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Voters to decide on H eppner city charter
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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
/
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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 !
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PER
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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