FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 21, 1990
Thanks to All Saints
___The Official Newspaper of the
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City of Heppner and the
County of Morrow
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The Heppner
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GAZETTE-TIMES
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
U.S.P S. 240-420
Published e \ t r j Wednesday and entered as second-class matter at the Post Office
at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Second class postage paid
at Heppner. Oregon. Office at 147 West Willow Street. Telephone (503) 676-9228.
Address communications to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P.O. Box 337, Hepp
ner. Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $15 in Morrow, Wheeler, Gilliam and Grant
Counties; $23 elsewhere.
Joyce H u g h es........................................................... Office Manager, Typesetting
April S y k e s........................................................................................... News Editor
Carol Atherly ....................................................................... Graphics Department
Becky Evans ......................................................................... Graphics Department
Monique P a r r e l...................................................................................... Distribution
Kay Rene Q ualls............................................................................................Bindery
Bob S m ith ........................................................................................................Printer
David and April Svkes. Publishers
Letters to the Editor
Sheds light on garbage situation
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To the Editor;
The purpose of this letter is to try
to shed some light on the confusion
surrounding the future of garbage
collection, transfer and disposal for
Heppner. It is obvious from the
deluge of questions I have received
during the past month that there is
considerable confusion surrounding
this subject.
We all understood when the city
agreed to open the last section of the
Turner Landfill that when that sec
tion was full or Finley Buttes was
operational, that the Turner site
would close. We expected these two
happenings to occur about the same
time; which they did, almost. On
Oct. 15 the Heppner City Council
decided to close the Turner site and,
since Finley was not yet open, ask
ed Heppner Garbage Disp. to haul
to Hermiston Sanitary’s landfill tem
porarily until Finley opened. We
agreed, but pointed out that we could
not absorb the increase cost of
transport and tipping (dumping) fees
as we did two years ago for two
months. The council granted us a
temporary rate increase to S10.25
for base rate.
For about nine months prior to
Oct. 15 a group consisting of the
m ayor, county judge, HEDC
member, Wes Hickey of Tidewater
and myself had been meeting to try
to put together a plan to build and
operate a transfer station where
South Morrow solid waste might be
deposited. From there it would be
trucked to Finley in large and more
cost efficient containers. Although
some agreement had been reached
on construction, a stalemate had
been reached as to who would
operate it.
The closing of the Turner site
caused a crisis situation which caus
ed some new people to become in
volved. New meetings were held
between city and county with the
result that the county agreed to
operate the transfer station. However
they county court strongly urged that
garbage collection in Heppner be
mandatory and stipulated that Hepp
ner put its garbage collection fran
chise out for bid. It further stipulated
that whoever received the franchise
would not be allowed to use the
transfer station, but must haul direct
to a landfill. This latter stipulation
will require a subsidy from the coun
ty to operate the transfer station of
somewhere between 12 and 20 thou
sand dollars per year. Without the
volume of the Heppner franchisee,
the transfer station will lose that
much money instead of break even.
The city council agreed to the
stipulations but rejected mandatory
service.
At the present time, Heppner Gar
bage Disp. is hauling to Finley But
tes at the rate of one load per day.
We are also preparing a bid for the
garbage collection franchise for
Heppner. What will result from this
bidding, I can only speculate. 1 ex
pect at least one bid from outside the
county and it will be a very
sophisticated bid. Probably they will
present the low bid, given the much
larger customer base they already
have over which to spread their
overhead and equipment costs. Also
they already have the equipment for
long haul.
However, the city council is not
required to accept the low bid if. in
their judgement, a higher bid ap
pears to be in the best interests of the
community. If HGDS receives the
bid, we will obtain a larger truck to
reduce the number of trips per week
and thus cut costs. If the franchise
were not up for bid, we would
already have done this, and you
would not now be paying such high
collection fees. But. it would be
foolish to purchase new equipment
at this point when we don’t know if
we will be in business in two
months.
Whoever wins this franchise, you
can expect some changes in your
garbage collection service. Higher
prices (probably about 'A higher,)
charges for all extra, weight and size
restrictions are just some of the
changes to expect.
In closing, let me assure you that
if we receive the franchise, we will
strive to give you the best of service
which you have come to expect of
us. Service is all we have to offer.
If the franchise should go to another
company, well, we have appreciated
the opportunity to serve you over the
past 40 years.
Sincerely,
(s) Cliff W. Green
Fair & Rodeo seeks 1990-91 theme
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The Morrow County Fair and
Rodeo is seeking a theme for the
1990-91 fair. A prize will be award
ed to the best theme idea. Send all
suggestions to the fair secretary,
P.O. Box 464, H eppner, by
December 5.
The person submitting the winn
ing theme will be notified.
A PROdf^TATION
WilKMKAS, America' r public « rltnnk *crvc all of ll»e cliihlirti of all
o f llic
people; ami
WIIKRKAS, llie alretiRtli of a rntnnuinily h measurer! by ihe schools it keeps; and
WIIK UK AS, lire schools of lire 1*1*10* need Inond riliarn sii|n»o»l In m eet Ihe diverse needs of
today's families ami In Irelp each slmlenl achieve his or Irer iwtlenlial; ami
WIIKRKAS. educational excellence is hnill on ihe involvement of the entire community,
including parents, business leaders, elected officials, public service personnel, and senior cilizrns,
N n w /IK h r f n r r ,
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County Judo« «rid C hairm an o f th e Gov e r n i no Board
------------Harrim twetr____________________ .
