Two Baker County commissioners said Wednesday, May 21, that the county will not pursue condemnation to acquire a Baker City home next to the route of a proposed street extension that’s part of the county’s plan to build a multipurpose event center.

Extending College Street north from its current end at H Street is part of the county’s proposed plan to build the center on a 74-acre property the county bought in 2022 for $1.45 million.

The county used some of its $6.5 million in federal pandemic aid to buy the property.

Commissioners voted 3-0 during their regular meeting Wednesday to pay St. Francis de Sales Cathedral $45,000 for the 3.15-acre property, which includes an historic cemetery site bordering the College Street right-of-way.

Commission Chairman Shane Alderson and Commissioner Christina Witham both said they oppose the county using condemnation to acquire Sharon Bass’ home on the west side of the College Street right-of-way.

Condemnation, also known as eminent domain, is the legal process by which a government agency can seek to force a property owner to sell at a price determined by a jury or judge.

“If Sharon Bass doesn’t want to sell her house, we’re not going to take it,” Alderson said. “That’s the final word on that.”

Witham said she’s “totally against” using condemnation for the event center project.

Bryan Tweit, the county’s contracted economic developer, told commissioners that although buying Bass’ home would make sense for the county’s overall plan, the county could extend College Street without the property.

Tweit said the decision of whether to sell is up to Bass alone.

Bass, who attended the meeting and has lived in her home for about 32 years, urged commissioners to let voters decide whether to proceed with the event center.

“The community’s got to decide if this is where we want to go,” she said.

Bass also told commissioners she objects to the county buying the cemetery from the church.

“Let’s slow down on this,” she said.

Event center planning history

Earlier in the meeting, Tweit told commissioners that he and others have been working on the event center concept for about six years.

Tweit said the 74-acre property the county bought in 2022 is ideal for an event center.

The land, formerly a field, is bordered on the north by Hughes Lane, on the east and south by the Leo Adler Memorial Parkway, and on the west by the Baker Sports Complex.

A 2023 master site plan the county contracted for envisioned multiple buildings that could host events including sports tournaments, rodeos, conventions and concerts.

Tweit said the center could include a basketball court that would help alleviate scheduling challenges during the state Class 1A basketball tournaments that have been played in Baker City for more than 40 years.

Tweit told commissioners the county’s plan is to seek grants to build the center, which would cost tens of millions of dollars.

Tweit said he believes rental fees from the center would generate revenue to pay to maintain the facility.

He told commissioners he believes the center, by attracting visitors from around the region who would patronize local motels, restaurants and other businesses, would create a “massive revenue windfall” for the local economy.

Tweit said Baker City’s 2013 Comprehensive Plan shows as a possible project extending College Street north from H Street to Hughes Lane. He said the city many years ago installed a 15-inch-diameter sewer line along the route of the street.

Tweit told commissioners he believes that extending College Street would reduce traffic in the neighborhood around College and H streets by 80%. He believes most people attending events at the Baker Sports Complex would use Hughes Lane for access rather than coming from the south, along College or Fifth streets, as they do now since that is the only driving access to the complex’s main parking lot.

Bass and others told commissioners they have concerns about how extending the street, and building the event center, would affect the neighborhood as well as potentially increase city residents’ tax burden.

Bass said she believes taxpayers will end up “footing the bill” to maintain the center.

Amber Monpas, who lives on College Street near H Street, told commissioners she doesn’t think the county has done enough public outreach to let herself and other residents in the area understand the event center project and its potential effects.

Like Bass, Monpas urged commissioners to seek approval from voters before moving ahead.

“I agree it sounds great,” Monpas said. “If it is such a huge benefit, why aren’t the voters being brought in on this?”

Tweit said the county can’t take more action, such as seeking a permit from the city to extend College Street, without going through a public process.

The county would also have to apply to rezone the 74-acre property from residential to commercial before building an event center. In that case the city/county planning department would notify residents of adjacent properties about the proposed rezone.

Commission chairman says community support needed

Although commissioners voted 3-0 to buy the smaller property from the Catholic church, Alderson said his continuing support of the event center is contingent on Tweit gaining community support for the project.

Speaking to Tweit, Alderson said he advocated two years ago for the economic developer to explain the proposal to the public and try to secure support from local residents.

Failing to do so, Alderson contends, led to the current situation, with some residents upset about what they consider a lack of public outreach.

“I think it’s a good idea, and it’s in just the right spot,” Alderson said, referring to the proposed event center, and talking to Tweit. “But I am telling you, if you can’t show me you have community support by the end of this summer, I am pulling my support for it.”

Alderson also apologized for the county not being “more open” about the event center proposal.

Tweit said earlier in the meeting that he’s willing to talk with residents at any time, whether publicly or privately, about the project.

Maintaining the cemetery

In response to questions from Tisha Bass of Baker City about the cemetery, Commissioner Michelle Kaseberg noted that Catholic officials approved the terms of the sales agreement.

Father Suresh Telagani of St. Francis de Sales signed the agreement.

The agreement requires the county to protect the existing stone monument on the property. The county would have to build a 5-foot-tall steel fence surrounding a 12-foot by 12-foot area around the monument, which is toward the eastern side of the property, away from the right-of-way for College Street.

The sales agreement states that the county would use a strip of land on the western edge of the property for a public street, an extension of College Street. The county would not build any structures on the property, except for fencing.

Tweit said the county’s plan is to use the area as a green space.

He said the county is better equipped to maintain the property than the church is.

The sales agreement states in part that “It is also the express agreement of parties that the remaining portion of the property that is not used for public access/public street will not be used for development of any buildings or other structures of any kind” except fencing and the historic site sign.

That sign states that the cemetery was used for burials from 1860-1895, and that church and city records indicate there were 44 burials on the site. City records also show that the remains of 14 people were moved to Mount Hope Cemetery in the early 1900s.

Francis Mohr of Baker City, a member of St. Francis de Sales and a longtime leader in Knights of Columbus, the global Catholic fraternal service order, said on Tuesday, May 20, that Bishop Liam Cary of the Baker Diocese approved the terms of the proposed sale to the county.

Mohr said it’s not certain whether all the remains originally buried in the cemetery were moved to Mount Hope.

That uncertainty is why the purchase agreement includes provisions related to protecting the property, and limiting what the county could do with the land.

Mohr said the county’s plan to extend College Street, work limited to the far western edge of the property, shouldn’t affect it.

He said he hopes county officials, if commissioners approve the purchase agreement, manage the land with “respect.”

That’s the county’s goal, Tweit said.

Earlier in the meeting, Bill Harvey, who served two terms as county commission chairman, said he supports the project.

Harvey said he believes the event center would be an economic boon to the county.