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Medical board hears financial report
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35C
azette
imes
VOL. 111
NO. 13
8 Pages Wednesday, April 1, 1992
Morrow County Heppner, Oregon
Voter approval of the $506,344
one-year medical hind operating
levy on March 24 brought good
news to the County Medical
Board who met that evening for
their monthly business meeting.
It was also the first official
meeting with the new hospital ad
ministrator, Kevin Erich, who
recently moved here from
Illinois.
Also attending the meeting was
Rodney Applegate, president of
the Walla Walla General
Hospital. Under a management
contract between the medical
board and Western Health
R esources, Applegate will
become the new supervisor. He
replaces Stan Berry, who was
also in attendance, since Berry
has accepted a hospital manage
ment position with a California
hospital.
“ First, I want to get a feel of
the health needs of the communi
ty,” said Erich. However he said
he has plans of marketing the
health care facilities available in
the county, including home
health, therapy and promoting
wellness clinics.
Erich also added that he hoped
to be able to certify some nurs
ing home beds for skilled care as
well as intermediate care levels.
The nursing home can better
serve the elderly by retaining pa
tients that need skilled care. It
would also account for a higher
Medicare reimbursement, he
said, thus saving money for the
people of the community.
The medical levy for the
1992-93 fiscal year was increas
ed by about $43,740 and passed
by a 424 vote margin. Accoun
ting for the hopsital portion of
Pioneer Memorial shows a net
operating loss of about $5,000 for
the first six months of the current
fiscal year.
While about 85 percent of the
medical fund revenue is derived
from patient charges, a drop in
patient activity during the past six
months is probably associated
with an unusually mild winter
with fewer cases of flu or
pneumonia, Stan Berry said.
A three-patient per-day average
patient load at the hospital would
put the hospital back in the black
and provide money for capital im
provements, Berry added. Recent
capital expenditures include an X-
ray m achine, a kitchen
refrigerator and past building im
provements as required by the
state. Retroactive wage increases
for staff members have also add
ed to the operating costs during
that period.
The nursing home revenue for
patient services from July 1
through December 1991 was
reported at $425,974. Nursing
home expenses totaled about
$450,000.
The report showed that the
Heppner clinic has a property,
plant and equipment value of
$20,974 and generated a gross
revenue of about $174,000, for
the same six month period.
Operating costs and professional
services of the clinic were not
listed on the report.
The Boardman Clinic has a
property, plant and equipment
value of around $220,000. The
business is handled under a
$130,000 yearly contract with
Dr. Robert Boss who pays the
clinic’s operating expenses and
labor costs. The county-owned
Boardman Clinic is maintained
and upgraded at county expense.
Tentative plans for county
medical facilities include an ad
ditional wing onto the Heppner
Clinic building which would pro
vide additional patient examining
rooms. The board is also seeking
recruitment of a physician’s assis
tant to provide work relief for
doctors Jeanne and Edward Ber
retta. That additional clinic space
may also be used for therapy,
home health or other services
depending on final plans. The
plans also call for additional park
ing space at the clinic building,
which could be implemented by
terracing a nearby steep slope.
‘Pool not worth fixing’ says Marks Anti-tax petition out in Heppner
It may be long wait for pool in Heppner
Heppner’s swimming pool is
closed for the summer and, ac
cording to city officials, no one
is quite sure if, and when, it will
reopen.
Concerns over the safety of the
swimming pool prompted the
Heppner city council to vote in
favor of closing the facility, and
last week city administrator Gary
Marks said he wasn’t sure when
the pool would be back in
operation.
Marks said three floods and
general wear and tear have left
the pool a safety hazard, and said
the city doesn’t have the money
to fix it up. He also said the pool
probably isn’t worth fixing and a
new one probably should be built.
“ The pool has very serious
problems and isn’t worth the ef
fort to save it,” Marks told the
Heppner Chamber of Commerce
after showing a video he and ci
ty employee Dave Winters made
illustrating the pool’s problems.
Marks said floods have under
mined the foundation of the pool
deck, the boilers and chlorination
units are outdated, the filter
system inadequate to state stan
dards. and the drain system
potentially life threatening. In ad
dition he said there are cracks in
the pool and the solar heating
system installed several years ago
is useless, because parts aren’t
available.
Marks said it would cost as
much to fix the existing pool as
it would to build a new one, but
that the city doesn’t have the
money to do either, and he isn't
sure where funding might come
from.
One place the city is looking is
at the park district, which may be
able to levy a bond for a new
pool The park district taxing area
covers a larger area than just the
city of Heppner. However, park
district officials haven’t agreed to
ask voters for a levy, Marks said.
Twenty five percent to 30 per
cent of the pool’s operating
money came from ticket sales and
the rest from Heppner city tax
payers.
If the pool were financed
through the park district the cost
of operating the facility would be
spread over more of the people
who use it, Marks said, but add
ed. “ There’s no guarantee a new
pool would be located in Hepp
ner either.” Marks said the
school district had been ap
proached about helping with fun
ding, but was “ reluctant to go in
to this.”
Because ballot measure five,
the property tax limitation
measure, Marks said the city
could not pass a bond issue to
build a pool even if it wanted to.
“ The city doesn’t have enough
bonded debt to finance the pool,”
he said.
When asked if it was possible
the city could be without a pool
for five or six years, Marks
responded, “ it’s possible.”
