FOUR-The Heppner Gaiette-Tlmes, lleppner, Oregon, Thursday, July 3, 1980
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Proposed County
(Coo tinned ha Page 1)
Director Don Briggs. She said
he started here after coming
from a 26 .000 job in Multno
mah County and he took a cut
for four months at a rate of
22.360. Krebs promised him he
would make $24,960 beginning
in July and she will not go
back on her word.
Krebs said he has a lot of
responsibility taking care of
tshe county grounds, county
buildings, solid waste, airport
and the roads and bridges and
he has done it without an
office, secretary or book
keeper. She said a road crew
of 18 needs a director and
Briggs must inspect all of the
bridges in the county by
Sept.l. He is an engineer and
in managment and it takes
1 1 rJloFtro vj County j j
imln Gtrooir s n
! Closed Friday & Safurdayj j
II JuBy 5 II
Eif eetiue liuly 1
llo outside burning within
City Limits of lleppner
St. Jude'a Children's
"Wheels For Life"
EIK - A -
Ruggs to lone City Park
cltitllTClcl
July 19
Registration Ruggs 8:30 a.m.
Departure 9:30 a.m.
Lunch served at lone city Park
for all participate a Prizes for
both boys and girls
Rides will be available from
Market in Lexington, and lone
rides.
..Departure time from these
..Pledge cards are available at
Pel's Market. Lexington, and
''thaspovi''''''
!e!nmlia Basin
"Scfvmf Mffw, WIimIt
The gamt AotcI fnfam to dump a scoop load of
that kind of money fo get a
man with his qualifications,
she said.
All county employess will
receive a cost of living pay
increase of 1 1 .4 percent.
Assessor Greg Swwek said
Morrow county property own
er are lucky because this
county is the richest county
per capita in the state and the
utilities pay for 49 percent of
the county taxes (Portland
General Electric pays one
third ) so the tax rates are low
compared to the rest of the
state.
On the Austust 26 or Sept. 16
ballot, depending on whether
an "emereencv election" was
declared yesterday by the
county court or not, voters will
FlrtChltf
Forrl DrfcnbhM
if
THOM
lleppner City Park. Del'sl
City Park for those needing
points is H::WI a.m.
Murray's Irugs. lleppner
Bank of K.O.. lone.
Ekctstc CcksiI
and Gilliam Ctmlhl"
oatl into the 130 ton track
budget cut $98,100
see the figure $1,014,082 which
is outstanding the six percent
Imitation increase allowed by
law. The total requirement
needed to balance the budget
from county taxes is $1,577,
072. The Morrow county Salary
Committee met with members
of the public June 27 to discuss
county salaries for both elect
ed officials and county em
ployees. Greg Sweek, county asses
sor and chairman of the salary
committee, invited about
eight members of the com
munity to present their view
on what they think would be an
adequate salary for county
workers.
Krebs opened the meeeting
by saying, "The county is in
serious trouble after the
defeat of the budget."
Represented on the salary
committe were Sharon Biddle,
secretary at the district at
torney's office; Greg Sweek,
county assessor; Norma
Groce, mental Health secret
ary; Dorothy Krebs, county
commissioner; Barbara
Bloodworths. county clerk;
and Margo Sherer, county tax
collector. Missing were Pat
Wright county nurse and
Deane Seeger, county plan
ner. Merlin Cantin said he talked
to approximately 55 people
about the county budget. He
said 15 of them did not vote but
said they would next time
because the vote was so close
(June 24. ) Cantin said 25 voted
"no" and 15 "yes". Of the 25
that voted no, the main
objection they had to the
county budget as previously
proposed was wages and
elected officials salaries.
Cantir said the second pro
blem is the amount spent on
roads.
"People are not happy with
I Umatilla
Ready -Mix
is Still in Business in
Heppner
Cement deliveries scheduled
twice weekly to South Morrow
County
Regularly on Wednesdays
and Fridays
call collect
ti - 567 - 6173
for dispatch
the way money has beeen
spent on roads in the past,"
Cantin said. "I have made my
own personal complaint to the
county court. I have asked for
for some gravel to be put on a
road near my home and I was
told I would have to wait my
turn because the gravel trucks
are in the north end (of
Morrow County.)"
Cantin criticized the county
for not sticking with an
independent study that was
done in 1977.
"Studies cost the taxpayers
money and when my money is
spent, I would like to see them
use that study, " he said.
"That study was done by an
outside group and I object to
Dode (Dorothy Krebs) doing a
salary study."
