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Opponents in majority at city
hall/library project meeting
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VOL. 121
NO. 2
10 Pages
Wednesday, January 9,2002
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Park district assists with lone pool shortfall
photo by Jeri McElligott
Skip Matthews (left). Willow Creek Park District chairman, presents a check for lone Pool expenses to
Jim Swanson. lone Pool Committee chairman. Also pictured are lone Pool lifeguards, Emily Key,
Natalie McElligott, Caitlyn Orem. Billy Oates and Johnny Collin, and Shelly Key, lone Pool manager.
The Willow Creek Park District
has entered into an agreement with
the Morrow County School District
to help with a funding shortfall for
the lone swimming pool.
"The Park Board is glad to he
in a financial position to help lone
with their swimming pool," said Skip
Matthews, WCPD Board Chairman.
An agreement was worked out
between the lone Pool Committee,
the school district board and the park
board to make up operating money
if the funding was available.
"With the hard work of the lone
Pool Committee and the increasing
financial strength of the park district,
the lone pool should be able to stay
open for many years." commented
Matthews.
"Receiving the first of three $5000
payments from the park district was
a tremendous relief," said Jim
Swanson, chairman of the lone Pool
Committee. When the school district
decided two years ago not to fund
the lone pool, the lone Pool
Committee (Mike Stuart. Betty
Rietmann, Anne Morter, Barb Collin,
pool manager Shelly Key, and
chairman Jim Swanson) needed to
act quickly to obtain other funding.
"We were able to keep some small
funding from the school for two
years, improve our management of
the pool, adjust our rates and also
obtain some donations and grant
monies," said Swanson, "But when
we budgeted it out over the next thnx'
years, we were short about $15,000
a year to operate the pool."
The committee knew they could
not al w ays count on donations/grants
so Swanson approached the park
district for assistance "We were very
pleased to find the pork board willing
to help," said Swanson. He went
on to say that the pool continues to
be important to the lone community,
as it has been for over 50 years. "We
appreciate the park district very much
and hope we can keep this financial
relationship going for many years,"
said Sw anson
Local woman honored for
genealogical website
A local woman has
received an award for her work
in genealogy on the Internet.
Carolyn McDaniel of
Heppner will fly to Boston, with
all expenses paid, where she will
deliver a speech and receive an
award from GENTECH. a
genealogy
website,
in
conjunction with the New
England Historic Genealogical
Society convention January 24-
27. The New England Historic
Genealogical Society is the
oldest genealogical society in the
U.S.. founded in 1845, according
to McDaniel. McDaniel has
already received the first half of
her award at the National
Genealogical Society’ convention
w heich was held in Portland.
"I’m trying to promote
new ideas about how to develop
technology that will meet
researchers’
needs,"
said
McDaniel, who added that she
established her website as a
means o f "community building,
and as a source for education
about ethics, standards and
resources for internet use in
regard to genealogy and history."
On the website McDaniel
explores her theory that many of
the early Oregon pioneers came
from the Philadelphia area.
McDaniel, who is the
daughter o f Sylvia McDaniel of
Heppner. recently moved to
Heppner from Portland where
she was attending Portland State
University.
"I’m interested in getting
together with others in the
community," said McDaniel,
who has taught a genealogical
course in Pendleton. "I’m hoping
to reinstitute it (a genealogical
course) here. Computers work so
well fo people in these rural
communities."
For more information,
contact McDaniel at her e-mail
a d d r e s s :
cmacdee@centurytel.net;
or
access
her
web
site;
f r e e p a g e s . h i s t o r y .
rootsweb.com/-amxroads.
Town & Country Jan. 17
Heppner’s Annual Town and
Country Banquet. "2002. TTie Red.
White and Blue", dedicated to
veterans and volunteers, is scheduled
for Thursday. Jan 17. at the Elks
Club. I'here will be a no-host social
hour at 6 p m. with seating for the
banquet at 7 p.m.
Ilie evening will kick off with
entertainment by Second Chance,
from Pendleton. The group,
composed of Jeremy Miller, Micah
Bartron. Kevin Tesch. Chns Moore.
Nathan Garton and David Bates,
are part of the BMCT' choir and have
entertained audiences around the
state, as well as in Washington.
Idaho, California and Hawaii. Most
recently they have been honored to
sing in many memorials for those
who gave their lives in the Sept. 11
attacks.
