Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2003)
City votes to cut $4 million from water repair project Bessie « etze ll U of U Ne*3pa j ô t * l i b r a r y E u g e n s, OR The H eppner City Council M onday pared back the large city w a te r p ro je c t, v o ting instead to cut almost $ 4 million from the proposed $6 million renovation and upgrade. Cut from the project are three new w ells and a new 750,000- gallon storage tank. A bout 26 m em bers o f the public attended the city council meeting, which was moved to th e S e n io r C e n te r to a c c o m m o d a te th e la rg e r crowd. L eading the effort to trim back the size o f the project was council m em ber Tom Wolff, who made a detailed report on why he thought the city could not afford the more expensive $6 m illio n p ro je c t. C ity M anager Jerry Breazeale and M ayor Bob Jepsen argued in favor o f the larger project saying the city needed the increased capacity in order to grow. A t last m onth’s m eeting W olff had proposed that the c ity u se th e e x tra m o n ey currently being taken in with higher water rates to do the job p ie c e m e a l w ith le a s e d equipm ent and seasonal help 97403 o v e r a n u m b e r o f y e a rs . M onday night he said he had re evaluated his proposal and now felt the city should borrow m oney to do the project, but at the smaller scale. T h e c ity is c u r r e n tly e x p e c te d to ta k e in a n additional $143,000 per year w ith the re c e n tly e n a c te d w ater rate increases, w hich W olff said should be able to pay for the debt on the $ 1.73 to $2 m illion sm aller project. He said the priority o f the sm aller project w ould be to “put pipes in the ground.” E veryone agreed that the c ity ’s 43,000 feet o f w ater pipes are in bad shape and need to be replaced. The pipe replacement will move ahead and be the m ajor scope o f the reduced size project. W olff gave several reasons w hy he was against the $6 million project. “I believe the m a ste r p lan is go o d . T he financing plan is good and the city council did approve the plan,” Wolff said. “I found out, how ever, that churches, ball fields, the water park and the h o s p ita l, w ith its 104 paychecks, do not pay for water. The people in Salem (the state agency providing low interest financing and g ra n ts fo r th e $6 m illio n project) don't feel that is good enough. (They would require charging these groups if the f in a n c in g p a c k a g e w e re accepted),” W olff said. W olff told the council and the gathered crow d that he "ran the num bers” on the project and found that it w ould cost $203,000 per year to finance the debt on the loans and city is only collecting $ 143,000 for debt service. “There is a gap,” he said. In addition he pointed out that 110 percent o f the loan would have to be collected the first 10 years w hich w ould req u ire $ 2 2 3 ,0 0 0 for debt service. He estim ated that w ater rates w ould have to be ra ise d a g a in by 65 to 80 p e r c e n t to c o v e r th e payments. W olff also voiced his d isp le a su re w hen he first learned the debt would not be r e v e n u e b o n d s as firs t proposed, but instead general obligation bonds, w hich are continued page 3 81st Pro Rodeo to host world and local contestants VOL. 122 NO. 33 8 Pages Wednesday, August 13,2003 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon 2003 Morrow County Fair and OTPR opens Wednesday The 8151 Oregon Trail Pro R odeo w ill be held this w eekend, A ug. 15 and 16. M any top-ranked contestants w ill be fa c in g up a g a in st challenging local talent. T h e P R C A ro d e o kicks o f f in H eppner w ith M utton B u stin’ at 6:30 p.m ., on F rid a y , A u g . 15. T h e R odeo action w ill begin at 7 p.m . D uring the rodeo there will be a “C all Your D og” c o n te st an d fo llo w in g the rodeo, the ladies will be out in the PR CA Slack contest. Saturday events will begin w ith M utton B ustin’ at 12:45 p.m ., and rodeo action begins at 1:15 p.m. T ic k e ts m a y be purchased at the gate. A dult prices are $8 each and the cost fo r c h ild r e n 7 -1 2 is $5. C hildren six and under are admitted free. Sunday, Aug. 17, will bring the M orrow C ounty Rodeo with local residents or g r a d u a te s c o m p e tin g fo r m oney and awards. O pening th e e v e n t w ill be a slack com petition at 10 a.m ., and M orrow County Rodeo action will begin at 1:15 p.m. Headlining the list o f entries for the PR C A rodeo are four o f the top 15 w orld standing contestants. They Shawn Greenfield, Lakeview, O R, w ith $69,638 