Underground Water halts work on
Irrigon school site
Beasi*} beiseli
U of 3 Ne«sparir Library
Eugene, OR 974 )3
VOL. 121
NO. 32
8 Pages
Wednesday, August 14,2002
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
It’s Fair time!
Seuzi Conlee (left) and Stacy Wain w right judge the juniors exhibits in preparation for the opening of the 2002
Morrow County Fair Wednesday, August 14. The Fair and Rodeo runs through Sunday August 18.
Heppner Council discusses
BMX & skateboard parks
The H eppner City
Council, at its monthly meeting
Monday night, discussed building
a BMX bike riding area and a
skateboard park in Heppner.
The council heard
from H eppner S heriff Randy
Rayburn who said that fill dirt to
co n stru ct the bike track is
available free from the school
construction project in town, and
that other volunteer labor would
be available. The proposed bike
track would be built at Hager
Park. The park would be for kids
on BMX type b icy cles and
motorized bikes would not be
allowed.
Rayburn said the kids
in town need some place to go to
ride their bikes, and this would be
a safe fun place to ride. Because
of the donated labor and materials
he said the project would not cost
the city much money to build.
In another discussion,
the council discussed the
possibility o f turning the old
swimming pool into a skateboard
park. A lot o f kids ride
skateboards on the sidew alks
downtown and police and the
council would like to find them a
safe place to ride.
City Manager Jerry
Breazeale said some discussion on
what to do with the old pool has
been held within the community.
Neighbors and other interested
persons in town have not been
able to come to agreement on
how to use the old pool. Breazeale
said. “We thought we had a plan-
quiet neighborhood park because
people could not agree,” he said.
The council
discussed skate board parks in
other cities and how to best
modify the old Heppner pool. No
action was taken and more
discussions will be held later. In
the meantime the old pool will be
posted “no trespassing” to keep
kids who have been skateboarding
there out of the area.
“When I tell kids not
to skateboard and ride bikes on
the sidewalks. I'd like to have a
place to send them ,” O fficer
Rayburn said. “I think it would
make a better youth-friendly
town.”
In other business the
council voted to award a contract
to Bailey Heavy Equipment of
Heppner for construction o f a
new water line on Baltim ore
S treet by the new school
construction project. Bailey was
the low bidder on the project.
Road construction
on Juniper Canyon
Drivers are reminded that there
is road construction occurring on
Juniper Canyon Road, which is
4.5 miles off Bombing Range
Road towards lone. Long delays
and detours should be expected
for approximately the next four
months.
Strawberry Lane will be a main
detour. Drivers are asked to allow
for extra travel time or plan an
alternate traveling route.
HHS
cheerleaders’
carnival fun for
kids at fair
Parents looking for something
the kids can do during the
Murray's Country Rose Wine and
Beer Tasting on Thursday, Aug.
15 from 6:30-8:30 p.m., may take
them to the beef barn for the
H eppner
High
School
ch e erle a d e rs’ carnival. The
carnival includes a ring toss,
basketball shoot, dartboard and
penny toss games. There will be
a prize for all the kids.
The cheerleaders are raising
funds for the year’s activities.
ALL NEW S AND ADVERTISEM ENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Work on the Irrigon
elementary school site has been
halted because of underground
water, the Morrow County School
Board learned at its regular
m eeting M onday night in
Lexington.
Problems with that site
and other construction glitches
district-wide brought out the big
guns from Heery International,
Inc., the Portland-based firm
hired by the board to act as bond
construction project managers.
Ricky Langford, vice president at
Heery, was in attendance at the
m eeting as was Rick Hayes,
project m anager with Heery
based in Bend, supervisor to Nan
Hall, on-site project manager.
Hayes said that he was brought
in to assist Hall so that she could
“focus” on issues at hand and
keep other projects running
smoothly.
