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Heppner to vote on hotel project
Thf Heppner
Morrow C ounty's Horn#-Owned Newspaper
Bv Avon Melliv
It w ill be neecssarv to change the
charter ot the City ol Heppner so a
loan riiuv be obtained to remodel
Heppm-i Hotel Phis w ill necessitate
a vole ol the people
lax Counsel Harvev Rogers, ol
lb ..
imes
VOL 105 NO 4
Wednesday. January 28. 1987
Heppner, Oregon 25*
8 Pages
County Court close to decision
on short term health care plan
Lhe County Court is coming dose
to an agreement on a short term plan
to meet the immediate health care
needs ot the county. Judge lo u ix
Carlson told members ol the county
Planning Commission Monday
night
The court has been dealing with
the problem o f unequal distribution
o f health care funds between north
and south county since October,
when a petition was filed by North
county residents asking for two
separate health care districts
The issue was complicated by a se
cond petition filed by South counts
residents asking for a single districi
In response, the county appointed
an ad hoc committee composed ol
citizens from each o f the county's
five cities to study the problem The
Court scheduled public hearings to
gather public opinion During the
hearings a third option, to leave
health care as it is. under the
lurisdiction o f the county, was
voiced
Carlson said that he and commis
sioners Irv Kaiu h ansi Jcrrv Peck
were close to agrccnx-nt 'but not set
ready to announc'd short term as
lions “ Our philosophy is based on
the ad hoc committee's rccommen
dalions and the three needs (voxed
at the public hearings) which must
be m et,'’ he said "W e hase heard
that there must be no increase in the
lav load, no additional layers ol
bureaus ras s . and that there must be
equality ol care based on need
Our goal was to have a plan this
week, but additional information is
needed lor a plan which w ill meet
the long term needs of the county,
he said
judge askesl the Plann
mg Commission to make one of Us
goals the formulation o f a five-year
plan to provide for total health care
in the county
Health care is our lop priority
now. Carlson said There are so
many phases of it that it's mind bog
gling
Many areas have been
neglected for a long tune It's time
to get on with our long range plann
ing Koads arc a second priority
because areas have been neglected
there also
County Planner Deane Seeger .id
vised the commission that it is charg
cd with identifying all future needs
and not |ust those related to roads
He explained that the commission is
further charged with advising the
county court
Com m ission C hairm an John
Hristow said that the commission
would await direction on structure ot
the d iq rx t or districts and work with
Seeger on a plan
In
other
business,
the
Commission
approved changing the county 's
Comprehensive Plan to include the
limited use overlay /one granted
Hoeing for its development of a radar
antenna test range near Hoardman
Seeger said the County Court w ill
need to ratify the change
heard that Bonneville Power Ad
ministration has agreed to the site ap
pmved by the Planning Commission
and the County Court for lix al ion of
its proposed fish hatchery at Irrigon
The nest step. Seeger said, is to
relate the choice back to its impact
on county roads and schools and to
resolve any conflicting land uses
such as hunting, fishing, trucks car
rvint! pellets to feed fimrerlines. and
trucks loaded with fish
heard that the county w ill place
traffic counters on some ol its roads
for an I C O A ( traffic studs
heard progress in preparing an
evacuation plan required by the Stale
o f Oregon
heard no further progress had
been made bv cits planning commie
sions determining possible exten
sums o f streets to the urban growth
boundaries
reviewed a proposed plan bv Boe
ing tor public and private roads
Little was added to the testimony
ot two previous sessions al a Tues
day . Jan 20 public hearing on health
care held at Heppner Elementary
Schixil
Speakers from both North and
South Morrow Counts reiterated that
the county has neglected North end
health care needs when distributing
tax monies to the North Morrow
Medical C linic, Pioneer Memorial
Hospital, and the ambulance ser
vices, all ot which provide health
care for county residents As at
previous hearings, opinions were
voiced supporting one district, no
district but a plan for equitable tun
ding, and two districts
The situation exploded last (V
tober when a petition was presented
to the County Court asking them lo
form two separate health care
distrxts within the county A second
petition compounded the problem by
asking the Court to lorrn one counts
wide district (See related story)
The Court responded by schedul
ing a series of three public hearings
and by appointing an ad hoc commit
tee to study the health care problems
within the county
Icirry M ills, chairman ol the ad
lux committee, reported the com
m ille r's findings that the vounty
should lom i one county wide health
care district administered by one
board o f directors with represen
tatives from all areas ol the county
Die committee also listed specific
health care needs for each city and
possible solutions to them
rhe
across the Bombing Kange and Boe
ing projx-itv The plan scheduled
construction ot a public ro id through
the Bombing Kange during I‘tos
Commissioners prclcred an ultcrnaic
site tor a road from the Charles
lXihertv Ranch at I Ila to connect
with Power Koad No action was
taken
I * . , f i t Ifc.l
fir...