Krebs said that study done
by LPGI was not working
because there were no job
descriptions in it while the one
she has proposed and recom
mended be adopted by te
county does include job de
scriptions. Krebs said II 4 percent of
the wage increases is for the
cost of living so any thing
more than that is the raise.
Elected county officials would
would have received any
where from a 20 to 45 percent
increase if the county budget
padded June 24.
Sweek said the state aver
age for elected officials is
$21,720 and Morrrow County
was asking for $19,618. He
asked Steve Powell what he
thought a fair wage would
be.
Powell said he thought the
salaries as proposed' ma v be
fair but that it was too big of a
jump all at once for the voters.
He said elected u.
ficials should receive about
18.500 and the judge about
$21 .000 instead of the proposed
$19,618 and $25,000
Reclaiming land important
. The following Is the second
of a two part series on the trip
made by lleppner Gaiette
Times News Editor Steve
Powell to the Amnx Coal
Mines In Gillette. Wyoming.
By Steven A. Powell
Reclamation is an ongoing
process at the two Amax Coal
Mines in Gillette. Wyoming. It
, is also the area with the most
government supervision, said
Amax Media Relations Repre
sentative Don Warfield.
Reclamation is the con
' touring and rebuilding of the
land once the coal is removed.
Reclamation on the land
mines is a continuing process.
When topsoil is dug up in one
area, it is moved to another
area lor the finishing touches
for reclamation. After the '
topsoil is put on. the land is
contoured as close as possible
to how the land originally was.
Of course with the coal gone,
it is at a lower elevation. The
overburden soil is transported
the same way.
Recontoured overburden is
covered with 18 to 24 inches of
topsoil before seeding.
To finish off the reclama
tion, seeds and trees are
planted to cut down erosion.
Meadowlark Farms Inc., a
In last year's budget,
elected officials received
about $16,000 and the county
judge about $17,000. Powell
said it would still be a healthy
increase but instead of the
county ofticials receiving a 21
percent increase, they would
have about a 15 percent
increase of a 45 percent
increase for the judge, he
would get about a 23 percent
increase. With the cost of
living factor, that would mean
about a four percent raise for
the county elected officials
and an 11 percent raise for the
judge
"In one year, I do not think
we should try to make up for
the past 30 years (of county
officials being underpaid)."
Cantin said. "I will not
support it." it."
Heppner golfer
makes top 8
Former Heppner golfer
Charles Rawlins placed in the
top eight at the recent Oregon
Amateur Golfing Champion
ship He was one of 32 partici
pants in the tourney. He made
the cut to the top 16 after the
first two days of golf and then
went on to make the top eight
on the final.
"My driving was good but
my putting was off. Rawlins
reported.
$1,000 grand
prize given
A $1000 grand prize will be
awarded in the Sixth Annual
Poetry Competition sponsored
by the World of Poetry, a
quarterly newsletter for poets.
poems of all styles and on
any subjects are eligible to
compete for the grand prize or
for 49 other cash or merchan
dise awards.
Rules and official entry
forms are available from
World of Poetry. 24.11 Stockton
Blvd. .Dept. N, Sacramento,
California 95817
Eon
McDonald
Thank You, one Ik all
for making our grand
openinga smashing
success!!
subsidiary of Amax, farms
and ranches Amax Coal mines
before and after they are
mined. The goal of the Amax
reclamation program is to
return the mined areas to
productive dryland farming
and rangeland.
Cotton wood and willow
trees and rock formations are
planted In selected areas and
streams and creeks are
reformed to resemble the
original body of water.
There are about 541 acres at
the two mines in various
stages of the permanent
reclamation.
At the Belle Ayr Mine, in
1979,156 acres were affected
by mining and another 180
acres were seeded in the
reclamation process that re
stores mined land to agricult
ural use About 1,000 trees
were plant on reclaimed areas
of the mine last year.
At the Eagle Butte Mine, the
younger of the two Amax
Mines, the reclamation pro
cess is not as advanced. Last
year, 78 teres of land were
affected by the mine and 20
acres were seeded.
Randall Shinn. reclamation
supervisor, said the goal of his
job is to get the land "back to
productivity that equals or
exceeds its abilities previous
to the mining of It."
Shinn said he must make
sure the new reclaimed land
scape is stable and will not
erode so it can be used as farm
land. The success of the
reclamation process is judged
by the productivity of the land.
The reclamation work force
has 15 employees and a $3
million budget.
Studies have been done on
how the mining affects the
supply of antelope and small
mammals in the area and
Shinn says the effect seeems
tn hp minimal
Despite all of the mining
activity, antelope, deer ,
rabbits and other animals can
be seeb within only a few
yards of the mine.
