Community members and business
honored at Town and Country
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Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene. O R 97403
Doris Brosnan
Duane Neiffer
■f
Heather Kill
VOL. 125
NO. 3
10 Pages
Wednesday, January 18,2006
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
School board approves six-classroom
addition to Windy River Elementary
The Morrow County
School Board, at its regular
meeting Monday night in
Heppner, voted to build six
more classrooms on to the
Windy R iver Elem entary
S chool
b u ild in g
in
Roardman.
T he
e lem en ta ry
school building, constructed
with six original classrooms,
was designed to be easily
m o d ified to add on
a d d itio n a l room s. Two
classrooms will be added to
one wing, which already has
six classroom s, and four
classrooms will be added to
the o th e r sid e, w hich
c u rre n tly
has
four
classroom s. W indy River
currently has around 150
students in the fifth and sixth
grades.
M
C
S
D
S u p e rin te n d e n t
M ark
Burrows said that Boardman
school population had been
growing rapidly, seeing a
four percent grow th rate
from 1998 to 2001 and a six
percent growth rate from
2001 to 2004, before
slowing to one-and-a-half
percent from October 2004
to October 2005.
Burrows estim ated
that at a five-percent growth
rate, the six c lassro o m
a d d itio n s
w ould
accommodate the Boardman
e lem en ta ry
student
p o p u lation for five-plus
years. At a one-and-a-half
percent grow th rate, the
a d d itio n s
should
accommodate students for
around 10 years.
B urrow s
also
presented projections if the
board approved construction
o f only four a d d itio n a l
classroom s, how ever the
cost for the two additional
room s was only around
$200,0(X) more, so the board
opted for more rooms now
to save construction costs
later.
WRE Principal Thad
K illin g b eck assu red the
Becker Construction the low
bid, but the d istric t had
worked with the company
before. Becker Construction
is cu rren tly building the
Irrigon High School's new
PTE building, which will be
used for the Ag and PE
complex.
B urrow s said that
B ecker C onstruction has
estim ated that the project
will be completed by June.
B urrow s ad d ed that he
expects that the project will
be done by the start of school
in September.
The monies for the
first four classroom s had
already been budgeted and
the additional $228,700 will
com e from next y e a r ’s
budget. “This is incredible,”
said board m em ber Pat
M cNam ee. “We have the
money without going out for
a bond.”
B u rro w s said the
school facilities at Irrigon
A s s i s t a n t appear to be sufficient for the
Superintendent Wade Smith time being, since Irrigon,
said th a t not only w as continued page 7
board that the rooms would
not go to waste until they are
put into use as classrooms.
“Certainly the rooms would
not
be
id le ,”
said
Killingbeck. “We would use
them from day one and then,
as needed, co n v erted to
classrooms,” he said. He said
that the rooms could be used
fo r labs or fo r o th e r
instructional purposes and
not merely for storage.
Plans are to move
students to WRE from Sam
Boardman Elementary.
Becker Construction
won the bid with $487,338
for the base bid o f four
classroom s and $228,870
more for the two additional
room s for a to tal o f
$716,200, which was low
bid. W.C. Construction bid
$744,693 for the base and
alternate bids com bined;
M cCormach Construction
bid $798,700; and Knerr
Construction bid $940,800.
Lexington Council extends
telephone building deadline
The Lexington Town
C o u n c il, at its re g u la r
meeting Tuesday, Jan. 10,
ap p ro v ed a m o n th -lo n g
extension to allow additional
time for someone to step up
to provide a solution to the
dilemma over the fate of the
old L exington telephone
building.
The b u ild in g is
currently on Jim N elson's
property. Nelson told the
board that he would allow
the building to remain on his
p ro p e rty an ad d itio n a l
month, but after that he may
opt to destroy the building.
Nelson also offered to move
the building, but the council
has received no definite offer
for a resting place for the
structure. “ I would get it
moved at no cost and set it
down on town property,”
said N elson. M ayor Val
Doherty said that a county
official has indicated that the
county may also be able to
m ove the b u ild in g . The
council also heard that Dean
Hunt has indicated that he,
too, has located a place to
place the building.
If a place is located,
the b u ild in g w ould still
re q u ire
ex ten siv e
renovation. Talk centered on
obtaining a grant to restore
the building, but that may
require more time than is
a v a ila b le . A cco rd in g to
interested citizens at the
m eetin g , the M orrow
County Historical Society
has also indicated interest
and may be able to provide
some funding for renovation.
continued page two
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
John Ripple,
representing
MCGG
South
M orrow
County community members
gathered Thursday, Jan. 12
for the annual Town and
Country Banquet where six
citizens and one business
w ere presented w ith the
C ham ber o f C om m erce’s
annual awards. The theme
fo r the ev en in g was
“Volunteers are Top Hat”
and the guest speaker for the
evening was “The Portland
O re g o n ia n "
co lu m n ist
Jonathan N icholas. A lso
in tro d u ce d d u rin g the
e v en in g w as the 2006
M orrow County Fair and
Rodeo Court. On the court
this year are Queen Heather
Yocom and Princess Josie
Miller.
