Eckstein

JOSEPH — The Joseph City Council is preparing to pass its budget for 2022-23 and hopes to have it ready for the June 2 meeting, Pro-tem Administrator Brock Eckstein said Thursday, May 12.

The council had scheduled budget meetings for May 17 and May 24 to prepare the budget. The city must have the new fiscal year’s budget in place before the year starts July 1, he said.

At the council’s last meeting, May 5, it also approved the closure of East First Street between Main and Lake streets from noon to 8 p.m. June 10 for the Dragon Boat Awakening Ceremony. That will allow the public to view the refurbished boats.

The dragon boats are being refurbished by the Dragons on the Lake Paddle Club. The boats, with their uniquely Chinese decorations, regularly raced on Wallowa Lake until the COVID-19 pandemic, but have been mothballed for two years.

“They’re really excited about it. It’s a pretty positive thing,” Eckstein said. “It’s the first one they’ve done since before COVID, so it’ll be nice to re-do that.”

The club has stated that it hopes to launch the boats soon after they are “awakened.” Awakening involves painting the eye on the bow of each boat.

In another matter, the council tabled a request by the Wallowa Valley Music Alliance for $1,000 to host the Joseph Mountain Jubilee, to be held Saturday, July 2. This festival falls between Dulcimer Week in the Wallowas and Wallowa Fiddle Tunes Camp, and draws talent and audiences from these two long-running music camps.

Eckstein said the council didn’t know what its donation budget was so the matter was tabled until the June meeting.

The financial request is intended to keep the event free to the public and to cover any associated costs, according to founder and event organizer Tammy Kruger.

Also at the May 5 meeting, the council:

• Held an executive session to discuss the hiring of a permanent city administrator. After the session, Eckstein said the city, which has posted the opening online, has received a couple of applications. The council will likely begin interviewing candidates in mid- to late-June, Eckstein said.

“My goal is to get them through the new budget process and get software installed then hopefully I can hand over the reins to a permanent person,” he said.

Eckstein has served as the pro-tem administrator since April 2021, when his predecessor, Larry Braden, resigned alleging harassment by council members that prevented him from doing his job. The allegations were never publicly settled.

In other business, the council:

• Scheduled a public hearing for the June 2 meeting on a zone change from residential to commercial and a partition for land owned by Andy McKee near the Joseph Community Events Center to “match up the land with the potential use of the lot,” Eckstein said.

• Heard a presentation by city engineer Anderson Perry updating the council on public works projects and the urban growth boundary.

• Heard a local resident’s request for a dog park in the city. Eckstein said the matter is too “far down the road” for any action to have been taken.

• Heard the various department reports.

• Scheduled the next council meeting for June 2.