Judge and mayor to debate tippage vote at chamber
By Dave Sykes
The Heppner Cham
ber o f Commerce will host
a debate between Morrow
County Judge Terry Tallman
and Boardman M ayor Ed
Glenn on the upcoming vote
on distribution o f tippage
money in the county.
The five cities in
the county and the coun
ty governm ent have been
wrangling over who should
control close to $1 m il
lion in tippage money, or
money received from dump-
Bessie Weizell Newspaper Librare
University o f Oregon
y
Eugene, OR 97403
ing fees at the large Finley
Buttes Landfill in Morrow
County.
The c itie s in the
county had banded together
and placed a m easure on
the March ballot that would
eventually redistribute 75
percent o f the money from
the county general fund to
the cities.
S ev eral m eetin g s
and n egotiating sessions
had been held but no com
promise was reached. The
cities had said they would
take the issue to the vot
ers if they were unable to
reach an agreement w ith the
county. Recently they fol
lowed through on that threat,
and, according to the county
clerk, the ballots should be
mailed out around February
22. Voters will have until
March 11 to vote.
The judge and the
mayor will discuss the issue
at the Thursday, January 31,
chamber meeting to be held
at John’s other place starting
at noon.
Wight digs out Heppner once again
HEPPNER
unes
VOL. 127
NO. 5
8 Pages
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Dickenson Chiropractic Clinic to open next week
By Autumn Morgan
Early next month a new
medical office will open for
the Heppner community and
surrounding areas. Dicken
son Chiropractic Clinic will
open its doors on Monday,
February 4.
Owner Dr. Tim Dick
enson is no stranger to the
Heppner community. Raised
in H e p p n er and a 1999
graduate o f Heppner High
School, he has returned af
ter obtaining his degree, to
provide alternative health
care to rural areas such as
Heppner.
Dickenson received his
bachelor’s degree in science
from Oregon State Univer
sity in 2003. He then went
on to pursue and receive
his doctorate degree o f chi
ropractic (D.C.) from West-
em States
Chiro
practic
College in
2007. He
is current
ly a mem
ber o f the Tiin Dickenson
A m erican
Chiropractic Association.
“ I am excited about
opening my b u sin ess in
Heppner,” said Dickenson.
“ 1 believe this is so m e
thing the community needs
and can benefit from.” He
eventually plans on serving
surrounding com m unities
such as the Condon, Fos
sil and B oardm an areas.
Dickenson says he can also
provide in-home care if the
need arises.
D ick en so n plan s to
primarily utilize diversified
techniques as well as other
specialty adjustments. He
also plans on focusing on
athletes in the community
and helping out the sports
team s as needed in their
training. He will also be
providing injury prevention
seminars to coaches and is
available to speak to groups
about health care needs.
The clinic will current
ly be accepting insurances
and is anticipating being
able to accept Medicare in
the future.
The clinic, located at
133 May St., will be open
M onday th ro u g h Friday
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ap
pointm ents can be made
by calling 676-8990 begin
ning February 1. Dicken
son’s emergency number is
541-980-8201.
Corps to host information meeting for
Willow Creek Lake irrigation proposal
The C orps o f En-
gineers will hold a public
inform ation m eeting for
the Willow Creek irrigation
proposal from 6 to 9 p.m.,
Tuesday, February 19, at the
Morrow County fairgrounds
in Heppner.
The public is invited
to drop by any tim e be-
tween 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.
to meet with project staff
Time to build a snowman
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Snowmen like this one decorated yards after Heppner's
first good snow of the 2007-2008 winter season. -Photo by
and ask questions. A short
presentation related to the
proposed project will begin
at 6:30 p.m. Representatives
from the local irrigators,
the Bureau of Reclamation,
the Oregon Water Resourc
es D ep artm en t, M orrow
County Parks, and the U.S.
Department o f Agriculture
will also be on hand.
The m eeting is in
the Dance Hall Pavilion at
the Morrow County Fair
grounds, located at 74473
Highway 74 in Heppner.
In addition, the pub
lic comment period on the
draft Environm ental A s
sessment for the long-term
w ithdraw al of irrigation wa
ter from the Willow' Creek
Project has been extended
through March 6.
The draft Environ
mental Assessment address
ing the impacts associated
with this activity and the
complete public notice can
be viewed online at https://
www.nwp.usace.army.mil/
pm/e/enj?lan assess.asp.
The Corps will ac-
Gary Wight spends hours volunteering to help the citizens be safe during the snow fall.
