City shouldn’t spend money on train quiet zone

Thank you for your article covering the Baker City Council meeting held last Tuesday evening. The railroad quiet zone and golf board appointment process caught my attention.

It was pointed out that Baker City residents already voted 82% to reject the idea. A recent petition signed by 230 residents only reflects approximately 2% of Baker City’s current population. I used to own a business within spitting distance of the railroad tracks and my daughter owned a house with nothing but field between she and the tracks for years. We got used to dealing around the whistles; they not only warn humans, but wildlife of all sorts including our beloved pets out for a potty break. The railroad is a part of the history of this community and the whistle is a way for them to protect our citizens. As far as South Baker School is concerned, it is truly unfortunate that site was chosen so close to the tracks, but it is there and they work around it. To ask the school board again about their thoughts is a waste of time as they already addressed it a year and a half ago. Better to be irritated by the whistle than to have a child hit by the train. As a long-term resident of Baker, I do not want to see the city spend more resources around this issue. Our very precious civil servants’ time and our ever higher tax monies all need to be used wisely and frugally at this time.

Finally, I found the comments of Councilor Jason Spriet questioning the mayor as to why she did not appoint his preferred candidate after she already logically explained why. As quoted in the article he stated hers was “an emotional response.” That comment, most would consider sexist and rude, and has no place on the Council.

Betty Milliman

Baker City

Thankful for the well-run COVID-19 vaccine clinic

A very sincere “Thank You” to the Baker County Health Department, local pharmacists, and all the volunteers for the COVID-19 vaccine clinic held Friday, Feb. 12, at the Baker High School gym, for the well-organized, friendly and efficient manner for receiving our first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

So very pleased with your service and organized manner! Thanks to each and every one of you!

Cheryl and Richard Gushman

Baker City

Senators need local input on wild, scenic rivers bill

Senators Wyden and Merkley’s River Democracy Act of 2021 is actually a 3-million-acre land grab. This proposal is to blanket designate as either wild, scenic or recreational, “nearly 4,700 miles of rivers in all corners of Oregon.” It would change the land use designation of more than 3 million acres in Oregon, by enforcing a buffer of ½ mile on each side of the waterway’s high-water mark. This means that at least an entire section of ground, 640 acres, per river mile, will be eliminated from activities which are not allowed under the Wild and Scenic River Act. This “interim” land withdrawal will last for at least six years until a comprehensive management plan is completed. The economic effect of this bill will be devastating to an economy that is already suffering. Many streams listed in this bill are not found to be in “near natural condition, with all, or almost all, of their natural values intact.” Mile-wide unmanaged stream corridors will be vulnerable to wildfires, which will impact water quality for decades. Detailed studies of each of these river segments should have been completed before any of the waterways were proposed. The local citizens should have had input into these designations. This bill needs to be either dropped, or a whole lot of work and consultation must take place in order to avoid serious consequences to areas affected by this more than 3-million-acre land lockup. Contact Senators Wyden and Merkley and ask them to drop this bill, and hold local hearings on any streams before they change their designations.

Ken Alexander

Unity

City should figure out a way to quiet train whistles

I don’t do this very often, but couldn’t pass up the chance to rebut the mayor’s comment about the “Quiet Zone.” In 2002 I was in my early 50s and a lot of things have changed since then, especially my age. In 2002 there were 8 or 10 trains a day and they went through Baker at about 10 mph, now there are, according to your count, 24 and they go through Baker City at a speed of around 40 mph and they start blowing their horns at Pocahontas Road and don’t stop until they cross the underpass. At that speed, they never stop blowing their horn. If we as a city can’t figure out how to make the money needed, use part of one of Leo’s grants and raise my water and sewer bill some more, again. There is a reason La Grande spent the money.

The only other solution I can see is to put the horn on the inside of the cab of the engine.

On another subject, the mayor said she didn’t put Fred Warner Jr. on the golf board because he didn’t stop and say “hi” in the hallway. I was a member of the golf board for nine years and don’t think I ever talked to anybody on the council in the hallway. That sounds to me like something you hear in junior high or high school. Fred would have made a great addition to the golf board.

Larry Smith

Baker City