A1
R iney
w as
honored as this year's Man
of the Year. Riney grew up
in Condon and worked as
p o stm a ste r and o w n er/
operator of Liberty Theater
before becoming manager of
ranching operations for an
outfit in Mikkalo. “Retiring”
to Heppner in 1999, Riney
has become an active part of
the community.
He has helped with
landscaping and building
c o n stru c tio n at W illow
C reek T errace A ssisted
Living and Oregon Trail
Library. He also worked on
machinery and grounds for
the Farm M useum and
Heritage Plaza. He serves as
chairman of the building and
g ro u n d s co m m ittee at
Willow Creek Country Club
and serves in leadership roles
and as a w o rk er in the
M asons and the Odd
Fellows, helping with many
projects. He has helped w ith
the St. P a tric k 's Day
Celebration and served as a
p arad e ju d g e . He also
volunteers in the Heppner
Garden Club. He worked
three years on the cemetery
restoration project. When he
is not v o lu n te e rin g in
construction projects, he
brings enjoyment to others
while playing in the Blue
Mountain String Band.
H onored as this
year's Woman of the Year
w as
D oris
B rosnan.
Brosnan, who grew up in
Heppner. but spent some
time away, returned with a
can do attitude and helped
support many Heppner and
Owen Healy
Don McElligott
Al Riney
Morrow County Fair and Rodeo Court Queen Heather
Yocont is crow n ed by last y e a r ’s Q ueen J essica
Wainwright. Left is Princess Josie Williams.
W illow C reek Valley
projects. Some of her many
projects include w orking
w ith the W illow C reek
E conom ic D ev elo p m en t
Group, serving as director of
the Dinner at the Cemetery
event and introducing the
idea o f Mr. B ill’s Trivia
Show to raise money for the
M ural Fund. She is also
instrumental in keeping the
Morrow County Chronicles
alive, working as editor and
writer.
She has also served
on num erous boards and
com m ittees including the
Flood C o m m em o ratio n
committee, St. Patrick’s Day
co m m ittee, the St. P a t’s
Hotel board. Willow Creek
Terrace Board and numerous
others. She is also a member
of the Heppner Chamber of
Commerce and St. Patrick's
Catholic Church. These are
ju st a few o f the many
projects that Brosnan helps
create, support and keep
running.
This year's Citizen-
Educator of the Year award
was p resen ted to new ly
re tire d D uane N eiffer.
Neiffer has not only spent the
last 24 y ears ed u ca tin g
Morrow County youth, he
has been instrumental in their
extracurricular activities as
well. Neiffer spent 15 years
teaching in Heppner, seven
years in lone and went to
Hermiston for two years.
During his career he has
re ceiv ed m any aw ard s
in c lu d in g . G rant R igby
Memorial Teacher Award.
Region 5 Outstanding High
School Science Teacher,
Inspirational Teacher Award
from E astern O regon
U niversity and the Holes
Memorial Award.
When he’s not in the
classro o m N eiffer finds
himself active in his church
and the community. He has
serv ed as a 4-H leader,
S unday school teach er,
freshman and JV basketball
coach in Heppner, golf coach
in Heppner and a bowling
coach.
H onored as th is
year’s Youth of the Year was
Heppner High School senior
H eath er
R ill.
R ill’s
achievem ents encom pass
school, 4-H, volunteerism
continued page 7
Willow Creek Economic
Development Group
annual meeting Jan 26
The Willow Creek Valley Economic Development
Group will hold its annual meeting Thursday, Jan. 26 at 12
noon at John's Place in Heppner.
Guest speaker for the meeting will be Dan Desler
of Western States Land Reliance Trust.
Desler is the owner of a Eugene development
company and will speak about his plans for development
at the South Morrow Industrial Park (formerly Kinzua mill
site) near Heppner.
Western States Land Reliance is a non-profit
organization, which is close to purchasing the industrial
park from the Port of Morrow. The trust plans to operate
the co-generation electric plant at the site and has also
indicated it may site other compatible businesses there as
well.
In other business at the annual meeting, the current
WCVEDG president David Sykes will be turning over the
gavel to next year's president George Koffler and all
members are welcome to attend and vote for next year's
president and a board of directors, as well as discuss any
business they wish to bring before the group.
In other business, there will be a review o f
WCVEDG's current effort to apply for tax-exempt status
with the Internal Revenue Service. Becoming tax exempt
will allow WCVEDG to accept a wider range of grants to
be used for local economic development.
The lunch will be hosted by W CVEDG however,
those wishing to attend should be sure to RS VP to secretary/
treasurer Marcia Kemp by Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 676-2100.
M C G G G R E E N F E E D S T O R E in H eppner
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