-Photo by Sandy Matthews
lone School Board still to determine
construction and weight room plans
By April Sykes
Lindy Ramos o f the
lone Booster Club addressed
the lone School Board con
cerning the proposed build
ing o f a weight room at the
b o a rd ’s reg u lar m eeting
January 22. Ramos asked
the board the status of the
district’s construction plans
and told them that the Boost
er Club is still on board to
aid with costs. “We need to
get moving,” said Ramos.
“The Booster Club needs to
know what the board wants
to do.”
Ramos said that she
had spoken with contractor
Jerry Gentry who told her
that, as far as he could dis
cern, proposed construction
would require elev ation. She
said that Gentry suggested
they consult an engineer.
She said that if the district
needs to pay for engineering
costs, the club has agreed
to spend funds for that pur
pose. She said the club had
earlier received a donation
o f $2,500 from the Mor
row County Grain Growers
which is earmarked for the
weight room.
The board told Ra
mos that a weight room is
still under consideration,
but they have not yet learned
w hat c o n stru ctio n plans
could be included in a pro
posed bond issue. “ Our
problem is that it will be
a while,” said board Chair
Joel Peterson. “ At best,
w e’re looking at the Novem
ber ballot.” “We’re needing
to know what fits into the
bond issue,” added board
member John Rietmann.
The board also dis
cussed p o ssib le heating
solutions for the form er
Rietmann Hardware build
ing on Main Street in lone
which could be used as a
tem porary w eight room /
w o rk o u t facility . Board
member Anne Morter sug
gested that a large portable
propane heater, w hich could
be pulled out and installed
at another location at a later
date, could make the build
ing usable. Purchase and
installation was estimated
at around $ 1,000.
In other business,
the board:
-approv ed funds for
a cooking stove and a hot
water heater for the teacher-
age. Neither appliance had
been working properly.
-learned that enroll
ment as of January 14 was
162 students: 67 in kinder
garten through fifth grade;
40 in grades six through
eight; and 55 in grades nine
through 12. Three students
had withdrawn and three
had enrolled since the last
board meeting. Superinten
dent Bryn Browning said
that she an ticip ates that
four exchange students w ill
enroll soon.
-le a rn e d th a t the
school will open a position
for music, technology and/
or foreign language and w ill
-Continued on Page fo u r
Health district board may put up additional
tax levy; current levy is set to expire
Bv April Sykes
A fter deliberating
over an hour at their regular
m eeting in lone Monday
night, the Morrow County
Health District Board came
to the preliminary conclu
sion that the district may
have to go out for a tax levy
if it is going to continue
offering quality health ser
vices to district patrons.
The district hopes to
expand the Irrigon Clinic,
which has seen dram atic
growth; continue making
its $70,000 yearly donation
to the B oardm an clin ic,
which is not operated by
the district; remodel Pio
neer M em orial H ospital
in Heppner to once again
allow long-term care; fund
emergency services for all
o f Morrow County, includ-
ing the Boardman. Irrigon.
H eppner, lone and Lex
ington areas; and provide
Home Health and Hospice
care for all communities in
the district.
A lthough the d is
trict ended the year with a
$219,571 gain, board Chair
Larry Mills and Chief Finan
cial Officer Nicole Mahoney
reminded board members
that the optimistic bottom
line included monies from
the previous tax levy, which
expires soon, and a one-time
$500,000 reim bursem ent
that will not be repeated.
Mahoney’s project
ed statement o f cash flows
indicates that by June o f
2011 without a new levy,
the d is tric t w ould have
only $56.000 cash on hand.
Mahoney said that ideally
the district should have 90
days c ^ h _ tb r ^ i|> c m ^
especially in the event o f
unplanned expenses. And,
once the district gets to that
point, the threat o f cutting
serv ices is possible. “Once
you have to cut services,
it’s a hard road to get them
back,” com m ented board
member Leann Rea.
M a h o n e y 's c ash
flow projections through
2011 include $250,000 for
the Irrigon Medical Clinic
expansion, paid over a num
ber o f years, and the annual
Boardman clinic $70,000
pledge.
She also provided
information on a .39 cent
levy and a .29 cent levy. A
,39-cent levy, if approved by
v oters, would cost the ow ner
o f a $100,000 home $39 in
taxes per year and, accord
ing to M ahoney's projec-
-Continued on Page fo u r
M C G G O P E INI H O U S E
Friday, February 8th from lO a.m. - E p.m.
Barbecue Lunch • Dour Prizes
-Continued on Page two
Factory Representatives will be present
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Morrow County Grain Growers
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