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NEWSPAPER LIB
CBEC crews move through
mUu repuimig jruSi
damaged lines
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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
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I 1fi
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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