HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
LEAGUE PLAY IN FULL SWING FOR HORNETS
Yard Sale at Gold Digger Warehouse Saturday, April 26
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Council updated on blues festival BY GARY A. DE VON MANAGING EDITOR
OROVILLE – Vicki Hinze was on hand at the Tuesday, April 15 Oroville City Council meeting to report on progress regarding the upcoming Rally at the Border Blues Fest scheduled for Saturday, May 17. Hinze, owner of the Pastime Bar and Grill and member of the Oroville Chamber’s Discover Oroville Committee, is serving as chairwoman for the Rally at the Border Blues Fest. The inaugural event is being held at Oroville’s Deep Bay Park and is a 21-and-over event, according to Hinze. It is scheduled to coincide with the Run for the Border charity ride. That annual event can bring as many as 300 riders to town. “There are five blues bands signed up and we have a completely professional stage set up. Obviously this aimed at motorcycle enthusiasts and blues enthusiasts… a lot of times they cross over,” said Hinze, adding the festival has a website and Facebook page. “Clyde and I have done a lot of work on the website… Clyde did all the computer work,” said Hinze, referring to Chamber of Commerce president Clyde Andrews. The event has also attracted three
food vendors and a beverage vendor, as well as three vendors offering products that appeal to motorcyclists, including Osoyoos-based Lees-ure Lite, which builds a popular tent trailer for pulling behind motorcycles. Hinze said the website also maps out nine local motorcycle routes that the riders can take, all starting in Oroville except one that starts in Canada. “These won’t only be used for the Border Rally Blues site, hopefully it will sustain itself and will be made available to Okanogan Country (Okanogan County Tourism Council) and the Chamber’s website,” she said. Hinze said the blues fest was being promoted in the U.S. and Canada and that the Run for the Border group is promoting on their flyers in the Wenatchee area. She also said the proceeds from the event will be going to a charity. This year the charity they have chosen is The Shriners and Masons which not only help in the community but support the Shriner Children’s Hospital in Spokane. She said Deep Bay Park will be a great venue and asked if there were any questions or concerns. Rod Noel, head of the parks department said any broken picnic tables would
SEE OROVILLE | PG A2
TSD sets enrollment, school day hours BY BRENT BAKER BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
TONASKET - Setting the projected enrollment for the following school year is a critical though typically routine task for school districts as they must look into the proverbial crystal ball and estimate what sort of funding they will receive from the state. This isn’t a typical year for the Tonasket School District, which already knows it faces a cash flow issue that will extend into January. That’s because, with the school day being extended next year and the additional staff required to support that, the heightened expenses start in the fall. However, the new maintenance and operations levy, with increased funding to support those staff increases, won’t start rolling in until after the new year. State funding is determined by projected enrollment count, then adjusted to the actual enrollment numbers later in the year. The board typically bases its
A FINE SATURDAY FOR EASTER BUNNY FANS
figures on March’s enrollment number (1,050 students) and subtracts about 20 students in case there is an unexpected enrollment drop before the fall. In order to alleviate the cash flow issue during the fall, Superintendent Paul Turner had asked the board at a previous meeting to consider not subtracting the 20 students from its projected enrollment. This would bring in more state money during the fall at the expense of receiving an anticipated “bump” in funds in January and keep the district afloat until the increased levy money begins coming in. The board had hesitated to approve Turner’s recommendation due to fears of the financial consequences of budgeting for 1,050 students and then only having, say, 1,030 show up for school in the fall. “Just because I’m asking to budget on the revenue side at 1,050, we don’t have to run that same level at the expenditure side,” Turner said. “We’ll budget there,
Above, the Easter Bunny, OHS Senior Emily Viveros, who helped with the Oroville Community Easter Egg Hunt as her Senior Project, poses with Reilly Noble and Duncan and Catherine Robertson at Oroville’s Osoyoos Lake Veterans Memorial Park. Right, the Easter Bunny also visited Tonasket. The bunny, rumored to be a distant relative of James Monroe, makes a candy hunter’s day . Below right, Myra Gaytan and Jensen Sackman cope with throngs of youngsters seeking the rewards of (below left) their mad scrambles for eggs an other prizes.
