County Court discusses Ione-Boardman road
By Oorts Brosnan
Cosale ffetzsll
U of O N e w 3 pi-jor Library
fiutone, UR
VOL.118
NO. 44
10 Pages
9/4 J3
Wednesday, November 3,1999
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Alumni donates doors for courthouse
Doug Dubuque put the finish on these mahogany doors
A new set of mahogany doors
will soon be installed on the
Morrow County Court House in
Heppner, thanks to a donation of
S3, 000 from a Michigan man
who was a member of the
Heppner graduating class of
1956.
Robert Hare, president of BAG
Custom Works, Inc. in Otsego, the beauty of the natural
Michigan donated the money to mahogany.
restore the front doors on the
Getting the new doors was a
courthouse to their original project of the class of 1956.
condition. The courthouse now
has metal doors.
Doug Dubuque of Heppner put
the finish on the doors with 10
coasts of clear finish to bring out
Live reindeer
added to Parade
of Lights
celebration
Live reindeer will be on hand
for this year’s Parade of Lights
celebration Dec. 2 in Heppner.
The reindeer will be in
downtown Heppner and a
photographer will be on hand to
take pictures of children with the
reindeer.
Also scheduled for the
celebration are music and a live
nativity scene.
Anyone wishing to enter the
light parade or for more
information, contact Darrell
Raver at the Bank of Eastern
Oregon.
lone Drama
present plays
The lone Drama Club will
present three plays on Sunday,
Nov. 6, beginning at 6 p.m. m
the lone High School cafeteria.
The first play will be "The
Babysitter," followed by
"Tombstone Terrors" and "Early
Frost". These plays may not be
suitable for young children.
Admission is S2 for adults and
SI for students and seniors.
The drama club is headed by
Jim Raible. Chanssa Gates is the
play's director.
At its October 27 meeting, the
Morrow County Court agreed to
further discussion with museum
director Marsha Sweek about an
equipment
maintenance
agreement for the museum. They
reviewed a letter that has been
sent from the State Building
Codes Division to the Attorney
General's office, referring the
staffing question from the
county.
Public Works Director Guy
Van Arsdale presented and the
court approved a permit from
CSEPP to change the locations
of two sirens and position a new
siren in Imgon.
He also presented a request for
an approach onto Washington
Street and a request for an
approach onto Rappee Road.
The court approved both.
Van Arsdale noted that blade
crews are blading at Four-Mile,
Immigrant, Buttercreek and
Hinton Creek, Rhea Creek,
Dalzell and Eightmilc.
Replacement rock is going down
on Rhea Creek, and the crusher
units have been moved into the
yard for repairs.
Van Aisdale has received a
request to plow to the top of
Coal Mine Hill and he has a
work schedule that would
accommodate that request,
though plowing used to stop at
Cutsforth Park. The court was
agreeable,
leaving
the
arrangements to Van Arsdale's
discretion.
Commissioner Wenholz
requested repair of the bus shed
door. Van Arsdale reported that
elevations will be figured for the
Assisted Living facility on
October 29 and that his
presence, with an estimate on the
cost of moving some dirt, has
been requested. The court had
no objection, noting that the
actual moving of dirt would not
be appropriate for the county.
A contingent from lone
submitted a letter in objection to
the proposed Ione-Boardman
Road. During discussion, the
court was informed that serious
objections were expressed
during a public hearing two
years ago and that some people
who, at that time, asked to be
involved in this process, have
not been included and their
concerns have not been
addressed. Judge Tallman
clarified that the road committee
has, in fact, met this year and
that the meeting was advertised.
He further noted that the
Morrow County School
Superintendent has made
statements that appear to
contradict this letter of
objection's statement that the
lone schools "look better now
than anytime in the past twenty
years." The individuals learned
that they can be included in the
road committee's tour, providing
their own transportation.
Commissioner Wenholz shared
his thoughts on a working road
committee, his concern about the
status of present county roads,
this long-standing contentious
issue, and source of funding for
such a road. The court heard a
belief that the issue is not cost
but whether the public s-ipports
the road. Also shared were
concerns about a "defacto” road
without a vote, resulting from
blading and a covering of gravel.
Commissioner Brosnan stated
his refusal to support building
the road without a vote of the
people of Morrow County,
adding that strong feelings on
both sides exist, but what has so
far been done has been only to
preserve the county's options.
