Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 2009)
SEVEN - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 16, 2009 -Continued from Page SIX Petitions must be filed with the clerk o f the board or postm arked not later than December 31, 2009. The board w ill meet at Morrow County Courthouse in the city o f Heppner. A schedule o f hearings for those who request to be present will be posted 48 hours prior to the meeting(s) in/on Morrow C o u n ty C le r k W e b s ite : Morrowcountyoregon.com If you have requested to be present at the hearing you w ill be notified o f the date, time, and place to appear. All other hearings will be scheduled as time allows. Contact the board o f property tax appeals for further information. E xecu tive se ssio n s may be held during the se ssio n as authorized by ORS 192.660, to con sid er docum ents and information made confidential under ORS 308.290( 10), ORS 308.411, and ORS 308.413. It shall be the duty o f the persons interested to appear at the time and place appointed. B o b b i C h ild e r s , C o u n ty Clerk Morrow County, Oregon Dated at Heppner, Oregon this 14th day o f December, 2009. Published: December 16, 23, and 30, 2009 Affidavit PU BLIC NO TIC E REQUEST FOR QUALI FICATIONS FOR quali fied contractor to build and construct an improvement at the south Morrow Trans fer station. Morrow County Public Works Projects - Morrow County, Oregon Morrow County, Oregon, requests proposals for a qualified contractor to build and construct an im provement at the South Morrow Transfer station. Contractors submitting qualifications shall be con sidered based upon the fol lowing general evaluation criteria: 1. Fee schedule. 2. Experience. 3. Method o f ap proach. 4. Availability of la bor and equipment. Copies of the Request for Qualifications may be obtained from Morrow County Public Works, P.O. Box 428, 365 W Hwy 74, Lexington, Oregon 97839, (541)989-9500. Complete proposals will be accepted at the same address no later than 4:00 p.m. Decerpber 18, 2009 any questions or concerns may be addressed to Sandi Putman. Published: December 2, 9 and 16, 2009 PUBLIC NOTICE December 9, 2009 The Morrow County Sher iffs Office has in its physi cal possession the unclaimed personal property described below. If you have any own ership interest in any of that unclaimed property, you must file a claim with the Morrow County Sheriff s Office with in 30 days from the date of publication of this notice, or you will lose your interest in that property. Bikes, Shoes, Watch, Tool, Baseball hat. Cash Register, Drill Bits, Wrenches, Volt Meter, Toolbox, Screw Driv ers, Set of Keys, Shotgun, Ga rage Door Opener Published: December 16 & 23, 2009 Sheriffs Report The Morrow County Sheriff s Office reports han dling the following busi ness: -MCSO received report that two Irrigon juve niles, a five-year-old and a nine-year-old were missing. The mother o f the ju v e niles was located and she found the kids playing at a house. -MCSO received report of a mother and three teenagers w ith a truck w ith HES November Students of the Month announced Heppner Elementary School announces their November Students o f the Month. The character trait was motivation and work ethic. Pictured top row (L-R): Claire Grieb, Emily Pappas, Skyler Palmer, Sydney Qualls, Kacie Gray, Alex Lindsay, Logan Grieb, Patrick Collins, and Demitra Schmidt. Bottom row (L-R): Kylie Boor, Alison Cecil, Evan Kollman, Marlee Mitchell, Brett Jewett, Amelia Baker, Hayden Qualls, Hayden Hyatt, and Blane Mahoney. -C ontributed Photo SCHOOL DISTRICT “It’s not a Demo crat or Republican thing to me,” said Kuhn. “We have to look the staff in the eye and say we did everything we could.” He said that as a school board member, his main focus is to support education. He said that if the measures are defeated, the Morrow County School District would have to cut teachers, programs and/ or instructional time. “If we lose this money, the legislature is not going to back-fill it,” said Kuhn. “Most people who sponsor these measures live in the valley and it will come out of their pockets. We have an obligation to our kids.” Kuhn also said that where the money is obtained is not as important as provid ing a good education for our children. “Our job is to gather every penny we can,” he said. He said that the local economy would also suffer if school dis trict jobs are cut. He added that the voters of Morrow County supported a serial levy, but “That serial levy isn’t going to mean much if we don’t support the leg islature. How could we ask for more money?” Both M iles and Kuhn said that they believe they have been good stew ards of the public dollars. M orrow County School District superinten dent Mark Burrows told the board that if the mea sures are defeated, the State School Fund for 2009-2011 would be under-funded by around $285.5 million. Burrows said this would result in a devastating loss of $1,236,035 for the Mor row County School District, which would amount to cutting 20 teachers or 18 instructional days. Also at the meet ing, Burrows told the board that the district had re ceived a “clean audit”, but had received several notes, including a recommenda tion that the district hire a certified public accountant, which is not mandatory. Oster told the district that an actuary is mandatory to evaluate liabilities. Cost is estimated to be around $4,500. T h e a u d it, by the O ster P rofessional