Keeping kids safe

Island City Elementary School’s new north sidewalk was completed Saturday. - DICK MASON

Make Island City Elementary a safer place immediately before and after school.

Island City children face a far reduced risk of colliding with vehicles while going to or leaving school today because of recent work done at no cost to the district by RD Mac Inc. and GCT Land Management, both of La Grande. The two firms worked together to improve a parking lot site at Island City Elementary, making conditions much safer for children getting rides from their parents to and from school.

RD Mac first dramatically expanded Island City Elementary’s north parking lot. The firm then

worked with GCT Land Management to install an approximately 100-foot-long sidewalk along the south end of the parking lot. The parking lot work was completed in mid-October and the sidewalk was finished Saturday.

The expansion of the parking lot has significantly improved safety by reducing traffic congestion before and after school, said Island City Elementary Principal John Tolan.

Previously, parents dropping off and picking up their children did so at the northeast side of Island City Elementary near its entrance since there was no other site near the school to conveniently park. This created a dangerous traffic bottleneck because school buses also drop off and pick up children there.

“We had children walking in front of cars and buses,’’ Tolan said. “It was not a safe situation.’’

The bottleneck has not existed since mid-October thanks to the expansion of the north parking lot. Today parents pick their children up at the north parking lot, eliminating the bus-automobile congestion in front of the school.

The parking lot expansion project started after Jay Collman, co-owner of RD Mac Inc., learned of the problem at Island City Elementary. Collman then stepped forward to help.

“I saw an issue and said ‘Let’s make it a non-issue,’’’ Collman said.

RD Mac workers later took up a lawn area, leveled it and added gravel. RD Mac and GCT Land Management then worked together on the sidewalk project. Forms were set on Friday and the concrete was poured Saturday.

“We wanted to help with safety,’’ said Gus Tsiatsos, owner of GCT Land Management.

The sidewalk, on the south edge of the parking area, will be particularly valuable in the late fall and winter when rain and snow hit. The sidewalk will allow children to walk to and from Island City Elementary from the parking lot without having to step through snow or a muddy lawn.

When snow hits, the sidewalk will be plowed, providing students a clear route to the parking lot. If not for the sidewalk it would be difficult to clear a pathway adjacent to the parking lot, Tolan said.

The Island City principal said he has been touched by how people have come together to address his school’s safety issue.

“The community support has been gratifying,’’ Tolan said.

Collman credits Tolan with playing a major role in the project’s completion.

“He does an amazing job,’’ Collman said.

Had RD Mac and GCT Land Management not stepped forward, the parking lot and sidewalk projects would not have been completed because of the district’s budget problems, said La Grande School District Business Director Chris Panike.

“We absolutely did not have the resources to do this,’’ Panike said.

The La Grande School District, like almost all in Oregon, has been hit hard by the recession. It had to cut about $2 million from its budget in June because of a reduction in state funding brought on the by economy.

Panike said he is grateful for how RD Mac, GCT Land Management and others are reaching out to the district in its time of need.

“It is amazing what people are doing to help us,’’ he said.

He noted that others assisting the district include Terry Rich Tree Service of La Grande.

The firm recently removed three diseased locust trees at

La Grande Middle School for no cost. Panike said removing the trees would have cost the district at least $1,000.