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Forest Service donates pagers to EMT Assoc.
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HEPPNER
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The Heppner Ranger District
was nominated for the Ranger
District of the Year award by
the supervisor of the Umatilla
N ational Forest. H eppner
employees put together a
packaged report of all the good
things that go on at the Ranger
District, quietly, routinely,
without a lot of fanfare, said a
spokesperson. The report ad
dressed several criteria, such as
how well the district has
achieved sustainable use of
natural
re
sources, and the effectiveness
of partnerships developed by
the district.
The Heppner Ranger District
competed with many other
Ranger Districts throughout
Oregon and Washington, and
easily made the finals. A review
team from the Portland Re
gional office visited the District
last November to see first hand
<ul the good things that happen
at Heppner, said the spokes
person. The District received
the runner up award worth
$5,000. District Ranger Delanne
Ferguson was in vited to
Portland in December to attend
the award cerem ony and
receive a plaque on behalf of
the district.
Each year the Regional
Forester of the Pacific Nor
thwest Region bestows the
award upon the Ranger District
that best demonstrates the
Forest Service's value and com
mitment of their employees to
EMT Carl Lauritsen (I) and Delia Robinson (r) accepts pagers from
Heppner Ranger District Delanne Ferguson (c).
earn the trust of the people
they serve. This award allows
the regional fo rester to
recognize outstanding achieve
ment in public land manage
ment as it relates to the impor
tant role the Forest Service
plays in the community, con
tinued the spokesperson.
The $5,000 award can be us
ed for anything the federal
government's spending regula
tions will allow, which can be
very limited. The Forest Service
employees held a meeting to
vote on the best way to spend
the money, knowing ahead of
time they wanted a large por
tion of the winnings to benefit
the community, said district
Ranger Delanne Ferguson.
They overwhelmingly elected
to contribute $4,000 to the
South Morrow County Emer
gency Medical T echnician
Association for em ergency
medical equipment, and use
the remaining $1,0U0 toward
their safety and w ellness
program.
Last month the Forest Service
finalized the process, and the
$4,000 was contributed via an
existing economic recovery
grant with Morrow County.
The Association purchased ad
ditional pagers and chargers,
which will equip each EMT
with their own pager. This will
facilitate response time to
emergencies and provide more
efficient emergency medical
service for the citizens of South
Morrow County.
" I believe this District has
done good things for a very
long time, and is a truly special
place. I'm glad we were able to
help the community in this
w ay," commented Ferguson.
C ity cou n cil approves park restroom bid
VOL 114_______NO. 15______10 Pages Wednesday, April 12, 1995,_______ Morrow County Heppner, Oregon
C ity b re a k s g ro u n d fo r n e w re stro o m
L-R: Steve Dickenson, Marcia DeBo, Marsha Sweek, Claudia Hughes, Dave Winters, Bob Jepsen,
Gary Marks, Mike McGuire and John Edmundson at city ground breaking.
Ground was broken Tuesday
for the new restroom facility to
be built at the city park in
Heppner.
Walton Construction from
Umatilla was low bidder on the
$31,000 project which is ex
pected to be completed by
June.
City manager Gary Marks
said construction on the block
building with limited heating
system may begin next week.
The small heating system will
enable the restroom to be open
all year.
The new building will be
built where the playground
equipment is currently located.
The old playground equipment
will be removed and new
equipment installed, Marks
said.
The city manager is current
ly approaching local civic
groups in search of donations
to p u rchase the $19,000
payground equipment. The ci
ty has $12,000, and the Sorop-
timists have already pledged
$ 1 , 200 .
School district funding for fall
activities only a loan
A story in the April 5
G azette-T im es,
en titled
"School district will fund fall
sports", was in error, according
the the Morrow County School
District. Heppner High School
Principal Steve Dickenson, ac
ting on behalf of MCSD super
intendent Chuck Starr who
was ill, told the board at its
regular meeting Monday night
that the $140,000 recommend
ed to fund fall sports and other
extra-cu rricu lar
activ ities
district-wide was a loan to the
proposed Morrow County Uni
fied Recreation District, not
outright funding.
Dickenson told the board that
the $140,000 must be repaid by
the Morrow County Unified
Recreation District (MCURD) if
the MCURD's budget passes in
September. In an editorial Stan-
said that the $140,000 was
"available as a start-up loan on
ly " which must be "restored
through donations and/or a
recreation levy". He also said
that the $140,000 should be car-
ried over to 1996-97 to reduce
the expected staff reduction. It
will help save 3.5 teaching posi
tions in 1996-97, said Starr.
Facing funding reductions
because of Ballot Measure 5
and the state school funding
formula, the district earlier said
that it would not have the
funds to support school sports
and other co-curricular ac
tivities such as FFA, drama and
after-school music and band
programs.
A group then stepped in to
provide funding for those co-
curricular activities through
creation of a separate district,
called the Morrow County Uni
fied Recreation District. How
ever, because of state regula
tions, formation of the district
could not be placed on the
ballot until September, after the
beginning of fall sports and
other activities.
Starr then recommended that
$140,000 to provide funding for
fall activités be transferred to a
special fund, to be repaid if the
special district passes. Stan-
said that the March 28 passage
of the school bond issue and a
projected increase in state
school funds enabled the
district to recommend the
$140,000 loan.
