Don’t ride ATVs in town, city warns
Ordinance allowing it unclear after citation
By David Sykes
“ Hold o ff until we
get the ordinance straight
ened o u t,” was the word
from the Heppner city coun
cil Monday night on w heth
er citizens can legally ride
ATVs (all terrain vehicles)
on city streets.
Most people on the
council and in the Sheriff’s
Department, which handles
patrol duties for the city o f
Heppner, believed it was le-
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Bessie W et/ell New spaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
HEPPNER
imes
VOL. 127
NO. 20
12 Pages
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Morrow County Parks holds Fishing Derby
T he th ird an n u al
Fishing Derby was held on
Saturday, May 10, at Anson
Wright Park Pond. The free
Fishing Derby was for chil
dren up to 14 years o f age.
O reg o n Fish and
Wildlife Department from
John Day stocked the pond,
Pettyjohns Builders Supply
furnished fishing lures, and
N orthw est Steel H eaders
for the John Day Chapter,
W ayne H am s, G ary and
N ancy Propheter, R oger
Mortimore and Doug Fer
guson from Ferguson En
g ineering in Mt. Vernon
furnished assistance with
fishing poles, bait and valu
able time. The Heppner Elks
along with Morrow County
Parks prepared lunch for
everyone. Betty Gray or
ganized and scheduled the
event.
The goal o f the day
was to provide a fun day
o f fishing for kids, and en
courage their interest in the
sport o f fishing. Mark your
calendar for May, 2009 for
the fourth annual Fishing Logan Angell shows off the fish he caught at the third annual
Derby.
Fishing Derby on Saturday, -Contributed Photo
School board cuts back north end elementary
gal to ride the popular 4X4s
around the city, that is until
H eppner resident Kenny
Stookey and his wife Lor-
rene got a S242 ticket from
the state police. She got the
ticket on Church Street.
Stookey came to the
council m eeting Monday
arjd said they bought the
4X4 three days ago to run
around town because he
uses their car to drive out of
town to work. “ 1 wanted my
wife to have something to
get around on,” he told the
council. '“You know, go to
the post office and such.”
He said like most
people he thought it was le
gal until a state police officer
informed him otherw ise and
gave him the ticket. Stookey
said he checked the city
ordinances and found out
the city does in fact have an
ordinance that allows ATVs
to be driven on city streets.
M ost p e o p le are
fam iliar with volunteers
w ho plow the snow o ff
the sidew alks and p a rk
ing lots around town with
4X4s during the w inter, and
also another volunteer who
would tow a trailer behind
his ATV around town doing
various community service
projects.
Further discussion
on the city ordinance re
vealed that to be in effect,
signs must be posted around
town and at the entrance
City is researching validity of ordinance which allows 4 \4 s and
ATVs to drive on city streets. Photo by Sandy Matthews
to the city stating the ve
hicles are allowed. The city
has never had these signs
posted.
The city attorney
w ill look into the ordinance,
but until it is straightened
out county sheri ff’s deputy
Randy Rayburn said “You
can be cited. Hold off un
til we get the ordinance
straightened out. Ride at
your own risk," he warned
residents.
In other business at
Monday meeting the coun
cil denied a permit to keep
ch ick en s in tow n. Budd
Richards of 365 SE Gilmore
asked to keep five bantam
roosters in his yard. Animals
are allowed in the city limits
of Heppner, but only with a
permit. Council members
denied the permit saying in
part that the chickens would
be allowed to run loose in
the yard. Richards said he
had talked to his neighbors
and found no objections.
Later the council ap
proved a permit to Judy and
Kaid Peck o f 585 Hager to
keep two sheep. The council
said the permit would be al
lowed because they would
be for 4H projects.
The co u n cil also
briefly discussed the future
of Willow Street. Willow is
the steep street which con
nects G ilm ore and Court
Streets. The upcoming State
H ighw ay p ro ject w hich
will completely re-do Court
Street out to the fair grounds,
may alter Willow Street.
Some ideas include turning
Willow into a dead end w ith
a cul-de-sac, or making it
even steeper that it is now.
An earlier ODOT
public hearing in Hepp-
-Continued on page Two
Corps approves request for
irrigation water from lake
By David Sykes
T h e U .S . A rm y
C o rp s o f E n g in eers has
announced it approved the
long-term withdrawal o f ir
rigation water from Willow
Creek Reservoir, opening
the door for annual w ith
drawals o f 2,500 acre feet
for use in irrigation down
stream.
The Corps had been
considering the irrigator's
request for some time and
because o f heightened pub
lic interest had even held a
public hearing on the pro
posal in Heppner.
Some people were
concerned the draw down
would harm recreation uses
at the lake, while irrigators
said the water would add
economic benefit to the area
with increased crop produc
tions.
“ Irrig a to rs in the
Heppner area presented the
proposal to the Corps, ask
ing the agency to provide
up to 2,500 acre-feet o f
stored water from Willow
Creek Reservoir each year,
instead o f having to make
annual requests based on
draught declarations. The ir
rigation proposal was based
on the irrigators’ need for a
reliable, supplemental water
source throughout the grow
ing season, which would
help provide farm -based
economic stability, and al
low for the conservation of
groundw ater,” according
to a news release from the
Corps.
In a separate docu
ment the Corps said o f lake
recreation: “ W ater-based
recreation would be affected
as the earlier, lower draw
down would reduce the lake
area available for recreation
al boating use. However, the
use o f the boat ramp should
not be affected because it
was designed to be usable
to minimum pool. In ad d i
tion to the decreased surface
area, the drawdown would
expose muddy slopes and
banks that are aesthetically
unappealing and restrict ac
cess to the shoreline of the
lake. Some economic losses
in the local area may occur
because of the reduction in
-Continued on page Two
Two arrested on theft and trespass charges
On Friday morning,
May 9, at 7:05 a.m. Oregon
State Police officer Brian
Jew ett stopped a vehicle
pulling a trailer on High
way 74 for several traffic
that were being hauled. The
driver stated that his step
father had bought the tanks
from the Nickel Ads and the
trailer had been borrowed
without permission from a
theft and trespass charges.
It was later deter
mined that the fuel tanks
and trailer belonged to Bob
Warden and they were alleg
edly stolen off his property