HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES, Thursday, November 22, 19G2
Letters Argue Pros and Cons on Riverside High School Site
Dear Editor:
Your paper recently published
a letter written by an Irrigon
resident regarding the Morrow
County School Board's selection
of the Boardman area as a site
for the new Riverside High
school. This letter is not being
written as a retaliation for the
letter "signed" by Mr. Wilson.
His letter criticizing the Mor
row County School Board for a
decision made after much study
does not even merit a reply.
Since, however, the letter con
tained only prejudiced thinking
and at least one erroneous state
ment, this letter is being writ
ten in an attempt to give a bet
ter over-all picture of the re
location of Riverside High
school.
The recommendation that Mr.
Wilson speaks about was not a
recommendation made as a re
sult of any study, but was the
opinion of one person connected
with a similar Boeing Project.
This person said, in his opinion,
ho felt that no development
should take place within a 25 or
30 mile area. I might point out
1 hat if this opinion was followed
it would also rule out the Irri
gon area as that area also lies
within the 2!5 to 30 mile radius.
More Important than this,
however, is the fact that the in
undation of Boardman Is mak
ing possible the funds for the
construction of the new River
side High school. I'm sure that
It would not appear fair, in the
mind of any impartial person,
to rebuild the Riverside High
school within the city limits of
Irrigon. This would result in the
Irrigon community having a
new modern elementary school,
plus the new Riverside High
school. The Boardman area
would in effect, through its hav
ing to relocate, be furnishing
tin; Irrigon area witn an addi
tional new school plant and
leaving its own community with
out a school of any kind.
It would seem that in light of
the Board's decision to Incorpor
ate Hie two grade schools in Ir
rigon, the only fair and just de
cision they could have readied
would have been to locate the
high school In tin? Boardman
area, thus leaving each com
munity with a modern school
plant.
Regardless of whether or not
one agrees with the decision
readied by the Morrow County
School Board, it: seems unfair
to accuse them of making a pre
judiced selection. The Board has
spent many hours in research
so they could make a decision
based on knowledge not a prej
udice. I feel the decision reached
by the Board, was In their opin
ion, made for the best interests
of the children in Morrow coun
ty. Certainly there is not suffic
ient difference in the population
of the two towns to warrant
making a selection based on
population alone.
Since Mr. Wilson saw fit to
quote material included in an
engineer's study, it would seem
proper to look into this study a
little farther. All the studies
made on the relocation of the
Boardman town site have pro
jected considerable growth for
this area. This would indicate
that if the school is to be lo
cated in the center of the pop
ulation, then it should and will
be located in the Boardman area.
This engineering study, while
only an educated guess on fu
ture growth, is at least an edu
cated guess and it would seem
to dispel any feeling that the
school will be located in the
middle of a sagebrush wilder
ness. In light of the decision reach
ed by the Morrow County School
Board, it would appear that the
best interests of the county
would be served by an accept
ance of the decision. Petty feel
ings should be forgotten and
the entire county should attempt
to develop a program that will
best serve the educational pro
gram of the children of Morrow
county. The primary purpose of
the new school is to provide
belter education for our child
ren. It is to this end that we
should devote our time and cap
abilities. Sincerely,
DEWEY W. WEST JR.
Boardman, Ore.
To The Editor:
The letter written by Mrs.
Nathan Thorpe in the November
8 issue of the Heppner Gazette
cannot be ignored. Her statement
made of letting their elected rep
resentative speak for them, and
her inference that the Irrigon
delegation was mob representa
tion is reprehensible. The fact
that a good sized delegation of
Irrigon citizens saw fit to attend
a school board meeting, one that
was 'courteous and co-operative'
by the boards own statement,
could hardly be termed 'mob
representation'. These citize n s
are concerned for the welfare of
their children and take an active
interest in their community and
attended the board meeting to
hear first hand the boards deci
sion on the location of Riverside
High school.
Mrs. Thorpe's mention of fac
tual material for the school
boards consideration neglects to
mention the factual information
compiled by our elected repre
sentative that was presented to
RIVERSIDE HIGH school, now located at Boardman on land that
will be covered by water when the John Day dam reservoir
rises, is center of controversy between Boardman and Irrigon
residents. Morrow County School Board R-l recently decided
that the school will be located on a site in the "Boardman
area," a move that is contested by those in Irrigon.
the school board simultaneously,
this Information from qualified
and authoritave persons recom
mending the high school be built
as far from the missile as prac
ticable. To even further bear out
this recommendation a brief no
tice in the Parade supplement of
the Oregonian of November 11 by
Parade s Special Intelligence Re
port has this to say: "When the
U. S. launches a moon rocket, it
will have to blast the rocket off
from some isolated, uninhabited
site. The noise expected from the
Nova moon rocket will equal the
noise of 5,000,000 jet airlines and
will be intolerable at closer than
12 miles." No one can say
whether the moon rocket will be
launched from Boardman, but
the Dossibilitv is there.
