-
side entity. Essentially, he said,
the county’s government has
since shrunk.
“There appears to me to be
less work than what there was
in the past,” he said.
While he said that assess-
ment might not be fair to the
current situation, he wanted to
suggest that it could be the case
that commissioners are doing
more than they need to.
Essentially, he said that
when he was in offi ce a sig-
nifi cant amount of work the
court did — providing for pub-
lic health — was absorbed by
another organization.
“It’s a real question of
whether there is still one and half
(full-time employees’ worth) of
work,” Webb said. “There may
be, though we need to have that
conversation.”
can sure be civil. It doesn’t cost
anything.”
Knepper said that while he
did not have much experience
on this topic, he believes the city
and the county need to cooper-
ate on matters of mutual interest.
Currently, he said, the biggest
bone of contention is the police
funding debate.
Webb said he agreed with
Rowell about the need for
respect and civility at public
meetings. Indeed, he acknowl-
edged he has lost his temper in
the past. Nonetheless, he said,
what “mature adults” elected
to offi ce or hired in public-fac-
ing positions need to do is go
beyond their own personalities
and rise above the insults that
come their way.
At the heart of the issue,
Webb said, is the city’s request
for county road dollars that
legally cannot be spent in the
way the city would like to spend
them, although he added that the
law might have changed since
he served as county judge. It
would be nice, Webb said, to
have a legal review and an hon-
est conversation about whether
it is realistic or not to spend the
road dollars that way.
County commissioner pay
The two current county
commissioners, Palmer and Jim
Hamsher, have said in the past
that commissioners work more
than the 13⅓ hours a week they
Budget
Continued from Page A1
well as a $112,143 million budget
for the John Day Urban Renewal
Agency, which required a separate
vote. The Urban Renewal Agency
has applied for a $1.85 million loan
from Business Oregon to pay for
street and infrastructure improve-
ments to three new subdivisions.
The budget committee is com-
prised of the seven City Council
members and seven citizen mem-
bers. Three of the committee’s
seven citizen positions are currently
vacant.
John Day has 14 full time
employees, down from 24 in 2016.
The $30.3 million budget for
the upcoming fi scal year is up
Grants
A MAN
WAKES
UP in the
morning
after sleeping on...
an advertised bed, in advertised
pajamas.
Blue Mountain Eagle
MyEagleNews.com
Continued from Page A1
S286526-1
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!
from the $22.5 million budget the
city approved for fi scal year 2021-
22 due to increased grant funding.
City manager Nick Green said a
city John Day’s size typically has a
budget of around $5 million a year.
“We’re at six times that with cap-
ital improvements that are largely
grant-funded,” Green added.
The budget contains $10.8 mil-
lion in grant funding for projects
Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710
Walker said the main goal is
to reduce wildfi re hazards on the
Malheur.
“(The funding) is really help-
ing us accelerate our restoration
out here in the (Malheur) National
Forest,” Walker said.
The Northern Blues Forest
Collaborative received $3 mil-
lion for a 10.4 million-acre proj-
ect in the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest to reduce wildfi re
risk and prepare the landscape to
manage fi re safely.
Nils
Christoff ersen,
the
executive director of Wallowa
Resources, a member of the
Northern Blues Restoration Part-
nership, said there had been a sig-
nifi cant loss of capacity to manage
City-county relations
Hall asked the candidates
what — if anything — they
would do to reduce the tensions
between the county and the city
of John Day.
Rowell said one of the rea-
sons why he is running is
because he feels there needs
to be more respect in public
meetings.
“(John Day) is not removed
from Grant County, and Grant
County can’t get rid of the city,”
Rowell said. “We need to come
up with plans that work for both
entities. We both are in this
county together.”
While both sides have
become more polarized, the real-
ity is that for the most part both
want the same thing, he added.
Citizens of John Day and res-
idents of the county want “rea-
sonable services” and “reason-
able government.”
