Morrow County Health District commits $100,000 to
new Boardman clinic
District administrator announces retirement
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i M im II
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
VOL. 127
NO. 48
8 Pages Wednesday, November 26, 2008
By David Sykes
The Morrow
County Health D istrict
(MCHD) Monday com
mitted $100,000 towards
construction of a new clinic
planned for Boardman.
The clinic would
be owned and operated by
Columbia River Community
Health Services (CRCHS)
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Gingerbread houses on display
h
4 V
W
'O *
ù
which was established as
a non-profit organization
on January 22, 2004. The
clinic currently employs 22
full-time providers and in
2007 saw 2,363 patients,
according to CRHS reports.
CRCHS is run by a board
of directors, which says it
needs to build a new facility
because the current clinic
is not large enough to suf
ficiently serve its patients.
CRCHS is count
ing on a large grant to get
construction of the clinic
off the ground. It has al
ready purchased property in
Boardman for construction.
MCHD said the $100,000
was contingent on CRCHS
receiving the grant in March
of next year.
The MCHD board
was generally in favor of
giving the money for the
clinic, but felt it should get
more credit in the Boardman
community.
“We just put in
$100,000 for emergency
services and bought a new
$110,000 ambulance for
Boardman, but if you talk to
people there they do not even
know this,” Morrow County
Health District Adminis
trator Victor Vander Does
said. He pointed out that the
health district received only
a 33 percent yes vote in the
Boardman precinct during
the recent tax base election.
“Boardman people don’t
even know we give you
money,” he told CRCHS
board member Karen Pet
tigrew and CRCHS Execu
tive Director Mindy Binder,
both of whom were at the
MCHD meeting. “We need
some credit in that commu
nity for the money we have
given you. We have given
you over $800,000just since
Columbia River Community Health Services employees stand
by a sign that marks the site for their new facility. Contributed
photo
1 have been here,” Vander
Does added.
Pettigrew pointed
out that the north end of
the county is contributing
a large portion of the tax
revenues of the Morrow
County Health District, and
it can expect to get even
more when Coyote Springs
gas-fired generation plant
comes on the tax rolls next
year. She estimated it would
add approximately $150
million in new valuation,
which should add another
$130,000 in annual tax rev
enue for MCHD.
Vander Does said
the MCHD board should
also expect a quarterly re
port from CRCHS on how
the money is being used.
“We are expecting a quar
terly report on where the
money is going and if it is
being spent correctly. Your
organization has not been
forthcoming in the past,” he
told Pettigrew and Binder
about CRCHS.
Binder said things
have changed at the Board-
man clinic. “This is not
Dr. Boss’ clinic any more
(referring to the doctor who
founded the clinic). We are
making money and it is
not going into somebody’s
pocket,” she said.
She said the clinic
had netted $300,000 per year
in the past, but she added
that the net would probably
be down this year since a
new doctor was hired.
“The clinic is very
important and we need to
make a commitment tonight
for them to make grant ap
plications,” MCHD Board
Chair Larry Mills said. The
board voted unanimously
to give the funds, and also
postponed signing a con
tract with
CRCHS
until later
next year.
CRCHS
is p l a n
ning a
February,
2010, date
for ground
breaking Victor Vander
on the new Does
clinic.
V a n d e r Do e s
announces retirement
In other business
MCHD Administrator Vic
tor Vander Does announced
that he would be retiring in
July of next year. He has
Continued on page 8
Boardman Police Department receives good review
This gingerbread house built by the Chapa family is on display at Sweet Productions Ice Cream
Parlour. -Photo by Autumn Morgan
Gingerbread houses
have begun to be built and
set up around town. Two
houses have been built so
far and are on display at
D&L Auto Parts and Sweet
Productions.
The house at D&L
was built by Jaime McCor
mick. The house at Sweet
Productions was built by
Jodessa, Kolleen and Jodi
Chapa.
