Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 29, 2008 - THREE
Chamber tours new Boardman sawmill
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Top Photo: Members o f the
H eppner Cham ber o f Com
merce and others toured the
new sawmill and tree plantation
in Boardman last week. Here
standing in front of 12 year old
Pacific Albus trees are L-R John
Edmundson, Larry Mills, Larry
and Kricket Micholson, Nancy
Snider, Claire Sponseller, Sher-
yll Bates, Doris Brosnan, David
Sykes, J eff B ailey, C laudia
Hughes, Ed Baker, Cliff Green
and Merlyn Hughes. The trees
are getting ready to be harvested
as 12 years is considered mature
and ready to cut for the sawmill.
-Photo by David Sykes
-Continuedfrom Page ONE
plantation. The 25,000 acre
plantation uses irrigation
water from the Columbia to
grow the trees until they are
12 years old. The trees will
grow one inch per year until
cut. The trees were previ
ously owned by Potlatch and
were first grown to be used
for chips.
A vast system of drip
irrigation line w aters the
trees. The irrigation system
uses up to 180,000 o f water
per minute and is also highly
computerized to make sure
the water gets where it is
going. The trees are also
trim m ed and cared for in
special w ays to im prove
the quality of the wood. The
limbs are trimmed out from
Heppner Chamber of Commerce Members (L-R) John Edmund-
son, Larry Nicholson, Doris Brosnan and Jeff Baiiey look over
inside of new sawmill in Boardman. -Photo by David Sykes
the trees to reduce the limb
size and the size and amount
o f knots. Also limbs on the
trees around the outside of
each 40 acre plot are gener
ally allowed to grow longer,
thus blocking the amount
o f sunlight that reaches the
inside trees which reduces
limb growth. Marty Britt
contracts all the logging on
the plantation.
The company says
a lot o f wildlife lives on the
plantation including deer,
elk, cougar and owls. The
company builds owl houses
to encourage the birds as
they help decrease the ro
dent population.
Cattle truck overturns
on Willow Creek Road
The Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office, along with
Heppner Ambulance, Hep
pner Fire Department, and
ODOT responded to a call
on Saturday afternoon, Oc
tober 18, regarding cattle
truck w ith approxim ately
40 head o f cattle that had
overturned on Willow Creek
Road.
The driver, Dewey
William Kennedy o f Con-
don, did not sustain any in
juries. The cattle were trans
ported in personal trailers to
a local rancher’s residence
for tem porary placement.
One the cows expired the
following day.
Damage to the guard
rail resulted in several thou
sand dollars, which ODOT
is currently working to re
place.
Holly Rebekah Lodge to hold card
party
«
Holly Rebekah Lodge will hold a card party on
Saturday, November 1, at 7 p.m. The cost is $5.
Important notice to Century Tel customers
The Oregon Public Utility Commission designated
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within its service area for universal service purposes. The goal
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essential telecommunications services.
Century Tel provides single party residential and business
services for rates from $12.48 to $16.55 per month for
residential customers and $20.31 to $27.25 per month for
business customers. This includes access to long distance
carriers. Emergency Services, Operator Services, Directory
Assistance and Toll Blocking. Use of these services may result
in added charges. Specific rates for your areas will be provided
upon request.
CenturyTel offers qualified customers Lifeline and Link-Up
Service if you meet certain eligibility requirements established
by the Oregon Public Utility Commission. Lifeline Service
includes a monthly discount up to $13.50 for basic phone
charges, as well as toll blocking at no charge and a waiver of the
deposit if toll blocking is selected by qualifying customers.
Link-Up Service provides a discount on installation charges and
charges to move service. Individuals living on Tribal Lands who
participate in federal assistance programs may also be entitled to
additional discounts through the Enhanced Tribal
Lifeline/Link-Up programs.
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at 1-800-201-4099 or visit www.centurytel.com/lifeline to request
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liftiintOft
NON SAU
A fter the trees are
cut new trees are planted in
between the stumps o f the
previous trees, and after 12
years the old stumps rot out
so removal of the stumps is
not required. There are 30
different breeds o f poplar
trees on the plantation and in
the long term the company
says it will have 12 different
breeds, which keeps pest
lost to a minimum.