“That doesn’t mean that
we’re always right,” Rowell
said. “But the one thing is we
that are scheduled to break ground
this coming fi scal year: fi ber optic
buildout throughout the city limits,
the new wastewater treatment plant,
a new community pool (if approved
by voters on May 17), and site
improvements related to the Kam
Wah Chung interpretive center.
Included in the Urban Renewal
Agency budget are improvements
to the Charolais Heights east end
forests on both the public and pri-
vate sides since the 1990s. These
funds, he said, help off set that
disinvestment.
Most people, he said, con-
cerned about the landscapes and
communities of Eastern Oregon
have been arguing for a long time
that these forests need additional
money and staff to respond to the
challenges they face.
Christoff ersen said the No. 1
thing in people’s minds is wild-
fi re. But the funding, he said, is
not limited to fi re prevention.
“We’re looking at how we can
improve the forest’s overall condi-
tion,” he said.
Christoff erson said that
includes making sure the water-
sheds are operating correctly to
ensure clean water, maintaining
and improving wildlife habitat,
and putting people back to work
in the woods and the mills.
extension and Holstrom Road,
Phase 1 of infrastructure improve-
ments to the Ridge and Phase 2 of
improvements to Ironwood Estates.
Improvements to the three sites
will create 31 new residential lots
within the city. The budget will now
head to the City Council, where it
needs to be approved before being
adopted. The new budget goes into
eff ect on July 1.
AT A GLANCE
Northern Blues Forest
Restoration — $3 mil-
lion: A 10.4-million-acre
project to reduce wildfi re
risk and prepare the land-
scape to safely manage
fi re.
Southern Blues Resto-
ration Coalition — $3
million: A project to
restore 1 million acres
that suffer from drasti-
cally changing wildfi re
patterns, species compo-
sition, and forest stand
densities that threaten
to destroy key habitat,
old growth, important
aquatic resources and
private property due to
uncharacteristic wildfi res
and effects of a changing
climate.
Rogue Basin Land-
scape Restoration
Project — $3 million: A
4.6 million-acre project
intended to accelerate
restoration treatments
to meet goals of wildfi re
risk reduction, landscape
resiliency, improved wild-
life habitat, watershed
protection, adaptation,
and social and economic
resilience.
Lakeview Stewardship
— $2 million: An 859,000-
acre project to create
a healthy, resilient and
functional forest land-
scape maintained with
fi re to mitigate the threat
of high-severity wildfi res.
Reelect David Baum
Oregon Trail Electric Board, Position 8
2022
I
Northeast Oregon
PHOTO
CONTEST
Visit bluemountaineagle.com and enter today!
STATEMENT TO VOTERS: The electric utility industry is seeing significant changes due to increased demand, new
technologies, government mandates, high prices of natural gas and oil, and weather renewables (solar and wind).
Weather renewables work only when the Sun is shining and the Wind is blowing.
Currently OTEC purchases 100% of its electrical power from Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and some of the
lowest electrical rates in the country. But BPA is being challenged with increasing costs, reduced revenue, and threat
of the removal of the four lower Snake River dams. As the board member involved with the Wildfire Mitigation Plan, we
have aggressively pushed forward with the drafting and finalization of a Wildfire Plan.
As we negotiate a new contract with Bonneville (BPA), my legal experience is a valuable evaluation tool. My focus will be to
continue to work diligently in areas of Power Supply, Transmission and Distribution. I will strive to keep your electrical rates
low.
Our CEO, Les Penning and staff with board support will not be raising your electrical rates for 2022.
It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to serve as your representative on the board of Directors. I have grained a signifi-
cant knowledge and experience about cooperatives during this time. I will continue to work hard at keeping electric
rates low while providing safe and reliable electricity to our members along with excellent customer service. I have
knowledge, experience, energy and time to serve.
I ask for YOUR VOTE and look forward to our future challenges.
Paid For By David Baum / The Committee to Reelect David Baum