Shinn and Warfield agreed
rmt-mummimwfA H0tmm a Mini mini m i mi mi n ibkwmb iiiiii w -
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Bud MmhiU ukt Ruaont biuod pnmnn to mike mm mvrjthiag k aoiif anomhly.
Marshalls cautious with kidney machine
(CootiniMd iron Pig 1)
everything that is done,
"Nurlition is very important
because of the loss of nutrients
while I am on the kidney
machine." Mrs. Marshall
said
Other precautions also have
to be taken.
Bud Marshall has to wear
(7(y(j2
I Unc
that it should be up to the
states to monitor the coal
mines. The federal govern
ment first got Involved with
the Surface Mine Reclamation
Act of 1977. When the federal
government sets the reclam
ation standards, It Is the same
for all states and It should not
be that way because states
have different types of climate
and land, Shinn said.
"Have to use some of the
same type of reclamation
practices that they do In
southeast states even though
the lands are quite different,"
Shinn said.
Shinp added that in 1980. the
states are scheduled to regain
control of the supervision of
the mines but the federal
government will still make
inspections.
Currently the mines are
inspected quarterly by the
state and twice a year by the
federal government but with
the states In control, they will
inspect the mines monthlv
with the federal government
inspecting quarterly.
"If we do not do what
theydhe Inspector) tell us to,
thev can fine us or close us
down," Shinn said.
Even though Amax owns the
and. it has to lease the rights
to mine It from the federal
government. The present lea
se for the Belle Ayr Mine runs
to the late 1990's and the lease
for the Eagle Butte Mine runs
until 2015.
Warfield said the federal
government has not allowed
new leases for coal mining in
the U.S. since 1971. Amax
owns the land it ines and plans
to either sell it back to private
owners or lease the land to
farmers after the land has
been mined and reclaimed.
Amax owns 6.000 acres at the
Eagle Butte Mine and 4.000 at
the Belle Ayr -Mine.
Geologists say it is 600 feet
to the next coal seam so to
mine that would be unecon
omical using toduv's mining
mrthiHls. Warfield said.
The City of Gillette is a
sterile gloves whenever he
works with the kidney mach
ine equipment. He takes her
blood pressure periodically
and watches her weight very
closely to make sure it does
not fluctuate too much.
The kidney dialysis machine
is cleaned once a week with
formaldehyde and once a
month with Purex.
"We run tests to make sure
it is cleaned out." Bud
Marshall said "It tells us if
something is wrong. It (the
machine) has a blood leak
(teds Grasshoppers
Canvas Casuals
1 oe
to Amax
young, the average age Is 25,
boom town that has grown
from a town the size of Heppner
in the I9MVs to 7,000 In r
population In the 1960's be
cause of the oil booom and
then 18.000 now with the coal
movemnet.
"The city was drilling for
water recently and struck oil
but we need water worse
thannil" Warfield said.
There Is only three unem
ployment in Campbell county
and they have "an excellent
school system with a $36
million budget for 5,000 stud
ents." Warfield said.
The county gets 14 Inches of
rain a year and wheat farmers
get an average of22 bushels
per acre.
The Amax company has a
good working relationship
with Its employees.
Amax employees voted to
stay non union in 1979 by91.5
percent.The reason, accord
ing to Warfield is because "We
treat our people right."
Warfield said they deal with
their employees face to face,
one on one. The mines are
operating 365 days a year but
the pay is "good" he savs. A
starting general laborer can
make $11.50 an hour or $28,000
to 30.000 a year. Amax recei
ves about 4.000 applications a
year and has about a nine
percent turnover.
And the Amax Mines are
sale too. At one time, accord
ing to Warfield. thev went
three years without having an
accident.
Underground mines are
more dangerous Ihun surface
mines. "he said ,
The surface mines are also '
very clean. The machine
operators work in air condi
tioned cabs so they do not even
get dirty. We looked all over
the mines trying to find a dirtv
miner and could not find one.
"We don't build the sexiest
mines, but we build the most
efficient." Warfield conclud
ed "We have to tM-causdc it is
our onlv business."
detector. If everything is not
right, a beeper goes off."
Bud Marshall shoots a
syringe full of the anti-coagu-lunt
"hepper" inyo the blood
lines to prevent his wife's
blood from clotting.
"If there is too much
hepper. she can bleed too
easy," he said. "Someone has
to he around nil the time to
watch the machine to see if
her bloid pressure drops or if
she needs a soda cracker to
prevent muscle cramps."
6t
atf
H wl'I b cktd
July 4-5
Joe, Joan, Eon McDonald
676-9146
4