Second C Tiance performs a variety
o f a cappella music, including
contemporary, comedy, country,
well-known hits and patriotic
selections. These locals all share
a love of music and look forw ard
to entertaining Heppner
On the evening agenda will be
a visual presentation kicking off the
100th Centennial Celebration of the
continued page 2
Nearly 100 people turned out
last Thursday for a town hall
meeting to discuss the proposed
City Hall/ Library project that
would see a 12,000 sq ft, $1.4
million building constructed on
main street in between the post
office and the Shoe Box. Most of
the people at the meeting were
against the project. •
The meeting was held to hear
citizen concerns, explain the
project and pick a committee to
formulate a survey city officials
plan on mailing out to further test
public opinion. Mary Nixon from
the
Rural
Development
Initiatives, Inc. of Pendleton
moderated the meeting.
First Larry Mills gave a brief
history of the City Hall/ Library
project.
Mills said talk about a new
facility began in 1994 when
people starting talking about
relocating the library. The feeling
was that the library building was
too small in its present location in
the same building with the
Morrow' County Museum. He
said the library is presently 1450
sq ft.
In August of 1999, Mills said,
the library and city began talking
about building a common
building.
Funding for the new building
would come mostly from the
library district, which has access
to grants and outside funding
which the city does not have.
Under the current proposal the
city would have to come up with
$300.000 and the library $1.1
million to construct the two-story
facility.
Speaking in opposition to the
project was local businessman
Bob Ployhar, who said that he
was not against libraries, he just
thought with Heppner current
economic condition this was not a
good time for the project.
“The biggest reason for
opposition
is
the
current
economic situation,” he said.
“Our high school has 118 kids
now and it used to have 165
Kicft aren’t staying here because
there aren’t any jobs. This town
is getting smaller and we have to
ask: who is going to foot this
bill? I sell real estate and there
are 70 houses for sale in Heppner
right now.
“We have the highest tax rate
in the state of Oregon. Lots of
people are retired and on fixed
income, and they can’t afford
this,” Ployhar said.
He went on to say there are more
pressing things the city could be
spending its money on. “Our
water system needs upgrading,
our streets need repairs, and we
have problems with our sewer
system. We have to take care of
business first,” he said. “We just
can’t afford this.”
“Nobody is against libraries, it’s
just the economics o f the
community
that
has
us
concerned,” he said.
Ployhar went on to say that
the proposed location of the
building is wrong because it will
take up valuable parking spaces
downtown, that should be
available for people shopping at
downtown businesses.
Speaking in defense of the
project was local banker George
Koffler, who said that the new
building would solve several
problems.
"The library and the museum
are inadequate. Our city hall is a
converted garage
The city
people have no office for
confidential discussion and the
building is cold in the w inter and
hot in the summer," he said.
“And the restrooms are not ADA
(Americans with Disabilities Act)
compliant.”
Koffler also pointed out that the
taxpayers of Heppner were
getting a good deal as far as
paying for the new building.
NEWS DEADLINE
M o n d a y , 5 p .m .
“There is a $1.4 million total
price on the project. Library is
putting up one million, and if
their grants don't come through
the project is dead." he said He
said city residents would only
have to pay 44 cents per thousand
of assessed valuation to fund its
portion of the project. “That
comes out to $2.70 per month if
you own a $75,000 home." he
said. “I don't think the debt
service is too much, in fact the
debt is going to be going down
(other bonds the city has are
going to be retired in the future).
“Where should the project be
built?” he asked. “Business is
probably not going into that lot
(the proposed site is currently a
vacant
lot).
Retailers and
restaurants can't help but be
helped by this project," he said.
“W e’re either on the way up or
on the way down. I think this
building says a lot about which
way we are headed," he told the
crowd.
Space in the building would be
allocated in this manner: general
common areas 1925 sq ft; library
2925 sq ft; city hall 3405 sq ft
and police dept 1080 sq ft. With
other misc. rooms the total space
of the building comes to 12,025
sq ft.
Other Heppner citizens also
spoke at the meeting, including
Randy Lott who pointed out
Heppner’s high unemployment
and the fact that a large number
of signatures had been gathered in
opposition to the project. "Senior
citizens can’t afford more taxes."
he said. “Forget this project and
put our money into broken water
valves and pot holed streets.”