,if
I »f C. lv IV
O ld
Hart notified Citv Attornev Bill
Kuhn ol the decision recentlv He
had been hired bv the citv to find out
what would be ic-quued
A grant ol S'Ort OHO hac been oh
iaiiic'd by the c itv bui an additional
5 Otti lim i iv vonv ». I..»,-, I »»- -w trs
I he stale has tillered the monev but
it would be i>n a 40 scar loan and
at III d percent interest Both local
banks are being consulted on loan
ing the money Kuhn said lucsdav
I he Bank ol I astern l Itegon has in
dicuied a ' l l ve'ar loan at six percent
interest may be available
Heppner city council w ill be ask
ed to nuke a dec ixion al its Monday
meeting It an election is to be held
the county c lerk has to have a (4 »lav
notification before the election
Rogers also said the citv w ill have
to obtain certification that its in
debtedncss does ne*t exceed MO
m i II k mi and to obtain cert ilk at ion on
development bonds belore the loan
can be made
When these steps have been car
ned out bv the citv a written opinion
bv the tax counselor w ill lx- given the
citv which can be used to obtain Ihe
loan from banks or othei lending
institutions
Council meeting w ill be al K p m
Mondav al city hall lor those who
might wish lo attend
Conklin to visit China
Heppner High School Athletic
Director Dale Conklin has been
selected as a coach chaperone lor a
high school track team which w ill go
to China this summci and partieipate
III a track meet al Hong Kong I his
is the saiix- lour which Heppner s
AS ay ne SSilgerx and lone x Deena
Hams t>iok last suninx-i
l onklin and Norm t K leur ol SS est
I vnn high school were selected as
the two coaches to accompany a
t lass A and Class H team ol high
schviol track stets Ihe two coaches
w ill decide s . m '11 to which athletes
thev w ill extend ins itali»ms. Conklin
said
Iw o track teams w ill leave
Portland on June 21. Conklin xavx
lor a 10 dav trip to Hong Kong.
Canton atxl Macao During their
tour, athletes w ill participate in a
track meet at Hong Kong but w ill
spend the majority of their m ix
sightseeing and learning about
Chinese culture
Conklin who has been head track
coach at Heppner High School lor
I I v ears has also been active in the
( Iregon High School coaches Assoc
He save Ins selection as a coach tor
the tour is. in part recognition bv
other track coaches in the stale lor
his experience
\
Dale Conklin
He has been a coach at Heppner
High Sc In ml lor Idyears He and his
w ile. I mda. have tour children
Ashley. Jill Sheryl, and Mark
Although there is much w oik in
solved getting organized, checking
tv< see that everyone has a pass|ioit.
etc . Conklin is extremely excited
about ihe opportunity. "I'm coun
ting the days already." he said
Hospital will ask $80,000 less
tax monev than last year
Settling In
Judge Charlotte Cray was l.urlv well settled in her new office lucsdav
at the Courthouse Annex on Rock St in Hepner
Justice Court Juvenile Services and Morrow Counts Mental Health have
moved their olTices to the old dental clinic building across the parking lot
from the Heppner Medical Clinic
I he ( ountv recently signed a lease option lor the building with the Pioneer
Hospital Foundation Remodeling at the annex has taken about a month
and w ill cost the county close to 510.000
Hi Avon Melhy
Pioneer Memorial Hospital cut its
request lor tax lunds by approx
imatclv SHU .000 last week A pro
posed budget ol 527l4 N t was
presented the counts
Hospital Manager John Hempel
said the trimming ol expenses had
lust about gone as lai as it could and
still leave adequate lunds lor o|x-ra
lion
It is a realistic budget.” In
sani Ihe biggest expense which
cannot be cut is in stami bv keeping
adequate personnel on hand on a
74 hour basis this is souxthing the
hospital cannot change
Judge I ouis Carlson nx-l with the
board to disc use its budget and to ex
plain the uilormution the court is
asking lor It is needed to arrive at
a decision on how to nxet the
medical needs ol the whole counts
Ihe hospital board approved pur
chase ol a new machine which
llempcl said it would be used to
re-culate blood pressure and monitor
ing the effect ol mcdicaiton on pa
tictitx who have been sent honx- alter
heart attacks or heart surgery He
said it was a ncccxsilv and Ihe pre
sent piece ol cquipnxnf is no longer
dependable Cost w ill lx- between
5 V200 and SC htii) Ihe money ix
available in thè capitai lum i
Attumptud murder
chiuseci
Jo Jesus (ìonzalez. 'n. Irriguo,
was .inaiglieli Mondav moining in
Just ice Court al Heppixr ori i harges
ol Attempted Murder. Attempici!
