County cuts $37 thousand from budget
In action taken at their regular
ly scheduled meeting May 26, the
Morrow County Court resolved
to reduce the levy by implemen
ting a cost-of-living wage freeze
on all county elected officials and
department heads. The cuts total
around $37,000 said Morrow
County Judge Louis Carlson.
“ This wage freeze will essen
tially eliminate the cost o f living
increase which is based upon an
“ all city index” that reflects the
inflationary factor in the state of
Oregon,” said Carlson. “ This
freeze, coupled w ith the
skyrocketing cost of medical care
and health insurance translates to
less take home pay for all ad
ministrative personnel,” he said.
According to Carlson, “ the
two failed levies is a clear de
mand from the people that costs
be reduced. The budget was so
!. I P
- 7 « r ■»
HEPPNER
tight to begin with that any cut is
going to be a real one,” Carlson
said. “ The court is committed to
preserving the services offered to
the taxpayers.” Carlson said that
the one common “ thread” he
heard in the concerns o f the
public was “ the existing notion
that services should be maintain
ed, if possible, while cutting
overhead and administrative
costs.” Carlson said he felt that
this was die only solution that was
both financially responsible and
responsive to the concerns of
voters.
The decision was made after a
week of meetings, discussion and
consulting with department heads
and elected officials. Commis
sioner Ray French said “ no one
was particularly happy to see
their own wages frozen, but fac
ed with the possibility of another
Swimming pool project to move forward
imes
VOL. 112
NO. 22
14 Pages Wednesday, June 2, 1993
Morrow County Heppner, Oregon
31st annual IUCC auction Saturday
The Exploratory Swimming
Pool Commission will request
authority from the Willow Creek
Parks and Recreation District to
go out for bids on a feasibility
study to be done for construction
o f a swimming pool in Heppner.
The commission has secured
funding in the amount of $11,685
for the feasibility study. These
funds are a result of the Heppner
Coordinating Council awarding
$6,000 from the county tippage
fee grant money, $5,000 from the
city of Heppner and $685 from
People for the Pool.
“ We are very excited to see the
project getting started,” said Skip
Matthews, commission chair
man. “ We have had several peo
ple in the community, both
governm ental
and
non
governmental, working toward
this goal.”
A feasibility study will outline
site considerations, type and size
of pool most appropriate, con-
struction costs, funding sources,
permit requirements and land ac
quirem ent
proposals,
if
necessary.
When asked why a feasibility
study was necessary, Matthews
replied, “ The commission felt
very strongly from the onset that
in order to address all the ques
tions that arise from building a
swimming pool, the help of a pro
fessional engineering firm would
need to be obtained.”
All of the people that are be
ing contacted to bid on the
feasibility study have experience
engineering and building swim
ming pools in the Pacific
Northwest.
“ In addition,” Matthews said,
“ the preliminary contacts we
have had with engineering firms
indicate that the money spent on
a feasibility study is generally ap
plied to the overall cost for
engineering.”
It is expected that the study will
be completed this summer.
failure and the effect it would
have on services, it was conclud
ed that this choice was the only
solution left that would represent
a minimum loss o f services.” In
addition cuts were also carved in
to the travel, education and train
ing budgets o f the county court
and assessor’s office.
“ A choice had to be made bet
ween cutting our own salaries, or
laying off our employees and
eliminating the services they pro
vide,” the court said. “ The
choice we made demands a
disproportionate sacrifice from a
few, and perhaps that isn’t fair,
but we still think the choice was
the right one to make,” said com
missioner Don McEiligott.
The public will vote on a one
year operating
levy o f
$3,240,535 which is $117,710
less than last year’s operating
levy.
Cycle Oregon
meeting slated
By Anne Morter
An important Cycle Oregon
meeting will be held Tuesday,
June 8 at the lone High School
Cafeteria starting at 7:30 p.m.
Progress reports will be heard
from all the committees and the
functions of the committees and
how they interact will be
explained.
Over 2,000 bicyclists and sup
port teams will spend the night of
September 14 in lone. They will
eat dinner and breakfast in lone,
as well as sample the lone
hospitality.
H undreds o f
volunteers will be needed to suc
cessfully accommodate them.
All interested persons are urg
ed to attend. This will be the last
meeting until after the lone
Fourth of July celebration.
Seminar planned on
OSHA compliance
Jannie Allen and Laurel Cannon show some items for auction
By Anne Morter
This Saturday, June 5, marks
the 31st annual lone Auction and
Barbeque, sponsored by the lone
United Church of Christ. Located
at the Willows Grange Hall in
lone, this yearly tradition serves
as the main fund raising activity
for the IUCC as well as providing
an exciting and action packed day
for the town.
v The day kicks off promptly at
10 a.m. with the opening of the
Country Store, featuring hand
m ade crafts and sew ing,
homemade baked goods, the
popular ‘new to you’ selection
and a fish pond for the kids.
At 10:13 a.m. a silent auction
will begin outside on a large
assortment of glass items, in
cluding vases, dishes and knick
knacks. The bids are opened at
12:13 p.m. for that event.
The main feature o f the day,
the auction, gets underway at
10:30 a.m. This year’s auction
will feature a large assortment of
antiques, a beautiful handmade
quilt as well as the usual and
unusual items. The antique list in
cludes several chairs, a rocking
chair, a solid oak dresser, an oak
buffet, a fancy piano bench, a
trunk, an ornate cast iron
manhole cover and a selection of
smaller items like dishes, lamps
and glassware.