Ed Dick, a long time resident
and former businessman in
Heppner, said that he was
opposed to the location of the
building. “There is no possible
benefit by placing that building
next to the post office. That is a
high traffic area, and the proposal
would be a detriment to main
street businesses. I object to it
being next to the post office."
City manager Jerry Breazeale
said the city had looked at other
sites and "this is the best site.
Locating city hall and a library in
a retail area is a good thing. We
don't see another store coming
into that area." he said.
Another resident wanted to
know why the city was
proceeding in light o f the stiff
opposition to the project.
Breazeale said a petition had
been turned in to city hall with
400 signatures against the project,
and 20 in favor.
"Why are we continuing to
move ahead with this project
given the opposition in these
economic
times?”
Dave
Campbell asked.
Pat Edmundson spoke in favor
of the project and pointed out that
she was never asked to sign a
petition either way on the project.
At the end of the meeting a
committee was appointed to come
up with the survey questions that
would be mailed to every
registered voter in Heppner.
Appointed to the committee was
Ann Spicer from the library
board. Tom Wolff from city
council. Bob Ployhar as an
opponent, Grace Drake as a
proponent and Cyde Estes as an at
large citizen.
. It was expected that the
committee would come up with
the survey questions by mid
February.
Health district in the red again
The Morrow County
Health District, at their regular
meeting Monday night, learned
o f a $74,539 deficit for
November. The previous month
the district had a $19,000 loss.
"How do you feel about
this?" asked board member John
Prag. "1 don't feel good,"
replied CEO Victor Vander
Does. Vander Does has been
credited for bringing the district's
ailing bottom line back into the
black.
Vander
Does
and
assistant financial officer Nicole
Mahoney said that November's
loss was a combination of a large
amount
of
contractual
adjustments
(Medicare
and
Medicaid write-offs), a larger
than normal payroll because of
an additional pay period,
increased one-time lab costs and
below average home health
revenues.
Vander Does said that
there is not much more that can
be cut from an already spare
budget and added that the district
needs
to
concentrate
on
increasing revenues.
Vander Does said that
the Pioneer Memorial Hospital is
close to becoming designated a
critical care access facility which
would
increase
revenues
$200,000-$250.000
a
year
because of increased Medicare
and Medicaid payments.
The board discussed how
to increase patient usage at the
Imgon
clinic
and
cited
maintaining a "constant stable
provider" as one means. Vander
Does said that the district has
received 10-12 applicants for the
physician's assistant position at
the clinic and plans to review
them over the next few weeks.
Increasing clinic usage among
the Hispanic population was also
discussed.
The board also briefly
discussed closing down different
capacities of the hospital as a
way of saving money. Vander
Does said that all departments
were so intertwined that closing
down one area would not be
beneficial since staff dovetails to
cover the hospital, nursing home
and emergency room duties.
When asked about closing the
nursing home, he said that the
only way that he w'ould consider
closing the nursing home would
be if the facility lost "Pro Share"
payments, a federal program
disbursed through the states
designed to help small nursing
homes.
The board approved
purchase o f a sigmoidoscopy
machine, which screens for
problems in the colon. The cost
o f the machine is $15.515, but
Vander Does said that the
machine will "probably pay for
itself in a year," generating
around $22,000 a year. Vander
Does said that patient charges for
the procedure are estimated at
$250-375 per exam, which will
be performed at the hospital.
Vander Does said that providing
the service would also help keep
patients in the community.
In other business, the
board:
-heard from Vander Does
about problems with transmitting
CT scans and other films to out-
of-tow'n specialists. Options for
correcting the problem could
include purchasing new software,
but VanderDoes said he wanted
to consult specialists at St
Charles Medical Center in Bend
prior to making a decision
-approved the lesser of
two
CT
preventative
maintenance contract plans and
told Vander Does to try to
negotiate a two or three-year
maintenance plan, if possible.
-approved swing bed
policies and procedures.
-approved reappointment
of Dr Jeanne Berretta to the
medical staff.
-heard from Vander Does
that CSEPP has indicated that the
agency would like to rent the
former Boardman
clinic for
$900 a month The district had
previously put the clinic building
for sale. The board approved a
lease for one-year with the
stipulation that CSEPP pay
continued page 2
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