Bessie »etzeil
U o f u heea pan er Library
Eugene, üR 9 / 4 J 3
New lone School District
holds first board meeting
lone School Board members are sworn in by the I matilla-Morrow ESL). (l.-R): Members, Cregg Rietmann,
Joe McElligott, Debbie Radie, John Rietmann and Anne Morter.
The Umatilla-Morrow
E ducation Service D istrict
B o a rd s e le c te d fiv e lo n e
S c h o o l D is tr ic t B o a rd
m e m b e rs a t its m e e tin g
W ednesday, Ju ly 9, at the
Legion Hall in lone. A fter a
public interview o f the six
candidates, the ESD Board
s e le c te d fo u r ISD B o a rd
m em bers, John Rietm ann, a
former member o f the Morrow
C ounty School Board, Joe
M cElligott and Anne Morter,
VOL. 122
NO. 29
8 Pages
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Lake level to drop dramatically
The C orp o f Engineers has sold w ater from lake to down stream
irrigators
W illow C reek L a k e ’s
w ater level will be dropped
th is su m m e r to below the
floating boat docks and just to
the edge o f the launching ramp
by O ctober, according to the
US A rm y Corps o f Engineers.
T he C orps and the Bureau
o f Reclamation could be selling
3,400 acre feet o f w ater to
do w n stream irrigators this
year, w hich w ill cause the
drastic, drop in water level.
The draw dow n has already
started and by October will be
at a very low level. C orps
spokesm en say.
The water is being sold under
one year tem porary contracts
to six irrigators for $8 an acre-
foot, or a total income o f about
$27,000.
At a meeting in Heppner July
9 representatives o f the Corps
said that the primary use o f the
dam is for flood control and
se co n d a ry
i r r ig a t io n .
Recreation use is not a m ajor
stated use o f the dam and
reservoir so the im pact on
recreation w as not a m ajor
consideration when deciding to
sell the water.
T h e C o r p s r e c e iv e d
perm ission to sell the w ater
after the W illow C reek area
was declared in an emergency
drought situation. The last time
w ater w as sold w as in 1992.
T he C o rp s said eco n o m ic
ben efit from rele asin g the
w ater to irrigators w ould be
$310,000.
According to docum ents on
the Corps web site recreational
use has increased at W illow
C re e k L ak e fro m 4 2 ,0 0 0
visits in 1990 to m ore that
50,000 visits in 2002 (this
does not include visits to the
RV park). V isitation in 1999
was almost 40,000 visits. With
multiplier effects, these visits
generated about $340,000 in
income and supported 17 local
jobs. Economic benefits o f the
present recreational use would
be proportionally higher, but
n o e s tim a te s h a v e b e e n
calculated, the web site stated.
T he corps said that the
water release will be from the
bottom o f the lake and could
cause there to be m ore algae
in the lake. By Septem ber 17
the surface area o f the lake will
have been reduced from 156
acres to 126. The floating boat
dock near the launching ramp
probably will not be floating
after Labor Day, the C orps
said.
B ecause o f the declared
drought in this area the water
can be so ld to irrig a to rs ,
how ever, the C orps said it is
investigating the possibility o f
selling perm anent long-term
w ater contracts every year
r e g a r d le s s o f d r o u g h t
conditions.
Council members says: ‘we can’t afford it’
City puts $6 million water project on hold
The H eppner city council
decided M onday to put the
city’s $6 million water system
rehabilitation project on hold
while it studies a smaller, less
expensive alternative.
For the past year the city
h a s b e e n m o v in g to w a rd
borrowing funds, applying for
g r a n ts
and
p r e p a r in g
e n g in e e r in g
p la n s
to
com pletely re-do the c ity ’s
w ater system , including tw o
new wells and a storage tank.
Monday night council member
T om W o lf f d r o p p e d a
bom bshell o f sorts w hen he
a s k e d th e c ity c o u n c il to
a p p r o v e a m o tio n to
com pletely change the size o f
the project and how it is being
funded.
W olff said the city co u ld n 't
afford the payments on the 30-
y e a r $ 4 ,7 5 0 ,0 0 0 debt that
would be required to complete
th e p r o je c t a s c u r r e n tl y
proposed. “ I am in favor o f
the project. I believe the city
needs the project done. I ju st
d o n ’t think we can afford it,”
W olff said.
He said the recent w ater
rate increase w ill raise an
additional $ 143,000 (approx)
per year, but that is not enough.
A p p a r e n tly it w ill c o s t
approxim ately $203,000 per
year to repay the debt, and
w ater rates will m ost likely
have to be raised again to
cover the paym ents, W olff
said.
C ity m a n a g e r J e rr y
B reazeale said Tuesday that
figures are approxim ate, but
the additional $70,000 needed
to cover the paym ents would
com e from a reserve fund
already in the budget recently
set up by the city to cover
e m e rg e n c y w a te r re p a irs.
Breazeale said while he could
not guarantee that water rates
would never have to be raised
again, a new water system will
lessen the need for repairs and
continued page 3
Pre-fair edition
deadline set
Tuesday, A ug. 29 is
the deadline for turning in
articles and advertisements for
the H eppner G azette-Tim es'
pre-fair edition. Ifyou would
like to have an a rtic le or
a d v e rtise m e n t ab o u t your
event or activity at the fair
included in the pre-fair edition
please bring it to the G azette
o f f ic e , 147 W illo w S t.,
Heppner, before 5 p.m.. Aug.
29. You can also fax your
stories to 676-9211 or em ail
them to david(g)heppner net.
both petitioners for the ISD,
and Gregg Rietmann, who was
a m em ber o f the lone Self-
D eterm ination C om m ittee.
