Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2006)
City hears concerns over school walkway safety, senior center finances B essie W etzel I N ew spaper Library University o f Oregon Eugene. OR 9 74fi.' The city council heard from i i school official about safety coi VOL. 125 NO. 46 10 Pages Wednesday, November 15,2006 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Rains, wind hit area causing some damage The Heppner City C o u n c il M o n d a y heard con cern s that a w alkw ay u sed by sc h o o l ch ild ren a lo n g w hat is c a lle d the lo w e r fie ld near the e le m e n ta r y s c h o o l has deteriorated to the point o f becom ing unsafe to use. H ep p n er Elementary School principal Jack T h o m p so n told the c o u n c il the c o n c r e te walkway and wall, which is up to eight feet high on one end, is breaking up and needs to be fixed. He told the council that after research he has found that a 60-foot wide r ig h t-o f-w a y is a c tu a lly owned by the city and is a dedicated street... T h o m p so n proposed that the city and the sc h o o l d istrict w ork together to com e up with a th r e e -fiv e -y e a r plan that w o u ld r e h a b ilita te the s id e w a lk and w a ll. T he WCVEDG granted tax exem pt status Winds blew down a fence at the Jodi Chapa residence near the courthouse in Heppner Sunday night. Earlier drenching rains and a Sunday night wind storm with gusts measured at 61 miles per hour at one location near Heppner resulted in a tree crashing on the old schoolhouse ‘outhouse’ on the museum/Iibrary grounds. The city plans on having the tree removed, but the fate of the outhouse, however, will not be determined until the tree is removed, said Larry Mills of the Morrow County Museum/Farm Foundation. “We’ll take a look after the tree is removed,” said Mills. CSEPP donates security cameras to Irrigon Schools A d o n a tio n of s e c u r ity c a m e r a s from CSEPP to Irrigon Schools prompted a larger discussion o f school security and the s c h o o l d is tr ic t's c r is is r e sp o n s e at the regu lar M orrow C o u n ty S c h o o l Board meeting held Monday n igh t at the M orrow Education Center in Irrigon. CSEPP d o n a te d sa fe ty s u r v e illa n c e equipm ent, including high quality cam eras with the a b ility to c o n tr o l ea ch camera remotely to Irrigon Junior/Senior High School. Irrigon Elementary School. A.C. Houghton Elementary S c h o o l and the M orrow E d u c a tio n C enter. According to representatives of In term ou n tain Technology, who presented a plan to install the cameras, each o f th o se s c h o o ls is e q u ip p e d w ith over pressurization safety zones for staff and students. The surveillan ce cam eras will p r o v id e id e n tific a tio n continued pane 6 ALL NEWS ANI) ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. S The W illow Creek V a lley E c o n o m ic D e v e lo p m e n t G roup has r e c e iv e d 5 0 1 ( c ) (3 ) tax e x e m p t sta tu s from the Internal R evenue Service. This was a 10-month process from the application phase through approval. W C V ED G which is an econom ic developm ent corporation com p osed o f H eppner. L ex in g to n and lo n e r e sid e n ts , m eets m o n th ly to aid in jo b r e te n tio n , jo b c r e a tio n , hou sin g issu e s and other issues related to the livability o f the Willow Creek Valley. T he o r g a n iz a tio n will use this new designation as a public charity to receive tax deductible donations for job training, recruitment and educational opportunities o f existin g busin esses in the W illow Creek Valley. In a d d itio n , the organization is willing to use its new designation to help other groups raise money for W illo w C reek V a lley projects, leverage m oney from o r g a n iz a tio n s that require a 501 ( c )( 3 ) status to apply for or accept grants. T h e o r g a n iz a tio n meets the first Wednesday o f each month at Heppner City Hall at Sam. The meetings are open to the public. Sidew alk is connected on the west end with a bridge over W illow Creek w hich then connects to the Main Street s id e w a lk b e tw e e n the museum and the RV Park. On further discussion the city explained that, a c c o r d in g to c ity ordinance, property owners are r e s p o n s ib le for maintaining sidewalks that are a d ja cen t to their property. The city did not rule out working with the school district, but did point out that the school district d o e s o w n the ad jacen t property to the sidewalk. Thom pson said the d istr ic t is p la n n in g putting cement blocks at the bottom o f the hillside below the tennis courts, a hill which touches one side o f the lower field, and plans to do other w ork to im p r o v e the condition and safety o f the lower field. N o a c tio n w as taken by the cou n cil, but several o p tio n s w ere discussed. At its M onday night m eeting the council a lso d is c u s s e d the poor econom ic conditions facing the H ep p n er H o u sin g Authority, which operates the St. Patrick's Sr. center in Heppner. T he H o u sin g Authority has been faced with operating lo sse s for som e time and has not been able to keep up w ith needed repairs. M on d ay the c o u n c il heard front a P e n d le to n h o u sin g consultant w ho said there are probably grants and low interest governm ent loans availab le to help out the Senior Center. In an effort to meet expenses, the council last month raised rents by $20 per month on the 16 a p a rtm en ts, e f f e c t iv e January I of 2007. C o u n c ilm e n tb e r G eo r g e Koffler at that time said that the tenants should be told that the rent is being raised because operating expenses are increasing and that the city is m aking effo rts to create a larger reserve fund and to lower the debt so that additional increases, other than cost o f living, in the future will not be necessary. M on d ay night Darlee Rex o f Pendleton said the city sh ou ld c o n sid e r hiring her to go after grants and low interest loans which would then be used to pay d ow n the debt on the property and free up more o f over this sidewalk St. Patrick’s Center has financial problems the income for repairs and operating expenses and put the apartment com plex on a secure financial footing. The c ity c u rren tly ow es approximately $350,000 on the apartment com plex. Rex said her fee is $ 3 ,0 0 0 for an u p -fron t retain er and $ 1 ,5 0 0 per month while she is working on the grant applications. She said it would probably be 60 to 90 days that she w ould be working on the grants. Rex also said if the grants are received her fees are reim bursed from the grant back to the city. The council was concern ed about the risk involved. If the grants were not received the city would be out the retainer fees. “Is there are chance this w ill not be s u c c e s s f u l? ” councilmentber Tom W olff asked. “Not as far as 1 am concerned.” Rex responded. She said she has done lots o f these types o f grants and is confident there is m oney a v a ila b le . R ex a ls o recommended the city hire a professional m anagem ent company to take care o f the com plex, and estimated that this would cost $1 5 ,(MM) to $16,000 per year. Mayor Tim Van C le a v e said the grant possibility was “a breath o f fresh air", and that "We have to make it (Senior Center apartments) affordable. C ou ncilm em ber George Koffler said he did not want to leave an open- ended commitment to paying consulting fees. “We need to put in jump out points," said. “We will spend this money and then get out (if no grants are obtained by Rex)." The council held an e x e c u tiv e s e s s io n to discuss a contract w ith Rex and then voted unanimously to authorize the expenditure o f $|().(MM) out o f the city's contingency fund to pay for the grant contractor. H C G G GREEN FEED S TO R E in H e p p n e r HAPPY THANK§ Ci I VI NG! We will be closed Thursday, Friday and Saturday (November 23rd, 24th and 25th) ,.. , , ^ for the Thanksgiving holiday M orrow C ou n ty C ra in G row ers G reen le ert Seed 242 W. Linden Way. Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCOG main office)