Gary DeVon and Brent Baker / staff photos
SEE ENROLL | PG A2
WSDOT officials visit Tonasket council City swimming pool discussed again BY BRENT BAKER BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
TONASKET - Two Washington Department of Transportation officials visited the Tonasket City Council during its Tuesday, April 8, meeting. While much of the talk concerned controversial topics such as the oft-discussed Heavy Haul Corridor proposal and the US-97 chip seal project that is getting underway, Local Programs Engineer Paul Mahre and Project Engineer Kirk Berg seemed to have more commonalities than differences with the council and mayor, who have been critical of work and plans for US-97 through town that they feel don’t address the city’s actual needs. Berg said that the condition of
US-97 through town did merit more extensive work than the chip seal currently getting underway, but that a statewide shortage of transportation funding meant that a chip seal was all that could be accomplished. “We’re aware of your concerns through town,” Berg said. “I commiserate and understand, but that doesn’t get anything done. The way the economy and transportation budget are, we’re looking for money anywhere we can. We’ll continue to do so. Your words and sharing haven’t fallen on dead ears, but they haven’t come up with any money.” A frustrated Mayor Patrick Plumb, a couple of months ago, sent a group email to every DOT official he could find on the agency’s “contact us” page on its website, hoping to get a response. “To some extent, you’re getting the word out there are serious issues in Tonasket and you’re
OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE Volume 110 No. 17
making that well known with the people making decisions,” Mahre said. “I don’t know if it will help with (getting project) grants or not.” The possibility of a Heavy Haul Corridor being extended from Oroville to Pateros - through the middle of Tonasket - was discussed, and though the idea has been backed by the Okanogan County Commissioners and was introduced in a bill to the state legislature, the city has been frustrated by a lack of communication over its potential effects on Tonasket. “I have no problem with DOT,” Plumb said. “You’ve been very helpful... The bill presented to the legislature says they would follow DOT guidelines. The funny thing was that the DOT said that the mile that goes through Tonasket needs to be totally redone (at an estimated cost of $5 million).” There was also an estimate of
$55 million of upgrades needed Heavy Haul Corridor was put on the full stretch of highway to in place through Oroville sevPateros. eral years ago, much of that “That a parametric estimate,” money came from a one-time Berg said. “And funding source all of a sudden designed to there was this enhance infra“To some extent, you’re structure in bill going forward. We didn’t border towns getting the word have time to preparaout there are serious in do an in depth tion for the analysis.” issues in Tonasket and V a n c o u v e r “Just reiteri n t e r you’re making that well W ate, you never Olympics in said zero?” known with the people 2010. asked Plumb, “I don’t making decisions.” know referring to where earlier stateHeavy Haul Paul Mahre WSDOT Local Programs Engineer ments by the is going from county comhere, Berg said. missioners that “Basically the the Heavy Haul department Corridor designation wouldn’t supports Heavy Haul from an cost money. “It just magically economic development standcame out and I was notified it point... We’re still looking at the was zero.” issues and we can’t define that Berg added that when the until we know what kind of loads
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we’re talking about, who is hauling them.” “It would economically develop one or two people’s pockets, that’s for sure,” said council member Jean Ramsey. “Money not withstanding,” Plumb said, “would there would be more traffic if that was allowed, or less traffic if that was allowed?” Mahre, emphasizing that he was not a traffic expert, said, “More. But that is just my opinion.” “In order for DOT to analyze the effects, we need a lot more information than what we’ve got,” Berg added. “Also realize it wasn’t the DOT that took this to the legislature. When it does get to your legislative body, they are the ones that make the decisions. They just use the information we provide.” Council member Scott Olson
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