Group, showed the dis trict has total assets o f $30,564,684 in 2009, com pared to $30,959,173 in 2008; total liabilities of $25,152,399 in 2009, com pared to $25,445,140 in 2008; and total net assets o f $5,412,285 in 2009, compared to $5,514,033 in 2008. Expenses include: -In s tru c tio n : $10,496,732 for regular programs, $3,044,997 for special programs, $15,030- summer school programs. -Supporting ser vices: $302,986 for stu dent su p p o rt serv ices; $5 07,3 4 3 -in stru c tio n a l staff, $428,532-general ad ministration, $1,511,454- school a d m in istratio n , $3,574,734-business ser vices, $520,635-central support services, $217,899- supplemental retirem ent program. -E n te rp rise and c o m m u n ity s e r v ic e s : $959,292-food services; $ 1,054-com m unity ser vices. -D e b t s e r v ic e : $1,202,404. - D e p r e c ia tio n : $698,866. Total government activities: $23,481,958 General revenues include: -T ax es-p ro p erty taxes levied for general purposes-$4,030,224, prop erty taxes levied for debt service-$ 1,483,673. -State school fund- $12,271,124. -Common school fund-$142,175. -Other unrestricted funds-$ 175,995. -U n re s tric te d in v e s tm e n t e a rn in g s - $149,221. -S ale o f capital assets-$ 129,766. -M iscellan eo u s- $633,415. Total general rev enues: $19,015,593 with changes in net assets o f -$101,748. Net assets at the beginning were $5,514,033; net assets at the ending were $5,412,285. At the year end ing June 2008, the net as sets at the beginning were $6,731,319; net assets at the ending were $5,514,033. The audit stated that property tax revenues increased by about a half a million during the year; rev enues from miscellaneous sources decreased by about $.4 million; other state, lo cal and special programs revenues decreased ap proximately $.8 million and expenditures for instruction and support services de creased by $.71 million. In other business, the board: -heard reports from board members, superin tendent and assistant su perintendent on the Oregon School Board Association co n v en tio n h ig h lig h ts. From the sessions he at tended. Miles said he would like to put an emphasis on the district’s grading stan dards. -viewed a presen tation from Irrigon High School FFA members on their trip to the FFA con vention. -heard a presenta tion from Irrigon Elemen tary School teacher Ellen Hendergart on the 1ES read ing program. -accepted a $3,000 grant from the Muzak Heart & Soul Foundation. -declined to cast a vote on the 2009 OSBA officers. -voted against an issue regarding the election of OSBA officers. -voted against add ing two new OSBA board positions. -accepted the 2008- 09 audit. -selected the fol lowing bargaining team for classified negotiations as follows: Thad Killingbeck, Bill Kuhn and Barney Lind say, alternate. -selected the fol lowing certified negotiat ing team: Barney Lindsay, Pat McNamee, Berto Her nandez and Dan Daltoso, alternate. -ap p ro v ed s u p porting the acquisition o f Umatilla Army Depot acreage for a land lab for the school district’s FFA program “to provide agri cultural field experience to MCSD students in the north end schools. -approved the fol lowing employment action: resignations/retirem ents for Troy Morgan as Hep pner High School assis tant baseball coach, Judy Woody, Riverside High School special education assistant; employment for Shelly Dun, A.C. Houghton Elementary School Title I ed assistant; extra duty con tracts for Jessica Lehmann, Irrigon Junior High School head girls’ basketball coach, Andrew Timpy, IJH assis tant boys’ basketball coach, Breena Tolar, IJH assistant girls’ basketball coach. -received the fol lowing enrollment infor mation as o f Decem ber 1: A C H -265; H eppner Elementary School-195; H HS-225; IES-200; Ir rigon High School-331; RHS-414; Sam Boardman Elementary School-313; Windy River Elementary, Boardm an-21 8; Morrow Education Center-MCSD- 47; MEC-Umatilla School District-23; Total 2231. -heard the follow ing announcements: De cember 17, last school day before Christmas break; Dec. 19-Jan. 3, winter break; Jan. 4, school resumes; Jan. 11, next board meeting, Heppner Elementary; Jan. 14, end of semester. -held an executive session concerning person nel. a damaged tire. She said her husband was try ing to locate a tire. -MCSO received report that Umatilla County Sheriff's Office arrested Joseph Rogers on an Irrigon Justice Court warrant for Failure to Pay Fine/Driving While Suspended. He was lodged at Umatilla County Jail with $952 bail in full. He was lodged at Umatilla County Jail. -Boardman Police Department cited Victor Manuel Atilano, 25, for Failure to Obey a Traffic Control Device. -BPD officer made contact with a subject whose vehicle had a broken out w indow and advised it was Criminal Mischief KK. -BPD officer re ported he w as flagged dow n by Boardman Lock and Key where a subject reported that someone scraped off the license plate stickers on his work van. -BPD received re port of a community service worker picking up trash. -BPD received re port received report of a CITY COUNCIL Baird said the study should be completed by Oc tober, 2010 to complete and he will be meeting in a work session Jan. 19 with the city council to discuss the sewer system planning. The council heard a report from a sheriff’s deputy who said there has been a small rise in thefts in the area. The Victorian Rose reported several item missing from the store. A student at