Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 1977)
. V"''" flfe" " V " J" rf t .haV-" ' -' 0 i& 0" " 11 appeal i M. Jt V m m V"" t i As bureaucratic gears con tinue turning towards a Navy commitment to vacate its Morrow County bombing range, the Port of Morrow Friday gave a cool reception to an appeal supporting even tual dispersal of the land to predominately small" farming interests. Ken Turner, Morrow County representative of Resource, Conservation and Develop ment (RC&D), told Port members his association in tends to hire a coordinator to work towards securing the the fY . 0 a f77rrprnprrT, TTM . f 1 ft ft V VOL. 94 NO. 2! Mousing group formed At the first meeting of the newly-formed East Central Oregon Regional Housing Authority (ECORHA), the board of commissioners en tered into agreement with the Umatilla County Housing Authority '"to apply for De partmentSv.of Housing and Urban Development HUD) rent subsidy funds. Serving Morrow, Gilliam and Wheeler counties, ECORHA consists of a board of nine commissioners, three from each county. At the organizational meeting held last Tuesday in Condon, Paul Jones of Heppner was elected News Evans Vern Evans, a retired Kinzua employee and long-time resident of the area, was named Grand Marshal of the 1977 Fair -and Rodeo Parade this''-"'" week by the Heppner-Mor-row County Chamber of Commerce. Evans has worked many years with the Morrow County Rodeo and is a Gold Card holder or lifetime member of the Rodeo Cowboys Association, an honor received by few. Friends females Ladies of the area that fall victim to the inevitible flat tire are hereby forewarned that Les Schwab Tire Centers will no longer carry out their advertising vow of "Ladies Flats Fixed Free." The company doesn't want to discontinue the service, mind you. but it seems some disgruntled group or individual thought the service was discriminatory against males and took the issue to the Oregon legialature to be corrected. Efforts were made by Les Schwab to have the Oregon Public Accomodations Act amended to allow this assistance to women drivers, but the bill failed in .the Oregon Senate after being passed by the House. Schwab commented, "We've always enjoyed this part of our business, to provide the ladies with the extra special attention." Sharpen your blade Log cutting and axe throwing enthusiasts are urged to sign up now for competition at this year's Morrow County Fair. The contest will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 24. Deadline for entries will be Aug. 10. Entries, consisting of name, address, phone, age and what you want to compete in, should be sent to the Morrow County Fair Board, Box 464, Heppner. The axe throwing is reserved for persons 18 and over and participants must furnish their own axe. Log cutting competition is broken down by saw engine size; under 2 cu. inches, 2-3 cu. inches, 3-4 cu. inches, 4-5 cu. inches and unlimited. Again, participants must furnish their own saws. land for small farmers rather than allowing it to be purchas ed by corporate concerns. He said the hiring hinges on a pending CETA grant of $12,000. "Things seem to be moving in that direction," Turner said of the possible bombing range shift to Washington. "And if the Navy vacates abruptly, we might be caught short in our dispersal process." After reviewing Turner's presentation, Port members opted for a more conservative stance of : 1) agreeing to assist HEPPNER, OH FXi ON chairman and Suzanne Jepsen of lone, secretary. Peter Barker of Condon will serve as vice-chairman of the body. The third commissioner from Morrow County is Vera Cooley of Irrigon. All three were appointed to the positions earlier this month by the county court. The need for a housing authority was determined by the three county governments, due largely to increases in population, particularly in the Boardman-Irrigon areas of Morrow. In addition to joining the Umatilla County Housing briefs tapped of 'flat' foiled t S V UM " 1 1 X the Navy in the shift, and 2) agreeing to assist in the development of the land leaving open the question of who is to occupy it. Turner said RC&D com posed of the Soil Conservation Districts and County Courts of Morrow, Umatilla, Grant, Gilliam and Wheeler counties, along with the accompanying Ports is firmly committed to allowing small farmers first shot at the land, should it become available. "With a full time coordin ator, we'd be ahead of the THURSDAY, JULY 21, 1977 Authority in applying for the Section 8 HUD, or rent subsidy, funds, ECORHA will use the administrative offices of the UCHA. "Because Umatilla has al ready set up offices, complete with a full-time secretary, we did not feel there was a need for the duplication of ser vices," noted Mrs. Jepsen. The rent subsidy monies would apply to low income families in the area that are currently