Neal says next 30 days will be “go, or no go” on
co-gen sale at industrial park
N eal say s
I •• 11111 • 111
te s ie W e t« ll Newspaper Libra
U n iversity o f O regon
Eugene. OR 97403
By David Sykes
The next 30 days will
tell if the co-gen plant at the
South Morrow Industrial
Park will be sold to a Sweet
Home company or the deal
falls apart. Port Manager
Gary Neal told the Heppner
HEPPNER
imes
VOL. 128
NO. 33
8 Pages
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Electric Co-Op to perform tree trimming operations
C olum bia Basin
Electric Co-Op, and their
subcontractors, will be
conducting their annual
tree trimming operation
throughout the service ter
ritory during the coming
weeks. Consumers with
power lines going through
trees are asked to call the
Co-Op so these locations
can be put on the list of
areas to be trimmed.
Trimming of trees
around power lines is an
annual chore and is required
by Oregon PUC and REA to
reduce outages and insure
continuity of electrical ser
vice. Areas affecting both
Primary (distribution) and
Secondary (individual ser-
vice connections) lines will
be cleared.
Any com m ents,
concerns or questions about
trees obstructing power
lines or the removal o f
them may be made to Slater
Mitchell at 541-676-9146
or slaterm@columbiaba-
sin.ee
Turner catches 55 lb. King Salmon
Chamber of Commerce last
Thursday.
The Port of Morrow
owns the co-gen plant and
has entered into a deal w ith
T2, Inc. of Sweet Home
which plans to purchase the
plant and produce electric
ity from waste wood. T2
has told the Port it needs to
work out some fuel issues
and find customers for the
electricity the 10-megawatt
plant will produce before it
can proceed with the sale.
If operational, the com
pany plans to hire 12-15
workers.
“We solicited propos
als from companies that
might be interested, and T2
made the best offer,” Neal
said. The purchase price
is reportedly S4 million.
“This is the company we
thought could do the best
so we went with them,” he
added.
“The biggest problem
is fuel and another problem
is power sales,” said Neal.
“They need to pay us some
time in the next 30 days,”
he added. “It is a go or no
go deal.”
Under terms, T2
has 60 days to accept the
deal and another 30 days
to purchase the facility,
which will include 20 acres
o f property and various
equipment. Company of
ficials estimate if the plant
goes into operation generat
ing electricity from wood
waste, it could employ 12
to 15 people.
The proposed sale
includes all equipm ent,
fixtures, and improvements,
plus a truck, fuel handling
system, boiler, turbines,
electric power infrastruc
ture, water treatment sys
tem and the truck scale at
the industrial park.
The bio-generat
ing plant has not operated
since 2003. The Kinzua
sawmill closed at the site in
1998, and the Port of Mor
row acquired the property
shortly thereafter.
Neal also said the
Port is getting closer to ob
taining a “no further action”
letter from the Department
of Environmental Quality
(DEQ). The letter will give
the log yard at the former
mill site a clean bill o f
health from the DEQ and
should make it easier to
find buyers or leasers for
the property.
In other activities
the Port is
p u ttin g in
a lot o f in
__ d k frastructure
Garv Neal
at its north
end facilities. “We have a
lot of infrastructure proj
ects on going," he told the
cham ber. “ Lots o f road
and water projects." He
cited the East Beach area
of the Port Industrial park
where they have spent $5
million on new roads and
infrastructure and are plan
ning on spending more. He
said there is grant money
available both from federal
stimulus and from the State
of Oregon for infrastructure
projects. As an example
he said the Port received
$320,000 from the state
and $1.5 million in federal
stimulus money for a rail
project to upgrade a rail
spur and extend the line to
the new planer facility. Neal
said the port is also receiv
ing about $10 million for a
new rail container yard in
the same East Beach area.
