Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2006)
E u g e n e d e v e l o p e r la y s o u t p la n s f o r t h e S o u t h M o r r o w I n d u s t r ia l P a r k 11 1 1 11 1 11 ■ 1 1 1 11 111 11 >I > 11 1 1 11 Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University o f Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 Eugene developer Dan Desler was guest speak er at the Willow Creek Val ley Economic Development G roup annual m eeting in Heppner last Thursday. Desler laid out his plans for the South Morrow Industrial Park (former Kin- z u a mill) if p u r chase o f the park from t h e Port of Mor r o w goes though. Dan Desler of West WCVEDG President David Sykes (left) presents John Edrnund- son with a certificate of appreciation during the WCVEDG an nual meeting, for Edmondson’s volunteer work the past year on economic development in the area. ern States Land Re liance Trust VOL. 125 NO. 5 10 Pages Wednesday, February 1,2006 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon H e a lt h d is t r ic t e n d s D e c e m b e r w it h g a in The Morrow Coun ty Health District ended De cember with a $71,165 gain and indications are that the month of January also looks positive, according to data released at the district's reg ular meeting in lone Monday night. Chief Financial Of ficer Nicole Mahoney said that the district has good news with regard to Medi care reim bursem ent. B e cause Pioneer M em orial Hospital has been designat ed a Critical Access Hospi tal, it is entitled to cost-based reimbursement, which helps the district's cash How. Reimbursement for hospital outpatient charges will remain at 83 percent of billed charges, however hos pital inpatient reim burse ment will go from 113 per cent to 154 percent. Reim bursement for the Pioneer Memorial Clinic in Heppner will increase from $117 per visit to $131 per visit. Re imbursement for the Irrigon Clinic will increase from $111 per visit to $121 per visit. Reim bursem ent for swing bed patients will in crease to 200 percent of billed charges. Also at the meeting MCHD CEO Victor Vander Does told the board that the Hospital Foundation has do nated $ 12,000 for two trans- m ittable EKG m achines. One of the machines, which are capable of transmitting data to cardiologists, will be placed at Pioneer Memorial Hospital and the other will be located at the Irrigon Clinic. The district will pur chase a third EKG machine which will be placed at Pio neer Memorial Clinic. In other business the board: -learn ed from Vander Does that a nurse practitioner was in town vis iting the medical facilities. The district has begun re cruitment for care providers. -approved a $150 donation to the St. Patrick's Committee for the annual celebration's fund raising casino night. -au th o rized up to $20,000 for renovation of the district-owned house at 135 Gilmore St. Currently the hospi tal administrator is living at the house, which has provid ed housing for administra tors and physicians in the past. Vander Does said the district should be thinking about replacing the aging house’s windows, bathtub, front door, kitchen cabinets, and adding a dishwasher and insulation, especially if the district is planning to hire a new administrator within the next few years. “I think we need to put some money into the house,” said MCHD Board Chair Larry Mills. “There hasn't been any money put into that house since I’ve been on the bo ard .” The board suggested that work begin with window replace ment, which could help cut heating costs. Vander Does said he may be able to do some of the cabinet work. -d isc u sse d the board’s request for financial information from the clinic in Boardman. prior to the dis trict committing to any finan cial support for that clinic. Board members indicated that they have requested in formation but have received none as yet. The clin ic, e sta b lished with federal funds as a migrant clinic, also serves the general Boardman pop ulation. Dr. Robert Boss, who operated a private clin ic in Boardman for many years, is the clinic’s physician and administrator. -voted to suspend hospital admitting privileges for 30 days for Dr. Ken Wen- berg, if he does not produce a certificate of malpractice insurance for his private Heppner clinic by Feb. I. Dr. Wenberg will continue to be covered by district malprac tice insurance when he is employed at the hospital. -received the follow ing report: Pioneer Memo rial Hospital had nine admis sions in December, 11 admit ted for observation. 