Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1999)
Heppner’s own Greg Smith announces for Dist. 59 Bessie hotzell* U of ü Newspaper Library Eu^ana, OR 9/403 Former District 59 representative Lynn Lundquist (left) gave his endorsement to Greg Smith at a reception Saturday in Heppner. The reception was held to announce Smith's candidacy for the position. Lunquist earlier announced he was resigning the position to run for Secretary of State. Also in attendance to endorse Smith were Morrow County Judge Terry Tallman, and former county judge Louis Carlson. Smith, 31, lives in Heppner and works for the Port of Morrow. He and his wife Lisa have three children. Smith said Saturday if elected he would fight unnecessary rules and regulations with no review by the legislature. He said government agencies at times show a "lack of understanding and common sense." He said he would work to reduce the tax burden on families and to make sure our natural resource based industries flourish, as well as protect private property rights. Smith also pointed out that he is a "pro-dam candidate and would work to maintain the Columbia/Snake river system for irrigation, transportation, flood control, recreation and electricity. On education he said, "We must do everything we can to give the teachers the tools they need to do the job right." He said he also believes in affordable long term health care for seniors with doctors of choice. "We must tell Salem not only what we stand for, but also what we won't stand for," Smith concluded. Disagreements aired at Lexington town council VOL. 118 NO. 39 lOPages Wednesday, September 29,1999 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon No major problems says port manager Kinzua mill site transfer nearly com plete Port of Morrow Manager Gary Neal told the Heppner Chamber of Commerce Monday he expects final details of the Kinzua mill site transfer to the port to be wrapped up this week, and for the port to take over ownership of the former mill site at that time. The port will use the property in an effort to attract businesses to the area and stimulate economic development. "We have a few leads and a few prospects," Neal said about the Port's efforts to attract new businesses into the Willow Creek Valley. He said the port is already leasing out some of the warehouse space at the mill to an onion dehydration company located in Morrow County. Neal said former mill employee Rick Johnston had been hired to maintain the site, and that some repairs were going to be done on buildings there. He said Pioneer Resources donated all o f the mill site including the office buildings, and that the only Kinzua property not donated were the two homes owned by the company. Neal said the port will be "aggressive" in its marketing of the port property. "We are getting some brochures together, and we will be aggressive," he said. The logs on the site apparently will be chipped up and shipped out, and Neal also said that there are apparently no environmental problems at the Kinzua site. "We chased down all the rumors we heard (about possible pollution) and came up with nothing," he said. He also said there have been three environmental studies done on the mill site and all of which have come up with nothing serious. He also said there was a "good supply" of water at the mill including a well the port earlier helped develop at the mill site. lone homecoming this week vs Echo lone High School will have their homecoming games and dance this Friday, October 1. A volleyball game is set against Echo at 5 p.m. Friday, with the football game at 7:30 p.m. and the dance from 10 p.m. to midnight. Students have planned a week of homecoming activities, including "Weird Hair Day" on Monday, "Hawaiian Day" * Tuesday, "Backwards Day" on Wednesday and "Red, White and Black Day" on Thursday. Wednesdays activities also include a car stuffing contest at noon, where as many students as possible pile into a car, a lasagna feed at the school, beginning at 5 p.m., a powder puff football game, followed by a boys' volleyball game and then a bonfire scheduled to begin around 7:30 p.m. A tug of war contest is planned for Thursday at noon. CBEC plans annual area tree trimming Columbia Basin Electric Co-Op and its contractors will be conducting its annual tree trimming operations throughout the service area during the next six weeks. Trimming of trees around power lines is an annual chore and is required by Oregon P.U.C. to reduce outages and ensure continuity of electrical service. Areas affecting both primary (distribution) and secondary (individual service connections) will be cleared. Any comments, concerns or questions about trees obstructing power lines or the removal of them may be made to Slater Mitchell at 541-676-9146. Good day of hunting for the Coll family Lexington fire chief Bill Sheirbon resigned Monday night following several public disagreements with mayor John Renfro. Renfro and Sheirbon. who earlier had also resigned as mayor, have been at odds over purchases made by the fire department, city policy toward the fire department and handling of the fire department budget. Sheirbon was not at the meeting, however, fire department member Glenn Anderson read a seven-page letter outlining Anderson's disagreements with Renfro's actions and management of the town. Anderson's complaints ranged from accusations of untruthful ness, poor treatment of the fire department and chief Sheirbon, as well as uneven enforcement of some city policies. Renfro answered the accusations and then asked Anderson if he was asking for him to resign as mayor. Anderson said no. One of the complaints Anderson aired was the handling of a replacement on the town council sought by two individuals. Anderson and Robert Taylor both are seeking the vacant council seat, and