lone School Board explores financial options
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By April Sykes
T he lo n e S chool
Board, at their regular meet
ing held January 20, due
to the Martin Luther King
holiday, discussed the dis
trict’s options in the event
o f a reduction in state school
funds.
The board learned
that, depending on the gov
ernor’s budget, the district
could p o ssib ly lose $24
thousand to over S 100 thou
sand in state funds, due to a
lagging economy. The con-
êo"
sensus was that, while not
desirable, the district may be
able to cope w ith a $24,000
loss, but a $100 thousand
loss would be devastating.
The exact amount o f reduc
tions will be determ ined
when the governor’s final
budget is in place.
The ESD said that
one option to adjust to a
reduction in this year’s fund
ing could be to pay some
2008-09 bills after the close
o f the fiscal year. According
to the law, school districts
must have a balanced bud
get.
The board also dis
cu ssed fu tu re p ay m en ts
for new windmill projects
located within the district.
The district may or may not
benefit from these projects,
depending on how the mon
ies are received. If payments
are m ade to the d istric t
in one manner, the funds
would have to be deducted
from state school payments
and the district would not
benefit monetarily. If pay
ments are made in another
manner, the funds may not
have to be paid back to the
state. The district and the
Umatilla-Morrow Education
Service District are explor
ing this issue further. The
ESD also planned to meet
with the Morrow County
Court, which may oversee
some o f the dispersal o f
windmill project funds.
Also at the m eet
ing, newly appointed board
member, Bill Jepsen, took
his seat on the board. Jepsen
w as sworn in as a new board
m em ber at the previous
meeting December 23. He
fills the board seat vacated
w ith the resignation of John
Rietmann.
In other business,
the board:
-received the fo l
low ing financial update
from the ESD as o f Decem
ber 31: the district received
basic school support totaling
$112,268, which is lower
than in previous months
due to the repayment of the
Oregon Department of Edu
cation's small high school
grant o f $16,751; with the
repayment o f the small high
school grant and the reduced
state school funding, the
district is “very close” to
its budgeted ending fund
balance; individual special
revenue funds are report
ing deficit fund balances.
“ With the exception o f the
Pool Fund, all funds will be
made whole by approved
grant dollars,” said the ESD
update.
-approved a contract
w ith D avid M cK ay and
Willamette ESD for project
management services for the
bond measure project.
T h e n e x t b o a rd
m eeting w ill be held on
Tuesday, February 17, due
to the President's Day holi
day February 16.
Ice, snow, and frost cause power outage
VOL. 128
NO. 4
10 Pages
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Health district receives applications for CEO position
By April Sykes
The Morrow County
Health District learned, at
its regular meeting in lone
Monday night, that the dis
trict has received several
applications for the district’s
CEO position. Current CEO
Victor Vander Does earlier
announced his intention to
retire. Vander Does said that
four serious candidates have
emerged within the appli
cants with three weeks still
remaining until the applica
tion process is closed.
Board chair Larry
Mills said that a tour com
mittee should be established
for the final interviews. The
tour to the candidates would
include a tour of the hospital,
thc.district house, the town
and the schools, if appropri
ate. He recommended that
the whole board be present
for the final interview.
T h e b o a rd a ls o
learned that the hospital's
new long-term care facility
has 11 people on the waiting
list for admission with three
interested in coming on as
soon as possible. Director
o f Nursing, Home Health
and Hospice, Molly Rhea,
said that the long term care
facility could possibly have
three openings within the
week.
In other business,
the board:
-learned from board
member LeAnn Rea, who is
also a Morrow County Com
missioner, that the county
has said that they will do
“everything in their power”
to enable ambulances and
health care em ployees to
reach patients at their homes
in the event o f snow storms
or other bad weather situa
tions. Rea said that the coun
ty said they would provide
snow plows, if possible.
-accepted the low
bid o f $15,095 from Camp
bell Motors for a 2009 Toy
ota Corolla. Vander Does
said the district received
three bids.
