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56 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, May 7, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 4, 2005 Paperwork snafu on school project costs Eagle Point By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune The Eagle Point School District faces a $4,000 fine for failing to comply with wetland-protection rules while building White Mountain Middle School in 2002. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has proposed the penalty, said the school district didn’t file required stormwater-management and grading plans for the 25-acre site along Avenue H in White City. Then the district cleared the land with a harrow and dug a trench, work that likely would have been addressed in such plans, but wasn’t included in a conceptual plan the district did submit, said Diana Fredlund, a Corps spokeswoman based in Portland. School Superintendent Bill Feusahrens acknowledged that the firm the district hired to handle the environmental work, Portland-based David Evans and Associates, didn’t get the proper approval for all of the work that was done. The district got a permit in October 2002 to fill 1.5 acres of vernal pools on its property at Avenue H and Wilson Way in White City so it could build a new middle school. However, the harrowing changed 3.65 acres of wetlands and the trench crossed four vernal pool areas, the Corps document outlining the penalty said. Advertisement Feusahrens said the district since has worked with the Corps of Engineers, which administers the Clean Water Act for the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which under the Endangered Species Act protects the fairy shrimp that live in the vernal pools. He said the district has done thousands of dollars worth of planting and other remediation work. "We believe we are in compliance," Feusahrens said. "We want to be good stewards of the vernal pools and the fairy shrimp that live there." The district also negotiated a reduction in the penalty, which can be up to $11,000 per violation, he said. Fredlund said the appropriate plans now have been filed and the Corps plans to work with the district to modify its original permit after this penalty is assessed. The proposed penalty was issued April 21 and the Corps will take comments for 30 days at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: CENWP-OP-G (Justin Simms), P.O. Box 2946, Portland, OR, 97208-2946. The district can call for a hearing, but doesn’t plan to, said Feusahrens, noting that contesting the penalty likely would cost more than paying it and moving on. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg diamonds Distance Education Diamonds Paris Hilton Online Poker Auto Insurance Mesothelioma Slippers Student Loans Tatoo tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoos Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Payday Loans Advertisement s