SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, April 9,2008
Heppner Sewer Treatment Health district to put levy before voters in November;
Plant project completed
awards low bid for long-term care remodel at hospital
-Continued from page One
Top photo: The old propane generator. Middle Photo: The new
generator. Bottom Photo: The Auger Monster that will break
down solids. -Photos by Autumn Morgan
An Auger Monster was installed to shred and break
down solids into smaller pieces so that bacteria can break
it down better. Oversized material goes up the Auger and
later gets sent to the landfill. Also, pieces of the trickling
filter were replaced.
“ We have already seen a significantly positive
impact on our waste water treatment process,” said City
Manager Steve Bogart. “Everything is working the way it
should and we have had no de-chlorination issues.
The ap p ro x im a te co st for the p ro je c t w as
$186,000.
long-term care project at
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
in Heppner, amounting to
five years o f debt serv ice at
$252,500.
One ongoing road
block that keeps getting in
the way o f MCHD provid
ing funds to the Boardman
clinic is the apparent reluc
tance of the Boardman clinic
board to release its financial
information to the MCHD
Board. “We don’t know the
Boardman clinic’s needs,”
said Vander Does. “They
have not provided anything
(financial information).”
M ills stressed the
importance o f remodeling
the Irrigon Clinic to accom
modate a growing need for
more space resulting from
an increase in patients.
The total estimated
cost of the wish list comes to
$2,203,158. The estimated
in co m e from the
proposed levy, how ever,
amounts to only $ 1,550,000,
leaving a $653,158 short
fall.
In th e p r e v io u s
2006-08 levy, the district
funded $486,660 for the
Boardman community. Ex
penditures included a new
fu ll-tim e param edic and
EMT for Boardman, includ
ing salary and benefits at
$236,572; the Boardm an
clinic subsidy at $140,000;
a replacem ent ambulance
for Boardman at $110,088,
which was partially financed;
a full-time EMT for Irrigon,
including salary and benefits
at $40,707; a replacement
am b u lan ce for H eppner
at $104,899; an x-ray ma
chine and room remodel to
accommodate it for PMH
at $128,611; a new digital
system for x-ray and CT for
PMH at $90,611; and 911
dispatch fees at $42,000.
The 2006-08 levy
p r o je c ts a m o u n te d to
$893,488 of which $873,000
was actually funded by the
levy, leaving $20,488 to be
paid by the district.
E ven if the levy
passes, however, the district
will be without levy fund
ing for a year, as the current
levy expires this year and
the new levy, if passed, w ill
not be in effect until 2010.
The district will not begin
collecting the monies from
that levy, if passed, until the
fall o f 2009.
The board also ap
proved the low bid out of
six competitors for the PMH
remodel which, when com
pleted, will allow the district
to once again offer long
term care.
Wellens Farwell out
o f Enterprise, had the low
bid at $$757,345. K nerr
C o n s tr u c tio n , H e rm is-
ton, came in second with
$784,350, followed by Rob
inson Construction, Bend,
at $785,000, Mike Becker,
L aG rande, at $844,338,
McCormack Construction,
Pendleton, at $862,500 and
Ausland Builders, Grants
Pass, at $957,000.
Vander Does told
the board that while Wellens
Farwell had the least experi
ence, with only three years
o f operation, their recom
mendations and completed
projects justified their se
lection as contractors for
the project. He said that
while Becker Construction
was his first choice, he just
could not justify bypassing
the low bid. “Everything 1
hear about them (Wellens
Farwell) is good,” he said.
Vander Does said
th a t 12-15 c o n tra c to rs
showed up for the initial
w a lk -th ro u g h . “ I think
w e’re lucky to get as many
-Continuedfrom page Five ment from the OSAA for
costs associated with par-
ticipating in state champi-
onship events. The amount
reimbursed to each school
is based on a formula, ap-
proved a n n u ally by the
OSAA E xecutive Board,
which takes into account
round-trip mileage, number
o f participants, number o f
coaches and the length o f
the event,
The Oregon School
Activities Association is a
private non-profit, board
governed association corn-
prised o f 294 member high
schools. The OSAA, sane-
tioned by the Oregon State
Board o f Education and
a member o f the National
Federation o f State High
School A ssociations, an-
nually sponsors 118 state
championships in 19 sports
and activities.
