After a summer when wildfires burned more acres in Baker County than ever before, the county’s firefighting capacity will be bolstered for 2025.

Baker County commissioners on Wednesday morning, Dec. 4, voted 3-0 to award a $175,000 bid for five water tanks that can be installed in pickup truck beds, converting the vehicles to mobile fire trucks.

The county received a $190,000 grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior in September to buy the tanks from Cascade Fire Equipment of White City, near Medford.

Jason Yencopal, the county’s emergency management director, said five fire districts will each get one tank — Halfway, Richland, Sumpter, Greater Bowen Valley and Baker Rural.

Three of the tanks hold 300 gallons, and two hold 200 gallons.

Commissioner Christina Witham, noting that the federal grant will cover the entire cost, called the program a “great thing.”

Commission Chairman Shane Alderson agreed.

“I’m excited to have them,” he said. “These are a force multiplier.”

The Interior Department announced Wednesday that a second round of grants, totaling $20 million, is starting. Individual grants range from $10,000 to $500,000. The deadline to apply, through grants.gov, is Feb. 26, 2025.

In other business Wednesday, commissioners:

• Voted 3-0 to solicit proposals for people interested in working as an independent contractor for the county, overseeing either transit grants, all other types of grants, or both.

The county will accept proposals through the middle of January, and review proposals during the commissioners’ Jan. 22 meeting.

The request for proposals states that the contract for overseeing the transit program will not exceed $25,000, with an hourly rate, to be determined, for handling other grants.

• Agreed to try to sell a 160-acre parcel the county owns on Hunt Mountain west of Haines.

Witham said a survey of the property this summer showed there is commercial timber worth about $59,000.

A county ordinance requires that proceeds from a sale go to the parks department.

The county tried to sell the property in 2018 but a proposed deal fell through.

Witham said the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the public land that borders the county parcel on three sides, isn’t interested in buying the land or swapping another parcel of public property.

Commissioners agreed to talk with local real estate agents about listing the property.

In 2019 county officials said the Hunt Mountain property would be difficult to sell because there is no legal access to the parcel across private land that also borders the parcel.

Opioid settlement money

Commissioners discussed options for spending the county’s share of Oregon’s settlement with several companies for their role in the nation’s opioid crisis.

The state will receive about $600 million over 18 years (starting in 2021). Baker County has received $465,000, and it expects to get another nearly $1.1 million over the next 15 to 20 years.

Alderson said he would like the county to use some of the money for opioid abuse prevention programs that focus on children.

Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash told commissioners he is working on a proposal for spending some of the money. One idea is to assign an employee from the sheriff’s office to oversee distribution of dollars. Commissioners talked about some money going to the juvenile department, Baker County Health Department, and New Directions Northwest.

Drought declaration

Commissioners unanimously approved a local disaster declaration due to drought.

Yencopal told commissioners that the declaration, which requests Gov. Tina Kotek ask all state departments to assist the county as needed and request a federal disaster designation, will expire at the end of 2024, just a few weeks away.

However, Yencopal said county officials will monitor the weather during the winter and potentially ask commissioners to approve another drought declaration this spring, before the growing season begins.

A declaration in spring, if it results in a state declaration, can make state and federal aid available to farmers and ranchers during the growing season when the aid can have a direct benefit.

Baker County was never in a severe, extreme or exceptional drought during 2024, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The monitor has a five-category system: abnormally dry, and four levels of drought — moderate, severe, extreme and exceptional.

The county’s declaration states that “agricultural producers have reported that they were not able to cut hay this year due to the lack of water and in other areas their yields of hay were down a third or more from average.”

All or most of Baker County was rated as being in moderate drought from late July through late November. The for past two weekly reports, Nov. 26 and Dec. 3, the county was rated as abnormally dry but not in drought.

The declaration also urges farmers and ranchers to report their conditions at https://droughtimpacts.unl.edu/Tools/ConditionMonitoringObservations.aspx.

Leo Adler Field light donation

Commissioners voted 3-0 to donate lights from Leo Adler Field, near the Fairgrounds, to the Baker Trap Club. The field is no longer used for baseball.