Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1977)
BESSIE WETZELL u or ore " r ?rs NEWSPAPER LIB v -E'JdENE OR 97403, .. a ; v,.-u 60 attend public hearing. Residents decry Morrow More than 60 Morrow Cou nty residents turned out for the Oregon Department of Transportation public hearing on the preliminary six-year road plan held in Heppner Tuesday night and sentiments expressed could have left no doubt in the minds of ODT personnel. About half of those present made statements to the high way department officials and the word was "Morrow County residents are tired of second grade, dangerous roads". Tom Walsh, ODT commis sioner from Portland, said the turnout was one of the better out of 39 such meetings held throughout the state and top in the Eastern Oregon region. "We want to know what you see as priorities," Said Walsh, Overrules Planning Commission Council Cason and Hardy Construc tion Co. of Gresham overcame a major obstacle on the road to building an apartment complex in Heppner when the City Council Monday over turned an earlier Planning Commission decision and granted the company a condi tional use permit. An initial application by Cason and Hardy was denied by the Planning Commission last month after residents in the proposed construction area showed up at a public hearing to voice their protests. Plans call for the building of three eight-unit apartment buildings in the area of Aiken and Elder Streets near the CBEC facility. Objections mainly centered on the in creased traffic the apart ments would bring to the area as well as the capability of the access bridge to handle the added stress. Some twenty residents again jammed City Hall Monday for the appeal hear ing but only two of the citizens spoke in opposition of the apartments. Pauline Bier sub mitted a 24-signature petition signed by nearby residents who opposed the apartments because of the increased traffic. Another resident questioned whether the city water system in that part of town could adequately cover the apartments. Grain Growers... Strong Although profits are down and the coming year looks like another medoicre-to-poor one for America's farmer, Mor row County Grain Growers Manager Larry Mills told members at the annual meet ing Monday evening the local co-operative is strong finan cially and will continue to increase services for its grower-members. "Prospects for 77-78 unfor tunately look about like the year we've just gone through," Mills told the crowd od 250 persons gathered In the Fair Pavilion for dinner and annual business meeting. He said recent rumors about less-than-average Russian wheat crop probably wouldn't have much effect on prices, but added that economists felt the price ..of wheat would "so they can be incorporated in the final decisions made in January and February." The six-year program a preliminary report listed four projects for Morrow County. The first two sched uled for 1981 funding includ ed overlay-widening projects on the Heppner Highway between Lexington and Ar lington and on the Hep-pner-Spray Highway from Rock Creek to the Wheeler County line. Two other projects were programmed for 1983, includ ing some five miles of overlay and widening on the Ruggs to Dry Creek road and overlay and widening of Highway 207 from Lexington to the Umatil la County line. W.E. Schwartz, regional Thursday, Nov. 10, 1977 OKs apartment Planning Commission Chairman Ed Dick told the Council that the Commission decision was based on the testimony and objections heard at the first public hearing. In a prepared state ment read to the Council, Dick said, "The Planning Commis sion did not consider the adequacy of the water and sewer facilities of the area. They did not consider merits of the application as far as land use were concerned. The commission did not check into such things as proper access or egress, proper drainage of the area, or whether or not the parking was adequate. The square footage of the area was not checked nor were the set backs checked. These were things the Planning Commis sion should have considered but in view of the opposition, for which there did not appear to be a solution, it did not appear to be necessary." Kenneth Hardy, represent ing Cason and Hardy at the meeting, told the Council, "As h interpret the zoning ordi nances of this city, I've met all the requirements as far as lot size and set backs." When asked his opinion of the water system in the area City Foreman Paul Sumner said he considered the present four-inch water main inade quate to provide the necessary . water and fire protection financial position told increase slightly toward the end of the year. Steve Green, Green & Green Certified Public Accountants of Pendleton, told members that MCGG saw a growth of $42,000 in net worth over the past year although profits had dropped about 17 percent in both the grain and farm supply departments. Green said the decrease in farm supply profits was due largely to a narrower profit margin MCGG was operating on due . to generally poor economic condition for farm ers and livestock growers. Significant losses were also experienced in the newly acquired chemical and ferti lizer division because of a . engineer from LaGrande, said Oregon's involvement in a federal program the past 20 years saw most of the stat'es highway funds go to the inter state highway program and consequently, primary and secondary roads such as those in Morrow County took the back seat. While opinions as to which Morrow County roads needed improvement first, the con census of citizens in atten dance was that something needed to be started prior to 1981-83. A count of ihose projects most often mentioned by those at the hearing indicated that residents present at the meet ing wanted Highway 207 from Lexington to the Bombing