-heard from Vander
Does concerning a matching
grant for digitizing equip
ment to enable the district
to send x-rays to a radiolo
gist.
-heard from Vander
Does concerning the new
heating/ventilating/air con
ditioning unit installed at
Pioneer Memorial Hospital.
Vander Does said that the
new unit was an upgrade to
the existing HVAC system
w ith the exception o f a new
controller which now en
ables the system to be con
trolled by one computer.
-le a rn e d th a t the
next meeting will be held
February 23 in Boardman
and that additional meetings
will be scheduled for the
CEO interview and selection
processes.
-learned from Chief
Financial O fficer N icole
Mahoney that the district
lost $26,803 for the month of
December w ith a $147,734
loss for the year, amount
ing to a $24,622 average
monthly year-to-date loss.
The district had $521,870 in
total operating revenues in
December, which included
$56,802 in tax revenues, and
$506,365 in total operating
expenses and an additional
$38,495 in operating losses.
Molly Rhea told the board
that the month o f January
has been much busier than
December.
-received the fo l
lowing report: Pioneer Me
m orial H ospital had one
swing bed adm ission, 17
adm itted for observation,
two adm itted to the long
term care nursing facility,
462 total outpatients, 53
emergency room encoun
ters, 1531 lab tests, 108 x-
ray procedures, 35 CT scans,
30 EKG tests, two treadmill
procedures, Five colonos
copy procedures, two endos
copy procedures, 50 respi
ratory therapy procedures;
pharmacy administered 915
drug doses for $64,936 in
revenue; Home Health had
154 visits; Hospice had two
admissions; Pioneer Memo
rial Clinic had 420 patient
visits with 38 new patients,
52 patients seen by a nurse
and nine no-shows; Irrigon
Clinic had 214 patient visits
with 35 new patients, 71
seen by a nurse and 14 no-
shows; Heppner Ambulance
had 23 page-outs with 16
transports for $16,470 in
revenue; Boardman Ambu
lance had 33 page-outs w ith
20 transports for $21,999 in
revenue, Irrigon Ambulance
had 25 page-outs with 16
transports for $14,635 in
revenue.
lone School holds mock inauguration
Top Photo: Troy Hyatt works to clear ice from power lines last week. Bottom Photo: Ice weighs
dow n power lines throughout the county. -Contributed Photos
C o lu m b ia B a sin
E lectric C oop has been
scraping ice off power lines
day and night for the past
week. But the recent snow
and frost added to the ice on
the power lines and became
too much on Saturday night,
knocking out power in the
Heppner area. C olum bia
Basin responded and was
able to sw itch the feed to
restore power. W hile the
Heppner area only had to
deal w ith the power outage
for a couple o f hours on
Saturday night, Columbia
Basin is still dealing with
broken cross-arms and w ires
from Lexington to the John
Day River.
Heppner Drama Club looking for donations
The Heppner Drama
Club is preparing for their
2009 spring performance of
“A Broadway Review.”
To prepare for the
p erfo rm an ce the D ram a
Club is in need of donations
from the community. The
Drama Club is looking for
the following items: wigs
o f any kind; a roll-a-way
bed, garment bag, singe pole
coat rack, small vanity with
chair or bench, standing
sewing mannequin bodice,
old eandelabras, a fog ma
chine, approximately eight
cornstalks, and some 2x4s
and plywood.
For more informa
tion or to donate any of these
items contact Jodi Chapa at
676-8022 (day) or 676-8161
(night).
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
AT MCGG GREEN FEED & SEED IN HEPPNER:
WJNIéR CARe LAMÍN
-,
> *
Flag bearer« march into the lone Community School gym during the mock inauguration put on by
the students. More photos can be found on Page T H R E E . -Photos hy April Sykes
50 lb. bag Regularly $19.00
O ft
Sole $ 13.50
M orrow County Grain Growers Green F eed & S eed
242 W. Lin d en Way, H eppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)
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