Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2009)
lone School’s new gym floor severely damaged in storm I nisersity o t O regon By April Sykes i ugene. OR 97403 VOL. 128 NO. 32 The lone School Board toured the school’s water damaged gym floor at the board’s regular meeting Monday evening. The gym floor was brand new. but the gym roof 10 Pages Wednesday, August 19, 2009 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Heppner mayor presents certificates of recognition Top Photo: The front of the extensive terracing was matched to original 1903 basalt rock walls around the Morrow County Courthouse adjacent to the state highway project. The Commission thanked the representatives for “creating an attractive environment" in the community. Bottom Photo: Bill Parker of Deschutes Concrete, Joe Main of Knife River Construction and Tom Hudner of ODOT receive Certificates of Recognition presented by Heppner Mayor Les Paustian (L to R) from the city’s Beautification/Parks Commission for terrace work that is part of the Highway 74/Court Street project. Contributed Photos West Nile Virus Public Health Emergency declared in Morrow County O n W e d n esd a y , A ugust 12, the M orrow County Court declared a W est N ile V irus P ublic Heath Emergency in Mor row County. The matter o f de claring a West Nile Pub lic Health Em ergency in M orrow County was de rived from the fact that 78 m osquito pools and two birds have tested positive to West Nile Virus in Morrow County. At this time there is an estimated on average of 9.05 mosquitoes per 1,000 m osquitoes infected with West Nile Virus in Morrow County. T his d e c la ra tio n is the only m eans o f be ing able to perform adult m osquito control on the Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge. Despite all efforts to eradicate the virus it re mains a threat and further means of reducing and min imizing the risk o f infec tion are needed by ground and aerial applications o f pesticides in urban, rural. State and Federal Wildlife Refuge Lands. Even with the an nual option levy, N orth M orrow V ector C ontrol District may see funds ex hausted prior to the summer mosquito seasons end. C itizens o f M or row County need to pro tect them selves and their families against West Nile Virus by maintaining tight fitting screens on doors and windows, wear long sleeved sh irts and long pants and other protective clothing when venturing outside after dark, eliminate all standing water that can support mosquito breeding, avoid playing and working outside at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active and use repellant preferably one that contains DEET, Picardin or oil of lemon eucalyptus. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: was also in the process o f being replaced when a tarp came o ff during a storm that blew in the first week of August, causing sev ere water damage to the floor. Capital improvement proj ect manager David McKay said that floor samples in dicated significant readings of moisture in the wood and under the vapor barrier. McKay said insur ance w ill cover replace ment or repair to the floor. Installation o f a new floor is estimated to cost around $81,000 and partial replace m ent is estim ated to be around $41,000. He recom mended installing a power vent system if the board opts to have a new floor installed, which he recom mended. He said he hoped the insurance adjuster could be on site on Wednesday and anticipated that it could be up to 30 days for new flooring to be installed, w hich could im pact the volleyball program. If a new floor is installed, board members are considering making the court regulation size, which w ould m ean in cre asin g the court by one foot on each side and could entail m oving the bleachers or possibly removing one seat o f the bleachers. Installa tion of new bleachers was considered, but, said board m em ber Anne Morter, “ 1 think we would get our selves into a jam if we gave it (installation of new bleachers) a higher priority than the community told us we should.” New scoreboards for the gym have been or dered and will be on line by basketball season, said McKay. T he b o a rd a ls o to u re d th e e le m e n ta ry bu ild in g w hich has had new carpet installed and viewed the new lighting in the cafeteria and gym. The lighting is use sensitive, meaning that if movement is not detected in the room, the lights will not come on, which is expected to save energy costs. Superinten dent Karl Ostheller said he believed that the system has an override. M orter questioned the stability of the gym lights, mentioning that they looked as if they were hanging on fishing w ire, but McKay countered, saying, “We do all o f our gyms that way.” M cKay said that the heating and ventilating system is scheduled for completion for the start of school, on budget and on time. "The kids will have air conditioning,” he said. The board also toured the science rooms at the high school, but noted that those classrooms will not be com pleted by the start o f school and will have framed, but boarded up windows since w indow in s ta lla tio n is planned for the first two weeks in September. "We really have a lot going. We’re trying to get as much done as