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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1986)
O ~ ä 3 I t Health care in Morrow Count} O P OR ! ,M C W S P A P 11 U Where North & South differ I ■ W ». T h f H rpprw r Morrow County s Flome-Owned Newspaper imes VOL 104 NO 49 Wednesday. December 3. I986 Heppner. Oregon 25« 8 Pages Court unable to postpone public hearing on health care districts The M orrow County Court w ill appoint a seven member committee to study health care in Morrow County at its December 3 meeting Members o f the committee w ill represent both North and South ends o f the county and w ill discuss each area’ s health care needs The com mittcc w ill advise the court o f any conclusions it is able to form Letters fro m the Boardman Chamber o f Commerce, the Hepp ner Chamber o f Commerce, lone C om m unity and A g ri Business Organization. City o f lexington. Pioneer Memorial Hospital Board and Administrator, and the Heppner Economic Development Corporation were presented to the Court last Wednesday by Boh M iller, chairman ot the North Morrow Medical Clinic Board, and by I j r r y M ills o f the Pioneer Memorial Hospital Founda lion Board The letters asked the court to delay for 30 days a Dec 9 public hearing regarding the forma tion o f two health care districts in Morrow County The letters also asked tor appointment o f a commit tee to explore alternatives to meet health care needs for the whole county. The court said that it could not grant the request to postpone the hearing because state law requires 10 days public notice if the date o f a hearing is changed The next possi ble publication dale tor a hearing notice was December 3 which would only he six days pnor to the hearing '"The reason for our request is to get people together from both sides o f the issue to sit calmly to discuss the p ro b le m s ," M ills said "December 0 w ill not provide enough lime for this and w ill force the court to nuke decisions alone The postponement is critical because we’ ve been spending too much time arm waving and getting carried away, hut I think there is some com mon ground out there and if we discuss calmly, we can reach some decisions,” he said Just because the hearing begins on December 9 docs not mean that it needs to end that same night. Com missioner Peck pointed out The hearing w ill open at 7 p m at River side High School in Boardman and the Hearings Officer w ill listen to and record testimony. hut it someone at the hearing should request a recess, the hearing could he con tinued up to .30 days later without further public notice. Peck said A second hearing 21-30 days after the conclusion o f the first hearing is re quired by law "A n y request for a delay ol the December 9 hearing should he taken as a protest to the formation o f a north end health care d is tric t," Dr Stcsen Zielinski told the court earlier in the day "T h e concern is a delay ing tactic which could delay a final action," he continued "The petition was presented to this commission, and should he acted on hy this com mission I have been informed that people arc taking steps to get the petition already before the court nullified You recognize that citizens want something done If the North end wants its own district, it’ s nobody elve's business." he said The petition to which Zielinski refered asked the court to consider forming two health care districts w ith in the co u n ty, w ith the Willamette Baseline as the dividing line Each district would he sup ported by taxes raised from within its own Niundaries the petition said The petilion. Commissioner Peck emphasized was not a legal petition but a letter with 750 signatures which called itself a petition The Court has responded to the petition as it would only request from that many pcxiple. Judge Don McF.lligott pointed out Should the Court receive a legal initiative petition before the hearings pnxess is complete, it would have to take action on that petition. Peck continued If the Court receives more than or.c petition, it must act on (he first one it receives, he said In other business, the Court authorized going out for bids for a mapping program including v ift ware and hardware for the county's computer system Purchase o f the program was included in this year’ s budget heard from County Architect Bob Smith that construction is continuing at the North Morrow Annex -accepted a warranty deed from R o lf s Construction for two lots on the north side o f the annex heard a recommendation from Plan ning Commission Chairman John Bristow that Old Hwy 730 he clo\ ed to through truck traffic between the Irrigon City limits and Patterson Ferry Road -declared that Dave Chcny’s re quest to remove 100 cu yards an nually from W illow Creek would have no adverse effects on w