Does, who is also a medical
technologist, said that he
may have to “jum p in for a
while” until additional per
sonnel are hired. A medical
technologist is the highest
level o f certification. Other
laboratory personnel could
include a medical labora
tory technician, which is an
intermediate certification,
and a laboratory technician,
the lowest certification.
-learned that the dis-
triet lost $129,464 in Febru
ary. However, the district
still had a $54,507 year-to-
date gain with a $6,813 av
erage monthly year-to-date
gain. “We went way down,”
said Mahoney, who added
that March did not appear
to be a “fabulous m onth”
either.
-heard the follow
ing report: Pioneer Memo
rial Clinic had 350 patient
visits with 12 new patients,
43 seen by a nurse and 13
no-show s; Irrigon C linic
had 175 patient visits with
24 new patients, 25 seen by
a nurse and 12 no-shows;
H eppner A m bulance had
nine page-outs and trans
ports for $9,405 in revenue;
Boardman Ambulance had
31 page-outs with 20 trans
ports for $20,998 in revenue;
Irrigon Ambulance had 17
page-outs with 15 transports
for $13,208 in revenue;
there were three life flights;
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
had four adm issions, two
swing-bed admissions, 17
adm itted for observation
and one admitted for respite
care, 409 outpatients, 63
emergency room encoun
ters, 1423 lab tests, 66 x-ray
procedures, 26 CT scans,
29 EKG tests, 61 respira
tory therapy procedures,
133 Home Health visits and
1370 drug doses for $59,657
in drug revenue.
County Commissioner candidates
HHS keyboarding class
economic development group
compete in “Typing Football” visit
-Continued from page One need fo r the people o f Mor
OSAA distributes more than
$297,000 to member schools
to its member schools for the
2007-08 school year has now
surpassed $661,000. This
represents an increase o f
$22,473 over reimbursement
at this point in 2006-07.
“We are pleased to be
able to increase the amount
o f money we have sent to
m em ber schools thus far
this year,” said OSAA Ex-
ecutive Director Tom Wei-
ter. “This reimbursement is
made possible through the
com m itm ent o f our local
school communities and our
generous corporate spon-
sors. The association looks
forward to the day when
these reimbursement checks
cover 100% o f the costs a
school incurs while partici-
pating in state championship
events.”
M em b e r s c h o o ls
receive travel reim burse-
bids as we did,” he com
mented. He added that the
cost o f the project was over
the estimated budget.
The project is to be
completed within 180 days
after work begins. Wellens
Farwell is required to start
construction within 30 days
after the bid is awarded.
In other business,
the board:
-learned from Vander
Does o f a 25 percent in
crease in employee medical
insurance costs. The district
is looking at several o p
tions which could include
using a different insurance
company, which is probably
not feasible because o f the
MCHD em ployees’ record
o f high utilization; requir
ing a higher deductible; or
requiring employees to pay
a portion o f their medical
insurance. C u rren tly the
district pays the cost o f the
em p lo y ees’ m edical ben
efits, but em ployees pay
for benefits for their family
members. Vander Does said
the district is currently in
negotiations with the em
ployees.
-agreed to purchase
a re p la c e m e n t re sp o n se
vehicle, possibly a small
pickup, for Carl Lauritsen,
EMT and district m ainte
nance supervisor. At the
next meeting Vander Does
is to provide cost estimates
for different vehicles .
-approved purchase
o f a vacuum suction system
for the hospital at $10,122.
The high bid was only a dol
lar more at $ 10,123, but that
bid did not include $750 for
factory start-up assistance
and freight.
