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
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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.
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W inter Pac B oots • W inter Insulated G loves • S to ck in g Caps
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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)