aterflow. • heard a road report from Road master Don Ball held an executive session concer ning acquisition o f property authorized Sheritl Roy Drago to purchase three police cars $33.980 is allowed for that purpose in this year's budget heard that Sheriff Drago receiv ed the title for surplus military vehicles purchased hy the county in 1974 The vehicles were given to different county agencies, Drago said He suggested the County also give each agency the title for its vehicle heard that the Sheriff has an agreement with Umatilla County to house prisoners at a cost o f $65 per day Dus is an overflow agreement, lor housing prisoners for $45 per djv has not had enough cell spac e tor the county s sentence prisoners When Benton County Jail has no room. Umatilla County facility w ill be us ed. he said heard from Dr /ie lin s k i that he had completed a trauma and lite sup port course at l a Grande The course is a necessary step lor a doc tor to quality as a phy su un ads isor tor jmbulancc serv ices Mom>w l'ounty Court rcccivedan in to rniai pelition on SejHemher 24 rcqucsting thè lo rn u tio n o l tw o sc i'.mite heulth Jistricts ss uhm M ot r<-w C onno I .uh d is tric i would ho directed b \ a lise itx-tnber board and would he tunded bs laxes collcvtcd based on a lax base- deriseci fro lli area w iih in its ow n h>«ulularics on Iv ihc jx 'titio n saui The W diamene Base-line was naiix-d as ihc d o id in g line hetween ihe N onh and South d is in e !' S rth M o rro w M edicai Center and Boardman Am bularne would he thè lead agcncics in thè North D isttivt and thè Pioneer Mentonal Hospital would he thè lead agcncs lo r che South D isine! Ih c pctitm n was not prcscnted as a legai m itiahvc jx-htion II was. in tasi a letter with 759 signature' cali mg Uscii a petilktn. Counlv Corri nusstorx-r Jerrv Peck s ju l Ih c in form ai nature o l thè pctitKM. Peck has cxplamcd. w js to allow "th è Court some tlexihiluy in wotking oul a system pcople could live w ith " fh e Court has felt an oh lig alion . ntoral. it noi legai, lo hold puhlic hearing' corxrm rn g thè torneinoli o t h c jlth care districts. Peck saie! A hearing has heen sei lo r lu c id a i . Dee 9 7 p m ai Riveisnle H igh School in Boarduun Since thè p c titin n has 716 s ig n a tu re ' fr o lli N o rth county residents aiut three signature' fro lli South ciHinty rcsidcntv. it could he considcicd a pctitio n to to m i one disine t ai thè North end o t thccoun l i One arca canno! fo rn i a d is tric i fo t another area, he said Fhe legai noi ice advertising thè puhlic hearing m d ^ iio ^ jN n j^ ^ o u k ^ id d ie ^ ^ h ^ to m u lio n ol two districts II the hearing were changed, a new notice Recount of Irrigon precincts announced Votes cast November 4 for the Ir ngon City Council positions w ill he recounted. Morrow County Clerk Barbara Bloods worth has announc cd fhe recount w ill begin at 10 a m Monday at the Morrow County CourtNxisc I hc Secretary of Slate's Office has authorized the recount. Bloodsworth said A write-in candidate for a council position made the request Die recount w ill involve only the Irrigon precincts and only the city council positions, the clerk said fs . , . ‘7is the Season Santa and his helper visited with Heather Hughes last Saturday when the Jolly Elf visited Heppner St. Nick will be ™ " H S IS C . r IS Dack a, the Les Schwab showroom at 1 () m Saturday Dec 13 Council sees housing project blueprints By Avon Melby Blueprints for remodeling Hepp ner Hotel into a retirement housing unit were shown to Heppner City Council Monday taxation o f the Senior C itizen portion o f the building on the ground floor, and o f the three studio apartments and 16 one-bedroom jp a rtm e n ts were shown on the architect's drawings There w ill also be two guest rooms for visiting friends o f tenants B ill Kuhn, city attorney, said ren tals had been estimated at $355 for the hcdnxmi apartments, and $290 for the studio apartments, with utilities included Estimated construction cost is $970.000 " I t is a low risk project. and a needed addition to downtown Heppner." he said The hotel wav originally named "S t Patrick H otel." It was listed on the National Registry o f Historic sites by that name and w ill retain the name By being on the National Registry the tax on the building w ill he tied in for 15 years at the current rate, thus lessening cost to the city, which w ill own the building C liffo rd Green. president ol Heppner Economic Development Corporation, which has spearhead cd the work on the project, said We covered a lot o f hurdles to get to this point the last is to get a contractor interested at the amount estimated He added, "W e think we’ ve goc a pretty good project to hand you A loan application tor the needed $390.000 to get the project going is being processed at the