Heppner gazette-times., July 19, 2006, Image 1

Lexington Council hires recorder
The
Lexington
Town Council approved the
hiring of Jaylene Slinger as
new Lexington Town
recorder and swore her in at
the July 11 regular meeting.
S lin g er rep laces
Nicki Clement who resigned
to take a job elsewhere.
Some objection from
the audience was raised to
Slinger’s hiring because her
father is newly-appointed
co u n cil
m em ber
Jay
Papineau.
The m ayor and
council differ with some
members of the audience
who maintain that the most
recent Lexington charter
p ro h ib its the hiring of
relativ es as em ployees.
A udience m em bers also
differ as to w hether the
recorder should be sworn in
or simply hired. The council
and mayor plan to hold a
work session concerning
changes to the charter, which
must be approved by
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Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
Lexington voters.
The co u n cil and
mayor also discussed the
possibility o f having a
Lexington harvest festival,
perhaps the third week in
Sep tem b er betw een the
Pendleton Round-Up and
hunting season.
Lexington resident
Marcia Kemp reported on a
N eig h b o rh o o d
Watch
m eeting
attended
by
Morrow County Sheriff Ken
Matlack. Kemp voiced her
co n cern s over unkem pt
properties, tresp assin g ,
underage drinking, drug use
and other illegal activities.
“ W e're not a v ig ilan te
group,” said Kemp, “but
we’re going to be watching.”
A frustrated Mayor
Doherty, who had earlier
admonished members of the
audience to be quiet until the
portion of the meeting for
public input, told Kemp that
as long as people weren't
breaking the law, they could
do anything they wanted.
Kemp
also
complained about a road
near her residence that
needed graveling, rather than
another street that had been
selected for rock. Lexington
m ain ten an ce man Dan
Marshall replied that the
streets getting the most
usage took priority over less-
used roads. "We don’t have
enough money to take care
of everything that needs
done,” said Doherty. “We
will have to work it into the
annual plan. We only have so
much money and it has to go
so far. Dan is going to
prioritize.”
It
was
also
suggested that Kemp buy
rock on her own, as have
council m em bers Jean
Brazell and Jim Nelson.
“ W e’ve spent lots o f
money...spraying weeds,”
countered Kemp. “It seems
like other people get the
gravel and we don't.”
Old pool renovation progressing
The progress of
renovating the old pool site
is “going great,” according
to information received at
the July 13 meeting of the
Beautification/Parks and
Lands C o m m issio n at
Heppner City Hall.
The report indicated
that the pea gravel isn’t in,
but the project is almost
co m plete.
Planting
M orrow C ounty, H ep p n er, O regon
V O L . 125
NO. 29
8 P ag es
W ed n e s d a y , July 19, 2 0 0 6
sagebrush and irises will be
completed the week of July
17. Some additional plants
will be planted in the fall
when the w eather cools
down. Some additional work
to fill in holes and finding
m aterials for additional
fencing is ongoing but the
site work is coming to a
close.
tmm
The com m ission
recognizes Gerald and Sonja
Smith for their efforts in
helping to maintain this area
and keeping it as nice as they
could during the long period
i £gw c *
of changes. Bob Harrison
was also recognized for
moving the plow into place
and helping to make the site
as a ttractiv e as it has
become.
H anging baskets
Frank Jones of J&G Services of Heppner puts the finishing touches on a section of freshly
poured concrete along Linden way in Heppner. J&G is putting in curb, sidewalk and
drainage as part of a city project funded by Oregon Dept, of Transportation.
New sidewalk going in
M
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m
I
were discussed at length
because of the problem with
wilted baskets. According to
a list of problems presented
by those doing the watering,
the one time the flowers did
not get w atered, the
volunteers could not reach
anyone from the city. The
mayor stated that a list of
names/phone numbers will
be provided so that this does
not happen in the future.
A ttem pts were made to
water every day but the
pumping equipment has not
functioned properly due to
the faulty battery on the
water pump on the city’s
tank.
Last year the main
problem had been the battery
and not the pump itself and
the battery had to be charged
periodically at that time.
Two new' batteries have now'
been purchased and the new
battery will be charged by the
city two times a week in the
future. The wilted baskets
are being replanted and
should be re-hung this week.
The watering on the new
plants will be monitored
closely to make sure they are
in good co n d itio n . The
watering will be done before
and after regular business
hours and the one time it was
done at 10 a.m. will not be
repeated. If the watering
cannot be done before 8 a.m.
for some reason, the city
crew will be notified. It was
noted that the volunteers are
very resp o n sib le young
ladies, although they did not
have the experience to deal
with these types of problems
and they did the best they
co u ld
under
the
circumstances.
Hager Park has been
measured and the water lines
should be installed within the
next
three
w eeks.
Investigation on the grant for
playground equipment has
begun.
The tennis courts
now have two new nets but
the resurfacing will cost
$4200 to $8000. depending
on the material used. Two
grants w ill be applied for this
and additional funding might
be obtained from another
source. C olum bia Basin
Electric has been contacted
about redirecting the lighting
so night tennis can be played
in the future.
Former Boardman Air Force Range meeting
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