Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (June 4, 2003)
H ealth district seeks fix for budget woes B e s 3 ie A'etaeli U o f J N e « a ?a r,ar L i b r a r y E u g e a « , OR 9'M VOL. 122 NO. 23 12 Pages Wednesday, June 4, 2003 Stories of the Flood Taken from the San Francisco Call, June 18, 1903 edition: H.K.. Bennett w as ju st finished his d a y ’s w ork in his store when he says he felt that som ething fearful w as going to happen. It had been raining and thundering for som e tim e. He hastened hom e and told his wife they had better go up on high ground. She laughed at him, but he insisted so strongly that she at last accompanied him. They had hardly reached a safe lim it w hen they saw a w all o f water fully twenty-five feet high sweeping down the canyon. He rushed dow n below the First N ational bank building and aided m any in getting out. He said the roar was fearful and the crash o f buildings grinding together and pulverizing by the flood will long be remembered. W hen the flood w as at its height, the w ater w as knee deep in the b a n k ... O scar H eppner had one o f the m ost thrilling experiences. He saw his house going and determ ined to save his family. Crawling over logs, trees and parts ofbroken houses he reached his hom e and succeeded in saving his family. He was badly bruised by his perilous trip. George Conser, cashier o f the First National bank, was down stairs in his house when the flood came. He woke his w ife and rushed upstairs ju st as the house started. The water was up to his neck part o f the time and by holding his wife up he was able to save her from drowning. They drifted dow n the canyon for about a m ile and landed up against another house. Mr. Conser kicked the window out and succeeded in climbing onto the ro o f and escaping. N.H. Galatt who lives nearly ten miles south started to aid the sufferers as soon as he heard o f the disaster. He found that the water spout had destroyed property and lives for about twelve miles southward. Along the road the scene w as terrible. In places the roadw ay w as w ashed out six feet deep and other places rocks and drift w as piled up equally as high. Destruction o f property is fearful. Farms are w ashed out, gardens destroyed and every house near the creek was brought dow n with the flood. Souvenir flood edition goes on sale Bert Houweling (left), owner o f Central Market, and David Sykes, publisher o f the H eppner Gazette-Tim es, display the souvenir front page o f the 1903 Heppner Gazette flood edition that is now on sale at stores throughout Heppner. The reprinted front page tells o f the story o f the devastating flood and gives a partial list o f the known dead at that time. The page will sell for $5 and is available at Central Market, M urray Drugs, G ardner’s M en’s Wear, Peterson’s Jewelers, Heppner Gazette-Times and W heatland Insurance. A portion o f the proceeds from the sale o f the pages will go to the com m em oration com m ittee which is putting on the 100- year centennial celebration o f the flood.___________________ Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Vandals hit grange, church auction items Sometime last week vandals entered the lone G range hall and did thousands o f dollars in dam age to not only the hall but to the auction items stored P ersistent financial w oes, including a $117,000 loss for April and a $456,000 loss for the year, are prompting M o rro w C o u n ty H e a lth D istrict C E O V ictor Vander D oes and the M CH D Board to e x a m in e th e d is tr ic t’s funding options. Vander Does and the board, at their regular m eeting M ay 27 in Heppner, agreed that the district cannot a f f o r d to c o n tin u e th e extensive losses and consulted w ith M o rro w C o u n ty A s s e s s o r G re g S w ee k to ex p lo re th e p o ssib ility o f putting a new tax before the voters to prop up the district. C o n s id e r in g th e current state-w ide econom ic s itu a tio n , b o a rd m em bers were hesitant to take a new tax before the voters, especially in an election that would require a double m ajority. A sim ple m ajority is required only in g e n e ra l e le c tio n s. V ander D oes su g g ested a tax that w ould link M C H D with the M o rro w C o u n ty S c h o o l District, and possibly provide health programs to the school district, but board m em bers felt that citizen dissatisfaction w ith the school district could possibly hinder, rather than help the health district. A nother option could be to float a levy to emergency medical services and link that to funding the clinics the district operates in H eppner and Irrigon, which, according to Vander Does, are the “big drains” to the district financially. (Pioneer Memorial Clinic, with a full-tim e and a p art-tim e p h y sician and a physician's assistant, saw 443 patients in April. Irrigon Clinic, w ith a physician’s assistant and occasional physician, saw 171 patients in April.) “ It’s not going to get any better,” said Vander Does. “ 1 don’t see anything coming out o f the state. T h e re ’s not going to be any safety net. Everything’s got to be local.” Chief Financial Officer Nicole M ahoney stressed that if the board opts for a local tax, time is o f the essence. “If you wait ‘til (fiscal year) 2004, you w o n ’t get the m oney ‘til 2005,” she said. If a tax were passed in Septem ber o f this year, the health district could collect in fiscal year 2003-04, if the budget included the levy m o n ie s a n d w as a d o p te d before June 30 o f this year. If the tax was not approved until Novem ber, the district could not collect until fiscal year 2004-05. “ W e’re not going to be able to m ake it if we d on’t (add a supplemental tax),” said M ahoney. “ We d o n ’t have enough patients to generate enough revenue to continue operations. If we run out o f m oney, w e c a n ’t p ay ou r vendors and c a n ’t pay our payroll. We have to decide w hat serv ices you w ant and prioritize them . It needs to happen soon.” Vander Does said that he has