pos sible,” said McKay. He said that cafeteria tables have been ordered, but added that they had been upgraded to a product that has a 15-year warranty, rather than the five-year warranty. He said that the new tables will hold up better under the expected w ear and tear. He also touched on the "significant challenges” that they have encountered on the high school roof. “We’ve had our challenges, but we do have a good roof contractor.” One change order on the m etal ro o f amounted to an additional $10,800. McKay said that they had to have engineers look at the roof. “ It was unforeseen, an unfortunate thing, but part of the chal lenges,” he said. McKay said that the capital improvement proj ect is still w ithin the budget, with some increases, but also som e reductions in estimates. “We still haven’t touched the contingency,” said M cKay. C o nstruc tion costs were originally budgeted at $2,012,162 compared to a revised bud get o f $2,107,046. Soft costs, such as a d m in is trative and miscellaneous items, were originally bud geted at $787,478, com pared to a revised budget of $750,995. The total project cost was originally budget ed at $2,799,640 compared to $2 ,8 5 8 ,0 4 1 re v ise d . R evenue w as orig in ally $2,839,342, but has been revised at $2,968,225. Also at the meeting board chair Joe McElligott swore in Morter as a newly elected board member. Ostheller said that he anticipates around 171 students to enter school at lone this fall with 10 stu dents new to the district, not including two foreign exchange students. He said some o f the new students are from Boardman and one is from Arlington. In other business, the board: - l e a r n e d fro m C h ie f F inancial O fficer Beth O'Hanlon that the dis trict has received $28,000 from a federal stim ulus package and will receive an additional $28,000 next year. The board plans to rehire an instructional aide who that was "riffed” due to budget constraints with the monies received. How ever, said O ’Hanlon, the district is required to seek reim bursem ent from the federal government for the expense and it is not certain how soon the monies will be repaid to the district. -h e a r d th e f o l lowing administrative and building and maintenance reports from Ostheller: "■staff in -serv ice begins on August 25 and elem entary teachers will be getting training on Sax on Math with Hermiston teachers, w hile middle/high school teachers will learn about the software that goes with the interactive "white boards”. *the d istric t re ceived $5,000 from the Willow Creek Park District towards pool upkeep and maintenance. "“school starts Au gust 31 for students. "■construction proj ects are continuing. The new carpet is down in the elem entary building and they are awaiting the base backboard, which w ill com plete this phase. Drilling has started ahead of sched ule on the north end of the building. Roofing, HVAC and gym lights are all in process. *the lawn is look ing better and the district is currently mowing twice a week. “With the fertilizer added this last week, we may have to start mowing three times a week instead,” he said. -approved hiring Joe Peterson as the m id dle school head football coach. -heard information on the Alternative Learning Delivery Program, which would enable students to take classes and teachers to teach classes that may not be available current ly through the traditional classroom. -heard the follow ing announcements: board training and retreat, Thurs day, August 27; September board m eeting, Monday, S e p te m b e r 21; O regon School Board Association annual conference, Novem ber 13-15, Portland. -held an executive session to discuss disci pline of a public employ ee, to discuss exempt public records and to evaluate the perform ance o f a public employee. Wanted fugitive apprehended A ccording to the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office, deputies from the M.C.S.O. and the Umatilla- Morrow County Parole and Probation arrested a fugi tive from justice at a remote cabin the Blue Mountains southeast o f Heppner on August 12. M ic h a e l D e a n Lynch, 50, o f Heppner was arrested w ithout incident on a felony warrant for proba tion violation. Lynch had been wanted for violating his probation for second de gree burglary and had been evading local authorities for several months. Lynch was lodged at the Umatilla County Jail on charges of probation vio lation, criminal trespass in the first degree, and posses sion of less than an ounce of marijuana. Start/End times for Heppner and lone Schools Schools in Morrow County will start back on August 31 for the 2009-2010 school year. Heppner Elementary School students will begin the school day at 7:55 a m. K-2nd graders will get out a 2:45 p.m. and 3rd-6lh graders will get out at 3:15. Heppner High School students will begin their day at 7:55 a.m. and will get out at 3:30 p.m. lone Community School students will begin their day at 8 a.m. and will get out at 3:30 p.m. $ 1.99 4IMPM •Grow* staffs p m NAPA Conventional Motor Oil $ 5W30, 10W40, SAI 30 SAE 40 10W30 20W50. 5W20 #75050 100 110 . 120 . 130 . 140 150 MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 * 1-800-452-7396 F« tim «piipm*nt mit «r »»ti at* it m urti
