Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 10, 1995)
TWELVE * Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 10, 1995 Proposal would put old pool site to use The Heppner City Council Monday night May 8, heard a proposal which would convert the defunct Heppner pool and dressing rooms into a com munity center. The feasibility study, which city manager Gary Marks stresses is just a proposal, calls for three meeting rooms, which would be divided by articulated doors, a small kitchen and restrooms with access both in side and outside. The pool would be filled and converted into basketball courts, with the possibility of an ice rink in the winter. The building could be used as a meeting complex for public or club meetings, or even for events such as wedding recep tions. Marks said that when the ci ty took a grant to renovate the pool in the 1970s, the condi tions of the grant specified that the site be used for recreation. "W e can't just bulldoze it," said Marks, who added that if the site is not used for recrea tion, the grant must be repaid with interest, which would amount to quite a lot after all these years. Marks said that funding for the proposed project is still unknown, with possibilities in cluding a Community Block Development Grant and the Rural Development Fund. "It will have to be a coalition of funds," said Marks. Marks said that volunteerism, including work on demolition of the old structure, and selling salvage could be options to reduce expenditures. In other business, the council: -authorized Marks to sign on the final acceptance of the sewer system improvements. The contractor has completed all work as required, said Marks. The project is now under a one-year warranty; -discussed the formation of a local improvement project. Marks said that a Portland man has purchased the "T ash House", which is located up Shobe Canyon, with the intent to create a bed and breakfast. However, the house is not hooked up to the city sewer system. City officials are con sidering creating a local im provement district to imple ment specific improvements. The project would be funded like a "mini bond", which would be paid by property owners involved. Marks said that the limited improvement district would not be feasible for one property, so nearby neighbors would have to opt in the district. -learned that the restroom at the city park is ready for con struction to begin by next week. However, state workers have gone on strike and it is uncertain if the state will issue a building permit. -learned that the project to fund playground equipment at Heppner City Park is within $1,900 of obtaining its goal of $19,700. Marks says that the project will "hopefully" be built by the end of July. -learned that the city is going out for bid for total reconstruc tion of Aiken and Elder streets. -learned that the city is plan ning to widen the paved sur faces on Water Streev for a pedestrian walkway for walk ers going up and down the hill. -learned that a major rehabilitation project of the streets in Heppner will include rebuilding and repaving Gale Street, from the intersection of the Bulk Plant to the intersec tion near First Interstate Bank. In this process, the contractor will cut out bad portions of the street and will rebuild and repave. The good portion of the street will be preserved and cracks will be sealed to prevent further potholes. Following this project, crack sealing will be completed at Hager and Rock streets. The projects will be placed on a priority list con tingent on the availability of funds. -heard an update on the up coming water telemetry system project. The city has signed a contract with Electronic Tech nology of Portland to replace the telemetry system, which is the controls for wells and reser voirs for the Heppner water system The new system will tell the wells when to come on, distributes water and makes sure there is enough water in the reservoirs. Marks said that the old telemetry system is "dying" and the new one will hopefully be in operation by the end of July. The new system is centrallized with an early warning system . If something happened to the system at midnight Saturday, for example, if the pump breaks down, the system causes a telephone program to be in itiated which would call city of ficials until it reaches one at home. In the past, Marks said, if the system goes off line, city officials may not know for several hours, a critical time period, until someone goes to check on the system. Lynde Minster attends seminar Lynde Minster of lone was selected to attend the "Women in Science, Math and Technology Lecture and Ban quet", held April 21 at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland. Each year over 300 young women, outstanding in math, science or technology, and teachers and counselors attend the Friday night banquet. Out- of-town girls spend the night and attend focus group ses sions with women science prac- ticioners on Saturday. Minster was selected by lone High School's Talented and Gifted (TAG) coordinator, Diana Kincaid, math and science instructor, Dale Holland, and Principal Dick Allen. She was sponsored by the Umatilla-Morrow Saturday Academy, which provided transportation, the banquet and Saturday meals and hotel accommodations. "It (the seminar) was very educational," said Minster. "It inspired me to pursue a career in math and science. It was a wonderful opportunity." She added that during the Saturday morning discussion she became "interested in finding the cure for cancer through genetic research." The banquet speaker was Linda Leigh, a botanist with 20 years of experience as a field researcher, lecturer, consultant and scientific administrator. Leigh was a human subject and scientific team member in Biosphere 2, which was, at the time, the longest human- occupied closed system test. Honoree for the symposium was Isabella Karle, Ph. D, who has made significant contribu tions to the areas of crystal lography, chem istry and biophysics and is the only female member of the chemis try section of the National Academy of Science. Karle and her husband, Jerome, joined the plutonium project at the University of Chicago in 1942 to support the war effort. She became the first person to make plutonium chloride. In The Heppner Gazette Your Ads Are Read Call 676-9228 to place your ad Old pool building would be replaced State Conservation farm tour set June 6 The 1995 Oregon League State Conservation Tour will be held on June 6, at the Frederickson family farming operation, Boardman. Lunch will begin at noon at the Oregon Hay Products facility just north of the Port of Mor row exit from Interstate 84, one mile east of Boardman. The tour will begin at 2 p.m. The Frederickson family operates two separate farms, Frederickson Farms and Port- view Farms which straddle the Columbia River east of Board- man. The farms are primarily operated by Gary and