Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1996)
« Voters to decide on H eppner city charter 531" K j * ■» (>. . • i- L. r. i E U 2 £ N £ OH (j 74 Grass fire rekindles near Heppner cem etery Voters within the city of Heppner will be asked to decide on a new charter for the city at the upcoming November 5th election. In February, the ci ty council reviewed the existing city charter, which was adopted in 1974, and determin ed that several of its provisions had become obsolete due to changes in state laws and changes in the city's opera tions. As a result of their review, the Council created a five member city charter committee to develop an updated charter. The committee consisted of Mayor Bob Jepsen, councilors Michael McGuire and Kay Robinson, city manager Gary Marks, and citizen-member David Allstott. Allstott chaired the committee. The committee met several times, researched state laws, studied charters from other cities and developed a new Charter for voter consideration. "Wherever possible the com mittee attempted to adopt state laws through the charter," said Marks. Marks said the proposed charter provides that city elec tions will conform to state law. The old charter had several lengthy provisions relating to city-run elections. These provi sions had been made obsolete by state laws that overrode the Charter. The county clerk now administers all city elections. The proposed charter also adopts state laws governing the amount of debt the city can carry. "T he benefit of adopting state laws in these cases is that the charter will remain relevant even after the State adopts new laws in the fu tu re ," said Marks. "Having provisions in the Charter that cannot be en forced or that are outmoded by state laws only creates confu sion ." The old charter did not specifically list a city manager because the position did not ex ist in 1974 when it was adopt ed, said Marks. In recognition of the council/manager form of government now in use by the city, the proposed charter lists the city manager and delineates his or her responsibilities. Marks said the other major changes involve the powers of the mayor. The old charter pro vided veto power to the mayor and did not allow the mayor to vote, except when necessary' to break a tied council vote. The proposed charter removes the veto power, but gives the mayor an equal vote on all city matters. "A s the city's highest elected official, the committee felt the mayor should have a vote on ci ty issues," said Marks. Marks said the committee discovered that no mayor had ever used the veto in the 22-year history of the existing charter. He said that most cities do not have veto provisions in their charters. The city council reviewed the charter committee's proposed charter at the July council meeting and decided to refer it to city voters for their con sideration at the November election. Marks stessed that the city's charter proposal was not related in any was to the coun ty's charter proposal that was on the May ballot. "W e hope there will not be any confusion on this point," said Marks. He said cities are required under Oregon law to have charters and counties are not. "T he county charter propos ed a new form of government, while the city is simply propos ing to update its charter," said Marks. "T he city's current mode of operations will not be significantly changed by the proposed charter." "T he city has had a charter of some type since it was founded in 1887," said Marks. "It is a common practice among cities to review and update their charters at least every 20 years to make sure they are not obsolete." Copies of the proposed charter are available at city hall for public review. HHS celebrates homecoming week Heppner library announces new hours / . I Firemen controlled a grass fire that broke out Tuesday, Oct. 1, on Willow Creek Road behind the Hepp ner Cemetery. Heppner Fire Marshal Forrie Burkenbine said that the fire had rekindled from an earlier controlled burn. He said the fire was probably caused by matted grass that had smoldered overnight. Outbuildings on the John and Diane Kilkenny ranch were destroyed in a separate fire, reported to the Morrow County Sheriff’s office on Sept 28, around 7:15 p.m. Mark and Tami Rietmann earn stewardship award Mark and Tami Rietmann, livestock, hay and timber man agers for the Don and Patricia Anderson Ranch in Heppner, were named the 1996 Oregon Cattlemen's Association (OCA) Environmental Stewardship Award winners during cere monies in Portland recently. "The Rietmanns were honored for their cooperative and pro gressive management of their private lands in addition to their work on the Hardman Allotment in the Umatilla Na tional Forest," said a news release. The Anderson Ranch is an Oregon Century Farm founded in 1881 by Tami Rietmann's great-gran d father, A nson Wright. The Rietmanns cur rently manage 400 cow/calf pairs, in addition to their dryland wheat operation. Bob Krein, district wildlife biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wild life, recently wrote, "T h e Riet manns are constantly develop ing new ways to effectively blend their operation with the environmental conditions that are present." Their manage ment practices have included the installation of over 60 water developments, riding every two to three days to distribute cattle to the upland areas and the installation of both perma nent and portable riparian cor ridor fencing to encourage forage and shrub recruitment. By moving the portable fen cing, which was purchased with Forest Service funds and installed and maintained by the ranch, from pasture to pasture with the cattle, they have reduced their fixed costs and m aintenance requirem ents while gaining additional oppor tunities to monitor grass utiliza