Bank ol Eastern Oregon, and w ill he asked at First Interstate Bank A loan lor the anxHint lias been approved b\ the state hut those working on it I cel they can obtain better interest rales through a lix a l bank Kuhn said it is expected that work can begin early enough that the building w ill he ready for ixcupan cy hy January . I9XH The city agreed to appoint two cixiiki I members to a committee to he made up o f representatives of H F D C and Senior Citizens This committee w ill take care o f the das to-day decisions and make recom mendations to the council Kuhn talked on a proposal to form a county wide heallh district in the ciuinty to get nx-dxal services out of the county budget He said there was a general view thal medical turuls had not been tairlv distnboted by the County Court, and that equitable distribution o l money would be at laincd through the district He sax! a petition is being emulated in both ends of the county to get the district The council approved adoption of a county wide heallh service' district to operate and coordinate health ser vices in the county Chiet Doug Rathbun reported j pit bull dog had killed another dog in the city recently Since this subject came up last month City attorney Kuhn had looked up ordinances m effect in other areas and passed them out to council members Councilman Bob Ployhar said he would like to have lime to study them before a decision on how the city should go .iNiut controlling pit bulls was made I he council w ill make a decision next month Rathbun said personnel policies agreed on at a three Nmr meeting last spring had been changed when they were written up that things such as smoking regulations had heen added A monthly qualifying for shooting must be made lor police "This would cost too much, the city couldn’t afford it . " he said Fhe regular policy called for that twice a year Kuhn said he did not Continued page 2 Housing assistance may be available to hotel residents People wanting to live in the senior citizen housing project who feel they w ill he unable to alford the rent may qualify for Section K Hous ing Assistance A representative o f the Umatilla Housing AutNirity w ill he at Heppner City Hall Monday. Dec 8 to prov ide information for in tercsted pervms would have to be published. Peck said When a district is formed, any governing h xly (city council) wiihin that district's boundaries can request that it be excluded from the district I he County Court has the authority to change the boundaries o f the district, " I t ’ s a difficult pnxedure at b e s t," Peck said " I t tv my understanding that the December 9 hearing can last up to lour weeks, longer it further notice is given At the end o f the hearing, the Court makes a decision and a tnt.il hearing is then held within 20 50 days to rcstute the decision Die purpose o f the second hearing is to allow peo pie who might not like the court’s decision, a chance to prepare an in illative petition and torse an election II (he court received a legal jx-ti lion in the meantime, it would take precedence over what the court has chosen to do thus tar based on an " ille g a l" petition and the healings pnxess would begin again Some people arc working toward an equitable solution to the problem. Peck said In the past, the separate boards were protecting their own Now there is an opportunity lor something which can serve the en tire county It is essential not to delay beyond the time lor a March election to vote on formation of health care districts. Peck said "W ’c cannot alford to delay beyond February 5, to get the issue on the March ballot It is also important to delay as long as possi hie before that tinx- in order to give those people working toward a com promise a chance Although the original petition pro l»>sed ihc Willamette baseline as the boundary between the two districts, several other Niundaries have heen proposed, including one which puls the PGE coal plant m the south district, one which splits the plant between the two districts, and one which excludes it from Nidi districts I hr present county wide tax rate for health care only is 4Kc per $I(M1 o f assessed valuation. Peck said If the current levy anxiunts were divid ed at the baseline with those raised in the north supporting the North Continued page 2 Weather Report 11» C*» «rf November IH-24 1 os* I’m ip High Tues 31 03 52 56 4(1 Wed 33 38 Iburs 43 (19 .37 N 42 29 0 Sat 45 31 O Sun 43 54 0 Mon 32 Total precipitation for the month of November wax 2 87 inches N or mal precipitation for November tv I 49 inches Market Report < *tvp**m«rs»* erf ftv« NK*’ou» County Ck«*n O o e w e 1 ursday, Dec. 2 Soit White v> 88 %-» •81 Dec %2 92 n •14 Jan %2 •16 %2 VH Feb Hard Red Winter %2 96 ( irdinanr ics Barley *81 !>cc /Jan PIK Generic certificates I l 2 f l cash