Each had six votes among the
six E SD B o ard m em b e rs
present. A run-otf for the fifth
p o s itio n , b e tw e e n Jo e l
Peterson and D ebbie Radie,
w ho re c e iv e d th re e v o tes
ap iece, w as a v e rted w hen
Peterson dem urred to Radie,
saying that Radie should have
the position since she had been
MCSD Board faces
new times with new
members and no lone
A n in flu x o f n ew
m em bers and the absence o f
an lone faction appeared to
do little to unite a fractious
M o rro w C o u n ty S c h o o l
Board as they squabbled until
nearly m idnight M onday on
issues ranging from a board
c a le n d a r to a tte n d a n c e
variances to dem ands for an
Irrigon high school.
A f te r a le n g th y
debate, the board voted to
allow Lexington area students,
w ho currently reside in the
M o rro w C o u n ty S c h o o l
District, but who had attended
lone schools during the 2002-
03 school year, to attend the
new ly form ed lone School
District-ifthe parents petition
M C SD for release. Students
living in the M CSD who had
not attended lone Schools
previously will not be released
from the MCSD. Parents w ho
now reside outside ISD who
w ish their students to attend
ISD m ay still do so, however,
neither the ISD nor M CSD
w ill receiv e state m onies,
am ounting to approxim ately
$ 5 ,0 0 0 per stu d en t, if the
students are not released from
one district to attend another.
The ISD Board has said that
it will consider allow ing those
students, who are not released
from MCSD, to attend ISD on
a case-by-case basis, w ith one
criteria for their decision being
a c a d e m ic rec o rd s. In that
case, the ISD Board has said
that it will require tuition for
students w ho have not been
released to attend ISD.
D e s p ite
se v era l
im passioned, and som etim es
an gry pleas to the M C SD
Board from Irrigon residents
to establish a high school in
Irrigon, one even hinting at the
idea o f an Irrigon secession
from the district, the board
declined to m ake a decision
and tabled the issue until further
study and public input could
be obtained. (See Letters to
the Editor, this issue.) “The
only point the board should
deliberate is when, not if,’ said
newly- elected board member
Ken Matlack, Irrigon. “ I don't
think it’s appropriate to have
more meetings. Let's go ahead
and act and make a decision,”
he urged.
T h e b o a rd , a t an
impasse concerning setting the
board meeting calendar, finally
w ent ahead and adopted the
calendar as presented, with
the stipulation that it could be
c h a n g e d at a la te r d a te .
M atlack requested that the
b o a rd ’s m e e tin g d a te s be
c h a n g e d fro m M o n d a y
evening to accom m odate his
schedule. M atlack told the
board that he had also been
recently elected to another
board w hose m eeting date
c o n flic ts w ith the M C SD
B o a rd .
M a tla c k
a ls o
req u e sted that the M C SD
B o a rd m e e tin g tim e be
changed from 7:30 p.m. to 7
p.m . T he board could not
com e to an agreem ent over a
d iffe re n t m eeting date, so
S u p e r in te n d e n t Dr. Ja c k
C rip p en told the board to
bring a list o f com m unity
m ee tin g d ates to the next
board m eeting, so that they
could hopefully select a day
that did not conflict w ith other
community boards.
The board declared a
board vacancy for the position
that had been held by Debbie
Radie, lone, who was elected
to the M CSD Board at the
May election, but resides in the
new lone School District. After
additional debate, the board
continued page 3
elected by M orrow C ounty
voters to the M orrow County
School Board. Radie, w ho
lives the lone School District
boundaries, lost her position
on th e M o rro w C o u n ty
School B oard after lo n e 's
secession from the M CSD
was successful.
N am es
of
th e
successful candidates w ere
d ra w n o u t o f a h a t to
determine the board members'
term s. Joe M cE lligott and
G regg R ietm ann will each
serve four-year term s; Anne
M orter, John Rietm ann and
Debbie Radie w ill serve two-
year terms.
F o llo w in g
th e
selection o f the board, the
ESD turned the m eeting over
to the new ly form ed lone
School District Board, which
then elected a chair and vice-
c h a ir , a p p r o v e d s c h o o l
entrance policies and took
c a re
of
n u m ero u s
h o u s e k e e p in g a n d o th e r
duties.
T h e IS D B o a rd
learned that due to boundary
issues, the ISD w ould have
around 20 students fewer than
anticipated during the 2003-
04 year. At around $5,000 per
student, this negatively impacts
the new ly-formed district to the
tune o f around $ 100,000.
In other business the
board:
- e le c te d
Jo e
M cElligott chairm an o f the
board;
- e le c te d
G re g g
Rietm ann vice-chair o f the
board;
-estab lish ed school
entrance/attendance
boundaries/transfer policies as
follows:
“ * Kindergarten
Entrance-Any child whose fifth
birthday falls on or before
S e p te m b e r 1 m ay e n te r
kindergarten at the opening o f
school in that same year;
♦ F irs t
G rad e
Entrance-A ny child w hose
sixth birthday falls on or before
Septem ber I m ay enter first
grade at the opening o f school
in that same year;
♦Lexington/Pine City
C h ild ren A tte n d a n c e -lo n e
School district intends to honor
the historic attendance rights
ofchoice that the families and
children o f the Lexington/Pine
City School attendance area
have had follow ing the closure
o f the Lexington School. All
children who reside in the old
Lexington/Pine C ity School
districts' attendance areas are
continued page 4
HARVEST HOURS
M on d ay * F rid ay 7 a.m.*6 p.m.
Saturday 7 a.m.-5 p.m.
Morrow County Crain Growers
Lexington
9 8 9 -8 2 2 1
• 1 -8 0 0 -4 5 2 -7 3 9 6
for farm ,quipm«nt. yliit our w«b «it« »t www m tn .n«<
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