Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1978)
BESS l E WETZELL U OF ORE NEWSPAPER LIB CBEC crews move through mUu repuimig jruSi damaged lines i? 1 1 r, F i i F O ft 4 0 3 j W -T ; ' y ' - " ;.-!; , crews have been forced to use cats C r - i n? 5 Jli vWv4Ll tn null pnninmpnt thrniieh the fields ... W. :V . '-i A 'v. -. 'K i. " ? - . A, I -y: . " f - O" VOL. 96 NO. 4 $195,000 serial road levy placed before voters Morrow County voters will be asked to approve a $195,000 three-year serial road levy at the polls on Tuesday, Feb. 28, Morrow County Court decided last week. This figure represents a $50,000 increase over the $145,000 levy approved in 1973. Slightly less than 50 cents per thousand evaluation is now paid by taxpayers for main tenance and improvement of the county road system, with a Hatfield says Willow Creek Dam 'could he 1 The Willow Creek Dam project is alive and well and could become a reality if citizens of the area want to go ahaati with tho miilH-ncn project, city and county offici als were told Tuesday. Steven G. Hickok, field representative for Senator Mark Hatfield, said the Willow Creek Dam could be construc ted without going through the public hearings, studies and reports required by the Corp of Engineers during the last go-around which ended when President Gerald R. Ford vetoed the project. "We want to make it clear that we are not coming to Heppner as advocates of the dam," said Hickok, "but we want to let the citizenry know that if the project is desireable to them, it can be construc ted." The Willow Creek Dam project received authorization from congress in 1965 which is still good. Holding back the project is appropriation of the monies which Hickok indi cated would be no problem in this session of congress. In order to proceed with funding of the Willow Creek Dam, Senator Hatfield would have to know the community's 'wishes before the end of March so the project could be included in the massive Public Works Appropriation Bill pas sed each year by congress. Hatfield's office would require assurances of support from the county and the cities of Heppner, lone and Lexington in regards to right-of-way acquisition. By including the project in 15 cents per thousand increase estimated if the levy is approved. The levy was changed from five to three years because of new legislation enacted by the 1977 Oregon State Legislature limiting such serial levies to a three year period. - The Morrow County Road Improvement Association, an organization of concerned citi zens formed before each road levy election to support its the Public Works Bill there is no chance for veto by Presi dent Carter since the bill includes appropriation of money for all public works projects in the nation. According to Hickok, the project would be funded with out having the Corp of Engineers come back to the area for surveys, environmen tal impact studies or public hearings. Cutting of school - V budget requests starts A request by Heppner Ele mentary Principal Don Cole for two additional teaching positions to help alleviate overcrowded conditions in elementary and junior high classrooms was shot down Monday by the Morrow Coun ty School District budget committee. Cole's request for the teach ers had been approved earlier in the month by the School Board for budget considera tion, but the committee, already faced with a 14.5 per cent hike in the proposed budget, voted against the action. At the regular monthly meeting of the School Board, Cole said he needed the two extra teachers, "to allow us to bring classloads within the state requirements". Cole said all but one of the classrooms at the junior high ft ' ' Tt;-?'li ' i' , It' as I - A passage, emphasizes that the levy is not a new tax, that the County has had a serial road levy since 1948. Increased costs for oil, freight, labor, repairs and other expenses was the reason given for the levy hike. There . has been no road levy increase in 10 years. A percentage of the county road levy is returned to the cities of Heppner, lone, Lex ington, Irrigon and Boardman "The project could go as it was originally planned and authorized in 1965," said Hickok, "which should make the project more attractive if you people want it." If the local citizenry wanted to go ahead with the dam the project would be constructed in its original form, that is, as a multi-use dam . In addition to providing flood protection, water could also be used for are in an overload situation, with some classes designed to accommodate 15 students now jammed with as many as 30. "We've had the crowded situation here for the last three to four years and the two teachers would have helped," Cole said. "Part of the problem is the fact that the building is old and . the classrooms are smaller than present day standards." Cole said he had hoped to use one of the additional teachers at the fifth and sixth grade levels and the other at the seventh and eighth grade levels. "It's not a good situation that we have here now," Cole said, adding that the school is on the list for a standardiza tion visit from the State Board of Education within the next year and they "probably won't like what they see". 3 V line repairs are made. Damage frost storm is expected to total more than $'4-million. FTJTf FTT1 1 jS3S t HEPPNER, OREGON for the operation of the cities' street departments". The rest of the levy goes to continue the county's existing program of road improve ment, widening, surfacing, sanding "and maintenance,-1 including sterilization for no xious weed control. There are approximately 1200 miles of roads included in the Morrow County road system. recreational and irrigation purposes. County Judge D.O. Nelson said he would feel uneasy about supporting the project becasue of the opposition to the dam in 1974-75. "I think the people that should decide' would be resi dents of the cities located in the flood plain," said Nelson. Continued on page 3... In other action, the budget committee: Cut $5,830 from a Vi teacher position proposed to provide additional , shop and vocational education electives at Heppner and lone high schools. Revised resource figures after estimates for this year's District share of federal forest receipts was reduced from $80,024 to $68,586. The actual amount received by the Dis trict won't be known until later in the year. Agreed not to approve the receipts section of the propsed budget until Basic School Support figures are known. Recently passed legislation is expected to increase the District's 1977 share of $730,630 by some $50,000. The actual amount should be Continued on page 3... As skies cleared somewhat this past week underground . cable crews continued to work on the job of restoring electricity to some areas of the Columbia Basin Electric Co-op service area near Con don. In contrast to last week's dense fog, rain and freezing temperatures that destroyed miles of line and over 680 poles, the warmer weather has brought bad mud condi tions that have hampered crews plowing in the under ground cable through fields in iTT raws Tf T fr h I vf i $ J H l v i 1 SJ 1'. 