R.qx- Kidnapping I. Poxxexxion ol
a Controllexl Subslance. and C ix r
cion Hall was set al SU' tR0)
Gonzalez was arresici! Ihurxdav
alternoon hy thè Morrow ( ountv
S h criff x IX-pi following a donxxtic
metileni iuxt outsule o f Irngon He
was lodged al thè Um ulill.i City Jail
prior lo his arraignuxnl
Following thè arraignnxnt. don
/a le / was trnnsponcd lo Hermiston
City Jall where a warrant troni
M unii ipal Court chargcd him svilii
Contempi Indirect
A x h e rilfx Dcpt xpokexpcrxon
sani no minors wcrc mvolvcd in thè
incidcnl and other poxsihle c harges
are pending Irngon («ilice assistcd
in thè arresi
A preliminare hearing ix set lor
Icbruary 5
Fate of Morrow County health care still up in air after public hearing
“ We have to remember that
changes cannot happen immediate
ly . " he said, “ because health care
is highly regulated We need to
remember, whether we like it or not
that Pioneer Memorial Hospital
operates uiulci ihe same regulations
as St Vincent s in Portland Ihe
committee was only seven people
We spent quite a lot ol time study
ing the issue, and came up with a
possible solution, but we don't pre
tend to speak lor everyone in the
county
Martlee Trotter, a former Hcpp
ner resident, asked the Court to
renx-mber that health care is layered
and d illcrn t types o f cases are refer
red to different facilities Pioneer is
a vinaII. primary level lacilitv which
stabilizes and translers patients re
quiring more sophisticated services
Statistics such as I H patients per dav
distorts the actual service ot the
hospital lor outpatient and nursing
home care, she said Ihe county
does not currently have a health can-
district, she cmphasi/ed. and now is
the time to form one
Krebs hired to Port position
Port ol Morrow (icrxra l Manager
Hob M iller announced that Ihe new
ly created position ol Maintenance
Planner laib Technician w ill be fill
cd by Dorothy Krebs, a resident of
Hoardman tor the past two years
Krebs was selected from 12 highly
qualified applicants and is currently
employed by Hoardman Farms as a
(>ay roll clerk She brings to the gib
a M S Degree in both analytical and
inorganic chemistry from Oregon
State University followed by work
on soils and forages analysis, she had
done research in buxhemixtry and
animal nutrition as well
Krebs has held the following post
lions Morrow County Commis
sioncr (1978-191*2), chairperson.
Fast Central Oregon Asvxiatm n of
Counties, chairperson. Regional
Services Institute, Eastern Oregon
Slate College Vice Chairperson,
among many other public service
positions
In her job at the Port she w ill be
in charge of the sampling, reporting,
and scheduling o f the ellluent water
disposal o f on Port land in accor
dance with a Departnx-nt ot F.n
vironmental (Quality permit Kepor
ting lo Jerald Rea. farm A U tility
Supervisor, Krebs w ill also assist in
the planning and scheduling ol
maintenance and inventory control
using computerized records
Inc rease in both the size and com
plexity o f Ihe f) E 0
required
sampling program and need lor a
computerized maintenance and in
ventory program required creation
o f this position Kreb's addition
brings the current permanent
employment at the Port to 11
employees She w ill begin her duties
on February 2
* fr * r .
