Frustrated residents are pressing county officials to finally address the deteriorating condition at Bully Creek Park.
Raymond Hage, a Vale plumber, ticked off a host of what he said are longstanding issues at the park in an appearance on Wednesday, April 16, before the Malheur County Court. He cited dead trees that pose a safety hazard, a broken water and irrigation system and a lack of maintenance at the county-managed park.
He was backed by others in the audience. Residents have also taken to social media channels to complain about the park’s condition.
Hage asked County Judge Dan Joyce and Commissioners Jim Mendiola and Ron Jacobs to hold a town hall to gather community input and discuss potential solutions.
“You guys are elected officials,” he said. “I want to hold you guys accountable.”
Jacobs, the county’s liaison for the park, which the federal Bureau of Reclamation owns, said in a phone interview on Thursday, April 17, that the county intends to host a town hall but had yet to schedule it.
Jacobs, Joyce and Mendiola acknowledged the park’s condition during the Wednesday meeting.
Malheur County has run the park since 1966. Situated 10 miles west of Vale, Bully Creek Park has 14 acres of lawn and trees, 40 campsites, two picnic shelters and a boat ramp.
Malheur County is under contract to manage the park for the federal agency. The most recent agreement was executed in December 2020 by Joyce.
Federal agency officials didn’t respond to requests for comment last week.
Lorinda DuBois, county administrative officer, said the county collected over $40,000 in user fees last year. According to the county budget last year, it got over $50,000 in state funding.
A county-employed caretaker is assigned to the park, which operates from April through November. The county provides a house at no cost for the caretaker.
Jacobs said the county recently terminated the long-time caretaker, Sue Davies. County records show she has been employed for the park work since 2012. The commissioner wouldn’t comment on the reason for the termination and Davies, who was paid $34,000 a year, also declined comment.
Under its contract, Malheur County is responsible for “operations” and “maintenance” at the park.
Last year, Joyce lamented the poor condition of the irrigation system at the park.
“It has been apparent for at least three years that the system needs upgraded,” he told the Enterprise. He said then the Bureau of Reclamation had the responsibility to fix the system, contradicting the terms of the county’s agreement for running the park.
The contract requires the county to keep the facilities “in good repair.”
The contract also requires an annual report on park use and “deficiencies corrected.” The county is required to report each year its plan for the year ahead of “routine operations and maintenance” and of “corrective actions to be taken in order to eliminate identified deficiencies.”
County officials couldn’t readily provide the most recent annual report. They did share a recent work plan, apparently prepared by Davies.
“We speculate that no one (including ourselves) understood what maintaining the campground entailed when we interviewed for and took this job,” the plan said.
It describes basic park operations and routine duties such as mowing.
The two-page plan also describes challenges with the sprinkler system.
“Every time the system is turned on, the entire sprinkler system is fully pressurized,” the report said. “This is why we need a new system with zones. If a sprinkler breaks down (day or night) the system has to be shut down and break (s) repaired that day or the next depending on time of day.”
The report also described accommodating campers while doing maintenance.
“We could easily say that we will start mowing every day at 8:00 am but campers would object to the noise intrusion so mowing is an afternoon chore. They also don’t want you to clean bathrooms when they are showering and doing their morning constitutional,” the report said. “Campers will also object to running sprinklers overnight although we do.”
News tip? Send your information to Steven Mitchell at [email protected].
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