lone School District to reap benefits
from wind project windfall
By April Sykes
II i I ii I im I i I m III iih 'IU im II
lone School Board
member Anne Morter told
the board M onday night
that the lone School District
will receive additional tax
monies resulting from the
wind farm currently under
construction in Morrow and
Gilliam counties.
According to Mor
row County Assessor Greg
Bessie W et/ell Newspaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
HEPPNER
unes
VOL. 127
NO. 30
8 Pages
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Sweek, the whole w ind farm
project is worth approxi
mately $75 million w ith the
M o rro w
County
p o rtio n
b e i n g
around
$40 m il
lio n . He
said that
th e firs t
$25 m il
l i o n o f Karl O stheller,
new lone super-
th e p ro j intendent/prin-
ect is tax cipal
able with
around 2/3
o f that in Morrow County,
resulting in an additional
$15-3/4 million taxable in
Morrow County.
Sweek said that lone
School D istrict currently
has an $85 million tax base
and this project will add
approximately $16 million
to their tax base. While the
additional tax income for
ISD will be offset by the
state school fund (ISD will
get less funding from the
state school fund), it will
still have a beneficial effect
on the proposed lone School
D istrict bond issue, said
Sweek. The increase in tax
base w ill reduce the tax rate
for the proposed bond.
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Wheat harvest below average
“There will not be an outstanding harvest this year, it is below
average,” said John Ripple of Morrow County Crain (¡row
ers. "The rain in May saved us from disaster hut was too late
to substantially help this year's crop.” Top left: Aaron Allstot of
M.C.G.G. dumps the trucks at the North Lex elevator. Top right
and Bottom left: Sean Murray of the Larry Lindsay Ranch runs
the combine w bile Barney Lindsay keeps the trucks near by ready
to deliver the grain to the grain growers. Bottom right: Aaron
Allstott takes a sample of w heat and does the required testing for
storage purposes. Photos by Sandy Matthews
Court Street to see $2.5 million improvement project
By David Sykes
A m ajor im prove
ment to Court Street and
Fairview Way is set to begin
next year, and the Oregon
Department o f Transporta
tion (ODOT) held a public
h earing in H eppner last
week to discuss the proj
ect.
The project will be
a m ajor repair, w idening
and straightening o f Court
Street starting at the bridge
in front o f the courthouse
and out to Fairview Way,
near to the Morrow County
Fair Grounds.
The road is a state
highway so the $2.5 mil
lion project will be funded
through the state. Some of
the im provem ents to the
road will be added or re
placed sidewalks and park
ing; straightening o f the
sharp comer and the addi
tion or retaining walls; addi
tion o f school crossing w ith
signs and a flashing beacon
to encourage a safer area for
pedestrians, and addition o f
road drainage system.
Meeting to be held for proposed treatment facility
A meeting is set for the community to hear about the secure treatment facility pro
posed for Heppner on Wednesday, July 30, at 6:30 p.m. at St. Patrick's Senior Center.
Presenters will be Tim Mahoney, manager o f the Umatilla Treatment Facility;
Kimberly Lindsay, director o f Community Counseling Solutions, formerly
Morrow-W'heeler Behavioral Health; and Rod E. Estes, development specialist with
Lifeways. A question and answer session will be held after the presentations.
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B ridge w ill also see the
removal o f existing asphalt
and replacement with two
inches o f w ater proofing
membrane as well as other
maintenance work.
ODOT officials said
there will be a need to ac
quire additional right of way
along the affected streets,
-Continued on Page Three
Sweek said that ISD
will also get an additional
$40,000 a year for a five-
year period (a flat amount,
not in tax monies) to fund
a renewable energy educa
tion program at the school.
Morter and Sweek said that
in Sherman County the re
newable energy education
monies that were negotiated
were used to beef up sci
ence and math programs in
their schools. The program
will be determined by the
district.
Sweek also said that
the energy company will
also pay a $500,000 "com
munity service fee" which
w ill be divided up among all
taxing dis
tricts
where
the w ind
project is
located.