An anti-motel tax petition,
sponsored by Tom LaRusso and
Dolores Cooper, owners of the
Northwestern Motel, and Darlene
Scroggins, owner of the Penland
House Bed and Breakfast, is cir
culating at several Heppner
businesses.
According to Scroggins, peti
tions have been placed at Miller’s
Mini Mart, Central Market,
Heppner Bowl, Lott’s Electric,
the motel and bed and breakfast.
The petition would stop the ci
ty council from enacting the pro-
f; sed transient room tax and pre
vent the council from enacting
new taxes or raising existing
taxes, except by a vote of the peo
ple. Currently, only the Heppner
City Council may vote to raise or
implement taxes. A vote of the
people on a city tax issue would
not be binding, only advisory.
Proceeds from the proposed tax
would be earmarked for the
chamber of commerce manager’s
salary. According to city of
ficials, chamber funds were cut
from the city budget because of
Ballot Measure 5 shortfalls.
According to Scroggins, the
petition requires 15 percent of the
829 voters registered in the Hepp
ner precincts to place the issue on
the ballots. The Morrow County
Clerk was not available at press
time to confirm the number of
registered voters, percentages and
procedures required.
Heppner chamber president
LoRayne Bowman says that the
five percent proposed tax would
not have a detrimental effect on
local motels. LaRusso earlier
pointed to a study down by Pur
due University for the American
Hotel and Motel Association
which indicated a 5.4 percent
drop in occupancy for motels
with 150 rooms or less in areas
with a hotel-motel tax. “ No one
is going to drive to Heppner and
then turn around and drive an
hour back to a motel with a seven
percent tax,” said Bowman. She
added that, according to Purdue
University, the study was based
on a 10 percent tax and probably
did not apply to a rural town with
only one motel. Bowman went on
to say that the study did not ex
amine the pluses of such a tax.
“ Without the chamber manager,
we wouldn’t have a lot of things
that make money for local
businesses.”
“ It’s not going to cost them
(motel owners) anything,” said
Bowman, considering that the
motel and bed and breakfast will
be reimbursed for a percentage of
the amount collected in taxes.
Bowman stressed that the tax
would be paid by visitors to the
community and not by local
business owners. She said that a
business tax, suggested by
1 aRusso as an alternative to the
motel tax, would unfairly burden
business owners, since they
already pay local taxes. “ It’s the
most equitable one,” she said,
“ because I think anything the
chamber does brings business
here and affords other businesses
some income.”
Bowman cited motel-hotel
Breitlings new managers at Northwestern Motel
The Breitlings “ love” Hepp
ner and say that everyone has
been “ nice and friendly." They
commented that even the
teenagers stopped their cars to let
the cross the street, a rarity in
%
some cities.
While the Breitlings had never
; been in Heppner before they
) came to interview. Sherry attend
1
ed school in Ukiah her freshman
year and her brother lived in
Heppner years ago.
Between the two of them, the
Breitlings have six children and
five grandchildren. His children
live in Portland and the San Juan
Islands and hers live on the
Oregon Coast, in Grants Pass and
Reno.
Arnold plans on doing a little
fishing when he gets time away
from the motel and enjoys play
ing golf. Sherry likes to work in
the yard. They have already
planted some flowers at the RV
park and also plan on planting
some shrubs there.
The Breitlings are optimistic
about their new challenge as
motel managers, saying “ Well,
we made it through St. Patrick’s
day and had a lot of fun.”
1
taxes in other Oregon cities, rang
ing from five to eight percent.
The Pendleton chamber receives
25 percent of a seven percent tax
for around $55,000 a year and the
Prineville chamber receives 40
percent of a seven percent tax for
around $15,000 a year. The re
mainder of the taxes went main
ly to the cities' general funds,
visitors' convention bureaus and
county fairs.
Bowman said that she does not
understand the opposition to
chamber voiced by those testify
ing at an earlier city council
meeting. “ What do they op
pose?” she asked, citing the
chamber’s goals of strengthening
the local business and ag com
munity. promoting good working
relationships with and among the
various entities and supporting
economic development.
Bowman, who is employed as
an administrative assistant to the
Morrow County Court, is also a
member of the Heppner City
Council.
Band concert
slated at HHS
A Tri-County high school band
concert will be held Wednesday,
April 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Hepp
ner High School gym. Schools
participating are from Umatilla,
Wasco, Gilliam and Wheeler
counties.
Everyone is invited to “ thrill
to the sound of 200 winds” per
forming works by Tchaikovsky,
Gershwin and other composers.
Admission is $1 for adults and
50 cents for students.
Catholic church'
plan retreat
Father Gerry Condon will con
duct a day of retreat for the St.
Patrick and St. W illiam ’s
parishes, at St. Patrick Parish
Hall on Saturday, April 4 from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The theme is
“ Toward a Deeper Prayer Life” .
On March 29 students in grades
kindergarten through eighth gave
a “ shadow” presentation of the
stations of the cross. The presen
tation directed by Bill Kuhn,
assisted by the catechetical
teachers was well attended.
Sherry and Arnold Breitling
Sheny and Arnold Breitling are
the new managers at Nor
thwestern Motel and RV Park in
Heppner.
The Breitlings began training at
the motel the second week in
February and took over as
managers March 1. The motel’s
owners, Tom LaRusso and
Dolores Cooper, have moved to
Bend.
The pair, who come from
Grants Pass, have lots of business
experience. Sherry was manager
at Thriftway Store and Arnold
had a video store in Oregon Ci
ty. Together they operated a
nursery in Reno for a short while.
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