Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 2009)
Could Heppner have the largest shamrock? II.I..1..,1,1,.III.....Il,I,„II Bessie Wet/ell Newspaper l ibrar) l niversit) o f Oregon I imene. OR 97403 C o u ld H e p p n e r’s Main Street shamrock be the largest in the w orld? Public works director Brian Hannon said he had heard we might have a shot at it, and was going to measure the shamrock and see if it could get it in the Guinness Book o f World Records. “I haven’t measured it yet,” Harmon told the city council at its monthly meet ing Monday night. “ If fact every time 1 paint it I get outside the lines a little bit Students from Heppner High School's senior class painted the shamrock in the middle of town for the annual St. Patrick's Day Celebration this past March. -Photo by Autumn Morgan and it gets bigger,” Harmon measure at least 20 feet wide shamrock, said. The shamrock needs to to claim the title o f largest Residential Treatment Facility could break ground soon C o n stru ctio n o f a new eight-bed, 6,200 square foot secure mental health facility in Heppner could begin in the next couple o f m onths, The H eppner Gazette-Times has learned. According to reports, fund ing for the facility is ready to go, the site has been secured, the contractor chosen, and now the developer is just waiting on the surveyor to finish his work. Location of the facil ity will be above Rock Street in Heppner. The facility has been in the planning stages since last summer. Developers say the facility w ill give an econom ic boost to the area providing 20 to 24 full time positions paying $30,000 to $65,000 in wages. The annual operat ing budget would be around $960.000 and construction costs o f the facility would be $ 1.2 million. In addition, most supplies for the facility w ould be purchased locally, including food, medications, transportation and general supplies. The facility is ex pected to be finished in September or O ctober of 2009. Morrow County School District receives audit VOL. 128 NO. 2 8 Pages Wednesday, January 14,2009 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Council discusses sidewalk tables Kay Robinson is surrounded by members of the Heppner Fire Department before Monday night’s council meeting. Robinson, who is going off the council after 19 years (including a two year stint as mayor) was honored for her care and dedication to the Heppner Fire Department all those years. She said in a previous interview that her single biggest accomplishment was helping procure new fire trucks for the department. -Photo by David Sykes By David Sykes The H eppner City C ou n cil ta lk e d M onday night about businesses plac ing chairs and tables on the sidewalks for customers to eat at, and in the latest re quest, smoke at. Because o f a recently enacted state law smoking is no longer allowed in public buildings including restau rants and taverns, so Nancy G ochnauer o f B ucknum 's Tavern has approached the city about allowing tables outside for eating and smok ing. Smoking is not al lowed within 10 feet of the front of a public building, so the council said the tables would most likely have to be put in the back o f the tavern since there would not be enough room on the front sidewalk. The council also discussed regulation o f sidewalk tables and that one business, Murray Drugs already has tables out on the sidewalk. M o rro w C o u n ty Sheriff Deputy Randy Ray- bum said if the tables were located in the back o f the tavern, there would need to be regulation so that people did not take drinks outside while smoking. City attorney Anne Spicer said if the council is going to regulate tables on city sidewalks for one busi ness, they would have to do it for all businesses. G o c h n a u e r a ls o ask ed the city if so cial gambling is allowed in lo cal businesses. Spicer said the council would need to “ look at” the city’s social gambling ordinance before making a decision. She said social gambling is allowed at the Elks Club because it is a charitable organization. In o th er b u sin ess at M onday's meeting the council heard that the St. Patrick’s Senior Center re modeling is “moving right along.” According to Judy Buschke o f the housing au thority the apartments “were beautiful” and the $750,000 remodeling project is ahead o f schedule. C ascade M anage ment, a professional man agement company, will take over m anagem ent o f the apartments when the proj ect is completed. There are currently five vacancies at the center, but seven people interested in m oving in, Buschke added. It w as a ls o a n nounced at the meeting that the city had purchased a 4X4. The vehicle would be used in part so volunteers could continue to plow city sidewalks during