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Heppner residents protest youth crime
Heppner residents concerned
about youth crime in the city
were out in force at the Heppner
city council meeting Monday
night, and after listening to
complaints, the council and
police chief said they were going
to "crack down."
About 30 people attended the
meeting mostly to complain
about the activities observed at
one particular house in Heppner.
The house wasn't named, but
neighbors in the area complained
of parties, noise, drugs, weapons
and other problems, and they
asked the city council and police
to do something about it.
One neighbor, who has been
writing down license plate
numbers of vehicles visiting the
home, then turning them into
police, said he has seen "booze,
sex on the street, guns on the
lawn and drunks passed out in
cars and on the lawn. This is
getting out of hand," he said.
Other neighbors in the area
echoed the same complaints,
with another saying "It is big
problem. I am afraid that
something major is going to
happen down there."
Others at the meeting said they
are afraid to go to the city parks
because of menacing youths and
the fear of being harassed.
Another man who works early
morning hours around Heppner
said he was afraid if things get
out of hand people in town
"might do some shooting".
"We are well aware of the
problem," Mayor Bob Jepsen
said. "It has been on the
increase."
Police Chief Doug Rathbun said
the police are going to "end this
problem. We will do just like
they do in Portland. If they have
a problem in a neighborhood
they take care of it. That's what
we are going to do We are not
backing off," Rathbun said.
Rathbun also said the police
would
be
targeting
the
troublemakers and if there was
Waterpark manager resigns
celebration
amid controversy
planned July 31
wr : : r i l
P E S 3 I E
Sidewalk sale,
The Heppner Merchants’
sidewalk sale will be held Friday,
July 31, at various businesses in
downtown Heppner.
Everyone is invited to attend
the sidewalk sale, and meet at the
Shamrock on the intersection of
Main and Willow Streets to
"celebrate Heppner".
The sidewalk sale will be held
from 9 a m. to 5 p.m. The day
will also feature "Kiss a Pig"
sales and organization-sponsored
booths.
At 4 p.m. will be the Shamrock
tournaments, featuring chalk
drawing, a coin scramble and
tricycle races, among others.
The city/Chamber Tug O' War
will be held at 5 p.m.
The BMCC quartet, "Absolutely
Nobody" will perform at 5:30
p.m. and the Main Street
dedication and recognition will
be held at 6 p.m. with a "hip, hip
hooray" lead by Heppner
cheerleaders. The audience is
invited to participate, grab the
mike and give a cheer for a
project, person or group to
celebrate Heppner.
Absolutely Nobody will
continue performing at 6:30 p.m.
while cake is being served.
Everyone can get their "hand-in-
hand sports bottle with free pop.
The Kiss a Pig winner will be
announced at 7:30 p.m., when
Tim Cundell begins playing
requests for listening and the
street dance. Everyone is invited
to "put on your dancing shoes" or
bring a chair to sit and enjoy.
Drawings will be held at the
S ham rock
p e rio d ic a lly
throughout the day. Restaurants
are planning to-go specials so
people can "eat on the street" as
they shop or enjoy activities.
Watermelon
Festival, July 25
Heppner Mayor Bob Jepsen swears in new reserve police officer Jenny
Eng at Monday's city council meeting. Eng has lived in Heppner for
three years. She moved here from Scappoose.
problems, "lye are taking them
to jail."
The council took emergency
action Monday night and voted
to close all city parks between
9p.m. and 6a.m. Any adults
caught in the park will be fined
$100. The parents of juveniles
caught in the park will be fined.
Police officer Merle Cowett
warned that the law was going to
be applied equally. And said that
"anyone" caught in the park
between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. would
be ticketed.
The city has three parks. One
on main street by the library;
Hager park under the dam, and a
small veterans park near Hinton
creek on main street.
The council also talked about
maybe extending the city's
curfew hours, but took no action
on that at the meeting.
A planning meeting to discuss
other options will be held next
Monday, July 20 at the Senior
Center in Heppner at 7p.m. The
meeting is open to the public.
Law enforcement, juvenile and
family workers, as well as the
District Attorney will be at the
meeting.