Anyone that would
still like to build a ginger
bread house and have it
displayed at a local business
can call Jodi Chapa at 676-
8022.
lone School District thrilled with bond’s passage
lone School District
administrators, board mem
bers and staff are celebrat
ing with the passage of the
district’s $2.8 million capital
construction bond during
the Tuesday, November 4,
General Election. The bond
passed with 216 of the city’s
376 votes.
“I am pleased and
excited to see the wonderful
support the lone community
has for its school,” said Su
perintendent Karl Ostheller.
“With the passage of this
bond, we can address some
of the issues of an aging
high school building and
provide additional class
rooms to alleviate our lack
of classroom space.”
The $2.8 million
bond will cost taxpayers
$2.43 per $1,000 assessed
property value for no more
than 16 years. The bond
funds will allow the district
to construct two new class
rooms at the elementary
school; repair and improve
the pool and pool deck;
replace the high school
gym floor; replace the high
school roof, including gym
and cafeteria; replace the
high school air-quality sys
tems and windows; and
modernize classrooms with
new technology. The district
will coordinate with the
Umatilla-Morrow Educa
tion Service District (ESD)
and the Willamette ESD
when the projects are put
out to bid.
The district is hop
ing to capitalize on other
districts’ bond passages to
help minimize the cost as
sociated with construction
while improving the qual
ity of the w ork done for the
district. “We will attempt to
get as many of our projects
finished before the next
school year starts to reduce
the educational impact of
construction,” Ostheller
said. “The addition of the
two classrooms will need to
go through a design phase
and that will make this proj
ect take the longest to be
completed. We appreciate
your (lone’s) support and
look forward to your input
as we move forward with
these projects.”
lone to hold annual Christmas Open House
From: Jackie McCauley,
Boardman Utility Clerk
Tuesday night the
Boardman City Council
heard a report, prepared by
the Police Advisory Com
mittee, rev iewing the Board-
man Police Department. The
report came at the request of
Mayor Ed Glenn, when in
May of this year he formed
a fact-finding committee to
review the Police Depart
ment in all areas, includ
ing budget, personnel, and
procedures. He appointed
Councilor Jill Pambrun as
the committee chair. The
rest of the committee mem
bers were made up of citi
zens, councilors, and Police
Chief John Zeiler.
The Police Advisory
Committee identified issues
of most concern and as
signed committee members
to explore those issues. They
prepared a survey which
went out to all households in
the city and gathered infor
mation by interviewing the
police officers and the city's
finance director. They also
participated in a ride-along
w ith the officers.
A majority of the 64
surv eys returned to the com
mittee indicated the public
has shown improvement
over the last three years.
Survey respondents would
like to continue with 24/7
police coverage, and would
like to see the police depart
ment continue to engage in
community functions. It is
the Advisory Committee's
recommendation that 24/7
coverage remain a top pri
ority. A small percentage
of the surveys indicated
concerns of officers w riting
too many traffic tickets, fol
lowing vehicles too closely,
and speeding in residential
zones.
Information gath
ered regarding the budget
showed, although the de
partment's budget is one-
fifth of the city's budget,
they employ one-third of the
city's employees and have
historically stayed within or
under budget. The commit
tee recommended increasing
the maintenance budget for
2009-10.
The committee also
researched the department's
patrol vehicle policy. Cur
rently each officer is as
signed a vehicle which they
take home while they are off
shift to allow for a quicker
response during emergen-
is relatively small when you
consider the time saved in
the event of an emergency.
They recommend continu
ing this policy.
Their research also
showed the police depart
ment is involved in the
community. The commit
tee found that most officers
participate in the Boardman
community, either through
coaching, community ser
vice clubs, graffiti removal,
gang awareness programs in
schools, or the DARE pro
gram. The committee rec
ommends the city encourage
the officers to continue to
participate in community
activities, but realizes they
cannot require them to do
so. They also recommend
the city improve publiciz
ing the police department's
crime prevention and educa
tional efforts.
Boardman Police
Chief, John Zeiler is pleased
w ith the report saying "the
Boardman Police Depart
ment has been striv ing hard
these past few years to bring
the police and the public
closer.” He said although a
police department’s primary
duty is to enforce the law
and some people may not be