A18
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Squeeze-in
Continued from Page A1
Painted Sky is in the process
of acquiring a new location,
which would free up the build-
ing referenced by Squeeze-In’s
window sign. Kim Randleas
of Painted Sky says they did
indeed reach out to offer their
space once vacant, but they are
still potentially a long a ways
away from any move, as the
purchase of the new building is
still pending. “We don’t really
have a place to move right
now,” she said. “We’re doing
our best to help her out, but our
timelines aren’t really match-
ing up.”
Shawn Duncan bought
the diner nine years ago, after
she’d worked as manager of the
Squeeze-In for 13 years.
Duncan says she asked to
extend the lease at her current
location on West Main Street
but was told no by her landlady,
Monika Fenton. There has been
some frustration on Duncan’s
part, and from her regulars who
don’t want to see a change of
venue, that a lease renewal or
extension could not have been
arranged.
Duncan can’t understand
why she can’t stay, as she has
Tony Chiotti/Blue Mountain Eagle
The chalkboard at the Squeeze-In Restaurant in John Day an-
nounces the pending move to a new location in Canyon City.
Tony Chiotti/Blue Mountain Eagle
The window of the Squeeze-In as it appeared on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022.
offered to pay more rent or sign
a new lease. She said the first she
knew that she was really going
to have to move was when she
received a letter from Fenton a
month ahead of the deadline.
Fenton, however, said Dun-
can has known for a year that
she would have to move out by
the end of this month because
that was written into the current
lease.
Based on her conversations
with Duncan at the time the
last agreement was drawn up,
Fenton said her understanding
was that Duncan was planning
to retire at the end of the lease,
so she included an addendum
to the lease — that both par-
ties signed — specifying that
the premises would be handed
back “at closing of 10/31/22”
and detailing what equipment
would stay and what would
go. And Fenton says she had
not been approached about an
extension until the last month
or so.
“Nobody realizes how much
work it takes to go ahead and
get ready for stuff like that,”
Fenton said, explaining that her
intention was to keep the space
as a restaurant, but to do major
renovations after the space was
handed back to her. “I mean, I
have been working on that all
year, trying to find contractors.
Partnership
Continued from Page A1
There are concerns, how-
ever, mostly related to how
power would be shared among
the three member communi-
ties. Ketchum stated at the Oct.
11 council session that John
... You have to make sure that
that building doesn’t freeze,
you know.”
Duncan notes that she had
a lot on her mind when she
signed that final, one-year lease
(which came on the heels of a
string of five- and three-year
leases), including how to deal
with threats to her business
from COVID, rising prices and
hiring challenges.
“The fact is that I’m 67 and
I didn’t want to commit to five
years,” she says, but now she
wonders if maybe she was a
bit too candid in conversations
with her landlady in which she
verbalized the idea that it might
be time to retire. She adds that “I
shouldn’t have ever said that.”
It’s easy to see how regular
customers and friends of either
party could take a strong opin-
ion, and emotional responses
have appeared online surround-
ing the handover. But what is
clear now is that when Duncan
said she was thinking of retir-
ing, Fenton began preparing as
if that was the case. And on the
31st of the month, she’ll have
the keys back and can get to
work on renovations.
The other certainty is that
Duncan will have a busy month
time ahead of her, navigat-
ing the logistics of the move-
out and eventual move-in to
the Squeeze-In’s new home —
whenever that can take place.
It’s also pretty certain that a lot
of familiar faces will be more
than happy to make the short
trip to Canyon City to keep the
pancakes, pies and handmade
burgers on their plates, once all
is said and done.
Day’s city attorney is drafting
an agreement that hashes out
those concerns. John Day’s
attorney, Jeremy Green, also
acts as the city attorney for
Burns and Lakeview.
Talks about forming a part-
nership came about during dis-
cussions between Burns City
Manager Nick Brown and
former John Day City Man-
ger Nick Green about simi-
lar goals the two cites have.
Those discussions evolved
into ideas about sharing a city
planner and sharing costs,
which led to the idea of the R3
partnership. Both Burns and
John Day then reached out to
Lakeview to gauge its interest
in joining the partnership.
There are no known part-
nerships like R3 in effect in
the state. If approved, R3
would be a precedent-setting
arrangement and an experi-
ment that other cities would
monitor to see if it works.
Ontario, Vale and Nyssa have
expressed interest in forming
a similar partnership in the
future, while the city of Hines
has expressed interest in join-
ing R3.
TOM CHRISTENSEN
CHRISTENSEN
TOM
The Democratic Party of Oregon Recommends a Yes Vote:
3 BM
n
111 Amends Oregon Constitution to add healthcare as a fundamental right
3
n BM 112 Repeals language allowing slavery from the Oregon Constitution
3 BM 113 Excludes state legislators from re-election for unexcused legislative
n
absences
For Ballot Measure details, see your Oregon Voters’ Guide.
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