Sidewalk art show held at library
Livestock
growers to
hold meeting
A meeting of the Morrow
County Livestock Growers Board
will be held Monday, July 20, at
(L-R): Cory McGuire, Seth Morgan, Cole Morgan and Jessica McGuire
7 p.m. at the conference room at participating in the sidewalk art show
the Gilliam Bisbee building in
Heppner.
nine year olds, first place-Alanna
Glen Stonebnnk, Oregon
A sidewalk art show was held
Beason, second place-Sarah
C attlem en’s
A ssociation at the Oregon Trail Library in
Johnson.
executive vice president of Heppner on Friday. July 10, with
The Summer Reading Program
membership and administration,
will continue on Fridays at 1 p.m.
will update the group on the 20 children participating. The art
until July 24 A book swap will be
recently held OCA quarterly work was judged by Heppner
mayor Bob Jepsen.
held this week. Children are en
meeting.
Winners are as follows, age 10
All Morrow County Livestock
couraged to bring in their old books
Growers members are invited to and up, first place-Isaac Stillman,
to trade and will be able to play
second place-Kelly Straley; four-
attend.
bingo after the book swap.
The 15th annual Irrigon
Watermelon Festival will be held
Saturday, July 25, at the Irrigon
Marina park.
Activities will include breakfast
from 6:30-9 a.m.; a softball
tournament beginning at 7 a.m.;
a parade at 10 a.m.; and a street
dance and video show with
"Radioactive Music"from 9 p.m.
to midnight.
Continuous entertainment will
go on throughout the day with
Steve Blum, country-western and
old-fashioned gospel; Chris Lee
Loid, 40s and 50s music and
country; Absolutely Nobody, the
BMCC quartet; the Quetzalcoatl
Dancers;
Chata
Addy,
a
professional drummer, composer,
dancer and choreographer from
Ghana, West Africa; entertainer
Tony Madrigal ; and Steff
Nelson, 1998 Oregon State
Junior Fiddle champion.
The day's activities will also
include: arts and crafts booths,
bingo, dunk tank, food booths,
kids' games, hula hoop contest, a
giant raffle, free water testing by
the Master Gardeners from noon-
4 p.m., and the Umatilla
Chemical Depot ammunition
demonstration trailer.
The entertainment and
advertising is funded by the
Morrow
County
Unified
Recreation District.
For more information, call
Donna Eppenbach, 922-3197, or
LaVelle Partlow, 922-3386.
Bicycle law
to be enforced
The law against riding bicycles
on the sidewalk in Heppner, was
going to be more strictly
enforced. Police Chief Doug
Rathbun announced Monday
night.
The ban is only on main street
in town, and also covers
skateboards and rollerblades.
Anyone breaking the law will
have their bike confiscated for
one week for the first offense and
30 days the second time.
The Willow Creek Park District
Board accepted the resignation of
Willow
Creek
Waterpark
manager Sarah Carlson at their
regular meeting July 8 in lone.
Carlson, in a letter of
resignation, said that if the board
would give her autonomy to
manage the pool, her resignation
would take affect August 24,
after the summer swim season
comes to a close. But, she added,
if they would not give her
assurance, her resignation would
take effect Monday, July 13. The
board said they could not give
her any assurance and voted
unanimously to accept the July
13 date. Carlson was on vacation
and not present at the meeting.
Carlson said in her letter that
there were "too many issues for
the which the board of directors
and I do not agree. This, coupled
with the demands of the job are
more than my health and family
can take. I have given everything
1 have to give to make the
waterpark a success this summer
season. I cannot, however, ensure
that success if the programs set
forth are continually tampered
with by the board of directors."
"We have a tremendous
amount of respect for Sarah
Carlson," said board member
Patty Wehrli. "We've all tried to
sit down and work things out.
I"ve got to give her credit, she
stands up for what she thinks is
right." Carlson's resignation
follows heated controversy
surrounding management of the
pool, the pool's hours and the
waterpark's financial situation.
George Naims, who recently
resigned as an assistant manager
at the pool, said at the meeting
that she resigned because of
"disrespect from the board." "I
feel like the board has
disrespected Sarah greatly," she
said. "I feel like the board is
running our swimming pool into
the ground."
Russ Morgan commented that
he felt the board was "the most
unprofessional board" he'd ever
heard of. He accused the board of
holding an illegal meeting and
blamed the pool's problems on
the board's "willingness to
micromanage the day-to-day
operations" at the pool. Morgan
is the ex-husband of Karen
Morgan, assistant pool manager
who also resigned following
Carlson’s resignation.
However, other people at the
meeting said that they feel that
the board is responding to the
community. "I think the board is
taking direction," said Diane
Kilkenny, who was also present
at the meeting. "They are
listening to the community."