Mrs. Thorpe's inference that
the delegation's express purpose
was to 'pressure' the board for a
decision in their favor is unrea
sonable. As to 'pressure', this
writer has wondered since at
tending that meeting how
county supervisor finds it ethical
to whisper in the ear of the
chairman when a motion is on
the floor, a vote of three for the
high school In Irrigon and three
for a delayed decision, tne cnair
man obviously in a quandary as
to his decision, how is the super
visor justified in whispering in
the ear of the chairman. One
can't help but wonder where the
pressure is.
Mrs. Thorpe's statement of not
hiring lawyers raises a question.
Boardman hired lawyers and
even went to the Supreme Court
to try and prevent their seventh
and eighth grade students com
ing to Irrigon when they elected
to have the high school in Board
man. In all likelihood they will
resent the boards decision to
send the elementary sch o o 1
children to Irrigon if they went
sat
irt Lost
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Heppner
281 Linden Way
so far to keep their seventh and
eigntn grade students in board
man. It seems reasonable to as
sume they won't want their first
grade children travelling twelve
miles by bus and will do all they
can to keep them there.
One point that has not been
discussed to any extent is the
safety factor involved in having
a scnool so close to the missile
site and bombing range. In the
November 8th issue of the Hep
pner Gazette a news item inter
ested me considerably. The
headline, "Navy Plane Bomb Hits
Cecil Ranch," the article goes on
to say and I quote, "the bomb,
which does not carry explosives
dug a crater 12 feet long, eight
teet wide and three leet deep,
sizable steel chunks were scat
tered about the area." Further
on the article quoted Sherriff
Bauman as saying, "We're just
thanktul it didn t hit anyone and
that no one was killed." One of
the sites chosen by Boardman is
in the vicinity of the bombing
range, one shudders to think of
what could happen if the above
episode were to occur in a school
yard.
Mrs. Thorpe asserts Boardman
will relocate and needs a school,
we in Irrigon are well aware of
that fact, every town of any size
needs an elementary school, but
with the nebulous future in store
for Boardman it hardly seems
necessary to place a high school
'somewhere in the Boardman
area'. One of the reasons given
for the boards decision was that
the present population of North
Morrow County didn't warrant
three schools, it that be the case,
we would be far better off to
consolidate with Umatilla for
our high school and not have to
tolerate the poor relation atti
tude we seem to have to combat
with south Morrow County.
Yours truly,
Mrs. Ernest Jorgensen
To The Editor:
It is with a feeling of uncer
tainty that I am writing this
letter. It is not now my intention
nor has it ever been, to engage in
a personal letter writing debate
with any Irrigon citizen. However
I feel that some answer must be
made to Mrs. Jorgensen's letter
of November 14th, that appeared
in the East Oregonian. This letter
will be the last one written by
me. Any ensuing correspondence
will go unanswered by this
writer.
Mrs. Jorgenson's letter intima
ted that I said Irrigon attended
the school meeting in a mob re
presentation. Upon ref erring
back to my recent letter l una no
mention of Irrigon in the letter
This statement was made be
cause we, the Boardman people,
feel that a large group ot people
attending the school board meet
ing might give the School Board
the impression we were trying to
sway their way ot thinning with
our apparent interest. That is the
reason we stayed away mini tnt-
meetings, this sparked tne
rumors that we lacked interest
in the relocation of the high
school.
The factual materials present
ed to the Board were strictly
Boardman s views and opinions
on the issue and we had no rea
son to mention any other prepar
ed reports that were sent to the
Board. We didn't attend any of
those meetings so we were un
aware of any other reports presented.
In connection with the Navy
plane inadvertently dropping a
practice bomb on a ranch near
Cecil, I would like to say that
accidents can and do happen
any time and place. I have heard
it mentioned many times that
there is a certain amount of haz
ard and noise present from the
Ordnance Depot which is located
in lrrigon's backyard.