won this Cowboy breakfast at Fairground The W rangler Cowboy Breakfast will be held at the Morrow County Fairgrounds, Sunday, Aug. 17. Breakfast will be served from 8-11 a.m. Cost will be $ 15 for a family, $5 for adults and $3 for children (L-R): Merle Cowett, JoAnne Burleson, Betty Bailey, Heppner Garden club members, 12 and under. and Chuck Bailey, Heppner Garden Club president, receive a place flower entries for Bring the family and enjoy pancakes, ham, eggs, hashbrowns, the 2003 Morrow County Fair. The fair opened Wednesday and runs through Sunday. coffee and milk. School board breaks deadlock, selects Bill Kuhn Lizz Green (left) receives vegetable entries from Lexington resident John Renfro, a former sweepstakes winner. (L-R): Joey Olson and Ashley Sjurset, with mom, Lori Sjurset, set up their stall for their sheep which will he coming in later. The M orrow County S ch o o l B oard, w h ich had tw ic e d e a d lo c k e d o v e r selection o f a seventh board member, broke their deadlock M o n d a y n ig h t to s e le c t H eppner lawyer Bill Kuhn to com plete the board. The board voted 4-2 to select Kuhn, w ith board chair John Renfro, Lexington, C raig M iles, H eppner, Ken M atlack, Irrigon, and Barney Lindsay, north L exington, voting in favor o f Kuhn. Julie W eikel, B oardm an, and Pat M c N a m e e , Irrig o n , voted a g a in s t K u h n . R e n fro expressed the appreciation o f the board to Angela Gutierrez o f B o a r d m a n , th e o th e r candidate who had expressed interest in the position. T h e b o a rd e le c te d Barney Lindsay as vice chair 6-1, w ith W eikel having the lone dissenting vote. The board approved the initial presentation o f their 2003-04 goals, which includes a statem ent that the board ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P .M .I “w ants to open the Irrigon H igh School in the fall o f 2005.” W hen pressured for a d e f in ite c o m m itm e n t on opening the school by Irrigon resident M eredith DeHaven, Renfro replied that the current b o a rd in te n d s fo r th is to happen, but has no guarantee o f the actions o f future boards. The proposed 2003- 04 goals include: Financial: -continue many o f the ideas established in 2002-03; - m a in ta in a c a s h carryover o f $ 1.5 million; -m aintain the equity issue w ith the goal that the amount o f money each school g e n e r a te s w o u ld b e th e amount that each is allowed to spend; - h a v e a b a la n c e d b u d g et in term s o f yearly in c o m e a n d e x p e n s e s by 2004-05; -seek board approval for any exceptions to the equity funding issue; -try to develop a 3-5 year budget concept so that the board can plan for the future. Communication: -continue the meetings that are held with each school’s staff; -increase newsletters, trying to publish six o f them and put out a Spanish version th a t w o u ld be p la c e d in supermarkets; -ex p an d th e celebration o f testing w ith more board involvement and continued page 3 W e W ill B e C lo s e d S a tu r d a y , A u g . 1 6 t h F or Fair A nd R o d e o IVe 7 / S e e You There! year and currently standing first in the world in steer wrestling; third place in calf roping in the wor l d, Blair Burk, Durant, O K , w ith $ 5 7 ,7 1 4 ; C o r y Petska, Lexington, 0 K , c u rr e n tly e ig h th in the w orld Blair Burk in te a m roping, w ith $36,364; and Clint Corey, Powell Butte, OR, fifteenth in the w orld 1 n b a re b a c k riding, with $33,884. A Clint Corev g o o d show ing o f M orrow County talent will also be available. Bill B ishop, o f Irrigon w ill be participating in c a lf roping; Tom Cam arillo, lone, will be steer wrestling; Dave Cannon, Jr., H eppner, w ill be c a lf r o p in g ; S te v e C u r r in , Heppner, will be participating in c a l f ro p in g a n d s te e r w r e s tlin g ; J e rr y G e n try , Heppner, will be c a lf roping; and Blake Knowles, Heppner, will be participating in steer wresting and team roping. Big Bend Rodeo Co., ofRitzville, WA will supply the rough stock again this year. They are nationally renowned for their quality stock. They are bringing a “National Bucking Horse,” a “National Bucking Bull” o f the year and a NF- R Bucking Bull champion. The w hole fam ily is sure to enjoy the many events and “world-class" talent to be s e e n a t th e ro d e o . A lso , rem em ber to enjoy all the m any other fair activities that w ill begin W ednesday, Aug. 13. wgT’J) r Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 * 1 -8 0 0 -4 5 2 -7 3 9 6 for form equipment, Wtlt our web wt# at www.imis.net