asked for a five-percent cost reduction from hospital dep artm en ts, but said that budget cuts alone are not sufficient to balance the budget and stressed that there is not much more to cut. The district anticipates a $300,000 gift from an e s ta te , w h ic h is expected to ease the district’s financial problem s for one year, depending in which fiscal year the gift arrives, but does not solve the district’s long term problems. Vander Does and the board agree that they cannot continue to supply all serv ices they currently provide, but the hard jo b is to decide w hich services are to be cut. A bout $1,000 of dam age was done to church auction items th e r e w a itin g fo r th is Saturday’s annual lone United Church o f Christ’s auction. T he dam age was discov ered Saturday morning when volunteers show ed up to be gin w orking on preparing for the auction. D am age was estim ated at around $3,000 - $2,000 to the building and $ 1,000 to auc tion items. The vandals apparently en tered the building through a dow nstairs door after break ing a window. The vandals proceeded to open cans o f food and throw the contents around the room. They also took knives and slit open several couches located downstairs. Pornographic graffiti was scrawled on the walls as well as the words, ‘Bitch we got u back, ha ha” written on one o f the counters. Police said Tuesday they had not apprehended anyone for the crim e, how ever Saturday shefifTs deputies Loren Dieter and Brian Rietmann were tak ing fingerprints from the knives and other objects. A fine pow der w as spread over the floor and furniture ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. dow nstairs w here fire extin guishers had been set off. Up stairs was trashed heav ily as the vandals tipped over tables laden with auction items and broke glass and other items. The restroom s w ere also trashed and the toilets plugged. By Saturday afternoon a crew o f 20 volunteers had tom up the old carpet and hauled o ff several o f the destroyed couches. By Sunday morning new carpet had been p u r chased and volunteers were installing it The Rev Paul C lay o f the lone United Church o f Christ said the auction is ready to go. ‘ We are expecting a great day Satuday w ith lots o f people and good food and lots o f fun," he said. Rev. C lay also said there would be another work party scheduled for Friday a 19a.m. and anyone who would like to help is welcome. C h u rc h m em b e r Jean Jepsen, w ho w as the first to discover the vandalism , said "W e will be ready to go. I is so m eth in g that slow s you down, but d oesn’t stop you.” "W e’re looking at reducing staffhours,” said Vander Does. “The next cut w on’t be labor. It will be services.” Vander Does estimated that the district n e e d s a n o th e r d o lla r p e r thousand in tax m onies to survive. Sw eek presented the board information on tax rates th ro u g h o u t th e d is tr ic t, including utilities, industrial taxes and enterprise zones and “compression”, and provided some answers as to how these issues affect the health district’s taxing capability. The board d isc u s s e d the re q u e st by M CH D Board m em ber Ed Glenn, Boardman, to have the city o f Boardman be excluded from the M orrow C ounty Health District, but took no action as the district is not yet sure whether that action would result in increased costs for the citizens o f B oardm an and w hether it w ould help the d istric t’s bottom line. The b o a rd a lso d isc u s s e d the p o s s ib ility o f th e c ity o f Boardman annexing the land o n w h ic h th e p ro p o s e d N ascar race track is to be built, since that land currently is on the county tax rolls, but abuts city property. The city o f B o a rd m a n p re v io u s ly gained substantial tax monies after annexing Port o f Morrow industrial property. If the city o f Boardm an opts out o f the district, Boardman taxpayers could have to pay 90 cents to $ 1 per thousand to support their medical services, versus the 60-1 12 cents per thousand they currently pay. In other business, the board agreed to an added eight percent incentive for Dr. Sam Datta, who is employed with the district in H eppner, w h ich c o u ld in cre ase his current salary o f $ 125,000 up to $ 140,000. W hile the board was reluctant to increase costs for the district, they agreed on the importance o f consistency in h e a lth c a re p ro v id e rs , D atta’s good standing in the Heppner com m unity and the value o f financial returns he brings to the district, w hich V ander D oes estim a tes at a ro u n d $ 2 7 7 ,0 0 0 . W h ile M CH D also pays $140,000 to Dr. R o b e rt B o ss, w ho operates a private clinic in B o a rd m a n , th e d is tr ic t receives no direct financial return, other than the “good w i l l ” o f th e B o a rd m a n community. In related business, th e b o a rd v o te d a g a in s t reimbursing Dr. Boss for costs for two physician’s assistants during a one-month transition period, w here one PA was training to replace another who had announced his resignation. They agreed to pay $5,841 to Dr. Boss to reimburse him for costs for one PA, rather than the $ 10,214 he requested. The board w as in agreem ent that Dr. Boss m ust abide by the terms o f his new contract and provide required data to the district in order to receive monthly payments. In o th e r b u s in e s s , Vander Does announced the resignation o f W illow Creek T e rra c e A s s is te d L iv in g adm inistrator Tonia A dam s. Nancy Vander Does will serve as a d m in istra to r until the facility is fully occupied. Hie assisted living center currently has seven residents, but has a potential for 16. S heriff deputies investigate the crim e scene HiQual L iv e s to c k E q u ip m e n t C L 0 5 E O U T S A L E OI\l S E L E C T E D IT E M S • Bale Spikes • Flex H orse Ponds • and m orel Call or sto p b y for a co m p le te list of sale Ite m s Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 For farm equipment. viti« our wtb »it* at www.nKgg.not I
