Change in tippage will have ‘huge im pact’, says Judge
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Librare
University o f Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
VOL. 126
NO. 5
10 Pages
m ayors o f B oardm an,
lrrigon. lone, Lexington and
H ep p n er have banded
to g e th e r
to demand
that over
$700,000
in landfill
fees be
divided up
among
t h e i r
cities,
T a 11 m a n
met with
t
h
e County Judge
m a y o r s T e r r\ Tollm an
M onday
night to
discuss their demands.
T u esday he told the
H ep p n er G azette if the
county loses 75 percent of
the fees, which the county is
estimating to be $936.000 in
the coming fiscal year, the
county would have to make
drastic changes to adjust.
The county receives a fee
for each ton o f garbage
dumped at the Finley Buttes
Landfill. The majority of the
garbage comes to the Landill
from o utside Morrow
County.
The mayors claim the
money was promised the
cities when the Findley
Buttes Landfill was sited in
M orrow County back in
1992. lone Mayor Mark
Bruno stated the opinion of
the mayor's group when he
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon said Tuesday that the county
If M orrow C ounty
Government is forced to give
up 75 percent of “tippage
fee” money generated from
fees at the Finley Buttes
landfill, as dem an d ed
recently by the mayors of the
county’s five cities, "It is
going to have a huge impact
on the county,” Morrow
County Judge Terry Tall man
said Tuesday. “We are going
to have to let people go.”
F o llo w in g recent
an n o u n ce m e n ts that the
Wednesday, January 31,2007
Fire destroys lone home
Health district may again be
able to provide long-term care
Fire destroyed a home at 215 NE 2nd St. in lone on Sun
day. The fire was called in about 8:30 A.M. The home is owned
by Debra Warren, and suffered extensive damage. Cause of
the fire had not been determined by press time. Firemen were
still working on the home in the afternoon. Lexington and
Heppner fire departments gave mutual aid.
M orrow C ounty
Health District CEO Victor
Vander Does told the board,
at their Monday meeting in
lone, that the possibility of
reestablishing a long-term
care facility at P io n eer
M em orial Hospital may
become a reality.
Vander
Does
showed board members a
letter from the Oregon State
D epartm ent of Human
Resources announcing that a
public hearing concerning an
am endm ent to M edicare
nursing facilities regulations
has been set for February 22.
The amendment, if
ap p roved, w ould allow
MCHD, and other facilities
that are at least 30 miles from
a n o th er long-term care
facility, to provide long-term
nursing care under the swing
bed program. This would
mean that the district, with
Valby invites community to
pastoral installation
The members of Valby Lutheran Church invite the
public and local clergy to an installation service for Pastor
Ann Schlossnagle. who recently accepted the pastoral
position at Valby. Pastor Ann arrived in the area last week
along with her 15-year-old daughter Jennifer. The
Installation Service will be held Saturday, February 17, at
2 p.m.
Pastor Ann reports that the name
Schlossnagle is of German decent,
m eaning “ Castle N ail" in G erman
translation. She grew up in Baltimore,
M aryland, atten d ed sem in ary in
Gettysburg, PA and later moved to South
D akota where she served several
congregations. Part of her training
included working with people who have
mental retardation, and Autism, as well
as people who are h o m eless,
incarcerated, and struggling with mental
m e
illness. Pastor Ann d e sc rib e s her
approach to the ministry as very divers. Pastor Ann
“We are different people who come from Schlossnagle
different places with different gifts ... all of these gifts are
needed parts of the body of Christ, and I look forward to
utilizing my talents along with the talents of Valby and the
local communities to bring a renewed living Christ to our
area.”
Pastor Ann has attended sign language classes at
Southeastern Technical Institute, Gallaudet University, and
Augusana College. She served as associate pastor of Peace
Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, SD. and parish pastor of
Western New Hope Lutheran Parish in Western South
Dakota.
Ann will be living in Lexington where she and her
daughter will be centrally located to serve her parishioners.
Her daughter Jenni will beattending Heppner High School.
Jenni is looking forward to many wonderful, new
experiences.
Pastor Zane Wilson, assistant to the Bishop of the
ELCA, Portland, will be conducting the installation service.
Invitations will be sent to local churches and clergy
along with invitations to previous pastors and interim
" ■ jastors who have served Valby in recent years.
E
C
“has had the benefit of this
money, and now we need it.”
Bruno said lone needs the
money to upgrade streets
and w ater systems, and does
not believe the county will be
adversely impacted. "We feel
there is enough there for all
of us.“ he said of the counties
and the cities. “We do not
want to hurt the county, but
this is money we have not
been receiving. We have
been im pacted by not
receiving this money, and we
need to address and correct
this." Bruno added.
demanding a percentage of
t
h
e
mo n e y .