Mrs. Jorgensen's letter also
contained a statement saying in
effect "The noise element of the
proposed missile site has been
emphasized repeatedly." This
statement is very true as it has
been mentioned over and over
again by the Irrigon community
in a desperate attempt to find a
reason why the school should
not be replaced in the Boardman
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area. If the noise factor is that
important then perhaps lone
should be moved since they are
closer to the Boeing missile site
than Boardman. Also Lexington
is approximately the same dis
tance from the site as Boardman.
Studies indicate that there will
be only a sound decrease of
about 10 decibels between
Boardman Irrigon and Lexing-ton-Heppner.
Ten decibels differ
ence in sound is hardly audible
to the ear as stated in the stud
ies of the rocket test site in re
lationship to the new town of
Boardman made by the planning
firm in 1962. It would appear
then that if sound is to be a big
factor, there is no good school
location in all of Morrow County.
These excuses presented for
placing the school someplace
other than the Boardman area
are about as foolish as doing
away with a large city because
an airplane accidentally crashed
on a house or doing away with
Seattle because of the Boeing
plant and noisy wind tunnel
there.
We are not asking Tor three
schools in North Morrow county.
All we are asking for is one
school to replace the one we are
losing because of the John Day
Pool. This school has adequately
taken care of our needs for the
last 40 years plus and would
have continued to satisfy our
needs for many years to come.
Three years ago Morrow
County passed a serial levy that
was to have provided Heppner
with $130,000, lone with $130,000,
Irrigon with $130,000, and Board
man with $130,000 to be used in
each area for building purposes.
Heppner and lone used their
money under the serial levy,
then earlier this year the Irrigon
and Boardman share was incor
porated into a bond issue with
additional money for a high
school plant in Heppner. Now
Irrigon has used their $130,000
dollars from the bond issue.
They have constructed a new
addition which gives them a
beautiful elementar y school
plant. This school plant is an ex
cellent building and will be
quite adequate to handle the
first eight grades from both the
Boardman and Irrigon area. All
the Boardman communitv asks
is that the $130,000 for the
Boardman area be used here and
not someplace else in Morrow
county. We have paid taxes to
'provide money for buildings in
the other areas, now we would
like our share.
Mrs. Jorgensen's letter also
indicates that they realize an
elementary school should be con
structed in the Boardman area.
Her letter seems to infer that
three schools in North Morrow
County would be the answer.
That is an elementary school in
ech area with a high school in
Irrigon. This statement taken in
connection with the rest of her
letter would seem to say that the
noise and safety factor would be
all right for an elementary
school but would be too noisy
and dangerous for a high school.
One thing that is apparent, if
the school is located in the
Boardman area we are only re
taining what we now have. But
if the high school is to be located
in Irrigon then they have gained
a complete new building plus
an addition, while we have lost
what we now have with the
money received for the school
plant being used to benefit Irri
gon. In connection with the rumors
that no new townsite has been
selected for Boardman I would
like to submit the following
facts: Approximately three years
ago Boardman had a new town
site selected with tentative ap
proval from the Corp of Engine
ers. Then last fall the Corp de
cided that the water table might
be too high in this area and ask
ed that another townsite be se
lected. The Boardman planning
committee working with an en
gineer from the Corp then went
to work and selected two more
townsites. A first choice site and
an alternate choice in case the
Corps would not approve their
first choice. These two plans
complete with blue prints for the
commercial area, residential area
and a possible school site are
now being reviewed by the Corps
of Engineers at Washington D. C.
for approval. I feel sure if the
army engineers felt that the
"noise and danger" of the Boeing
testing site and the Bombing
range in the Boardman area a
detriment to the public they
would not be planning to replace
present facilities.
Conversations with Corp mem
bers at Walla Walla strongly in
dicate that one of these plans
will be approved right away.
These sites contain over 600
acres of land which will be
available for development as
soon as the plans are approved.
One more comment and I will
terminate this lengthy disserta
tion. Mrs. Jorgensen referred to
Boardman's hiring a lawyer to
try to prevent the seventh and
eighth grades from going to Irri
gon. This statement in a sense
is not true. The case was to test
the Constitutionality of the 1957
school re-organization law. This
suit was entered into jointly
with Lexington and Hardman. It
was actually a challenge to the
School Boards authority to trans
port grade school students from
one school to another without a
vote of the people involved. We
found out they did have the
authority to do this so why
should we fight the decision of
the school board that was re
cently made. Here it would ap
pear that Irrigon could profit
from our experiences.
Sincerely yours,
Mrs. Nathan Thorpe
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