Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 2008)
Public meeting held on proposed mental facility for Heppner Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Libran University of Oregon Eugene. OR 97403 VOL. 127 NO. 32 6 Pages Wednesday, August 6,2008 Bv David Sykes A town meeting to learn more about the pro posed mental facility wish ing to locate in Heppner drew about 95 people last Wednesday evening at the St. Patrick’s Senior Center. R e p re se n ta tiv e s from the company that would build the facility, and the local mental health Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon A princess who loves to meet new people By Autumn Morgan Lo. , '■ C heyenne Ward loves meeting new people. That is why she decided to apply to be a Morrow County Fair and Rodeo princess. Cheyenne was bom in Grant and was raised in w ’l the Pilot Rock/Ukiah area. She is the daughter of Nancy Porter and Curtis Ward, both Vj of Pilot Rock. Since being named a princess, Cheyenne has had the opportunity to travel and enjoys interacting with and meeting new people. Cheyenne is a self- proclaimed “ranch kid” who likes to ride. “It has been a change to work with the hair and makeup portion of the job,” says Ward. “I have to _____ clean up to be in parades but ___ I have a great time.” Since the court was announced, Cheyenne has participated in 15-20 events. “I love the rush of the run- ins,” she said. Ward is also looking forward to getting to walk around at the Morrow County Fair and Rodeo and interact with the kids and see the 4-H projects. She has enjoyed promoting the fair and rodeo. <*«*£** im Cheyenne’s favorite outfit to wear during events is the official riding outfit of the court that consists of m t. ultra-suede gaucho pants. “This outfit is different that what other courts wear,” she said. “We get a lot of Princess Cheyenne Ward with her horse Dollar. Cheyenne will be riding her sorrel gelding named Dol- compliments.” During the Morrow 16-year old quarter horse lar. County Fair and Rodeo Heppner baby dies from accidental drowning A one-year-old baby died from a possible drown ing at his home in Heppner July 29. The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from the residence of Steven and Sarah Mona han Rollis reporting the pos sible drowning of their son. Timathy Hunter Monahan- Rollis at 7:40 p.m. The baby was transported by Hep pner Ambulance to Pioneer Memorial Hospital were resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. The baby was declared dead at 8:22 p.m. An autopsy p er formed by the Oregon State Medical Examiners Office at Clackamas on July 30 determined that the cause of death was accidental drowning. The results of the death investigation were presented to the Morrow County District Attorney’s office for review. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. agency that would admin ister it, were in attendance to both explain the facility and answer questions from the public. One of the most fre quent questions asked was where the eight-bed residen tial treatment facility used to house and treat mentally ill persons convicted of crimes and found “guilty except for insanity” would be located. Rod Estes, a regional residential development spe cialist from Lifeways Com pany, which would build the facility, said that no site has been selected yet, and that he has “only begun the site selection process.” In fact, he said that no decision has been made to locate in Hep pner. “We do not know if it is going to be located here or not,” Estes said. The Heppner City Council, which discussed the facility at its last month ly meeting July 14, and also had some members tour the facility a week later, has given its tentative approval, but only if people were will ing to accept it. Although there were questions and skepticism at last Wednesday’s town meeting, there did not seem to be overwhelming opposi tion as there was years ago when a youth boot camp- type facility was proposed for Heppner. City manager Steve Bogart mediated the meet ing and limited discussion to questions and answers with limited “statements” from the public. The city council is planning on continuing the discussion about the facility at its next meeting on Monday, August 11, at 7 p.m. at city hall. City coun cil meetings are always open to the public. Estes said the facil ity would be different from the one recently proposed for Fossil, which caused a great deal of community upheaval and animosity and was eventually abandoned, in that the proposed Hepp ner facility would not house sexual offenders. It “could” house any type of criminal but the type allowed here would be determined by the administrator of the facility, which would be the Community Counseling Solutions (CCS), formerly Morrow/Wheeler Behav ioral Health. The facility would give an economic boost to the area, Estes explained, providing 20 to 24 full time positions paying $30,000 to $65,000 in wages for annual salaries of $720,000. The annual operating budget would be around $960,000, and construction costs of the facility would be $1.2 million, he said. In addition most sup plies for the facility would be purchased locally, in cluding food, medications, and transportation and gen eral supplies. It would also strengthen the local mental health services, increase lo cal school populations with more students of workers, and generally strengthen the local economy, he has said. Kimberley Lindsay of Lexington is the head of CCS and would be the administrator of the facility. She said the mental facility would not accept “preda tory sexual offenders. Can I change that?” she said. “No. our commitment to you is that it will not happen." Lindsay said some Q, A ** , L |j| ____ & _ *V | Staff of McNary place show members of the Heppner City Council and other community members the central control room during a recent tour of the mental facility. -Photo by David Sykes residents of the facility w ill be allowed out for trips around town, but always under escort. In response to questions, she said the average stay is five years and, although many of the residents would move from this secure facility to a less secure facility before being released, they normally go back to the communities they came from and would not stay here. In response to ques tions about the safety of the facility Lindsay said, “I live in this community. What you think about me matters,” Lindsay told the crowd. “I do business here, my kids go to school and we go to church here.” She said she would feel safe if the facility were located here. O ther q u estio n s from the public were: dents and stay in the com munity? A. No one at Colum bia River Ranch in Board- man (a similar facility) has moved there, said Lindsay. Families do not relocate for this kind of patient. They visit but they do not move there, she said. Q. Why did Fossil and Boardman turn down this facility? A. It was a painful and horrible process, said Lindsay. The state has since said that sexually deviant individuals remain in state facility. The Boardman and Fossil facilities would have accepted these people. Q. What about the recent escape at the similar facility in Umatilla, Mc- Narv Place? A. The resident that escaped was not perma nently there, Estes said. He came from LaGrande and was there voluntarily. He was not a dangerous crimi nal on the attack. Q. Could the popu lation of the facility be lim ited to those w ho commit ted non-violent crimes? A. There would be no mass murderers, but there will be some which have committed \ iolent acts. Both Lindsay and Estes have said that the residents are controlled by medications, and that they want to stay in the facility, which limits the amount of problems. Q. What happens to people who misbehave? A. They go right back to the state facility. People w ant to be in the resi dential facility and behave themselves to stay there. Q. W ill property values decrease if the facil Q. How long has ity is built here? A. Estes said stud Oregon had these type of ies have shown that prop facilities? A. 20 to 30 years erty values actually increase in the communities where said Estes Q. For econom ic these are built. Q. Could the peo activity, why can't we get beds for elders instead, ple w ho go outside into the community be fitted with like geriatric patients? A. We are already an ankle bracelet? A. No. providing facilities such as Q. Is the 8 -fo o t assisted living and a recent upgrade of the hospital for fence adequate to keep them in? long term care. Q. Do friends and A. Because of the familv come with the resi- -Continued on Page Four Special fair & rodeo section in this week’s paper A special fair & rodeo section is included in this week’s Gazette-Times. It includes articles and other information about the fair which opens at the Morrow County Fair grounds in Heppner next week ♦ # * * Your Official P R C A Dealer £ xl «EU WESTERN STYLE. * * * * RELAXER. .............RELAXED Fil JEANS. W R AN G LER JEAN CO meta w GREEN C EED STORE T 541-676-9422 (Hwy 207) 242 W Linden Way Heppner, OR I W ' ” Morrow County or Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo r Tickets with Purchase of W rangler W ear Ask Us How