The Port has been
able to expand its container
handling by widening its
barge slips to accommodate
two barges side by side.
continued page five
Ag Museum adds 45 foot windmill
, 1
The Ag Museum in Heppner put up this
w indmill for display on Friday, August 21. The
w indmill w as donated by Steve Anderson this
past spring. The windmill is 45 feet high, plus
the wheel which is 20 feet across. It is one of
the largest windmills in the Northwest because
of the size of its wheel. The wheel is so large
because it had to lift w ater approximately 300
feet uphill. -Photo by Andrew Sykes
M
^
Merkley to hold Town Hall
Meeting in Boardman
Wyden not sure about holding healthcare meetings
___
s
r
A
Oregon’s
Senator
JelTMerkley will hold town
halls next month in De
schutes, Crook, Wheeler,
Morrow, Union, Wallowa,
Baker, M alheur, G rant,
Harney and Lake Coun
ties.
Merkley will hold
the Morrow County Town
Hall meeting on Thursday,
September 3, at 10 a.m. at
the Port of Morrow in the
River Front Room. The
Port of Morrow is located
at 2 Marine Drive in Board-
man.
He w ill update con
stituents on his work in
Washington, DC and an
swer their questions about
the challenges facing Or
. . . . . .
.
egon
and America.
“A dvocating for
O regonians is my num
ber one responsibility,”
Merkley said. “1 invite all
Oregonians to meet me and
discuss what we need to do
to get our nation back on
track.”
Last year, Merkley
pledged to hold town halls
in each o f O regon’s 36
counties every year. He held
his first town hall in Febru
ary in his native county,
Douglas County, and his
25,h town hall in Jefferson
County earlier this month.
This sw ing o f 11 town
halls will fulfill his annual
commitment to hold a town
j
a
1. .. 11 • .
...
.i. .
hall in every
county
and . . up
his August and September
town hall total to 15.
The H e p p n e r
Gazette-Times contacted
Senator Wyden’s office to
find out if any town hall
meetings to address health
care issues would be held.
The Gazette-Times was in
formed that Senator Wyden
currently plans on visit
ing eight counties to com
plete his plan to conduct
town hall meetings in each
county in Oregon. Senator
Wyden's office stated that
Wyden was not sure if he
would double back to con
duct the town hall meetings
on healthcare.
1
Harvest average drops from last year
According to the
M orrow C ounty Grain
Growers and the Oregon
State University Extension
Office, this year's harvest is
down approximately 35%
from last year.
This year's harvest
average was 23-30 bushels
per acre for south Morrow
County. The best yields
were 40 bushels per acre
but most vields were in the
teens.
Though yields
were down this year, “last
year was not good either."
said Larry Lutcher of the
OSU Extension Office.
Start/E nd tim es for H eppner and lon e Schools
Lowell Turner caught this 55 pound. 50 inch King Salmon on the Kenai River in Alaska.
He caught the fish at the end of July w hile fishing w ith his brother w ho is a guide on the
Kenai River. The record for a King Salmon caught on a rod and reel on the Kenai is 98
pounds. -Contributed Photos
The Heppner Gazette-Times wants to see pictures
o f your trophy animals from this hunting season.
Stop by to have your picture taken, drop off photos,
or email them to editor@ rapidserve.net.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Schools in Morrow
County will start back on
August 31 for the 2009-
2010 school year.
Heppner Elemen
tary 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-6th graders will get out
at 3:15.
H e p p n e r Hi gh
School students will begin
their day at 7:55 a.m. and
will get out at 3:30 p.m.
lone Community
School students w ill begin
their day at 8 a.m. and w ill
get out at 3:30 p.m.
GREEN FEED & SEED IN HEPPNER:
!G Buy 2 pieces of
$ 10
~r
any Wrangler R A C K
1 apparel and get
bv mail
Minimum purchase $14 95 a piece
ThfU Alig 30
M orrow County Grain Growers Green Feed A S eed
242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 6 7 6 -9 4 2 2 • 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 (MCGG main office)
!