-learned from Vander
Does that the laboratory is
short-staffed and the dis
trict is seeking possibly
two lab employees. Vander
Pictured are Cidney Coster, Joe Sallee and Kellie Nelson, some
junior high students from Mrs. Marquardt's Advisory class as
they use the computer to work on homework and update port
folios. -Contributed Photo
Spring football? Well you might think so. Recently
Mrs. Marquardt’s junior high keyboarding class spent a
class period playing “Typing Football.”
The yardage was made by comparing typing speed
of random players on each team. Team A, the yellow team
racked up 74 yards compared to the red team, Team B’s 27
yards. Team A achieved a touchdown and won the game
with a score o f 7-0, finishing then with a five yard kick-off
just before the buzzer rang finishing the game.
Students have spent most o f the quarter working
on posture, hand position, and learning home row, then
advancing to the rest o f the alphabet using the qwerty
keyboard. Most students are typing over 20 words per
minute and some in the 30 - 40 wpm range. The remain
der of the year will be spent reviewing keyboarding skills
and learning some applications, such as Powerpoint and
Excel, as well as learning tips and tricks to using Micro
soft Office.
server center at the Kinzua
mill site.
REA: 1 believe the
C o u n ty C o m m issio n e rs
should be very pro-active
in promoting these develop
ment activities. 1 can ensure
you that while sitting on the
County Planning Commis
sion, we, (the Commission)
have strongly encouraged
the wind farm applicants to
place as much o f their proj
ect as possible in Morrow
County. Particularly their
offices, shops or switching
sites.
W C V ED G : What
do you see as the greatest
row County?
REA: The residents
of Morrow County need and
deserve a safe place to live, a
job that provides them with
a decent living wage, a good
school system for their chil
dren’s educational needs,
good medical services and
recreatio n al activ itie s. I
think we need to very ac
tively work toward provid
ing a reliable transportation
system to transport our local
residents to and from their
jobs in Hermiston, Board-
man, Stanfield or?
WENHOLZ: Fami
ly wage jobs are important.
for the fences
Despite weather, Heppner Golf Team still swinging
By Matt McCabe
The H eppner g o lf
team has had three g o lf
matches since they began
their practices on March 3.
Though the weather has not
been the best, the team has
golfed anyway. The coach
for the Mustangs golf team
is Greg Grant, who is also
head football coach and
athletic director. He has high
hopes for the Mustangs to
do well in district golf and
even state.
There are seven girls
out for the g o lf program
this year and there are 14
boys out for golf. Assistant
coaches are Matt Scrivner,
Dale Holland, and Dwayne
Disque. The mustangs plan
to have a great year and,
most o f all, have fun and be
competitive through out the
golf season.
At m ost m atch es
the H e p p n e r M u sta n g s
are teamed up with other
schools. The groups are
based on what position you
g o lf d esig n ated by your
coach. Once in the group
you switch score cards so
y o u ’re not keeping your
own score, then you start
golfing. The object o f the
game is to get the lowest
score on the hole y o u ’re
playing at and you play a
round o f golf which is 18
holes. You total the score
you get on each hole and
that is your total score for a
round o f golf.
Usually the course
par is 72; but at the Willow
Creek Country Club it is 60.
The object is to shoot as low
of a score you can get. Once
the round is over you check
your scores with the person
that was keeping your score
to make sure you have the
right score. Then the scorer
signs the score card; after
that is done you must attest
the score card and turn it in.
The coach’s then take the
best five scores o f your team
add them up and you get a
team winner. There is also a
low score for the tournament
by an individual.
Andre Rauch hits a homerun against Irrigon last Saturday.
-Photo by Autumn Morgan
Heppner Varsity Baseball Schedule
April
April
April
April
12 - at Weston-McEwen. 11 a.m.
15 - Stanfield at home, 4:30 p.m.
1 9 -B Y E
22 - at Irrigon, 4:30 p.m.
Heppner JV Baseball Schedule
April
April
April
April
April
April
11 -
14 -
17 -
18 -
21 -
24 -
Stanfield, 2 p.m.
at Pilot Rock, 4:30 p.m.
at Hermiston Frosh, 4:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at home, 2 p.m.
at Umatilla, 4 p.m.
Grant Union at home, 3 p.m.