an election is being held to determine who will be the new council person. Earlier the council could have appointed someone to fill the vacant position created when Sheirbon resigned as mayor and was replaced by then council member John Renfro. Mayor Renfro presented Taylor's name as replacement, which the council voted down l to 2. Anderson's name was never presented for a vote, and Renfro said according to the tow n charter it was the mayor's duty to present a name, and the council's duty to fill the position by voting. Anderson disagreed with Renfro's reading of the charter and said the council should have been allowed to vote on him also, a vote he feels he could have won. The dispute was never settled and it was instead decided to hold a town wide election to decide who would fill the vacant council seat. The mail in ballots will go out Oct 4. and must be turned back in by 5p.m. October 19. It was reported that there are 160 registered voters in Lexington. There will be several other issues also on the ballot at the same time (see related story). Sheirbon and Renfro have apparently had differences of opinion going back some time, when Renfro questioned Sheirbon over purchases made by the fire department and his handling of city finances. Monday Anderson called into question Renfro's honesty to the public and what Anderson felt was a double standard for treatment of Sheirbon and the rest of the fire department. The city is involved with an ongoing investigation by the Oregon Justice Department over possible misuse of city funds while Sheirbon was mayor. Renfro ordered the city hall offices, which are next to the fire department, closed to most people because city records relating to the investigation were stored there and were considered evidence. The fire department, which also uses the city hall area, was excluded from going in the offices. Monday Anderson questioned why fire department members were kept out of the city offices, when he observed other people using the offices, calling this a double standard. Renfro said the people in the office were conducting necessary city business. In other disagreements Renfro questioned Sheirbon's purchases of used fire fighting equipment without clearance from the council, and also the supposed transfer of money from the road fund into the fire department fund, which is not recommended accounting practices. Anderson defended the purchase of used breathing apparatus from the Boardman fire department by pointing out that a large amount of money was saved by buying the equipment when Sheirbon did, and that because of the financing arrangement the purchase was within the fire department's budget. As for transferring money between departments, 18-year fire department member Charlie Sumner, who was also in attendance at the meeting, said this was not an uncommon practice and had been done for many years previous. Renfro said this practice was against the law and was at first concerned $ 11,000 in gas tax money transferred into the fire department budget over the past five years would have to be repaid. However, he said the state has forgiven the town. However. Renfro did say $2.000 in state revenue sharing money that was transferred to the fire department would probably have to be repaid. Renfro pointed out that Lexington is indeed a small town and some of these practices in the past were ignored by the state. "But not anymore," he said. The mayor also encouraged people to join the fire department, saying that if the town's fire department is not kept up to certain standards, townspeople and home owners would see increases in their fire insurance premiums. In other business at Mondays meeting: - It was voted on to buy a new Dell computer for city bookkeeping. The computer will cost $1089. -It was announced by Mayor Renfro that replacement of the existing B street bridge may end up costing the city no money. He said construction of the bridge could start in June. - It was announced that the old Del's market has been sold and that a pizza parlour may open there, and that the former Chevron gas station may be turned into a coffee bar. Heppner homecoming Mustang fans are invited to show their spirit and join the Heppner High School cheerleaders at a homecoming bonfire scheduled Wednesday. October 6, at 7 p.m. at the Morrow County Fairgrounds. Thursday, October 7, a homecoming parade is planned around noon in downtown Heppner with a spirit rally at the Shamrock. A volleyball game versus Stanfield for varsity. JV and C- team games will get underway Thursday at 5 p.m.. beginning with the C-team game. The homecoming football game against the Culver Bulldogs will be held Thursday, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. The homecoming dance will be the following night. Friday. October 8. from 9 p.m. to I a m. at Heppner High School. Breakfast will be served at the school from midnight to I a.m. Homecoming week festivities at the school also include "Twin Day" Monday, "Occupation Day" Tuesday, "Hawaiian Day" Wednesday and "Blue and Gold Day" Thursday, w ith a tug of war. Danner Roots g 2 0 % OFF o ,‘Xr 5 .h # For Jay Coll and hit ton Joda this past week was pretty good hunting. Not only did both father and son get their elk, but Jay also bagged a bear, which he says, will probably make It into the record books. The pair were hunting in the Black Mountain area where Jode, 12, downed a 6 point bull elk. His dad later got a 5X8. Jay says he then saw the bear in the late evening about 50 yards away, and downed It with one arrow. The skull was measured at 19 7/8 inches and should be an Oregon record, he says. (C an o r d e r xizes o r stile x not in sto c k ) M o r r o w C ounty G rain G ro w ers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 for farm rquipmont.our <*»b m* at www mc^ n*t