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Regional alliance meeting tackles funding issues



LARRY MEYER | Argus Observer Southeast Regional Alliance boardmembers Linda Simmons (left) and Cheryl Cruson, both representatives for Malheur County, take a spin in an all-terrain vehicle manufactured by Driving Ambitions of Nyssa. The Regional Alliance met in Nyssa Monday and toured the company’s facility next door to City Hall.
Larry Meyer

Argus Observer

NYSSA

New funding sources and the renewal of the ConnectOregon program are some of the transportation issues which the Oregon Legislature will look at during its current session in Salem.

“ODOT is taking on a variety of issues,” Rena Cusma, Region 5 South Area Manager, Oregon Department of Transportation, said.

Cusma made her comments during the transportation portion of the Southeast Regional Alliance meeting at Nyssa City Hall Monday.

Alliance board members from Malheur, Harney and Grant counties held their monthly meeting in Nyssa to discuss economic development issues and successes and make business funding decisions.

Also attending were members of the governor’s eastern regional revitalization team.

“ODOT appears to be in good shape,” Cusma said.

The department will continue to make progress with its bridge repair/replacement program and with the ConnectOregon agenda, which is providing money to local communities to help pay for transportation infrastructure.

The ConnectOregon program, for example, is funding an extension of the runway at the Ontario Municipal Airport and improvements to the proposed Treasure Valley Renewable Resources facility, south of Ontario. ConnectOregon 2 will be up for approval and has the governor’s support, Cusma said.

One funding mechanism the Oregon Transportation Commission utilizes to fuel various projects is toll fees. U.S. Congressman Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., is opposing tolls unless they come off when the project is paid for, Cusma said.

“We’re not going after major funding packages this year,” Cusma said, but added later that the department would be back for major funding in a few years and would like to have the board’s support. The alliance board is also the regional advisory commission on transportation. The second round of bids on Ontario’s North Interchange Project will be opened Thursday and there appears to be a lot more interest about the venture this time around, Cusma said. At least 13 contractors have picked up bid packets, she said, and ODOT officials are hoping for a better price. The original bids opened in November were rejected.

While expressing support for the governor’s program, Harney County Judge Steve Grasty, alliance chair, said he is concerned about the amount of money the state is borrowing with these programs, which includes the Oregon Transportation Investment Act and ConnectOregon, and where it would leave the state in the future. In its own project financing programs, the alliance board voted to approve a request from Monaco Coach Corporation to help fund improvements to its plant in Burns, which produces fiberglass components for its recreational vehicles. Bill Burstow, Harney County business development director, said the company had chosen to keep the Burns plant open and close one in Springfield but needs to make its Burns facility more efficient, particularly with heating and cooling. The company currently employs about 145 people.




Comment Blog - Note: All Comments Subject To Approval

No Dhimmi wrote on Aug 14, 2009 9:38 PM:

" Islam is a woman-hating, human-enslaving ideology that should NOT be taught in our public schools. It's obvious the Saudis and the rest of the Muslim fanatics who are trying to take over the world have bought off the State of Oregon. Expect lawsuits.

And this isn't "racist," because Islam is not a race, anymore than Communism or Nazism are races, both of which killed far fewer people than Islam.

Disgusting. "

anonymous wrote on Aug 10, 2009 2:19 AM:

" The girl was Latasha Rodriguez "

Cody W. Ables wrote on May 16, 2008 11:04 PM:

" May 16, 2008

Here is something that we should all read. This is a letter from an angry woman in New Jersey regarding the War in Iraq and all of the war’s negative publicity. Pay attention.

'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?

Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?

Did nearly three-thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was 'desecrated' when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?...Well, I don't. I don't care at all.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia .

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed 'special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care.

Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior!

If you don't agree, then by all means quit reading. Should you choose to do so, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country! And may I add:

'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem' -- Ronald Reagan

I have another quote that I would like to add

'If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.' Also by.. Ronald Reagan

One last thought for the day:

In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England 's Prime Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked by one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America , he said: 'A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in.. And how many want out.'

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G. I.
Important for us all!!!!
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

MANY SEEM TO FORGET BOTH OF THEM. AMEN!’


I hope you take this woman’s viewpoint into consideration. It closely parallels my own. As I begin my journey in becoming a soldier of the greatest country in the world, hearing this woman’s words sets my heart at ease. It is warming to know that there are people in this great country who still care about those men and women who have no choice.


Cody W. Ables
U.S. Air Force Academy 2012
"


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