spending more than 25 per cent of their income on housing. Under the program, HUD Dr. Lee Hazen and Co. set up shop in Heppner An energetic and enthusi astic dentist has located in Heppner because he likes what he "sees, hears and feels" about the community. Dr. Lee Hazen, 35, opened his offices this week in a new split level building located next to the Heppner Medical Clinic on Thompson Street behind Pioneer Memorial Hospital. Patients should use the Clinic parking lot entran ce, and for appointments persons should call 676-9011. An athletic sort, Dr. Hazen said he and his family, wife I 1 l.. Open wide , s!t""f i ... game and could proceed with our plan rather than let some corporate take the whole deal," Turner said.' Plans call for the division of the 40,000 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) owned acres into 640 or 960-acre tracts. "If we need to seek a dispersal possibly a lottery to bring in 40 to 50 farmers, it's going to take some doing," Turner said. "The word from some corporates is that we can't get that many farmers, but with proper organization I HEPPNER 8 PAGES 15c would pay landlords or prop erty owners the difference between the fair market rent of the leased unit and 25 per cent of the family's gross income. If the HUD monies are received, Umatilla would re ceive 40 per cent of the funds and each of the three counties covered by ECORHA would receive 20 per cent of the funds. The four counties are at tempting to receive funds for about 100 rental units. Kathy and daughter Steph anie, enjoy skiing, boating, "and if time would allow, several other outdoor hobbies and activities." Although a newcomer to Morrow County himself, Dr. Hazen's relatives on his fath er's and grandmother's side (Simons was the name) lived in Heppner during the time of the big flood. "Everyone I've met here has been extremely friendly and helpful," noted Hazen, "and I feel the Heppner area is fortunate in having a broad 1... i x ill . ujtiv - Dr. Lee Hazen opened his dentistry offices in Heppner this week in a new building located next to the Heppner Medical Clinic on Thompson Street. The office is equipped with the most modern dental equipment and is designed for patient comfort throughout. Working with Dr. Hazen are Patti Ralston and Annette Snyder, both of whom worked with the Dentist at his practice in Gresham. think we can." Although RC&D did not gain the Port's support on the small farm vs. corporate farm issue, the two groups apparently agree on the importance of developing the land through irrigation. "The whole key is revenue bonds for irrigation with the state guaranteeing credit," Turner said. "We need 'the Port's help in selling the bonds." The water bonds will be the subject of a November 8 state-wide referendum and Turner emphasized that if passed, the bonds would require "No subsidy what-so-ever". "We've got to get off dead center and work to set up irrigation districts," Turner said. Port Manager Rupert Ken nedy echoed Turner's state ments on the importance of forming an irrigation dis trict. Going one step further, Kennedy said, "We would endeavor to put at least 20,000 acres in the Sand Hollow area under irrigation. It would be a shame if we didn't add it on." But with the opportunity for such massive irigation pro jects on the horizon, Kennedy leveled criticism at state agencies and the governor's office for what he called "a less than aggressive approach in seeking a fair share of Columbia River irrigation waters". "If Oregon doesn't assert itself in this water business before they turn the spigot off, we're going to find ourselves on the outside," Kennedy said. "The people of Oregon are not aggressively seeking their fair share like Washington is." Kennedy said Washington ...continued page 3 base of young business and professional people and a community where people in general are of the enlightened type." Dr. Hazen comes to Hep pner from Gresham. Assisting him at the office here are Patti Ralston and Annette Snider, both of whom worked with the doctor at his Gresham prac tice. Dr. Hazen is a graduate of Oregon State University, the University of Oregon Dental School and served two years in the Army as a dentist. -vr. Headed home Comprehensive Plan tops county priority list Comprehensive planning will be a main order of business as Dave Moon re turns to direct the Morrow County Planning Office. Moon, back on the job after a two-month absence, said the County is in the beginning stages of revising its 1971 Comprehensive Plan and he hopes to have a finished product by July or August of 1979. "The main reason for re doing the plan is not that it's not correct, it's just that the nature of planning keeps changing," Moon said. "The plan was outdated six months after it was completed." To help with the planning tasks, Moon said the depart ment