tion and shrub use. By monitoring grasses and shrubs before, during and after grazing each individual pasture, the Rietmanns have "gained insight" regarding the utility of forages by both cattle and big game, said the release. Their monitoring has allowed them to maintain a 6 " stubble height in riparian areas and have an effective noxious weed eradication program. In 1996, the Hardman Allot ment was host to the first an nual O C A 's environmental stewardship tour. The objective for the tour was to show im provement to riparian areas without livestock exclusion. "T he Rietmanns have actively participated in the campaign to defeat Measure 38 because they can prove that cattle and healthy watersheds are mutual ly beneficial," said the release. Past tours included Forest Ser vice personnel and the Morrow County Court. With an eye on the future, the Rietmanns have made a commitment to their environ ment and their children; it is their primary goal "to care for the resources for future genera tions." As Krein wrote in his stewardship award recommen dation letter, "M ark and Tami exemplify the concept of suc cessful ranchers that adapt and modify their operation to match changing environmental condi tions." The environmental steward ship award was created by the former National Cattlemen's Association in 1991 to honor "those cattlemen and women who have worked diligently to both enhance and improve the natural resources under their management," said the re lease. Each year, five regional finalists are selected from af filiate organizations, such as the OCA, from which the na tional award winner is selected. The Rietmanns' applications will now be forwarded to the newly formed National Cat tlemen's Beef Association for consideration of the national award. Little Le agu e m e e tin g set A Little League meeting will be held Wednesday. Oct. 9. at 7 p.m. at the Heppner High School Library. Anyone interested in coaching, managing or helping out is invited to attend. The Oregon Trail Library Dis trict, Heppner Branch, an nounces new library hours. The library will now be open Tuesday from 10 a.m .-8 p.m.; Wednesday from 1-8 p.m.; Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m .-6 p.m ., and Saturday from 10 a.m .-2 p.m. Story hour for children pre school to sixth grade will be on Tuesdays at 7 p.m., starting in October. "W e also have videos, books- on-tape, magazines, large print books, a small selection of CD- ROMs to use in the library, children's magazines and new books in for children along with popular new books for adults," said librarian Dorthy Wilson. "T h e Internet for public use is also a new addition to the library. We also have a FAX machine for public u se." Anyone interested in using the Internet or CD-ROMs is re quested to call in and arrange a time to use them. The library has a time limit unless someone is working on a project that re quires more time. Jerry Stackhouse (alias Jeff Watkins) and Tony Delk (alias Lonnie Rill) were two of the famous athletes who turned up at Heppner High School during homecoming week. Sept 30-Oct 4. HHS students celebrated homecoming week with 70s Day on Mon day; Favorite Athlete Day, Tuesday; Cowboy and Native American Day, Wednesday; and Blue and Gold Day, Thursday. The activities will culminate with the homecoming game vs Sher man County at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, with a dance to follow. Wool contest slated for Oct. 26 Commission preteen (12 and plans meeting The deadline for the District groups: under); junior (13-16); seniors The monthly meeting of the Morrow County Commission on Children and Families will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at the Morrow County School District Building in Lexington from 7-9 p.m. The main item of business will be child care issues. The public is invited to attend and participate in the discussion. For more information, call 676-9675. NEWS DEADLINE Monday..........5 p.m. The Heppner Gazette-Times 147 W. Willow 676-9228 5 "M ake It Yourself With W ool" contest is rapidly ap proaching, reminds district director Maureen Krebs. The contest will be Saturday, Oct. 26 in lone. Contestants must have their completed registra tion forms returned to Krebs no later than Saturday, Oct. 12. Garments are judged on style and construction, and must be at least 60 percent wool. Win ners will be announced at the style show open to the public Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. at the lone High School. The District 5 contest is open to residents of Morrow, Gill iam, Umatilla, Wasco, Sher man, Wheeler and Hood River counties. Men and women are eligible to compete in four age (17-24) and adults (over 24). Age groups are determined by the contestant's age on Dec. 31, 19%. Winners in the junior, senior and adult divisions will ad vance to the state level competi tion to be held in conjunction with the Oregon Sheep Grow ers Convention in Newport in early December. A state junior and senior winner will then ad vance to the national competi tion to be held in Nashville, TN, in January. Entry forms are available from iocal county Extension agents or from Maureen Krebs, Cecil Star Route, lone, OR. 97843. Additional contest infor mation may be obtained from Krebs by calling 422-7548. Council to meet The Heppner Coordinating Council (HCC) will meet on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 7:30 a.m. in the Heppner Ranger District conference room. The discussion topics will be the state prison and regional jail siting. The public is welcome to at tend HCC meetings. i REBATE O FFER ! CENEX ANTIFREEZE PER GALLON UmH 2 Rebate Period October 1 . Thru October 31. 1996 COUPONS AVAIL ABLE IN STORE Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 I 1-800-452-7396