Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2008)
C ity’s water system back on automatic b i l i i i , i . i l |l l |||l l l i i f | i |i i i j ) Bessie We, z e li Newspaper Library University o f Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 VOL. 127 NO. 34 8 Pages Wednesday, August 20, 2008 By David Sykes H ep p n er’s baekup water system worked well during recent problems with the well com m unications system, public works direc tor Brian Harmon said in a report to the city council last week. The city water sys tem, which is a combination o f wells and storage tanks will automatically keep full by the telemetry system that measures the tanks and then fills them from the wells Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon MC Hazardous Waste and AG Pesticide Collection Event scheduled M o rro w C o u n ty Hazardous Waste and AG Pesticide Collection Event for businesses will be held Friday, Septem ber 19, by appointment, from 2-5 p.m. at the North Morrow Trans fer Station in Boardman. Businesses who gen erate less than 220 pounds per month and who do not accumulate more than 2,200 pounds o f hazardous wastes annually (i.e. m ost small businesses, offices, stores, farm s ra n c h es, sch o o ls, churches, m edical/dental clinics, auto shops, city, county, and federal, etc.) will be able to participate. Aerosols, antifreeze, oil filters, batteries, co r rosives, fluorescent tubes, mercury, oil-based paints, pesticides, poisons, reac tives, etc. (typically: $0.85- 3.10 per p o und) can be brought in. Non-hazardous waste, explosives, radioac tive wastes, infectious medi cal w astes, very reactive wastes and compressed gas cylinders cannot be dropped w hen necessary. The system w ent dow n at the first o f the month and city crews have been running the system manually, turning on and off the pumps and making sure the city had plenty o f water, Harmon reported. The city had tech nicians w orking with the phone company to find the problem, which was finally tracked down to the tele phone system and fixed. Harmon also said a pump on well one had gone out and the Lexington Pump pulled the pump and motor and found that a bearing had gone out. There was no way to make repairs so a new pump and motor were installed. A new soft start system that save 35 percent on power was installed at the same time. Harmon said total cost o f repairs was around $15,000. He said the city crew also started up well number five, to comply with the city w ater right, and it should produce about 150gpm. In other w ater re ports the crews fixed a major water leak on Cannon St. Cannon was not part o f the recent city w ater system upgrade. Harmon also report ed that the city sewer system is operating well, although the city expects to receive a fine from the Department o f Environmental Quality for an earlier overflow at the golf course that allowed 3,000 gallons to flow into the creek without de-chlo rination. It was caused by a malfunctioning automatic valve that came open when it should not have. The amount o f the fine has not yet been determined. In other public works news the repair job to Mor gan St. is expected to go out to bid this month, and the paving started in October. In o th e r b u sin ess City Manager Steve Bogart said bid opening for the St. Patrick's apartment remodel job will be on August 21. The architect w ill review the bids and make a recommen dation the following week. Bogart said the construction business is “ ch allen g ed ” right now so the city should receive some good bids. He said if all goes well the bid could be aw arded on August 26 or 27. It was also reported that election packets are available at city hall for anyone that wants to run for one o f the open positions. Nominations are open for mayor (two year term); city councilor position one (four year); position two (four year); position three (four year) and position four (two year term). To be eligible to hold one o f the offices a person must be a registered voter and have resided in the city o f Heppner for one year immediately preceding the election. N om ination petitions must be tiled at city hall no later than 5 p.m. August 26. B o g a rt a ls o a n nounced that he will be on vacation to visit relatives October 1 6 - 2 1 . He also said city m anager David DeMayo had been asked to serve another tour in Iraq with the Army Guard, but declined and will be return ing to work in Heppner. His exact date back at work as Heppner city manager was not announced. In o th e r b u sin ess the council voted to accept an Oregon Department o f Transportation funding o f the Sperry Street Bridge in Heppner. Total cost o f the project is $807,000 o f which the city will have to pay $82,879. Federal funding will pay for $724,121 o f the project which is scheduled to be done in 2012. Scenes from MC Fair & OTPR o ff For more informa tion on wastes or costs con tact Clean Harbors at 1 -800- 819-.5912 or by emailing benedict.kevin@ cleanhar- bors.com or contact Sandi Putman at Morrow County P u b lic W orks at 989.9500 or DEQ at 541- 388-6146 (ext. 229). i ** mm '* * * í * ^7 4#-* i t it 1 vm I l ? « l m A jé L í Pheasant’s Forever to hold Ringneck Youth Clay Shoot The Columbia Pla teau Chapter o f Pheasant’s Forever will be holding a Ringneck Youth Clay Shoot and barbecue on Sunday, August 24, at 9:30 a.m. at “Rolling Hills Hunting Pre serve” on Hanna Arbuckle Road in Heppner. The event is open to any youth ages 17 and under. There will be a free hamburger and hotdog bar becue lunch afterwards. This will be an in formal shoot for the follow ing age groups: 15 and up, 13-14, 11-12 and 10 and Gentry an All-Around Cowboy under. Prizes include Troy Ounce Silver Coins, Sports man’s Warehouse Gift Cards as well as door prizes and a raffle for a shotgun. Raf fle tickets are free for any current Ringneck member or any new members that signs up. Pheasant’s Forever Youth Memberships are $5 ( 15 years and under). Shotguns and safety gear will be available for any one that needs them or bring your own. A Safety meeting will be held before the shoot for all participants. Signup will be the day o f the shoot. Com e on out and have some fun. Call D ennis N ew m an at 676-5452 or Mike Bennett at 676-5798 for more infor mation. Parade winners announced Tate Gentry wins M O C O All-Around Cowboy. Photo by Sandy Matthews The 2008 Morrow County Fair& Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo parade winners were: Court & Royalty Eastern Oregon Livestock Show Rodeo; Riders - An nie and Coco; Community Floats - Morrow County Ag Museum; and Commercial Float - Bank o f Eastern Oregon. R i b b o n s c an be picked up at the chamber office next week. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. More scenes from the Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo can be seen on Pag es KOI K and F IV E . -Top Photo by Sandy Matthews Bottom Pho to by David Sykes Please send list of w inners for events at the Morrow County Fair and O TPR to editor# rapidserve. net, fax to 676-9211. or call 676-9228.
