Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 2009)
Superintendent Ostheller receives ‘green light" from lone School Board By April Sykes T he lo n e School Board, at their regular meet ing February 17, gave Prin- eipal/Superintendent Karl Ostheller “a green light” to continue his current contract with the district. Ostheller is six months into a three-year contract with 1SD, Also at the meeting the board authorized David McKay with the Willamette Bessie ... ' rsiw of Oregon V Jnwersuy u ^ 3 Eugene. OR Education Service District to negotiate a contract not to exceed $83,500 for ar chitectural services with LSW Architects. The district is preparing for construc tion and remodeling to the school which w as approv ed by district voters in an ear lier bond levy. In other business the board: -approved a contract with the Umatilla Morrow ESD for the local service plan. -approved the bud get calendar as follow s: March 2-teacher/staff2009- 10 budget requests due to s u p e rin te n d e n t; M arch 24-publish first notice o f budget com m ittee m eet ing; April 7-publish second notice o f budget committee meeting; April 13-budget committee meeting, 7 p.m., w ith election o f officers, presentation of budget mes sage. presentation of budget document, citizen input and review of budget document; May 26-final meeting and target date for budget com mittee to approve budget; June 2-publication o f notice of budget hearing and sum mary of budget and funds; June 8-budget hearing, 6 p.m., regular board meeting, adoption of budget, appro priations and levy tax. -received the fo l lowing financial update: the board learned that the dis trict received basic school support totaling S 126.55*4 and Common School Funds in the amount o f $5,134; individual special revenue funds continue to carry defi cit fund balances which w ill be made w hole by approved grant dollars w ith the excep tion of the pool fund. -learned from Beth O ’Hanlon, chief financial officer, that the only in stance an entity can spend the unappropriated ending fund balance is when there is a natural disaster. O ’ Han lon made the inquiry to the Oregon Department of Rev enue in light of the current economic downturn and the anticipated reduction in state funding. -received a report from Ostheller as follows: student enrollment is at 165, a two-student increase from the previous month, with 60 students in kindergarten through grade five, 20 in sixth through eighth grade and 66 in grades nine to 12; the district received nine proposals from arch itec tural firms interested in the building project with four o f those firms selected for an interview ; the school had a water pipe leak at the drink ing fountain by the baseball dugout and subsequently learned that the main shut off valve was broken and needed replacement which was completed; the school had leaks in the roof fol lowing the last snow, one in the kitchen and one in the high school hall near the gym doors, but there have been no repeat prob lems after the snow melted; one o f the steam heaters in the high school was leak ing more than usual and it will be examined during an HVAC service visit; author Jerry Pollatte, sponsored by Scholastics, visited the elementary school on Feb. 2; both g irls ’ and b o y s’ teams participated at district contests. -learned that the next board meeting will be held on Monday, March 16. Fans turn out in full force for district tournament VOL. 128 NO. 8 10 Pages Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Health D istrict com pletes M orrow Equity Loan By David Sy kes The Morrow County Health District signed the papers for a $250,000 loan from the Morrow Equity Fund at its meeting Monday night. The loan will retire an existing loan from the Bank O f Eastern Oregon and give the health district a better interest rate at one percent for 10 years. The money was used on the re cently completed long term care nursing home upgrade and hospital rem odeling project. The Morrow Eq uity Fund is a $500,000 fund controlled hy the Morrow C ounty Court to he used as low incom e loans for business developm ent in the county. The court had earlier voted against loaning the district the money, but following last November's election, the district reap plied and was granted the loan. In other business at the m eeting the board heard had news from the district financial officer w ho announced the district lost $141,131 in January. The district is losing an average o f $41,266 per month, the board was told. District Adminis trator Victor Vander Does, who is in the process o f retiring, recommended that the district hold off on any major expenditure until later in the year to see if eco- W C V E D G elects 2009 officers The Willow Creek Valley Econom ic G roup held its annual meeting last Thursday and elected Dav id Sykes as the 2009 president. George Kofiler was named vice president and Marcia Kemp was elected secretary/ treasurer. O ther business at the meeting members heard a talk by guest sp eak er Kimberly Lindsay, execu tive director o f Com m u nity Counseling Solutions, which will own and operate the new Secure Residential Treatment Facility. Lindsay discussed the new facility and its positive impact on the economy o f the Willow Creek Valley through added jobs and purchasing. nomic conditions improve. “ Because the economy is in such bad shape people are hunkering dow n,” he told the board. “ I would recommend we don’t pursue anything major and tighten up on expenses. I am not comfortable moving ahead with major projects right now,” he said. In a related matter the district has been receiv ing applications for Vander Does replacement and has begun scheduling meetings to review the applications to begin the interv iew ing process. The board agreed to meet March 17 at 7 p.m. in Heppner to begin going over the selection process. The Mustang fans kept the spirit level high at the district basketball games in Pendleton this past weekend. Photo hy Sandy Matthew s Heppner teams to compete in state action The Heppner girls' basketball team Both Heppner boys' and girls' will play in Mills City on Saturday at 5 p.m. basketball teams and two Heppner wres tlers will participate in state tournament against Santiani. Heppner wrestlers Wacy Coil and action this weekend. The Heppner boys' basketball Chance Day will compete in the state wres tling tournament on Friday and Saturday at Shelley Wight, Pub team will play at home on Friday with Portland Memorial Coliseum. lic Health Educator from the the game time and opposing team still to be announced. Morrow County Health De partment w ill be the speaker at this w e ek 's C ham ber H eppner W ater Control D istrict seeks assistance lunch meeting. The meeting The Heppner Water District, P.O. Box 127. Hep district. will begin at noon at John's Control District is accepting pner, OR 97836, stating In o t h e r n e w s , Place. Wight will review the letters from organizations the number o f participants HWCD will hold their an “Non-Smoking." The meal for their annual cleaning (youth and adults) who com nual meeting on Wednesday, cost is $9. project. mit to complete the project March 4. beginning at 7 p.m. This y ear's clean on a Saturday or Sunday this at the Ag Service Center, ing project will involving spring. 430 W Linden Way in Hep removing trash and items Letters must be re pner. Agenda items include: that could cause flooding ceived by March 16. Each election o f officers, minutes along Willow Creek in Hep interested group will be con o f the previous m eeting, pner. The project will also tacted to discuss the details tre a su re r's report, creek involve removing hazards and the hoard will make the cleaning project, 2009-2010 to those who use the creek final decision. “This is an budget discussion and expir for recreation. excellent way to help fund ing director positions. In terested groups your group or club project,” Meetings of the dis are asked to send a letter stated a representative o f the trict are open to the public. to Heppner Water Control Wight to speak at Chamber lunch meeting Heppner band shows their team spirit Rep. Smith to hold town hall meeting in Irrigon A town hall meeting with Representative Cireg Smith will be held trom 6-7 p.m. on Friday, March 6, at the Stokes Landing Senior and Community Center. Rep. Smith will be talking about the budget shortfalls facing Oregon. Al the MCGG GREEN FEED STORE in Heppner: W IN T E R C LO TH IN G SA L E The llcppnci hand, consisting of high school and junior high students, rock & roll with enthu siasm at the district basketball games in Pendleton. Photo hy Sandy Matthews ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. Insulated Bibs and Coveralls • F lan nel S h irts W inter Pac B oots • W inter Insulated G loves • S to ck in g Caps A L L 25% O F F ! M orrow County Crain G rowers Green F eed S l S eed 242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)