This year’s auction quilt is
made in a variation of the log
cabin pattern, made in a multitude
of colors and trimmed in royal
blue. Helen Heideman pieced the
top together last fall and winter
and a contingent o f the church
members worked diligently this
spring to quilt it.
At 12:30 p.m. the auction ac
tion will halt when the delicious
pit barbecue beef dinner is serv
ed. The dinner, which costs $3
for adults and $2.30 for ages
6-12, will include a salad buffet,
baked beans and French bread.
An outdoor snack shack will
feature snow cones and cold
drinks for the duration of the
auction.
Farmers and ranchers, con
cerned about making their place
a safe working environment for
their employees and complying
with the current OSHA standards
are invited to attend a seminar
Tuesday, June 8 at 7 p.m. at Col
umbia Basin Electric in Heppner.
AOI-Compwise, the W orker’s
Compensation program for small
business, sponsored by the
Association Oregon Industries,
will conduct the seminar. The
seminar will include an explana
tion of what OR-OSHA regula
tions require and will offer sug
gestions on how to comply.
Everyone is invited to attend
the seminar, regardless of where
their workman’s comp is written
or if they have employees at this
time.
Contact VanMarter and Kahl
insurance 676-9113 in advance so
there will be enough room for
everyone.
L aR ue nam ed
C oach o f year
Tippage fee grants announced
Heppner Coordinating Council
chairman Gary Marks has an
nounced the recipients of $20,000
in Morrow County Tippage Fee
Grant Funds for fiscal year
1993-94, which begins July 1.
Successful applicants and the
amount of grant funds awarded
are as follows:
$3,000 to the Morrow County
Fair Board and Pro Rodeo Com
mittee toward the completion of
the new fairgrounds rodeo arena;
$3,000 to the Heppner baseball
field committee toward the com
pletion of the new Heppner High
School baseball field;
$6,000 to the exploratory
swimming pool commission for
partial funding of a feasibility
study for the development of a
new swimming pool;
$2,300 to the Heppner Elemen
tary School Parents' Club for
safety improvements at the Hepp
ner
E lem entary
School
playground;
$1,000 to the Neighborhood
Center of South Morrow County
for ro o f rep airs to the
Neighborhood Center building
located on Main Street; and
$500 to Heppner Day Care for
the purchase o f playground
equipment.
The council also decided to
make a special request to the
Morrow County Coordinating
Council for a $5,000 funding
match for the rodeo arena, bring
ing the grant total for the project
to $10,000 if approved.
“ The Coordinating Council
received grant requests from
several well deserving organiza
tions and projects,” Marks said.
“ The council worked very hard
to try to make the best decision
on how to award the funds. Now
that the grants have been award
ed, we’re excited about the im
pact these funds will have for the
community.”
Marks said the Coordinating
Council received nearly $37,000
in requests. However, not more
than $20,000 can be counted on
for awards. The exact amount
available will not be known until
late June. Funding estimates
range from between $20,000 to
$25,000. “ The council decided
the prudent choice was to award
the $20,000 we felt firm about
and to save any excess for future
years,” Marks said.
Local graduation dates announced
Graduation ceremonies for
Morrow County Schools are
planned this week.
Heppner High School gradua
tion ceremony will be Thursday,
June 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the high
school gym. lone’s graduation
will be Friday, June 4 at 8 p.m.
and Riverside’s graduation will
be Saturday, June 5 at 8 p.m.
plaques
Long-time lone coach Del
aRue has been named overall
>ach of the year and track and
eld coach o f the year for divi-
on 1-A schools. The announce-
lent was made at a recent
regon high school coaches
¡sociation banquet in Eugene.
LaRue coaches football,
isketball and track at lone.
Coast to Coast to host
business after hours
Cliff and Cindy Green
Cliff and Cindy Green, owners
of the Coast to Coast store in
Heppner, will host the next Hepp
ner Chamber o f Commerce
business after hours next Tues
day, June 8.
Refreshments will be served
and the afterhours gathering will
begin at 6 p.m. Business owners,
managers and employees are in
vited to attend the informal
gathering, and get to know your
local businesses better.
lone Fourth shaping up
This year’s theme for the lone
Fourth of July Celebration is
“ The Trail from Independence to
lone...for Independence that I
own,” co-chairman Jim Swanson
announced recently.
Swanson also said that there
will be more activities for kids at
this years celebration, and that the
biggest fireworks display lone has
ever had will be dedicated to Bob
Rietmann, a life-long lone resi
dent who died this year of cancer.
Chicken dinner will be provid
ed by Kesslers, and the parade is
expecting six to 10 antique
roadster cars from the Tri-Cities,
Swanson said.
The celebration is getting big
ger every year, and funds are
always needed he said to put on
the activities. Anyone wishing to
donate may contact Swanson.
The next meeting of the Fourth
of July committee will be on June
17 7:30 p.m . at Beechers
restaurant.
Weather Report
_______________________ by City ol H«ppnf
May 25 - 31, 1993
High Low Prec
75 45 .05
Tues.
Weds. 79 53 .06
Thurs. 76 47 .06
69 43 Tr.
Fri.
76 55 .0
Sat.
75 55 .0
Sun.
67
46 .44
Mon.
Total precipitation for May was
1.34.
Introducing our new
LOW INTEREST CREDIT LINE
THE EVERGREEN
ACCOUNT
O A {|K OF
.
__
D Arlington
jE a ste m Oroqon
• Heppner • tone
),»w huh i>< nth ni khnnv (hutnil Hunk