421 out patients and 64 emergency room encounters, 1293 lab tests, 82 x-ray procedures, 35 CT scans, 35 EKG tests and one treadmill procedure; the pharmacy administered 965 drug doses for $58,147 in revenue; Pioneer Memo rial Clinic had 348 patient visits with 19 new patients and 42 seen by a nurse; Irri gon Clinic had 161 patient visits with 21 new patients, 44 seen by a nurse and 11 no shows; Home Health had 115 visits; Hospice had three admissions; Boardman Am bulance had 68 runs with 47 transports for $41,542 in revenue; Heppner A m bu lance had 23 runs with 22 transports for $18,290 in revenue; Irrigon Ambulance had 19 runs with nine trans ports for $7,304 in revenue; there were two flights for the month. Stricter traffic enforcement requested by Heppner Police Commission members At the meeting of the Heppner Police Commission on Thursday, Jan. 26, the Morrow County Sheriff's Office, which provides law enforcement to the City of Heppner under contract, was requested to waive the le niency being shown to traf fic violation offenders in the city. A spate of running stop signs and flagrant ignoring of speed limits has been ob served. The danger to pedes trians, especially small chil dren and the elderly, has in creased accordingly. The C om m issio n sees a need to stop this be havior in its tracks before someone gets hurt and there fore asked the Sheriff’s O f fice to tighten its standards for issuing citations for these offenses. Everyone is asked to please take note. Desler is managing trustee o f W estern States Land Reliance Trust (WSL- RT), a non profit organiza tion that has made an offer to the Port of Morrow for the entire industrial park, in cluding on both sides of the highway. In a deal that has been reported to be in the $10 million range, WSLRT would operate the co-gener- ation plant at the site, and also has plans to bring in sev eral other businesses. Desler said certain businesses are able to use low pressure steam, a by product of the electrical gen erating plant, in production. He said a veneer company, as well as glue lamination, mushroom, cellulose insula tion manufacturing and eth anol com panies have ex pressed interest in the indus trial park and have contact ed WSLRT. As of Monday, pur chase of the property had not gone through, with the Port and W SLRT hung up on how to apply lease pay ments. Apparently several environmental issues have not been resolved with the industrial park, and the Port is waiting for a “no further action” certificate from the Oregon Department of En vironmental Quality. Additional monitor ing of Willow Creek may be required for up to two years to obtain the certificate. WSLRT, which will not take ownership of the property until the certificate is com pleted, is willing to lease the site from the Port for up to tw o years. M onthly pay ments are reported to be in the $65,000 range, and WS LRT wants the entire amount to go towards the principal payment for purchase of the property. The Port of Mor row reportedly wants the payment to go to interest only. As of Monday these is sues had not been resolved. Other issues still to be resolved include: Lease term, when payment starts, leasehold im provem ents, earnest money deposit, lia bility insurance and perfor mance bond. Desler said his orga nization is dedicated to pro tecting the environment as WCVEDG Secretary/Treasurer Marcia Kemp is presented with a flower bouquet for her work the past year. well as developing the prop erty. “The water quality in Willow Creek will be ad dressed and monitored,” he said. “It's easier to do this right. We believe the prob lem is solvable.” D esler, w ho has hunted in the Heppner area for many years, said his or ganization would “start with the grass roots” in the com munity and work with local people to make the develop ment attractive and success ful. He pointed to his work with a development in Sweet Home (see related story, page 2) as a track record for his community de velopment. A former mill site was purchase there and has just broken ground on new developm ent. “That will bring in $8 million a year in revenue for the city of Sweet Home," he said. A cco rd in g to the rules of the WSLRT, 85 per cent of the profit from the organization’s business ac tivities must be distributed to community projects. His or ganization has already ap proached WCVEDG about receiving up to $500,000 for use in training in the local communities. WCVEDG is currently applying for non profit status in order to ac cept these funds. “ I am a developer with a conscience," Desler told those attending the Incoming WCVEDG president George Koffler meeting last week. “There are no hidden agendas. Ev erything is on top of the ta ble. 1 can't make promises, but I can work hard and tell you the truth.” When the develop ment will happen? Desler said: “We want an agreement signed by Jan. 31. We do not have any grass growing un der our feet." lone City Council to hold meeting The lo n e C ity Council will hold its regular m onthly m eeting on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m., at Wheatland Insurance due to on going construction. If you would like to be on the agenda for the upcoming meeting, please contact City Hall at 422- 7414. 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