7 I i - - l I 1fi ! ;.' i r ICinzua Corporation to close town of ICinzua mill Kinzua Corporation an nounced today that it will permanently close its facili ties located at the Town of Kinzua and in doing so will make "every reasonable ef fort" to place the 160 termina ted employes in jobs at the firm's operations at Heppner. Officials of the wood pro ducts manufacturing firm de clined comment on the reason for closing the facility at Kinzua and when the closure will take place, as details 'Navy move9 moves to front burner Removal of the Navy from the Boardman Bombing Range will once again become an "active" project in the office of Senator Mark Hat field the Gazette-Times was told Tuesday. Steven G. Hickok, field representative for the Sena tor, said Hatfield and other congressmen have left the Bombing Range issue on the back burner "while private enterprise has attempted to resolve the move." Hickok was referring to efforts Portland General Elec tric made at one time to "buy out" farmers in Douglas County, Washington, an area the Navy has said would be a suitable alternative to the Boardman range. the area. CBEC Manager Dave Har rison said in many areas the mud is so deep that two caterpillar-type tractors must be used to pull the plow laying cable. Most areas where pole setting has been underway have required the use of a dozer to pull the truck to pole locations. While electrical service has been restored to all but a few isolated areas, Harrison said much work remains to repair the damage which is expected to total more than a quarter of THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 1978 Parking meters; to be or not to be is the question v '1 $ t concerning employes termina tion pay, moving expenses, etc., are being finalized. Kinzua Corporation has bar gained the decision to close the mill in three meetings with Local Union 2916 of the Lumber and Sawmill Workers over the past two months period. The decision to close the Kinzua mill comes as con slurclion on a new $4.5 million sawmill in Heppner moves toward a June 1 completion date. The new sawmill will "I can say that moving the Navy from the Bombing Range will again be put on the front burner," said Hickok. Hickok was in the area Tuesday to talk to city and county officials about resur recting the Willow Creek Dam Project. (Please see separate story this page.) Senator Hatfield faces re-election this year. Weather HI Wed., Jan. 18 41 Thurs., Jan. 19 40 Fri., Jan. 20 51 Sat., Jan. 21 50 Sun., Jan. 22 43 Mon.,Jan.23 41 Tues., Jan. 24 49 LowPrec 29 .02 35 37 35 32 25 30 .06 .01 .03 a million dollars. On Sunday, an underground contractor was finally able to complete a major line to the Condon City well, while an other contractor was complet ing the line to the Gwendolen elevator area on Tuesday. Yet to come is plowing in of cable throughout the Condon rural area. The decision to lay under ground cable was a major one, said Harrison, because under ground cable has a somewhat shorter life than above ground wires. Parking meters in down town Heppner and a decision on what to do with them will be the purpose of a meeting at City Hall Monday, Jan. 30. Many of the parking meters in Heppner are in need of repair or replacement that will cost in excess of $7,500. Meters from side streets have been "robbed" to repair those on Main Street already. Councilman Larry Mills, chairman of the city's Parks and Streets Committee, said the time has come to make a decision on the meters. "We want to know if the nearly double the firm's production capacity and is innovative in much of the electronic and automated machinery being installed. News Briefs School Board gives final OK for bond At a special meeting of the Morrow County School Board, held Monday at Riverside High School, board members approved a resolution calling for a $4.8 million bond issue to finance district construction and improvements. March 14 was set as the election date for the 15-year bond. Included in the bond are funds for: construction of an elementary school in Boardman, construction of a junior high in Irrigon, construction of a multi-purpose room at A.C. Houghton Elementary, construction of a new shop facility at Riverside and remodeling of the present shop for home ec facilities, remodeling of shop and home ec facilities at Heppner Junior High, remodeling of library facilities at Heppner High and rennovation of the boiler system at lone. County planners to air draft comp. plans The Morrow Planning Commission will conduct three public hearings Monday, Jan. 30, at 7:30 p.m. in the Courthouse. Included in the hearings will be an informational session for review and comment on the draft comprehensive plans for the cities of Heppner, Lexington, lone and Irrigon. Representatives of each city will be present to explain the plans and answer questions. The other hearings will consider a variance request for construction of a garage on lot 7 of the Wells Addition located on the Spray-Heppner Highway and a proposed amendment to the Morrow County Comprehensive Plan. The amendment would adopt the recently completed Boardman Compreh sive flan as a portion of the "The annual fog conditions in the Condon rural area seem to leave underground as a desirable alternative to the continual frost battle," said Harrison. The CBEC manager expres sed thanks to area volunteers and for the utilities who sent in crews from Redmond, Monu ment, Milton-Freewater and Prosser, Davenport, and Day ton in Washington. In addition CBEC contracted for service with an additional line crew and three underground cable firms. 12 PAGES downtown businesses and peo ple of Heppner want us to spend the money to repair the meters," said Mills. Last year the meters brought about $2,270 into the city's cotrers's including vio lations. Maintenance for last year cost the city $1,056. The Heppner Police Depart ment has been forced to virtually discontinue the pa trolling of meters for viola tions because so many of the fixtures are not operating properly. The meeting will start at 7:30 p.m. Kinzua officials said "ever ything possible is being done to minimize the economic impact on employes living and working at Kinzua." County Comprehensive Plan
