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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 22, 2022)
GO! EASTERN OREGON MAGAZINE | INSIDE 1 JUN E 22�2 9, 202 2 SE CT IO N H EA D ER SECTION DESCRIPTION JUNE 22-2 9, 2022 WWW .GOE ASTE RNO REGO LANEY JONES a N.CO M Celebrate High Co Days untry PAG E 4 nd the Spirits Create Challen art show ge PAG E 16 PA GE 8 Enjoy Shakes Festival peare PAG E 19 Laney Jone s, on tour from Nashville, Tennessee, plays at Churchill Scho ol in Baker on Saturday, City July 2, along Kathryn Clair with e and Marg ot Libby Danf orth/Contribut Merah. ed Photo Wednesday, June 22, 2022 City signs Green as consultant By JUSTIN DAVIS Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY — Nick Green is no longer the John Day city manager but will continue to work for the city as a consul- tant — at more money than he was making previously. Green’s previously announced resignation was made offi cial during the June 14 session of the John Day City Council, which opened the door for him to take on a consulting role with the city starting July 1. G r e e n ’s consulting fi rm, Cata- lyst Public Policy Advi- sors LLC, entered a contract with Green the city that was unanimously approved by the council at the June 14 meeting. The contract allows Green’s fi rm to provide con- sulting services to John Day for one year. The move makes Green an independent contrac- tor and transitions him off the city’s books as an employee. The services Catalyst will provide include administra- tion of the city’s current grants portfolio and debt manage- ment for the city’s loan port- folio. The fi rm will also be responsible for coordinating bridge loans for city projects such as the wastewater treat- ment plant and fi nancial man- agement of the city’s urban renewal area. Catalyst will also provide asset manage- ment for the city’s land sales and property transfers. Catalyst is set to make $12,500 a month for its con- sultation services, which works out to $150,000 a year. The fi rm will be paid $225 an hour for any additional ser- vices that are outside the scope of its normal duties, such as any additional grant writing requested by the city. Terms of the contract state that Catalyst’s compensation can not exceed $200,000 a year. As city manager, Green’s total compensation from the city was $107,526 in salary and benefi ts. He also received a 1% fee from many of the grants he brought in. Interim City Manager Corum Ketchum is being paid a comparable amount to what Green made in that role. 154th Year • No. 25 • 16 Pages • $1.50 MyEagleNews.com Business and politics Land deal could spark development in John Day, but critics raise ethical concerns By JUSTIN DAVIS Blue Mountain Eagle A local business’s ex- pansion plans could get the ball rolling on development of John Day’s Innovation Gateway project, but they’re also raising ques- tions about how the city does business. 1188 Brewery owner Shannon Adair — who also sits on the City Council — has closed on her pre- viously reported purchase of 2.8 acres in the Innovation Gateway, the large parcel of city-owned land centered around an abandoned lum- ber mill at the western entrance to John Day, and is set to begin devel- oping the property. It would be the fi rst commer- cial development on the Innova- tion Gateway property, which the city acquired in hopes of revitaliz- ing the local economy in the face of a shrinking timber industry and a declining residential tax base due to decreased population. Grant County was the only county in Ore- gon that saw a population reduction following the 2020 census. The land sale is not without con- troversy, however. Because Adair is a member of the John Day City Council and the city did not put the parcel up for the public to bid on, some observers have suggested the transaction may have been unethi- cal and perhaps even illegal. Adair insists she’s done every- thing according to the law and that there’s nothing improper about the deal. Expansion plans 1188 Brewing Co. has been looking for ways to expand since it started in 2012, Adair said. Those plans led to the creation of a new venture called 1188 Destinations. The new company’s plans for developing the 2.8-acre Innovation Gateway parcel call for a distill- ery that is separate from the brew- ing operations 1188 currently has in downtown John Day, as well as a restaurant with a diff erent menu from 1188’s pub fare. Also proposed are a small num- ber of cabins that would be rented as overnight lodging. Adair said plans for the cabins were inspired by conceptual drawings that an ear- Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle From left, 1188 Destinations business partners Julie Bowling, John Spencer, Shannon Adair and Jeremy Adair sit outside 1188 Brewing in John Day on Monday, June 20, 2022. The partners plan to build a distillery, restaurant and other facilities as part of the Innovation Gateway development. Blue Mountain Eagle, File The John Day Innovation Gateway. Contributed Image, File An early site concept for the John Day Innovation Gateway. lier would-be developer had pro- duced for a motel with separate cabins. “I saw the cabins and thought, I can do that. Defi nitely not some- thing the scale of a hotel, but I can do cabins,” she said. A small outdoor pavilion that can be used to host musical perfor- mances is also planned for the site. Adair said big name musical acts like AC/DC probably won’t be per- forming at the venue, but it will be a place that hosts live music. A num- ber of walking paths and appealing landscaping will also be a part of the project, Adair said, adding that eff orts would be made to segregate the area from nearby residences. A matter of appearances Adair’s position on the John Day City Council and the property not going out for bid are at the heart of ethical questions surrounding the deal that would make the plans out- lined above a reality. Adair signed a letter of intent to buy the property in December, with the approval of the City Coun- cil. That letter of intent was formal- ized during contentious discussions at the May 10 City Council session. At one point, the council consid- ered shelving the sale of the prop- erty and putting it up for the public to bid on. Adair said she was upset that the suggestion was brought up as she was under the assumption that she and the city had already come to an agreement. Another concern was raised about the optics of withdrawing the letter of intent, with some in atten- dance questioning whether backing out of the deal with Adair would cause future developers to have sec- ond thoughts about the city’s hon- esty in making land sales. The resolution to sell Adair the property passed 3-1, with Councilor Chris Labhart voting no. Labhart said he doesn’t think Adair got a “sweetheart deal” but argued that the land should’ve been put up for public bidding. He stressed the need for transparency in land sales by the city. Adair did not vote on the res- olution to approve the sale of the property. Ethical questions A representative of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission declined to off er an opinion on the propriety of the transaction, say- ing the panel can only issue fi nd- ings in response to formal ethics complaints. Section 244.040 of the Oregon Revised Statutes deals with prohib- ited uses of public offi ce. It says, in part, that a public offi cial may not use or attempt to use their offi ce for fi nancial gain or avoidance of debt for themselves, relatives, household See Deal, Page A16 See Green, Page A16 Linemen rescue stranded crash victim, dog By STEVEN MITCHELL Blue Mountain Eagle DALE — Good Samar- itans jumped into the water Monday, June 20, and helped rescue a woman and her dog from a Kia minivan that crashed into Camas Creek on Highway 395 near the Grant/Umatilla county line. According to Oregon State Police Trooper Mike Mayer, the van started slid- ing and the driver overcor- rected and hit the gravel on the shoulder of the road, going around a curve before fl ipping over two to three times and rolling into the middle of the creek near milepost 53. While the passenger was Contributed Photo Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle A wrecked minivan sits in Camas Creek off Highway 395 on Monday, June 20, 2022. Two passing utility workers stopped and rescued the driver and her dog, who were trapped in the vehicle. able to escape the damaged van, the driver and her dog had a tougher time getting out. Two linemen with the Monument-based Colum- From left, Garrett Warner and Jack Jewell. The two linemen for Monument-based Columbia Power Co-op saw the wrecked car in Camas Creek and stepped in to help. bia Power Cooperative, Gar- rett Warner and Jack Jew- ell, pulled up on the scene of the accident roughly 15 min- utes after it happened and assessed whether they could run a rope to the vehicle and pull the driver and her dog See Rescue, Page A16