the winter. The city has a list o f vol unteers that have said they would be able to operate the vehicle. “The volunteers will have to be certified,” M ayor Les Paustian said. Paustian said he was going to approach the Heppner Chamber o f Commerce to help pay for the 4X4 since it is used to plow in front o f businesses. The city paid $6,135 for the all terrain vehicle. The co u n cil also sold some city property with a sealed bid. A vehicle was sold to Alex Rystedt for $500. There were a total o f four bids. A Boom truck was sold to terry Corbin for $200, his was the only bid. A roller was also sold to Corbin for $10 with one bid. A 200 gal water tank, trailer and trash pump did not receive any bids. The council granted a request to use the city park for a M arick and Fanger family reunion on July 18 and 19, 2009. There would be 50 to 75 people in at tendance, Margaret Fanger o f Spokane said, in making the request. By April Sykes The Morrow County School D istrict accepted th eir annual au d it, co n ducted by Oster Professional Group, Certified Public Ac countants, John Day and Burns, at their regular meet- ing in H eppner M onday night. O ster’s report indi cated that the district’s net assets decreased by $1.2 m illion for 2008 due to several causes: a decrease in property tax revenues by about $1.9 million; a de crease in revenue from mis cellaneous sources by about $.4 million; an increase in state, local and special pro grams by approximately $.9 million; and an increase by $ 1.5 million in expenditures for instruction and support services. The district showed $18,340,850 in total reve nues, including over $4 mil lion in taxes and over $12 million from state sources. The district had over $18 m illion in ex p en d itu res, including over $11 million for instruction and nearly $7 million in support ser vices, such as instructional staff, general adm inistra tion, school administration, business services and cen tral support services. The d is tric t's av ailab le fund balance as o f June 30 was $1,926,853. In other business at the meeting the board: -heard a report from Barb Moore, teachers and volunteers about the HE ROES reading program at Heppner Elementary School. The group was commended for their work in encourag ing reading in elementary school students. Heppner High School teacher Jean- nie Collins, representing the “Adopt a Teacher” organiza tion, presented the program with a check for $6,000 to help ensure the program's continuation. The group has also sustained the program through num erous fund raising activities. -approved a request from the H eppner High School basketball coach and students to attend a basket ball camp/toumament in San Diego next December. Sup porters have raised nearly all funds required through fund raisers. -learned from Bur rows that attendance is down by around 30 students, but upon research, learned that an attendance drop for this time o f year is consistent with the district's historical records. -learned that R iv erside High School was a haven for around 20 people who w ere left hom eless after a fire sw ept their apart ment in B oardm an. The district has an agreement with Red Cross to provide their facilities in the event o f emergency. -heard a proclama tion designating January "School Board Recognition Month.” The district gave their appreciation to the vol unteer board and presented each board member a gift. -ad o p ted p o licies concerning head lice, staff ethics and gifts and solici tations. -learned from Bur rows that the district is in compliance with state stan dards for elem entary and secondary schools. -received the fol lowing attendance report as of January 5: A.C. Houghton Elementary. Irrigon-344 stu dents; Heppner Elementary School-190; Heppner High School-232; Irrigon Ele mentary School-121; Irrigon High School-316; River side High School, Board- man-380; Sam Boardman E lem en tary -3 0 9 ; W indy River Elementary, Board- man-224; Morrow Educa tion Center-Morrow County School District-77; Morrow Education Center-Umatilla School D istrict-28; total 2221 . -received the fol lowing announcements: end of the semester-January 15; Martin Luther King holiday- January 19; board w ork session, district office. 5 p.m.,-January 29; next board m eeting. R iverside High School, Boardman, 7 p.m., February 9. 2009 Chamber board members installed The 2009 Heppner C hamber of Commerce Board of Directors w as introduced last Thursday at the annual chamber luncheon. Left to right are Alvin Liu, Darcee Mitchell. Tom Mafera. Dave Stone. President Jeff Bailey, Anne Murray. Nancy Snider and Lisanne C urrin. Bailey will be serving his second year as president. 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