Vernon Frederickson. Their parents, Clarence and Virginia Fred erickson, and Gary's wife, Casey, are involved with the operation. Gary and Casey have two children, Nikki, 12, and Cody, 2. Vern's wife, Suzanne, and their son, Greg, 12, are also involved. Vern and Gary attribute much of their success to their cadre of assistants, field employees Bob Waring and Sergio Morales, chief mechanic George Row, and Pam Kuns and Shannon Zumwalt in the office. Frederickson Farms has leas ed 745 acres of cropland from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USF&W) since 1969. Portview Ranches, a partnership bet ween Vern and Gary, has leas ed 1600 acres from the Port of Morrow since 1985. Frederickson Farming is located in and around a wildlife refuge adjacent to the Colum bia river. According to the lease, a certain portion of cropland is planted exclusive ly for wildlife. Limited water- fowl hunting is regulated by Fish and Wildlife. No deer hun ting is allowed. There are five irrigated circles in production. USF&W does not allow use of restricted use chemicals. Vem, who manages the farming part of the opera tion, each year submits a list of agricultural chemicals that they plan to use for Fish and Wild life's approval. There are no fertilizer restrictions. Crops include wheat, alfalfa, peas, com, lima beans and canola. Corn or beans are planted in June after pea harvest to provide the opera tion with two crops off the same field in one year. Peas and alfalfa, like other legumes, add nitrogen to the soil that following crops can use. The primary soil type is Quincy loamy fine sand. Although the wildlife manage ment area has trees to reduce wind erosion, it is nevertheless necessary to maintain adequate soil residue. Vern works close ly with the Soil Conservation Service as a director of the Mor row County Soil and Water Conservation District and as a client with erosion concerns. A complementary part of Frederickson Farming is Oregon Hay Products, a com pressed bale operation that is operated with the Sumitomo Corporation, a Japanese com pany. Oregon Hay, managed by Gary, doubles the density of the hay, shears the bales in half, and then sends them overseas to Japan. About 75 percent of the hay that goes through the compression plant has been purchased elsewhere. As many as 12 seasonal employees are employed at the Port of Morrow plant. In addi tion to managing the plant, Gary is also in charge of marketing and harvesting the alfalfa. Portview Farms leases pro perty owned by the Port of Morrow, approximately two miles east of Boardman. As part of the lease, Portview Farms must accept effluent from near by processing plants. The Port of Morrow, in turn, must com ply with Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) requirements relating to nitro gen management. The DEQ directs the Port of Morrow to require the use of crops that use considerable nitrogen. Alfalfa is such a crop. Vern commented that they are also going to try growing onions for the nearby onion dehydration plant. Other crops that Portview Farms has grown include dark northern spring wheat, canola, corn and pota toes. M aybe ice skating? Portview Farms must also contend with possible wind erosion in the sandy soil. The effluent forms a crust on the soil and helps to prevent soil blowing. Maintaining high amounts of residue in the soils has also helped reduce soil loss. In addition, they plant sor- ghum-sudangrass around the borders of the irrigation circles to reduce erosion and to pro vide cover for birds. The Port of Morrow recently built an effluent holding pond that will allow Portview' Farms to apply the effluent when the crop needs it. The pond is about 40 acres in size. Doug Drake, former Morrow County Wheat League presi dent, commented that the Fred- ericksons were selected for the award "for their perseverance and ingenuity in managing highly erosive soils, their abili ty to deal positively with en vironmental restrictions, their involvement with several agen cies, and their success at im proving soil productivity and tilth." O D FW plans big game meet The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) will hold a public m eeting, Wednesday, May 17, at the Heppner Elementary multipur pose room, beginning at 7 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to review the 1995 recom mended tag numbers for all big game seasons, discuss the pro posed 1996 big game seasons and to present proposed changes to the Rocky Mountain bull elk seasons. This public review of the pro posed regulations is timed to allow public input prior to final decision on the 1995 tag num bers and 19% season proposals at the June 9 commission meeting. The proposed changes to the Rocky Mountain elk seasons will be addressed at several public meetings this summer and are being presented at this time to ensure that all in terested people understand the issues and process that will be used, said an ODFW news release. The public is invited to at tend. Chamber Chatter By Claudia Hughes. Chamber Manager Heppner Chamber of Com merce, it's about community, honesty, working together to maintain Heppner's slower paced quality of life, yet being open enough to grow and pro vide incentive for future generations as they discover their home town has much to offer. When members come together, though they differ in many ways, their focus is what is best for Heppner. All, I think, would agree that some change has to happen to keep our community growing and healthy, yet it is important that this change does not cause a loss of the qualaity of life that we enjoy. Personally as long as a small community doesn't get caught up in the "urgency syndrome" as they work toward their vi sion, they will keep that quali ty of life. Have you ever taken a moment from the "urgency in your life" to observe an ant hill? Throw those ants a crumb and watch what happens. Do they work together to store that crumb for the future, or are they distracted from their real purpose? Does the crumb pit them against each other, stirr ing them up good so they over look their original focus? Does the temptation encourage every man for himself in that his urgency becomes so strong the original intent of preparing for winter together is lost in the process? Is the anteater the one who threw the crumb to distract the ants? Compare the urgency of the ants with our world. For many it is imperative that they have the last computer, fax, cellular phone, modem, internet, new system, house anything that will help them get to (their idea of) the "to p ". Hurry, scurry, worry. If you've read books by Stephen Covey, he talks of stopping the urgency, being ac countable, taking inventory, living, loving, learning, leaving a legacy. Sometimes we need to take a good look at our urgency. If our ant hill was squashed tomorrow, would it have been worth it? Just some "crumbs for thought". Watch for the anteaters.