M ill m anagem ent
is also proud o f the fact
they are FSC certified, hav
ing met the conservation
and environmental criteria
o f the Forest Stewardship
Council.
M. C. Health District has donated over $883 thousand
to Boardman health care facilities since 1999
-Continuedfrom Page ONE
the patient refuses transport,
as is often the case in the
north end, the district does
not receive payment. The
district receives money only
if the patient is transported
and is able to pay through
insurance or private pay.
A lso discussed at
the meeting M onday was
the underlying reason for
the concern over possibly
not being able to pay the
Boardman clinic’s subsidy-
-the district’s financial situ
ation. This year MCHD has
been operating w ithout a
levy. The earlier levy has
expired, and the district has
subsequently lost $63,985
so far this fiscal year, which
amounts to a $21,328 aver
age m onthly-year-to-date
loss, according to Mahoney.
“Can we justify giving them
(CRHC) money, when we’re
operating at a loss,” said
Rea.
Another issue of con
cern voiced by the MCHD
Board is CRHC B oard’s
reluctance to provide finan
cial data to MCHD. The
CRHC Board has not been
forthcoming with financial
reports and has not indicated
what MCHD’s $70,000 an
nual paym ents to CRHC
have been used for. Lan
guage in the new contract
with CRHC, which is cur
rently being hammered out,
also ties payment to report
ing financial information “in
a timely fashion.”
Also at the meeting,
Mahoney reported $487,091
in gross patient revenue for
the M onth o f Septem ber
with $31,399 in revenue
deductions and $52,878 in
tax monies for $511,815 in
total operating revenue. An
additional $50,904 (non
operating net gain) brought
the bottom line to a gain of
$5,019. She said that the
district saw $22,027 in bad
debts for the month, which
could be partially attributed
to around 10 ambulance runs
in the north end, which cost
the district around $1,000
each, since transport was
refused.
In other business,
the board:
-learned from Vander
Does that construction at
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
in Heppner is moving right
along and a final punch list
is expected the day before
T h an k sg iv in g . The c o n
struction will once again
allow the MCHD to provide
long-term care, similar to a
nursing home.
-heard that the PMH
roof should be completed by
Wednesday.
-learned that Vander
Does expects to have long
term residents in the remod
eled facility by Christmas.
- le a r n e d fro m
Vander Does that they are
in the process o f ramping
up staffing for the long-term
care facility. D irector o f
Nursing Molly Rhea told the
board that the hospital will
need five full-time CNAs
(certified nursing assistants)
to staff the facility, but pro
viding training so that the
nursing assistants can be
certified has been difficult.
She said that she had not
received a good response
from Blue Mountain Com
munity College which has
offered classes in the past.
Two CNAs, three cooks and
a housekeeper have been
hired. Mahoney said three
o f the staff who were laid
off when the former nurs
ing home closed have been
rehired.
-learned from Rhea
that five “scopes” have been
co m p leted -fo u r co lo n o s
copies and one endoscopy.
This is a new service w hich
is provided by recently hired
physician, Dr. Nichols.
-learned that due to
a error in calculating Med
icaid paym ent rates, that
Mahoney attributed to ac
counting firm Mike Bell,
the district w ill have to pay
an additional $70,000 back
to the government on top
o f $70,000 that was antici
pated.