To the Editor;
1 wish to take this opportunity to
thank Pastor George Izzett and the
members of All Saints Episcopal
Church for their willingness to pro
vide a generous Thanksgiving din
ner for the people of Heppner and
the surrounding communities. I think
it is a good act of community service
and I trust that all of those who
worked hard feel good about their
efforts.
Those who came, ate and enjoyed
the fellowship understand the true
meaning of giving thanks.
Our hats off to the members of All
Saints Church.
(s) The Rev. Stan Hoobing
mergency call at approximately that
time through Heppner.
Unfortunately it is often necessary
for emergency vehicles to drive
faster than the designated speed limit
in response to an emergency call.
Oregon State Law recognizes this
fact and allows for emergency
vehicles to do so legally. That is why
these vehicles are equipped with
lights and sirens to warn the public.
The law does not relieve the operator
of the emergency vehicle of the
responsibility for his actions and he
or she must operate the vehicle in a
prudent and safe manner no matter
what the situation.
On the day in question the deputy
was operating his vehicle with his
emergency lights and siren activated
in response to a possible life-
threatening situation several miles
south of Heppner. The information
he had indicated he needed to get to
the scene as quickly as possible to
prevent a violent situation from tur
ning into someone actually being in
jured or worse. I am certain that if
it was you or someone in your family
being threatened with physical harm
you would want the police to get
there as fast as is prudently possible.
After talking with the deputy this is
what I believe he was doing.
Lastly, this department has strict
policies regarding the safe and pro
fessional operation of its vehicles.
These will be adhered to by the
department members. I can find no
evidence that this policy was violated
in this case. The department has pro
cedures in place to investigate com
plaints against its member officers.
I would encourage any citizen who
has questions, complaints, sugges
tions, etc., to contact me or the head
of any agency which serves their
area. We are only as good as the
citizen support we get.
Sincerely,
(s) Roy Drago
Morrow County Sheriff
Thanks to Oregon voters
To the Editor:
I wish to extend my profound
thanks to the hundreds of thousands
of Oregon voters who supported my
candidacy for governor. All voters
have now spoken. Although I did not
prevail, I have one final request of
those who supported me: I ask you
to reach out to those who did not
support our efforts. The problems
facing Oregon are too great to be
confronted if we are a state marred
by division and disunity.
For my part, I pledge to work with
persons of all political persuasions
in our effort to fulfill the vision of
greatness which this state can
achieve. And I will continue my
work as your attorney general to
give Oregon citizens the finest
department of justice in the United
States.
Sincerely,
(s) Dave Frohnmayer
Eugene
Good memories
To the People of Heppner:
My dad, my sister and 1 rode in
Cycle Oregon III, and we would all
like to express our great appreciation
for the warm welcome we received
from your town. It was wonderful to
see all the kind and hard-working
volunteers who were so willing to
give up their time to help make our
ride a success. (We were especially
impressed with the breakfast helpers
who were out there with great food
at 5:30 a.m ....that is true dedica
tion). Each person’s efforts were
very important in making the trip ftin
for us; everything you did meant
more time for us to rest after the
day’s ride-and we needed it. Before
Cyle Oregon, none of us were
familiar with Heppner. Thanks to all
of you, we now have very good
memories of your community.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
(s) Dana, Michelle and Carl
Jacobson
Vancouver, WA.
Chamber
Chatter Heppner Police
Hughes, Chamber Manager
Report
By Claudia
Town and Country Week is set for
January 15 to 18. Traditionally this
is the time to recognize a Business
of the Year and present First Citizen
awards and the Educator Recogni
tion award. Organizations and in
dividuals are encouraged to pick up
nomination forms at the Chamber of
fice (H eppner T V .) or call
676-9663. The Chamber of Com
merce awards committee has set
December 22 as the deadline for
nominations. These should be sub
mitted to Chamber Award Selection
Committee, P.O. Box 1232, Hepp
ner, OR 97836 or delivered to the
Chamber office in an envelope.
Selection of Citizen of the Year is
based on volunteer community ser
vice, activity in community life,
leadership, participation in affairs
outside of his or her business, pro
fession, or vocation, and cooperation
in community and civic affairs. The
Business of the Year is based on im
provement and investment, com
munity involvement and innovation
in the business employee and
customer relations programs. The
education selection salutes someone
from the educational community
who has gone that extra step to par
ticipate in community activities or
has made an outstanding contribution
to the area.
Chamber president Cliff Green
encourages nominations “ as there
are many deserving people in our
community and Morrow County to
be recognized."
The Heppner Police Department
reports handling the following
business during the past week:
November 12: 11:07 p.m.-assist
Fire Department.
November 13: 9:14 p.m.-report of
Theft.
