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)