With the wildfire season upon us, the city of Burns still has concerns about the amount of fuel on hand at the Burns Municipal Airport.

At the Burns City Council meeting on Wednesday, July 25, City Manager Dauna Wensenk stated that the airport manager had contacted the fuel provider on the previous Tuesday and was told the fuel wouldn’t be delivered until the following Saturday.

“We were trying to come up with a plan, but the next day, the governor declared a state of emergency for all of Oregon, which helped us,” Wensenk said.

She explained that there aren’t enough fuel delivery drivers to deliver the fuel when needed, but the emergency declaration should help.

Wensenk said the airport was down to 1,000 gallons of aviation fuel when they contacted the city’s fuel provider in Montana, who in turn, contacted Ed Staub and Sons in Burns to deliver 2,000 gallons to the airport.

“Right now, hopefully we have that problem taken care of and we know how to get more fuel here should we have a fire,” Wensenk said.

Wensenk reported she had attended a couple meetings with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) officials, and ODOT is suggesting that the four-lane portion of Highway 20 be turned into three lanes for safety reasons.

The city has been sending out letters to residents regarding nuisance vegetation and problems with trees. Wensenk said the city has not gotten any response from two residents that letters were sent to, so the abatement process may be brought up at the next meeting.

Wensenk added that the League of Oregon Cities is offering to provide 10 hours of free legal service to small cities on the eastern side of the state that do not have attorneys in house. After some discussion, the council agreed to look further into the offer.

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Public Works Director Pedro Zabala told the council the new supervisory control and data acquisition system had been installed and hopefully there wouldn’t be any glitches along the way.

Zabala stated the city lent out four “Road Closed” signs and barricades for an event in town, but only three were returned. All of the signs were accounted for after the event on Sunday, July 22, but sometime before the city could pick them up, one went missing. The signs cost $90 each and the barricades are $71 each, and Zabala suggested the city charge a refundable deposit in the future. The council agreed by consensus to ask for a $200 deposit to put the signs out for upcoming events.

Zabala added that Michael Berry had passed the Collection 1 test and he was proud of him for the accomplishment.

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Burns Fire Chief Scott Williamson said his department had received nine calls so far for the month of July as compared to 31 calls in July of last year, he is continuing to work on fire hydrants, maintaining equipment, and mutual aid agreements with the Lone Pine and Silver Creek Rangeland Fire Protection Associations.

Councilor Dennis Davis had concerns about the longevity of the department’s vehicles and the amount of maintenance time needed to keep them in good shape. He said if Williamson is spending more time on equipment maintenance, that’s less time he has to work on other aspects of the job. He also noted that because the fire department is pretty much a single-person department, he sees that as a detriment and a weakness to the city.

“If we’re in a situation where in any one of our departments, if we were to lose a single individual and that would leave that department crippled, that would also leave the city crippled,” Davis said. “I think we need to be aware and come up with some kind of an action to alleviate that potential risk.”

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Burns Police Chief Newt SkunkCap said his department had a 2010 Dodge Charger that was no longer being used, and asked for permission to donate the vehicle to  Harney Emergency Medical Services for use as a supervisor vehicle.

The council voted unanimously to approve the donation.

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Pete Runnels was present at the meeting to answer questions about the High Desert Biomass Co-op and its request to waive the franchise fees for a period of time.

Councilor Forrest Keady asked what happens if the city doesn’t waive the fees, and Runnels answered, “We struggle. We raise rates to our three customers.”

Keady also asked about the delinquent franchise fees, and Wensenk explained that a letter had been sent to the previous franchise owner, Harney Community Energy, as they would be responsible for a portion of the fees.

Runnels explained that the co-op had been hit with a large tax from the state as it did not qualify for an enterprise zone tax break as expected. He said that the co-op and the Harney County Economic Development office are disputing the tax and hope to be reimbursed.

Davis stated that the city is already on the edge financially, and, “to help them, we have to hurt us.”

Mayor Jerry Woodfin stated it is a community project and the city has come to the aid of other entities when needed.

The council agreed to enact a sliding scale for the franchise fees. The co-op will pay $100 a month for the first year, retroactive to October 2017, $200 a month for the second year, and $300 a month for the third year. After that time, the council will revisit the issue.

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In other business:

• During the public comment period, Kati Batie asked for the voluntary resignation of Councilor Liz Appelman, stating she had put her family and children at risk by posting her home address on Facebook. Batie said she was hosting a private gathering on July 14, and Appelman had posted the location. She said if Appelman refuses to resign, she would ask the council to dismiss her from the council.

During the councilor comments period, Appelman responded that she posted the cross streets, not knowing who the house belonged to. She said she knew where it was because she had looked at videos being posted throughout the day on Redoubt News and looked at the street signs in the background.

“I didn’t think it was any big deal. Anybody who knows me knows I would never put anyone in danger,” Appelman said. “And the video was broadcast nationwide. If the council wants to vote me off, that’s up to them.”

Councilor Lynda Fine suggested they take u the matter in executive session at a later date;

• Harney County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lola Johnson reported the Solar Car Challenge that was in town July 21-22 was well-attended, and they may be back in the coming years;

• the council approved a bank account for the Guns & Hoses event organizers and the closure of W. D Street from N. Broadway to Alvord on Aug. 9 for the Harney County Library Block Party.

The next council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 8, at city hall.