H ayes said that the
co n tracto r at the Irrigon
elementary school site discovered
w ater at about five feet
underground w hile digging
foundation at the southern half of
the site and the water started
entering foundation trenches. He
said that the underground water
would adversely affect wood
flooring proposed for the school
and suggested installing a drain
field, additional protection for the
gymnasium flooring or changing
sites as possible solutions to the
problem. Hayes said that installing
a drain field could add $60,000-
$70,000 to the project. He said
that the problem appeared to
seasonal, since it was not
detected by testing in November,
but added that the situation would
be review ed by a geological
engineer, along w ith BBT
(architects), Heery International
and DEQ. Board member John
Rietmann voiced his concern that
w ith only $1.4 m illion in
contingency for the bond projects,
completion of major projects, such
as the lone school construction
could be adversely impacted,
especially with smaller projects
gening the go-ahead. “Do you see
the Irrigon project spinning out of
control?” Rietmann asked Hayes.
“No, I don't think so,” Hayes
replied.
Irrigon resident Meredith
DeHaven criticized the district for
not com m unicating w ith the
citizens o f Irrigon about the
problems with the Irrigon school
construction site. “I realize we
are the stepchildren of Morrow
County,
but
w e’re
not
mushrooms, we don’t like to be
kept in the dark,” commented
D eH aven. Board C hair Julie
Weikel said that the board itself
only recently learned o f the
problem and Rietmann added that
the board needed time to learn the
d etails o f the situation and
hammer out a solution. The board
acknow ledged that they had
communication problems and said
that they were considering a
district newsletter or articles in
local
papers
to
better
com m unicate w ith district
residents.
Hall reported that
problems with disposal of refuse
from
the dem olition at
construction sites have been
cleared up to the satisfaction of
DEQ regulations, but Rietmann
pointed out that a dump site was
still evident on Main Street in lone.
Board m em ber John Renfro
commented on the seriousness of
the demolition refuse issue and
pointed out that it required the
threat o f legal action before
Heery made sure that the situation
was resolved. “I see Heery as
being charged with looking out for
our best interest," commented
Renfro.
Hall said that an initial
pile test of the foundation at the
lone construction site did not
meet regulations, but a second
test was acceptable. She said that
testing on the septic system was
approved by DEQ and they are
ready to issue a building permit.
Hall said that work on the
Boardman site is on schedule, on
budget and going smoothly.
In other business, the
board:
-hired Dick Allen as half
time vice-principal for the 2002-
03 school year to assist Wade
Smith, who was recently hired as
principal at Heppner Elementary
and Heppner High School. Allen
retired this year after serving as
principal at HHS and lone High
School.
-heard a report from
H ow ard
Sheets,
d istrict
maintenance manager, who said
that the district finally received
landscaping plans for the Head
Start building which was moved
to accommodate construction at
the Boardman site. He said that
costs for moving the Head Start
building so far are around
$75,000-$80,000. with final costs
estimated at around $100,000,
which is near budget.
-heard a report from
HHS/HES Principal Wade Smith,
who said that all four teaching
positions at HHS have been filled,
w hich allow s for additional
classes not anticipated, creating
more choices for HHS students.
New schedules have been mailed
to those students. He said that
Stansbury Street in front of the
elementary school will not be
completed in time for the start of
school on Sept. 3, which will make
for a difficult situation for buses
and private vehicles dropping off
and picking up students. He added
that he is still working on a
solution to provide food service
for the elementary school, since
the cafeteria has been demolished
in preparation for construction.
-heard a report from lone
Schools Principal Mike Stuart
who said that he also is working
out a solution to provide food
service at the lone schools
because the kitchen will not be
com pleted until around two
weeks after the beginning of
school.
-changed the monthly
m eeting
calendar
to
accommodate a new plan for the
board to schedule a social dinner
meeting with district staff to
improve communication lines
between the board and staff. At
each meeting location, the board
plans to invite the staff o f that
particular school to dine with
them at the school, free o f
charge. District food service will
provide the meals. The dinner
meetings are scheduled for 6:30
p.m. with a curriculum report
from that particular school at 7:15
p.m. and the regular meeting at
7:30 p.m. The revised calendar is
as follows: Monday, September 9-
Heppner High school; Monday,
O ctober 14-R iverside High
School, Boardm an; Tuesday,
November 12-C’olumbia Middle
School, Irrigon; M onday
D ecem ber 9-D istrict O ffice;
Monday, January 13-Heppner
Elementary School; Monday,
February 10-Sam Boardman
Elementary School; Monday,
March 10-Ione High School;
M onday, A pril 14-Columbia
Middle School; Monday, May 12-
A.C. H oughton E lem entary
School, Irrigon; Monday, June 9-
Riverside High School.