Range Road and on to jpfA ' f FJkSOi y yiiiMim ymwu - UTTAwj! i If n HEPPNER, should the apartments be built. Sumner said a six-inch main would be better suited to the useage requirements in the area. Councilman Cliff Green then asked Hardy if his company would consider expanding the water line to a six-inch main for the one block needed to connect to the primary line. Hardy replied thathe could not answer the question at that time since it would take some research on his part to determine the costs involved. But, Hardy added, "I'm willing to do what is neces Five directors elected to CBEC Former Heppner mayor, Bill Collins, was elected to a new Board of Director position for Columbia Basin Electric Coop for the City of Heppner. He edged out Forrest Burken bine by a vote of 245 to 244. Voting took place at the CBEC annual meeting on Nov. 3. Also elected were: Walt Jaeger over Ed Bates for the district of South Gilliam County North Wheeler Coun ty; Floyd Anderson over Earl Weatherford for the North Gilliam County District; Ken general cut-back in use of those products in low moisture-yield years. "Morrow County Grain Growers is in a sound finan cial position and the audit reveals the company is a viable operation," concluded Green. In other business, Allan Hughes, Homer Hughes, Paul Hisler Jr., and Robert Stevens were elected to three-year terms on the board of direc tors. Associate directors elec ted at the meeting included Frank Halvorsen, Mark Mil ler, Steve Peck, Kenneth Nelson and Joe McElligott. Lee Palmer, retiring from the board of directors this Hermiston improved first and foremost. Running in almost a dead heat with that project was the Heppner Highway from lex ington to lone and on down to Interstate 80-N. Dave Harrison, Columbia Basin Electric Co-op manager said, "Anywhere you drive in Morrow County road condit ions are horrible. ..but the con dition of the lone road with nine-foot travel ways is in excusable." Assistant Superintendent of Schools John Edmundson con sidered the Lexington-lone and beyond project to be top priority. "When I was principal of the lone schools and still today I was and am constantly in fear of accidents involving Morrow County's award OREGON permit sary the line improvement would benefit the entire area and maybe some sharing arrangement could be made." Before the appeal was put to a vote, Mayor Jerry Sweeney said, "Even if the conditional , use permit is granted, Mr. Hardy is still a long way from building his aparments." The plans still face review before granting the building permit and Dick cautioned the Coun cil to "closely study the set back requirements when re viewing the building permit application." neth Wright over Harold Peck in the south Morrow-East Umatilla District; and Fred Greiner was elected over Bob Eaton for the City of Condon position. Two hundred and twenty members and guests attended the 33rd annual meeting at the Morrow County Fairgrounds. Entertainment was provided by a band group from Heppner High School, led by Jim Ackley. Continued on Page 3... year, was presented a desk pen and barometer set on behalf of the cooperative by President Ron Haguewood. Dr. Warren Kronstad was featured speaker for the banquet. Professor of agron omy at Oregon State Univ ersity, he spoke to the group on food production and world hunger. Kronstad said education of people living in food-poor countries to technology and an American "will" to solve the problem were the most work able solutions. Kronstad said the American farmer must be given the incentive to produce food for the hungry nations of the world. roads school busses and students because of the road condit ions," said Edmundson. Tim Tullis, president of the Morrow County Economic Development Association told the highway officials that current road conditions pri marily those leading to the North End were having a detrimental effect on econom ic development in Morrow County when growth and proper planning are most important to citizens of the area. "Expansion of economic development in Morrow Cou nty should be a major factor in determining project priorit ies," said Tullis. Those feelings were also expressed by Louis Carlson, Continued on Page 2.... winning newspaper.. w iijmu . jpaa "f !lL f M News Legion hosts lone services Veterans' Day services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 11 at the lone Memorial Field. The lone American Legion Post will conduct the services. Speaker for the ceremony will be Chuck Starr, principal of the lone schools. Rev. Bill Graham, lone United Church of Christ, will deliver the invocation. Following the service the Legion Auxiliary will serve coffee and donuts at the American Legion Hall. Veterans' Day closures noted Most area business and state offices will be closed Friday, Nov. 11 in observance of Veterans' Day, opening again for regular business hours Saturday. Exceptions to the closures will be most area gas stations, restaurants and Jerry's Mini Mart in Heppner. Federal offices and the Post Office will be open Friday, having observed Veterans' Day on Oct. 24 this year. Strahms new owners of Heppner Chevron New owners of the heppner Chevron Station are Ed and Barbara Strahm. The couple took over ownership of the Main Street business from Wes Marlatt on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Strahm had worked part-time as a mechanic at the station several years ago and for the past five years has been employed at Kinzua Corporation. Mrs. Strahm has conducted her own at-home cosmetic business and will now act as bookkeeper and attendant for the family enterprise. Both Strahms are 1972 graduates of Heppner High School. r air noara meets Monday The Morrow County Fair Board will hold its regular meeting Monday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. in