Judge Tallman noted that the
court is in agreement not to
build without a vote. He also
clarified that the county does not
have an easement, just an
agreement to take over
maintenance of Tower Road.
Further discussion touched on
the environmental concern over
the Washington Ground
Squirrel, a study of which has
been completed but results not
released. In response to a
suggestion from the lone
contingent to focus on
improvements to Juniper
Canyon Road, Judge Tallman
reported that the road committee
needs to establish some
priorities on the county roads.
He suggested possibly
considering the return of some
poorly built roads back to gravel
because their improvement costs
would be too high as the county
tries to be as efficient as possible
with limited funds.
Tallman reiterated that there
will be a county-wide vote on
this question, either advisory or
in the way of a bond measure,
and assured those present that
Court minutes reflect the court's
agreeing not to proceed on this
road without a vote of the
people.
Volunteer for the Domestic
Violence program, Alicia Blake,
briefly discussed a crisis phone
line with the court. A further
discussion will be held at a later
date.
County Assessor Greg Sweek
updated the court on values and
rates He displayed illustrations
of how property taxes are split
between utilities, residential,
commercial, industrial, farm
and forest taxpayers. He also
showed how taxes are
distributed among taxing
districts and charted a
breakdown of the last 10 years,
showing a shift in tax burden
from utilities (down almost 10
(percent) to residential
properties (up about 80 percent).
He displayed a comparison of
taxes imposed in 1998 and 1999,
up 1.5 percent for the county,
and a comparison between 1998
and 1999 of assessed values by
taxing district.
Finance Director Lisanne
Currin reported having received
a booklet from the Extension
Service that shows an office-
supplies price list through
cooperative purchasing, which
sometimes creates a significant
savings. Certain requirements
exist, however. She has passed
the catalog to other departments
for feedback.
Cumn also presented a draft of
a letter to the Army for annual
fee assessment. The court
commended Cumn, who
indicated that she would
incorporate a copy of the
ordinance and statute, as well,
and Commissioner Brosnan
suggested sending copies to the
regional newspapers.
Two property owners, when
informed that Willow Creek
Road is a county road, asked
about measures to slow down
traffic on it, citing nearly being
hit. The court, noting that the
state highway 55 mph speed
limit applies unless the county
requests a reduction, agreed to
discuss the situation with Public
Works Director Van Arsdale
The court heard that four
property owners at Cutsforth
Park have ordered telephone
service. In a discussion of a pay
phone, the court explained that it
had agreed to pay for installation
of a pay phone at the park if
customers got the line up to
there; that it docs not have
money budgeted for paying a
share of the trunk line. The
court agreed to the
recommendation that the county
be present at the meeting on
October 28 with the telephone
company, saying they would try
to get the public works director
to it.
The court discussed a summary
of the history of the Act of
Congress land and the options
previously examined by court
and counsel, in attempting to
determine leasing possibilities.
Sweek presented a map
illustrating parcels involved,
some of which have more than
one adjacent landowner The
court agreed that a legislative
exception to the public sale
requirement would help in the
disposal of these problem
parcels and agreed to contact
Femoli, Nelson, and Jensen
about legislative counsel
drafting such a bill.
The court authorized Judge
Tallman to appoint, as requested
by the Census Bureau, someone
as the new construction
coordinator
The court reviewed additional
the local requirements and
conditions for enterprise zone
exemption on new, qualified
capital investments, including
the 150 percent wage
requirement in years four and
five, the school bond levy, and
the county’s operational needs.
They discussed various
considerations in their
negotiations with Tillamook.
Sondra Lino of GEODC talked
to the court about the 1999
SCERT process, which is now
being called the "Needs and
Issues Inventory." She said that
the new process actually
represents a combination of the
two former processes . New
categories are 'Infrastructure,
Community Facilities, and
Community Readiness." She
suggested that a letter be sent to
explain the process requirements
and deadlines
The court agreed to applications
being submitted to the court
office by November 22 and the
SCERT committee convening on
December 2 at 9 a.m.. Lino will
send packages and notices to
committee members. Lino will
copy and disseminate to
committee members the
applications and will send a
public notice to the newspapers
Hunter success
These elk were seen coming through Heppner P**°*° **y 8on™e Bennett
Second elk season opens this Saturday
photo by Sandi Day
We Will Be CLOSED
Thursday, November lit lx
Fox* Veteran’s Day
Have A Safe e3 Happy Holiday
M orrow C ounty G rain G rowers
Lexington 989-8221 * 1-800-452-7396
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