^
T h e
^
\ %
resolution
also said
that the
county
originally
promised
>
the money
to
the
c i t i e s lone Mayor
when the Mark Bruno
landfill
was o p en ed .
"D em and shall be made
upon the Morrow County
C ourt
for
e q u ita b le
disbursement of the Finley
Buttes Sanitary Landfill
license fees in keeping with
the representations made to
the people o f M orrow
County prior to the passage
o f the o rd in a n c e w hich
resulted in authorization for
the landfill to be established
and managed in Morrow
County," the city resolution
stated. The resolution passed
the Heppner City Council.
However in a review of
the
o rig in al
county
o rd in a n c e
a u th o riz in g
construction of the landfill,
it was stipulated that the
money would go into the
county general fund. The
ordinance did not mention
distribution to the cities.
Whether or not the cities
were “promised” the funds
before the landfill was
constructed has not clearly
been established. At a special
m eeting January 22 the
H eppner City C ouncil
passed a resolution (the first continued page 4
city in the county to do so)
MCGG purchases NAPA stores
some m o d ificatio n s to
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
facilities, could provide long
term care, such as the
prev io u s nursing home
pro v id ed , but at a 101
percent reimbursement to
the district. When PMH
p rev io u sly o p erated a
nursing
home.
the
reimbursement rate was so
low that the district could
not sustain the program
financially.
Vander Does also
told the board that he has had
n um erous co n tacts with
possible medical providers
for the district.
He said that he was
trav e lin g to John Day
Tuesday to speak with a
physician who has indicated
interest in employment with
the district.
Boardman NAPA store now under MCGG ow nership
MCGG purchase NAPA
The businesses are
stores in Boardman and
meant
to
compliment the co
Umatilla
op's
other
core businesses
M orrow C ounty
such as grain marketing and
G rain G ro w ers recently
purchased two NAPA stores, storage m an ag in g , two
C ase-IH
d e ale rsh ip s.
one in Boardman and one
K
aw
asaki
and
Polaris
Umatilla.
dealerships,
two
agronomy
M CCG
G eneral
centers. Green Feed and
Manager John Ripple said
Seed in H eppner. and a
the co-op had been looking
propane and bulk fuel center.
for an o p p o rtu n ity to
Another advantage
diversify and purchase an
of these acquisitions is that
established business in the
next-day delivery of Ag parts
B oardm an and Umatilla
will be a v ailab le for
areas.
customers
in the Boardman
The purchases were
and Umatilla areas. This will
made to d iversify and
mitigate the concentration of save time for customers in
risk in M C G G 's core outlying areas of Oregon and
Washington. Ripple said.
Continued on page two businesses. Ripple said.
Production
Seminar to be
held in lone
The annual Wheat
Production Seminar is set for
Monday, February 12, from
7 a.m. until noon at the
Willows Grange on North
Main Street in lone.
The m eeting will
provide
the
latest
information about issues of
interest to wheat producers
in the low (8 2 to I 2 2)
p re c ip ita tio n
zone.
Information about the Farm
Bill and possible energy
incentives are sure to be of
interest. Don Wysocki will
provide an overview of
realistic, alternative fuel
opportunities for growers.
Dan Ball will d iscuss Snowmen were huilt at Heppner Elementary School, inside! 125 students were rewarded with a
chemical control options for party for meeting their Accelerated Reading goals for the fourth quarter. The students enjoyed
this y e a r 's cheatg rass Eskimo Pies as well, but the best reward was becoming better readers!
problem. Bill Schillinger of
Washington State University
will co v er a num ber of
A t t h e MCGG GREEN FEED STORE rin H e p p n e r
interesting topics related to
s u m m e r - f a l l o w
management. The farmer
presentations will evaluate
V a I ent I ne
continued on page two
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
>
T h e M o rro w C o u n ty
C ourt w ill meet in open
meeting on Wednesday,
F e b r u a r y 7 at a b o u t
2:30 with the mayors to
discuss the tippage fee
n e g o tia tio n s . J u d g e
T a lim a n say s he is
considering moving the
meeting into the court
room u p s ta ir s at the
c o u rth o u se
to
a c c o in m o d a t e
interested members of
the public.
s
D ay
a
SpEciAl
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a n d M O N TA N A SILVE R JE W E LR Y
M o r r o w C o u n ty C r a in (iro w o rs Cireen Feed K S« m »H
242 W. Linden Way. Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)