"The bottom line is money,"
added Patti Allstott. "Let's get
out the budget. We wouldn't be
having all this crap if we had the
pool open and our kids
swimming in it."
"If it's closed all of the time
people aren't going to come,"
added Lome Fox, who often
works as a volunteer at the pool's
concession stand. "I'd like to see
hours on the weekends be more."
Carlson said earlier that the
pool's census is down on
weekends and that she shortened
weekend hours to save money.
The pool is now open from 1-5
p.m. on Saturdays and 5-8 p.m.
on Sundays. The board says that
they have received complaints
from the public that the pool's
hours are not sufficient.
Another issue of contention is
Carlson's interpretation of child
labor laws concerning lifeguard
breaks. She had insisted that the
pool be closed from 3-3:30 p.m.
for lifeguard breaks. But, in her
letter to the board, she modified
that stance, saying that she found
an error in her interpretation and
would close the pool to
swimming from 3-3:15 p.m. so
each employee would get one
paid 15-minute break during a
four-hour work period.
The board maintains that the
employees can all get their 15
minute break with the pool
remaining open. They also
believe that the pool is over
staffed with too many lifeguards
10% OFF
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The proposal calls for at least
three lifeguards in chairs except
for the 1-5 p.m. session which
would
have
four,
unless
attendance drops below 60
people. One guard would be on
duty during swim lessons. The
manager would guard during
evening swim and will act as an
instructor during lessons and no
more than one acting manager
will be on duty at a time. A
cashier will be responsible for
the front desk during all open
hours.
The board also voted to seek a
$16,000 line-of-credit loan for
operating expenses to keep the
pool open for the remainder of
the summer swimming season.
The waterpark had a total ending
balance of only $3,447 on June
30. However, it took around
$18,445 to operate the pool for
the month of June and the board
expects around that much in
expenses for the remainder of the
season. Income, however is not
expected to be as much, since
many people bought season
passes at the beginning of the
season. The board consequently
voted to set half-season passes at
$80 for a family and $37.50 for
an individual starting July 20 to
increase pool receipts.
M
orrow
*. *.
'• -
As a taxing entity, the board is
allowed to borrow up to the
amount that they expect to
receive in property taxes. But
Morrow County Assessor Greg
Sweek caution the board not to
count on the money in future
years. "A lot could happen down
the road." he said. "The value of
the county could go down."
On the positive side, board
member Archie Padberg said that
the electric bill goes down to
around $400 a month in the off
season. The financial picture is
expected to improve greatly after
three years, when final annual
$17,500 flex-lease payment has
been made.
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The biggest monthly expenses
in June included $8,527 for
wages and payroll taxes, $4,578
to Columbia Basin Electric for
electricity, $2,087 for concession
stand expenses and $2,018 for
pool chemicals and exercise
equipment. On the income side,
admissions and season tickets
brought in $13,496, concession
sales-$2,279, property taxes-
$2.045, and mterest-$ 17.93 for a
total income in June of $17,839.
Sale through July 31st
C o u n t y G r a in G
Lexington 989-8221 • 1 -8 00-452-7396
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Proposal B. which they say
could save approximately $958 a
week, calls for closure of the
pool on Monday, but all other
hours as in option A.
Snapper Lawn Mowers
■9
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and assistant managers on duty at
the same time. According to the
board, six lifeguards are now on
duty at every session. The
waterpark also employs one full
time manager, one full-time
assistant manager and one part-
time assistant manager
Carlson says lifeguard
scheduling is a safety issue and
claims that all the lifeguards she
has scheduled are needed to
prevent a tragedy at the
waterpark.
Newly-appointed board
member Kim Cutsforth-Armato,
who says she has had 10 years
pool management experience and
17 years of business experience,
outlined several options which,
she believes, will save money at
the waterpark, but will still fulfill
state regulations and keep the
facility safe for swimmers.
Option A, which they hope will
save approximately $539 a week,
will set pool hours as follows: 9
a.m.- 9 p.m. Monday through
Friday with lessons from 9:30
a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 5:10-6:50
p.m., open swim from 1-5 p.m.
and 7-9 p.m.; adult lap swim
from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; adult
swim from 5:10-6:50; and
weekend hours from 1-5 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday. If there are
no swim lessons scheduled, the
adult lap swim from 9:30 a.m -
12:30 p.m. will be cancelled.
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