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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2015)
LIFESTYLES WEEKEND, JUNE 6-7, 2015 1C B IG JOB SMALL TOWN From pipes to parks to roads, one man tasked with keeping Ione operating Staff photo by E.J. Harris Curtis Thompson checks reservoir levels at the city’s main well on Wednesday in Ione. By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian For all intents and purposes, Curtis Thompson is Ione’s water department. He’s also the streets department on most days. And the parks department as well. $OWKRXJK KLV RI¿FLDO WLWOH LV ³PDLQ- tenance supervisor,” Thompson spends most of the time supervising himself. As Ione’s only full-time employee, Thompson is a one-man department in charge of public works and maintenance for the town of 329 people. On an idyllic Wednesday morning Thompson was doing some routine maintenance of the city’s water system with Stewart Syverson, a local man who’s helping out for a few weeks until KHUHVXPHVKLVMREDVD¿UH¿JKWHUIRUWKH Oregon Department of Forestry. With the Ione’s Fourth of July cele- bration the biggest event of the year, June is a busy month for Thompson and whatever extra help the city can afford. In addition to usual tasks like cleaning the parks and mowing the lawn at Ione City Park, Thompson plans to clean the streets and paint the crosswalks. But maintaining the city’s water system is a year-round job. The money generated through Ione’s 180 water accounts comprises 90 percent of the city’s revenue. That’s especially important to a city with a total budget of a little more than $500,000. “(Water) is the only thing that’s a Staff photo by E.J. Harris money generator,” longtime Ione Mayor Ione maintenance supervisor Curtis Thompson uses a wrench to tighten a new coupling to a waterline while installing a new stand- Linda LaRue said. pipe Wednesday at the Morrow County Grain Growers store in Ione. As he checked water meters, a booster station and the city’s before moving on. only operational well, Thompson LaRue said previous maintenance looked like a seasoned profes- workers left because they received sional. too much input from the city council But when he started the job and citizens, a trend the current city ¿YH\HDUVDJR7KRPSVRQKDGQR council has taken efforts to reverse. experience working with water Thompson said he isn’t bothered systems let alone running one. too much while he’s on the job, Before accepting the main- although he did recall a time a resident tenance supervisor position, tried to have him retrieve a kite from a the lifelong Ione resident was power line on a Sunday night. a mechanic by trade, working As the morning wears on, out-of-town jobs at place like Thompson continues work on a long- Hermiston Foods and Mid term project to install a new pipe by Columbia Bus Co. the Morrow County Grain Growers Due to a three-month gap building. The project promises to be between employees and neglect lucrative for the city — the growers in some areas, Thompson arrived are compensating the city for the to a job in disarray — the city project and the increased water usage park bathrooms were a mess, a IURPWKHUHSDLUHGSLSHZLOODOVRÀRZ winter freeze had depleted the into city coffers. city’s reservoir and there was LaRue said she and the rest of the only one functional vehicle in city have been happy with Thomp- WKHFLW\¶VÀHHW son’s work. Thompson described this According to the mayor, Thompson period as “one step forward, 15 might be the last person he needs to steps back.” please. For instance, Thompson “He’s his own worst critic, if he has would try to mow the lawn at a critic (at all),” she said. the park, but the lawnmower ——— Staff photo by E.J. Harris wouldn’t work. When he tried Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@ Curtis Thompson checks water meters on Delbert Drive on Wednesday in Ione. WR¿[WKHODZQPRZHUKHZRXOG eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836. discover that there weren’t any That’s not to say the job still WRROVWR¿[LWZLWK Trying to learn how to operate a water doesn’t have its challenges. Last November, Thompson had to V\VWHPRQWKHÀ\ZDVDOVRDFKDOOHQJH It took Thompson a week to check all of the deal with Ione City Hall’s plugged-up FLW\¶VPHWHUVIRUWKH¿UVWWLPHDWDVNWKDWQRZ septic system, a leaky water pipe under Main Street and a reliable WDNHVKLP¿YHKRXUV 7KRPSVRQZDVDOVRSHWUL¿HGRIGLJJLQJXS seasonal worker suffering a heart attack, forcing his retirement from the WKHVWUHHWWR¿[OHDN\ZDWHUSLSHV “You get a problem, and you (suddenly) got job. Thompson said he’d like more water squirting out of the ground,” he said. But as time went on, Thompson’s water help, but the city budget won’t allow it. expertise improved. The city’s entire workforce is Thompson said the city already has a good water infrastructure in place, using a combi- comprised of Thompson and City nation of grants and a U.S. Department of Recorder Kim Carter, who works 30 Agriculture loan to fund a $1 million project to hours a week. As a volunteer mayor, LaRue handles more complex jobs improve the city’s water system in 2000. Thompson also tasked himself with like looking at land use requirements complying with a state law that requires 10 DQGÀRRGSODLQPDQDJHPHQW :KLOH /D5XH FDQ DEO\ ¿OO LQ IRU percent of a city’s water meters to be replaced every year to ensure proper readings. When he Carter if she takes time off work, started replacing meters, he realized some of LaRue said Ione has a deal with Heppner to temporarily take over them hadn’t been replaced since the 1960s. Under Thompson’s watch, other aspects maintenance duties if Thompson is of the city have improved — the park’s grass out for an extended period of time. Thompson has stabilized a posi- LVQRZJUHHQDQGWULPWKHFLW\ÀHHWLVVWRUHG under a garage Thompson helped build and tion that had been a revolving door for Staff photo by E.J. Harris the roads and sidewalks in downtown Ione over a decade. He said he’s been the were recently repaved. The 30-year-old is now longest tenured maintenance super- Curtis Thompson and Stewart Syverson, a temporary assistant to Thompson, lift a double married with kids and enjoys being one of the visor since 1994, with most workers check valve into a front-end loader at the Ione City Maintenance shop on Wednesday in in between only lasting a year or two Ione. few residents who works in town.