In
o t h e r
business,
the board
approved John Rietmaiin>
a th r e e - board chair
year con
tract with
new superintendent/prin-
cipal Karl Ostheller, who
was present at his first board
meeting Monday night. As
per the contract, the district
will pay O stheller a base
salary o f $81,000 for 250
work days minus eight paid
holidays; 12 days o f paid
sick leave; 20 days o f paid
vacation which may be ac
cumulated from year to year
up to a maximum o f 10 days
w ith payment o f up to 10
days accumulated at the end
of his employment; the same
medical, dental and vision
insurance benefits available
to other licensed district
employees; reimbursement
for business travel at the
current IRS mileage rate;
payment by the district o f
both the employer's and em
ployee’s Public Employees
Retirement System (PERS)
contributions; and $1,000
in moving expenses. The
agreement specifies that the
superintendent/prineipal be
required to reside in the lone
School District. The board
makes the district-ow ned
residence available to the
superintendent/prineipal for
$200 per month plus utili
ties. Also in the contract the
board specified that they w ill
evaluate his performance no
later than February 15 and
rev iew his em p lo y m en t
status no later than March
15 of each contract year to
determine whether to offer
him an extended contract.
At the meeting, the
board learned from Beth
O 'H anlon, ch ief financial
officer employed with the
Umatilla-Morrow ESI), that
in order to stay within the
2008 budget and meet local
budget requirem ents, the
district was unable to pay all
o f the outstanding bills pre
sented in June. She said this
was primarily due to the June
2007 transportation bill paid
in July 2007, unanticipated
expenses w ith previous su
perintendent Bryn Brown
ing's resignation and higher
operating costs caused by
inflation. The larger vendor
invoices not paid by the
district included: Umatilla-
Morrow ESD for custodial
services-$33,032; Mid Co
lumbia Bus for transporta-
tion-$43,005; Columbia Ba
sin Electric-$3,076. She said
that if 2009 revenue allows
for an increase in appropria
tions, a resolution will be
presented to the board to
correct the additional 2009
expenses paid.
O'Hanlon said that
Joe M cE lligott and Ann
M orter spoke to Mid Co
lumbia Bus and w ere able to
negotiate a $4,487 mileage
credit from Mid Columbia
Bus. She said the district's
bill has been adjusted down
ward. O'Hanlon also report
ed the follow ing: the Oregon
Department o f Education
does not send Basic School
Support payments in June
but w ill send two payments
in July; the lone Education
Fund contributed $30,000
to the general fund in June;
federal REAP money total
ing $ 16,093 was received in
June; ODE reversed its deci
sion to require the district to
submit an "onerous" report
on the Title IA grant and the
district will not be required
to return $3,200 to the state;
ODE has issued another
estim ate for 2009 school
support in the neighborhood
o f $1,551,837, only around
$200 down from its May
estimate; the district has not
yet received funds from the
Willow Creek Park District
for the lone pool.
O 'H anlon said the
community function ended
up over budget due to in
creased food costs, with
$24,567 budgeted for food
purchases and $28,973 in
expenses before the benefit
o f state commodities. She
said that a fte r the com
modities are added in. the
com m unity function will
be $5,200 over budget. She
said that a resolution w ill be
prepared to adjust the 2 0 0 9
budget.
In other business,
board Chair Joel Peterson
resigned from the board, ef
fective in August, declaring
a conflict o f interest since
the board approved the hir
ing o f Peterson's wife, Lea
Mathieu, as a fourth-fifth
grade teacher. Morter said
that regulations preclude a
board member from having
a spouse in the employ o f
the district.
Also at the meeting,
the board:
-debated a previous
ex p en d itu re o f $800 for
a g irls' team 's game day-
sh irts, purchased a p p ar
ently because some people
had complained about the
girls' team members' inap
propriate dress. The board
voiced their concerns about
the cost o f the shirts, that
only one sports team had
been singled out to receive
them and debated whether
the shirts were to be the
property o f the school or
individual players' financial
responsibility and whether
the board actually approx ed
the expenditure. C ost o f
the shirts was around $34
each. Athletic director Ryan
Rudolf said that the shirts
-Continued on Page Seven
AT MCGG GREEN FEED & SEED IN H EPPN ER :
C o o l t h e d e c k , p a t io o r y a r d u jith a n
KEEP
1
( 6001 .! ■
O r b it A r i z o n a O u t d o o r M i s t e r
10% O FF NOW!
(P lu s, box and o s c illa tin g fa n s on s a le to o )
M orrow C ounty Grain G rowers Green F eed Sc. S eed
2 4 2 W . L in d e n W ay, H e p p n e r • 6 7 6 -9 4 2 2 • 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 (MCGG
main office)