-learned that the district’s
advisory committees are out of
compliance with state regulations,
regarding the num ber of
committees, number of members
per com m ittee and scope of
authority. According to district
superintendent Dr. Jack Crippen,
regulations specify that if the
district decides to continue having
advisory boards, each school must
have an advisory board consisting
of three members. It was not
clear whether each entity within
a school must have an advisory
board. For example, would lone
have one board or three because
the school houses an elementary
school, middle school and high
school? Other options discussed
include d isso lu tio n o f the
committees by the school board
or bringing the issue to a vote of
the people. “ We need to either
bring them into compliance or
recognize we don’t need them,”
said Weikel. The board agreed to
seek legal counsel on the issue.
-received clarification
from counsel on the open
meetings law.
-accepted resignations/
retirements for Kristi Orcutt, Sam
Boardman Elementary School
special education one-on-one
assistant.
-approved employment
for M ichelle R aible, A.C.
Houghton second grade teacher;
Eva Randolph, Heppner High
School language arts teacher;
Donna Scott, Heppner Junior
High School seventh and eighth
grade math teacher; Cynthia
Kuchenbecker, HHS business
teacher; Fred M onaco, HHS
advanced math teacher; Nicholas
Budge, RHS music teacher; and
Lacey Larson, A.C. Houghton
special education teacher.
-approved an attendance
variance for a student residing in
the Hermiston district to attend
school at A.C. Houghton.
-approved an addendum
to Dr. Crippen’s contract which
specifies that he provide his own
cell phone for personal and district
use and that the district reimburse
him at $50 a month.
— review ed
the
stipulations for establishment of a
high school in Irrigon as follows:
“ 1) that the funding levels
currently established are
maintained by the state with a cost
o f living adjustm ent; 2) that
in stru ctio n al program s at
Riverside High School would not
be eliminated or reduced as a
result of establishing a new high
school. This does not preclude a
minor adjustment in program to
accommodate schedule or shifting
o f resources w ithin elective
offerings; 3) that enrollm ent
betw een the com m unities of
Boardman and Irrigon continue to
increase at the five percent
average as in the past five years;
4) that the district establish a
separate fund, during the
transition period, using revenues
from student growth; 5) that the
new high school would be phased
in over a period of three years
beginning in no later than the year
following the opening o f the new
elementary school in Irrigon, so
space is available for sixth
graders, (i.e., bond passes in
spring 2001; new elementary
school completed in December
2002; move sixth grade students
to new elem entary school in
January 2003; eighth graders that
are promoted in 2003 would stay
as the first freshmen in Fall 2003.
The next year. Fall 2004 would
have freshmen and sophomores
at Irrigon High School and the
Fall o f 2005 you would have your
full-blow n high school. The
freshman class o f 2002 would
graduate from Riverside High
School.)”
“We don’t think that will
work," said Dr. Crippen. “ We
d o n ’t think they could split
teachers. It’s a situation that could
prolong opening of school. I think
three and four we are doing."
“My concern is that these #5
stipulations are not being met,”
added Renfro.
-heard the follow ing
announcements: in-service day-
Monday. August 26; district-wide
Tuesday-Tuesday, August 27,
RHS, 8 a.m.; inservice/work day-
Wednesday, August 28; work
day -Thursday, August 29; Labor
Day holiday-Monday, September
2; first day of school for students-
Tuesday. September 3; next board
meeting-!V4>nday, September 9.
We witt Be CLOSED on Saturday, August 17th.
Join us at the fair and J(pdeo;
stop By and see our Jair
M orrow C ounty G rain G row ers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
For form equipment. w it our wtb utt at www mqg net