the Fair Office at the Fairgrounds. Expected to be a main topic of discussion is the recent decision by the Board to curtail RCA sanctioning of the rodeo. Proponents of the RCA show will outline several proposals for keeping the 1978 rodeo intact. Fair Board Chairman Paul Hisler told the Gazette-Times Tuesday that no decision is expected to be reached next Monday, but said a special meeting at which a decision will be announced will be scheduled for later this month. Klaus wins finale Roberta Klaus correctly picked seven of nine games last 4 week to become the final winner of the season in the Gazette-Times football contest. Rallying from a mid-season slump, Artie Bray finished strong with a 7-2 card to grab second place. Bray lost his bid to become a double first place winner by letting sentiments overcome logic in picking LSU over Alabama in the tiebreaker. Taking the contest's grand prize of $25 was Robb Rush of Heppner. Rush, a perfect-score winner last week, was five games ahead of Lyle Lowe in season totals. Mrs. Klaus, Bray and Rush can pick up their checks at the G-T office. The Gazette-Times and the sponsoring businesses thank all i raui of the contestants for making our a sucess. Voters Measures, Special Levy Turnout was light, as ex pected, but Morrow County voters who went to the polls showed strong support for the establishment of a Water Development Loan Fund and to a lesser degree, supported the formation of an Energy Conservation and Develop ment Fund for non-nuclear energy sources. Voters in the Heppner precinct approved, by a 2-to-l margin, a one-year serial levy to replace the Morgan Street bridge over Willow Creek. Ballot Measure 1, callilng for a borrowning fund for farmers, found its strongest m" T1? Wu If ""V at" 12 PAGES Briefs first annual football contest J approve Ballot support in the Boardman precinct where the vote was 107 yes and 30 no. Other precinct totals included: Hep pner, 184 yes and 84 no; Lexington, 80 yes and 35 no; lone, 99 yes and 45 no; and Ir rigon, 96 yes and 33 no. Ballot Measure 2, author izing a bonding fund for the development of nuclear alter native energy sources, was more closely contested but still passed in the county. In Heppner, the vote was 150 yes and 119 no; Boardman, 78 yes and 55 no; Irrigon, 82 yes and 47 no; lone, 72 yes and 70 no and the Measure failed in 15c Farm drop - Gross farm sales in Morrow County are down about $5.5 million in 1977, an 8.5 percent decrease from last year. The loss down in total sales last year of $64.6 million to $59.1 million is due to the drought and depressed farm prices which have offset new acreage put under irrigation and an increase in cattle numbers. And at the same time Morrow County farmers as with farmers througout the nation have felt the pinch of increasing costs coupled with a loss of income. County Extension Agent Harold Kerr, who compiles year-end statistics, said that an 8.5 percent drop in farm product sales actually represents a 12-13 percent loss in income to the average farmer because of increased costs over the past year. Potatoes still number one crop in county Potatoes led the county in dollar sales for the third straight year with total sales estimated to be at $32,080,000 which is almost identical to last year. While potato acreage and yield were down in the county, price was up. Wheat is still Morrow County's number two economic crop although farmers suffered a 50 percent reduction in wheat dollar sales, estimated at $lO,292,ouo for 1977. Several factors contributed to the decline but yield reductions averaging 11 bushels to the acre had the most impact. Price was off an average of 21 cents per bushel over last year and about 30,000 fewer acres were put in wheat production. Forage crops, including all types of hay and silage are an easy third with $6.6 million in sales, up slightly from 1976. All other crops, including dry beans, watermelon, grapes, sweet corn, soybeans, private timber sales and others, produced $1.6 million in off -farm sales, up $500,000 from 1976. Livestock, led by beef sales, grossed $7.6 million in 1977. Depressed prices are offset by increased numbers of cattle in the North End of the county resulting in an overall increase of $1.3 million in beef sales. Sheep, dairy, and swine all showed increases to raise farm sales of livestock from $5.8 million in 1976 to the $7.6 million level this year. The effect this loss has on Morrow County as a whole is determined by the multiplier effect, set at 2Vi times the original agricultural sales figure. In other words, a loss of $5.5 million in gross farm sales means that nearly $14 million has been taken out of the local economy. Kerr explains, "As farmers and ranchers go about their business, they generate other economic activity. Agriculture production involves making investments, hiring labor, buying inputs such as fertilizer and fuel, machinery arid equipment, incurring family and household expenses, etc. Thus, the original dollar received by the farmer is spent and keeps turning over in the local economy for a time before leaving." Lexington by a 49 yes-63 no margin. The special serial levy election in Heppner 147 yes and 75 no will enable the city to take advantage of $118,000 in federal and state grant funds to replace the dangerous structure which currently carries car traffic only across Willow Creek on Morgan Street. Lexington showed the high est voter turnout as 50 percent of the 234 registered voters cast their ballots. lone record ed a 32 percent turnout; Boardman 27 percent; Hep pner 25 percent and Irrigon 20 percent. High . . Low Wed., Nov. 2 60 35 .02 Thu.,Nov.3 48 25 Fri.,Nov.4 51 25 Sat., Nov. 5 47 36 Sun., Nov. 6 57 35 Mon.,Nov.7 52 35 .10 ; Tue.,Nov.8 47 23 sales 8.5 '71 ."