November 14: 8:04 a.m.-Welfare
Check: 9:09 a.m.-Dog Complaint;
11:41 a.m.-assist another agency;
7:18 p.m.-report of Burglary.
November 15: 7:27 p.m.-returned
Property; 8:39 p.m.-assist Morrow
County S h eriff’s D epartm ent;
11:12-report of Missing Person.
November 16: 11:45 a. m.-citation
issued for No Operator’s License.
November 17: 6:51-report of
Disturbance.
November 18: 2:48-Civil Matter;
6:36
p.m .-F ound
Property;
7:07-citation issued for Driving
Under the Influence of Intoxicants.
American PAucaiion iVeek
flo o rm /u '/i H iJ, W O
All citisens are urged to observe this week with appropt iate activities and In renew
AS I
SEE IT
OPEN SUNDAYS
until Christmas
12 noon - 4 p.m.
PETTYJOHN’S
Farm & Builders Supply
676-9157 or 676-5001
424 Lvnden Way, Heppner
CHEVROLET
OUR
POLICY
FOR
OVER
40
YEARS
• Offer the lowest prices
• Treat people right
• Provide quality service
• Support our community
If you accept anything less you are not
buying from the right dealership
_________
J
Ik» H etH rr iiro rln im
Monday night’s School Board
meeting confirmed a suspicion I’ve had
for some time—continued operation of
the School Advisory Committee system
is a waste of time.
When the several school districts in
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Morrow County were consolidated
many years ago into a county wide ad
ministrative district, three area ad
visory committees were set up to pacify
the opponents to the consolidation.
Those local committees were intended
By Ed Glenn
to replace the local input and control
of the former local district boards.
The three advisory committees sit in the Heppner/Lexington, Ione/Lex-
ington and Boardman/Irrigon areas. Certain matters, such as the hiring
of new personnel, are required to be submitted to the local committee for
recommendation to the board. Other matters come before the committees
on their own initiative or at the suggestion of a patron of the area.
The committees meet every month and their meetings are usually at
tended by the superintendent, the principals of the schools in their area
and the board members from the area. Only occasionally is there a matter
in which advice is passed on to the board. Generally, those meetings are;
informational in nature.
There have been only two occasions recently when the Boardman/Ir
rigon Advisory Committee has passed on advice to the Board regarding
policy of the district. The first was their advice to bar the use of experienced
classroom teachers in the interview and selection of new teachers. They
were wrong on that issue and the Board wisely declined to take the advice.
Monday evening the committee advised that charter buses be used to
transport Riverside athletic teams to away games during the winter sports
season. They cite the inexperience of Riverside bus drivers on snowy moun
tain roads as the principle reason.
As I see it, they were wrong on that count too, but the reception their
advice received by both the administration and the Board was nothing short
of appalling. Part of the justification for using the district buses is the
perceived notion that charter buses are much more expensive. The com
mittee asked for cost comparisons to examine the perception. The ad
ministration made no effort whatever to comply with the request and pro
vide the Board with any real data on the comparative cost.
Another resistance comes from the idea that the labor contract with the
district’s drivers requires a rotation of drivers so that all drivers, experienc
ed and inexperienced alike must be given their turn at athletic trips. That
is simply not true. The rotation is an administrative concession that has
entirely different considerations that a contract requirement.
Finally, there is a perception that charter bus drivers are no more ex
perienced than district school bus drivers. That perception was not tested
by any investigation either.
So with the administration’s rejection of the idea from its very incep
tion, and with no investigation of the facts, the matter came before the
Board for consideration. The Board was promptly advised of the administra
tion’s position, as they should have been. But the treatment the Board gave
committee members was no better, perhaps worse, than the treatment they
give any disgruntled citizen who shows up to complain about any other
thing the district does, or does not do.
The usual air of superiority, aloof to the complaints of the ordinary patron
prevailed. One board member did try to reach the nexus of the problem
but was virtually ignored. The board members from the Boardman/Irrigon
area were curiously silent. It may be that this lack of serious considera
tion is reserved for the Boardman/Irrigon Committee, but since they repre
sent more than 60% of the students in the district, that reservation would
be rather odd.
The issue was essentially decided by chairman Bill Doherty with the
comment “ We travel those kinds of roads all the time at lone and Hepp
ner.” That comment missed the point entirely, since those schools have
experience with those runs while Riverside is entering a new league with
new routes substantially dissimilar to any experience most of the drivers
at Riverside have gained.
Judging from the reception (not the results, which in my opinion were
right) that the administration and Board have afforded the advice given
by the Advisory Committees, it looks to me that the time and effort given
by those committee members is wasted. The committees are simply ob
solete, unwanted and their real function ignored. It’s time to do away with
this exercise in futility.
7 t
Deputy’s response appropriate
To the Editor:
This letter is in response to the
citizens concerned about the police
car’s speed November 8, 1990 in
Heppner.
Although I can’t be certain it was
one of my units, since other police
cars were also responding, our
records indicate that the sheriff s of
fice had a patrol car going to an
Advisory
Committees
Obsolete
Shela’s
Busy ’
Woman’s I
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