Heppner High school reported that they had $100 stolen from a locker. Both cases are un der investigation. A person also reported their iPod was stolen, but the item was recovered and the suspect was cited for theft II. A vehicle was broken into in from of the motel, and this happened during daylight hours. Several items were taken. The deputy told the council that another person reported getting a phone call from Canada saying a relative was injured and they needed to send money to help out. No m oney was sent. Another person reported that he had pur chased a vehicle and when the money was transferred it turned out to be a scam. It was reported that the city purchased a used truck from the State of Or egon surplus property. The truck is a 1998 Chevy 4X4 extended cab with 133,000 miles that the city bought for $5,500. The comment was made about good deals to be had at the surplus and the city plans to go back and also purchase some office furniture. The council heard a report that the restrooms at Hager Park are coming close to being installed. The company that sells the prefab restrooms recently had a sales rep at the park looking things over. Morrow County Court weekly meeting held The Morrow Coun ty Court met on December 2 in Heppner with Judge Tail- man, Commissioner Grieb, and Commission Rea in attendance. Following is a summary of the meeting provided by Leann Rea. The court reviewed and approved accounts payable in the amount of $43,068.32 plus the $300 that had been withheld for additional research. The court reviewed and approved the minutes of November 25, 2009. R oad R e p o r t: Bombing Range Road and Highway 207 intersection - work on the Intersection Im provem ent Project is ramping up. Currently have an eight foot of the needed cut moved. Have defined and outlined the new inter section locations. Discov ered a major fiber optics line that passes through the project on the Kilkennny Road side of the project and it is being lowered by Quest. These is also another phone line that run’s paral lel with the other line and it is also being lowered. It will take at least a six foot deep trench to accomplish this task. Discussed the detour that will be needed in this area and how it will impact travel from the north end of the county as well as travel tow ard the Hermiston area. All travelers will need to watch news outlets for in formation regarding detours around this work area in the near future. Miscellaneous - Have removed several unneeded cattle guards on Immigrant and Baker Lanes as well as Morgan Road. Snow plowing and sanding continues on Coal Mine Hill. Currently there is not enough snow to cause the closure of that road. Sheriff’s Report: Reported on an incident in the Heppner, lone, and Lex ington area where a hunter had fired across a road way endangering a passing auto. In the Irrigon area arrested a suspect in the house that he was attempting to bur glarize; responded to a 911 hang-up call; assisted with a call regarding an oven fire. In the Boardman area assisted with an accident involving a car and a semi truck, with four individu- als being transported to Good Shepherd Hospital; responded to a rollover accident; a vehicle fire inci dent; responded to an indi vidual whose car was stolen while it was being warmed up. Both the vehicle and suspect were located with in minutes; received a call regarding a boat stuck in the Columbia River with motor trouble; responded to an attempted suicide. Health Depart ment Report: Received a report regarding the HINI vaccine status as well as the status on the seasonal vaccine. It was reported that the new refrigerator/freezer for the Boardman site has arrived. The co u rt c o n ducted the following busi ness: Approved a return of duplicate payments of property taxes in a total amount of $ 4,587.65. An extension of the w arranty on the county’s file server until June 28, 2012 was approved. An order for the formation of the Radio District was reviewed and signed. The Intergovern mental Agreement for the Umatilla Basin Water Com mission was reviewed and signed. The financial report for the county’s three parks was reviewed. Inform a tion regarding the Scenic Bikeway Management Plan was reviewed and the court offered their support for this proposal. There are two different plans being proposed, one is for an approximate loop o f 106 miles, which would include using the Western Route to Ukiah and back down Franklin Grade. The other proposal would be a one way ride to the same area. Final plans on the route are yet to be determined. Two public hearings for the Planning Department were held. One hearing was to amend language in the Hardship Ordinance and the other was some minor amendment to the Zoning Ordinance. Reviewed sev eral correspondences an up coming meeting notices. Any one wishing to be placed on the list to receive county minutes, please contact Karen Wolff at (541)676-5620. white Mustang traveling at speeds of 100-plus on 1-84. BPD was unable to locate the vehicle. -BPD received re port of an audible alarm at a residence. The homeowner set off the alarm. -BPD received re port of an alarm at the shop building. BPD and MCSO responded and found the building secure. -Heppner Ambu lance received request for an ambulance for an 88- year-old female with un known medical problems in Heppner. -Boardman Ambu lance received report of a semi-conscious male w ith a possible heart attack. There was no transport.