will hire another staff member, probably by August 1. Applicants are now being screened by Moon and a list of two or three will be forwarded to the County Court for selection. Although the new planner is needed, Moon will be faced with an additional problem of where to put the new person. "We definetly have a space problem," Moon said looking around his Courthouse office. "We might have to shuffle back and forth with our office in Irrigon." Recent personnel changes have also posed a problem Offer made for Irrigon school site The Morrow County School Board approved Monday an offer of $2,000 per acre for a potential 28-acre school site south of Irrigon. The land, belonging to A.H. Robbins, Portland, will be used when growth dictates the need for a new school in north Morrow County. Should the Robbins offer not be acceptable, the board said it would accept any other rea sonable price. The board also considered sites from four other land owners. "Most other available property in the area had multiple ownerships and would be difficult to straight en out," explained Morrow Supt Matt Doherty. In other business the board: Passed a joint resolution to consolidate with the Uma tilla Intermediate Education District (IED). The consolida 1 Rick Smith churns for home on the last leg of the individual medley at the Heppner Invitational swim meet here last Sunday. More than 150 swimmers from Hermiston, Hood River, White Salmon and Prineville competed in the meet. Story, results and more pictures on page six. with the planning arrange ments of several cities in the county. The county planning office is currently under contract to '" the cities of Lexington, lone, Heppner and Irrigon to provide planning assistance in the development of Comprehensive Plans for the four communities. The contract run to Sept ember and until recently, the cities were assisted by Don Burns of the county office. When Burns left the county for a job with the East Central Oregon Association of Coun ties (ECOAC), the cities were left on their own and Moon said the contracts would not be renewed. "The arrangement kind of presents a conflict for us," Moon said. "The county is responsible, by statute, for coordinating the city planning and it's hard to really review the results when we're the ones doing the actual planning." One option open to the cities is to contract the services of ECOAC to assist in the Comprehensive Plan development. By concentrating efforts on the county Comprehensive Plan, Moon said he hopes to get better public response on the planning issues. He said he is interested in forming citiz ens involvement committees to work on individual elements tion came as the result of too few students in the district to warrant the county's own IED program. Morrow County gets $61 per child from the federal government. The dis trict decided it could build a HHS classes of '25-'29 set for reunion Saturday, July 23, and Sunday, July 24, members of the Heppner High School classes of 1925 through 1929 will gather for joint reunion activities. The opening events will take place at the Elks Club a social hour beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday will preceed the 6:30 banquet there. After the banquet there will be time for more socializing and of the plan such as transpor tation and housing. "When we get into the plan a little deeper, we can begin to implement ordinances to as sure compliance with our decisions," he said. Other than the work on the Comprehensive Plan, Moon said planning action is "fairly quiet, especially in this area of the county." In the Boardman area, Moon is working on establish ing planning directives for the Urban Growth Boundary which extends outside the city limits. The Comprehensive Plan for the city of Boardman was one of the first in the state approved under LCDC guide lines but further work is still needed on the boundary area, Moon said. He also expects activity to pick up soon with the recent sanction of a $20,000 state grant for joint economic study by Morrow and Umatilla counties. The purpose of the study is to compile and interpret labor and employ ment statistics to facillitate projection of ecomomic trends for the area. Moon said the study will be handled primarily through ECOAC with possible contri butions from other organiza tions such as the recently formed Morrow County Ec onomic Development Asocia tion. better program if it would pool these monies with that of Umatilla County. Accepted the resignation ... continued page 2 dancing. On Sunday, July 24, mem bers of the five classes are invited to the Claude Graham home north of Heppner for a continental breakfast between 8 and 9:30 a.m. The former students will then go to the Morrow County Fairgrounds to visit from 10:30 a.m. on. They will join for a picnic meal beginning at 1:30 at the fairgrounds.