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Dorothy Krebs
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As a Chamber of Commerce, we
need to reassure businesses which
are considering locating in the area
that good health care is available,
(icorge K olfler. president ot the
Heppner Chamber of Commerce
said
It's apparent that the current
method has not worked Formation
ol one district would stabilize health
care without Iragnx-nting the court
ty or leav ing medical care up to Ihe
County Court, he said
We have talked about a single
health care district as il it were the
only alternative lo two districts
I d
< ilenn ol Hoardman said
A health
care district would be |ust another
laser of government and we alreadv
have all the government we can han
die We don't want anymore
“ A district w ill probable not
reduce the total amount ol taxes paid
bv counts residents, he continued,
“ it comes to a point where we want
to say no more tax dollars w ill be
spent on this particular item NoNslv
wants to close Pioneer MeiiMin.il
Hospital or take awav the Heppner
ambulance All we want is a little ra
tionulity It we shift a little tax
monev spent in the South to the
North, wouldn't that be better than
creating a new board and going
through this whole process again ’
Kinzua General Manager Harry
Kennison said that his mator concern
was providing good emergency
medical care lor the 2 '0 Kinzua
employees in Ihe area “ No one
would disagree with the county's
phasing down and cutting back on
spending tor the hospital when all
hospitals in the country arc having
trouble But Kinzua adds SHflH.OOO
To the county s tax base, and I'll
light like a tiger to keep good
emergency care and the nursing
home available I intend to keep
dose tabs on Ihe situation because
our employees are valuable." he
said “ We see nothing wrong with
realigning the hospital hoard and try
ing to do the right thing We think
Ihe administration could be spread
out to the entire county Kinzua w ill
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bac k nx-dical care and leave it to the
pcoplc elected lo run the system AA'e
feel that we don't have a lull service
hospital now AAe feel we have an
emergency center We re headed lor
rough tinx-s We need to stick
together and support what we do
have "
Kav Michaels, a Bo.irdm.in phar
mac ist said that the Hoardman ( itv
Council felt that separate health care
dixtricts were not necessary Ihe
council has diawn a resolution sug
gesting Ihe court "d o their |ob and
make a decision " Draw up a plan
to provide equitable dixinhution ol
health care iimuh - v lx challenged the
court. ' You have the capubilitv and
the legal means to do it
Don M cFlligott lornx-r Morrow
County Judge, suggested that all
medical comcrnx be lell in the hands
ol the county court I ach commis
sinner could have spec die duties, he
said, similar to the way the commis
sum is run in Portland ( hie commis
sinner could be in charge of the road
departnxnt and general lurid except
lor health care A second commis
sinner could oversee health care and
other MKial agencies Ihe County
fudge would remain the iiivcmle
court |udgc in charge ol juvenile
matters Dus plan would require in
creasing service by the two commix
siom-rs from halftime to tu lltu ix
Irn g o n t ity Manager Don I ppen
bach reported that Irrigon would
probably have nothing to gam and
would probably opt out of a county
wide medical district It more sup
port is shown lor Ihe ad hoc com
minee x recommendations to nxet
Irngon'x needs lor an emergency
response vehicle, however, ihe m y
w ill withdraw its recommendation
lor a North district and give a
county wide district a try . he said
Hoardman P.MT IK-an Mason re
emphasized his opposition to the tor
illation of a single health care
district, because “ we think we
already have one." he said Two
districts would allow lix a l taxes to
be used locally II basic health care
lundiiig were mvioeu in nail, il
would itxan an increase in spending
in the North ctxl which would almost
meet our needs
We re confident
that we can go honx- and create a
North end district to make up the
balance which we are short." In
sani The hospital says they a rc iu t
ling their budget, hut “ I don't know
il they can cut that much We Icel
that we have support tor a lix a l
elisine t where our own ix-cds w ill i«>t
be voted down
AAe were elected to make deci
sions and we keep hearing people
sav thev want us to do that, so now
that the public input portion ol the
hearing prixexx is concluded, please
give us an opportunity to make our
decision anil lo impleiix-nt it. ' Judge
I ouis ( ailwm said at the conelusion
ol the nx-cting
Weather Report
ti y ( -ty tt
January 21 Januarv 27
High 1 ow Rain Snow
AS ed
1 hurs
Fri
Sal
Sun
Mon
1 ues
42
21
21
4»
4 t
44
41)
11
14
1 A
IK
2 1
1 s
«I
log
fog
fog
ID
>2
1 »
log
1H "
1 * *
1"
spoils
Market -■ Report
(
. . « ft,
,* •»#» M-
Ox*/'»* (*»#■• I
lucsdav, Jan 27
Soll SA lute
M ID
Jan
»1 m
Feb
»1 05
March
Mav (Iasi halli
»2 94
New Crop
•2 75
Harley
Jan March
‘ 86
New emp
‘ h6
H.ud Red AS inter ( )rd maries
Jan
*J 01
PIK
Cash pani Fri
106%
< )n Account
108%
. “ «•SV