>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

The potential sale of a county property containing the Perry swimming hole has been stayed for now, following a decision by the board of commissioners at a regular meeting Wednesday morning.

Dallas Armon, a resident of Lower Perry, told the board that the swimming hole had been used for generations and he was worried the property might be sold to an individual who would exclude access.

“Over the years, it’s been such a public use area,” Armon said.

“I swam there, my grandkids swam there, my kids swam there.

“I think it probably has an essential value as far as recreation is concerned.”

The property in question is 1.3 acres, and according to Planning Director Hanley Jenkins, had been used for gravel decades ago. Armon said he believed the parcel was too small to have real commercial or residential value, and that it had significance as a riparian management area.

Commissioner Steve McClure said that the county could potentially classify the holding as a park and work with its insurance carrier to reduce the liability risk, which he said can be mitigated if the county does not charge a fee for the area’s use.

“My feeling is, if there’s a public use, we need to take another look at this,” he said.

The board unanimously agreed to withdraw the surplus property from the July 23 public auction and to investigate alternative options.

From the same original list of six such parcels, the commission also removed a 3.87-acre property northeast of Elgin after testimony from a neighboring landowner, Toni Rysdam-Shorre. The property doesn’t include a dwelling and had originally been used by the county, which acquired it in 1962, for aggregate extraction.

Rysdam-Shorre said the rock pit now provides water for resident elk, mule deer and other wildlife, and worried its modification would send animals trampling onto adjoining properties during drought periods.

“It’s a very substandard parcel,” she said.

Commissioner Nellie Hibbert proposed the board discuss possibilities for the property with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, considering its apparent significance for big game.

In other business, the board officially adopted an amendment to the Union County zoning, partition and subdivision ordinance, discussed in a public hearing on June 25.

The amendment has three components: It (1) requires that all properties to be divided will now be platted, regardless of size; (2) implements recent legislation adopted during the 2008 legislative special session, regarding boundary line adjustments for properties already smaller than the minimum lot size permitted in the zone; and (3) allows for hammerhead turnarounds on dead-end streets, where previously only cul-de-sacs could be installed.

The commissioners also approved two allocations from the county’s discretionary fund: $1,000 to cover the cost of an election on the proposed Union Rural Health District; and $8,000 for the assessment of the 12th Street improvement district associated with the construction of the new VA clinic.

The board also signed off on an agreement between the county and the Oregon Department of Aviation, which will provide some $52,222 toward repair work on the La Grande airport’s runway. The county will contribute a 10 percent match.

In a presentation, Grande Ronde Model Watershed Executive Director Jeff Oveson told the commissioners that his board was interested in working with the county on natural hazard mitigation in the form of water capture and storage.

“It’s important to understand that what we’re talking about is a significant undertaking,” Oveson said.

At its previous meeting, the board of commissioners had discussed water management issues in the context of adopting the Northeast Oregon Regional Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan. McClure brought the county’s request that GRMW help take the lead on researching possibilities to the model watershed board, to which he belongs, at its monthly session on June 24.

Oveson said some state funding may become available for this type of research through the recently-enacted Agriculture and Community Water Act of 2008, Senate Bill 1069, which allocates $1.75 million into “a statewide grant program to study water storage, reuse and conservation,” according to a March press release from Gov. Ted Kulungoski.

The board also approved two agreements between the county public works department and the Forest Service on the maintenance of roads shared by both entities; and appointed Peggy Browne to the Union County Weed Control Advisory Committee.

The commissioners next convene on July 23, at 9 a.m. at their chambers at 1106 K Avenue.