H ow ever, he said that
because of budget restraints, no
more monies could be provid
ed. In the budget message,
S tan said that in two years the
district has reduced the general
fund budget by $745,948, while
inflation has increased by six
percent. The 1994-95 budget
was $602,744 lower than the
1993-94 budget and that year's
budget was $143,204 lower
than the 1992-93 budget. Next
year's proposed budget will be
increased $89,712 over the cur
rent year.
The MCURD proposes a
budget of over $450,000 to fund
co-curricular activities county
wide for the 1995-% year.
Heppner city park visitors will
soon have the convenience of
heated restrooms. The city
council approved a bid of about
$31,000 from Walton Construc
tion Company, Umatilla, to
build this facility.
According to city manager,
Gary Marks, this company
would like to start construction
immediately and the project is
to be finished by June. The
bidding will be built with split-»
face cinder block, a cement
floor and a steel roof for low
maintenance. This project is to
be funded with the $20,000
given for this com munity
enhancement facility’ by former
owners of Kinzua Mill. The
balance of the cost will come
from the general fund.
The city also approved the
purchase of playground equip
ment for the city from Miracle
Recreation Construction Com
pany, at its meeting Monday
night, April 10. Total cost of a
proposed two-phase project is
estimated at about $19,700. The
first phase of this project will be
paid for by $12,000 received by
the city from Union Pacific
Railroad. Marks said that an
ticipated donations, including
a $1,200 Heppner Soroptimist
pledge, may pay for the balance
of the project so that it can all
be installed at the same time.
City street improvements this
summer include the replace
ment of the Elder Street Bridge.
Bids are to be let for the
reconstruction of Aiken and
Elder Streets along with possi
ble street improvements on a
prioritized list including River
side, W ater, G ale, Chase,
Hager and Rock Street.TTwffl
depend on how many repairs
can be accomplished with an
anticipated $50,000 in revenues
allocated to the project.
In preparation for the city's
1995-% budget, the council ap
proved a 2.7 percent cost of liv
ing pay increase for city
employees. Marks said that the
city will continue with the pre
sent level of staffing plus it will
hire two instead of three sum
mer workers for 12 weeks. One
of those positions may become
a year-around part-time pos-
iton that would cover some
weekend duties. This would
reduce city employees' over
time pay Marks said. An
ticipated payroll increased cost
for the next fiscal year is pro
jected at about $1,817.
The council voted to delete
the expense of purchasing a
$7,000 methane burner for the
city waste water holding tank.
According to reports, that
methane gas burner, which is
not required by the DEQ, may
not give satisfactory service due
to the low levels of methane gas
produced in the tank.
The council approved the
purchase of a new water
telemetry system, at $33,902
from Electronics’ Tettanotogy,
Portland. The present outmod
ed telemetry system that is sup
posed to give readings about ci
ty water storage levels and
pump functions, has not been
serviceable for some time.
The new computerized unit
will monitor all pumps and
reservoir levels in case of a
pump failure. For instance, ci
ty employees will be notified
automatically even on week
ends and holidays. Currently
daily manual inspection is
needed to prevent a water
shortage.
A used sludge truck for the
city has been purchased for
$69,340 including some modi
fications The truck will be us
ed to pump liquid sludge on
agricultural fields.
Sum m er youth program to begin July 10
"G oin g With The Flow In
County Morrow" is the theme
of this year's city of Heppner
Su m m er Youth Program .
Children age 7 through 13 will
have a unique summer time ex
p erien ce July 10 through
August 3, said a spokesperson.
The program will be held Mon
day through Thursday, 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. and will offer oppor
tu n itie s to learn Native
A m erican
cu ltu re,
Irish
heritage, life on a farm in south
Morrow County as well as
fishing on the Columbia River
near Boardman. Children will
be able to enrich their skills in
sw im m ing, the arts, and
athletics such as kick ball, gym
nastics, and bowling and a host
of other interesting activities.
This program, once known as
Kinzua Resources to upgrade equipment
Kinzua Resources general
manager Rick Re presented a
program at the Heppner Cham
ber of Commerce meeting
Tuesday, April 11, concerning
the upgrading of equipment at
the mill during the month of
July.
Re said that the small log side
of the mill will change scann
ing and p ositioning and
breakdown solution (how the
log is cut up) and two chipping
heads and two bandsaws will
be replaced with smaller, bet
ter band mills, making for more
efficient operations. The mill
will be closed in July to make
these changes, he said.
Re also said that the planer is
temporarily running a second
shift this week.
Neighborhood Center Summer
Youth Poject, becomes an of
ficial program of the city of
Heppner on July 1. It will be
funded through grants and
public and private donations.
In order for this program to
continue in its fourth year, it
will need willing and energetic
adult volunteers to step forth
and give time to serve on the
committee and to work with
kids this summer. The commit
tee will meet Thursday, April
20 at 4 p.m. in Lea Calvert's
classroom at Heppner Elemem-
tary School.
Those interested in helping
enrich the lives of the youth of
south Morrow County, lone,
Lexington, H ardm an and
H epp ner should contact
Calvert, 676-5261, the Rev. Stan
Hoobing, 676-9940, or Gary
Marks at city hall, 676-%18.
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