-receiv ed the fo l
low ing reports: H eppner
A mbulance had 11 page
outs in September with 11
tran sp o rts for $8,935 in
revenue; Boardman Ambu
lance had 24 page-outs with
18 transports for $20,015
in revenue; Irrigon A m
bulance had 13 page-outs
with seven transports for
$$6,550 in revenue; there
was one flight; Pioneer Me
morial Hospital had three
admissions, five swing bed
admissions, 10 admitted for
observation, one admitted
for respite care, 474 total
outpatients, 72 emergency
room encounters, 1389 lab
tests, 129 x-ray procedures;
29 CT scans, 18 EKG tests
and five respiratory therapy
procedures; Home Health
had 154 patient visits; Hos
pice had three admissions;
pharmacy had 1466 drug
doses for $69,363 in drug
revenue; Irrigon Clinic had
213 patients with 40 new
patients, 39 seen by a nurse
and 18 no-shows (Vander
Does attributed the increase
in patients to closure o f a
clinic in H erm iston and
more use by the g reater ;
Hermiston-area residents); -
Pioneer M emorial Clinic
had 476 patients with 41 .
new patients, 51 seen by .a
nurse and four no-shows.'
lone schools get exceptional rating for second year in a row
By David Sykes
The lo n e S chool
District received an excep
tional rating from the state
for the second year in a
row; it was announced at
last Monday’s board meet
ing. Only 11 percent of the
schools in the state receive
the exceptional rating and
only four percent receive it
for two consecutive years,
the board was told by Super
intendent Karl Ostheller.
In other business at
the October 20 meeting, the
board learned that there are
173 students enrolled in the
all grades in the district. It
has been projected earlier
that there would only be
154 stu d en ts. The n u m
ber included seven foreign
exchange students, which
caused the board to vote on
a new policy authorizing
that amount as the old policy
only allowed four exchange
students.
In other business,
the board discussed a let
ter for the W illow Creek
Park D istrict w hich said
there would probably not
be enough m oney in the
park budget to give lone
the requested $10,000 for
pool maintenance. The park
district was unable to give
funds last year either and as
Park District President Skip
M atthews explained in a
letter to the superintendent:
“ ...if the money is avail
able, the Willow Creek park
District is more than willing
to help out the lone Pool op
erations..... expenses are up
and revenue, including tax
collections, are decidedly
dow n,” M atthew s wrote.
“Last year was the start of
Electric Co-Op Annual Meeting
Thursday, November 6th
The Annual Dinner meeting of Columbia
Basin Electric Cooperative, Inc. is planned for
Thursday, Nov. 6th at the American Legion
Hall in lone. Registration starts at 4:30 p.m.
with dinner served at 5:15 p.m. The annual
meeting and election of Directors will follow
the dinner.
Multiple door prizes will be awarded and
results of the annual Fourth Grade Electrical
Safety Poster contest and the Annual Pho
tography contest will be announced, with
winning entries on display. Again this year
will be a special section of door prizes de
voted just for youth when accompanied to
the meeting by their parents. MP3 Players,
iTune Cards, and other prizes for students
will be given out.
A ll members are welcome to come and learn
about their electric co-op.
I
Financial shortfall for the
district, including reduced
revenue at the RV Park due
to fuel prices and health
advisories for the reservoir.
Those difficulties continue
this year with the added bur
den o f propane costs for our
pool operations. You must
agree that with these hard
economic times, a surplus of
funds is just not as available
as it has been in the past,”
Matthews wrote.
In other action the
board accepted the resigna
tion of board member John
Rietmann with Lisa Riet-
mann abstaining.
T h e b o a rd a ls o
heard a report from Beth
O ’H anlon, the d is tric t’s
Chief fiscal Officer. She said
the district received basic
school support for Septem
ber of$129,268 and proper
ty taxes of $3,887. She said
the Oregon Department of
Education billed the district
$16,751 for previous years’
receipt o f the small high
school grant. Since lone
School District is a charter
school, it is not eligible for
the grant and will have to
repay the money. She said
the district has requested
that they pay the state back
in four equal installments.
She also reported
that she was projecting an
unappropriated ending fund
balance o f $370,000.
The board also heard
a report that the d istrict
would be exploring the pos
sibility o f heating the pool
with solar power. Part o f
the money from the wind
mill projects in the district
is earmarked for renewable
energy.
The board voted to
hold its November meeting
on Nov. 10. There will be
a work session starting at
5:30 p.m. with the meeting
to follow. The board will
interview and appoint a new
board member at that time.
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