Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2010)
SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, January 27,2010 Morrow County Court weekly meetings held The Morrow Coun ty Court met on January 13 in Irrigon with Judge Tail- man, Commissioner Grieb, and Commissioner Rea in attendance. Following is a summary of the meeting provided by Leann Rea. The court rev iewed and approved the minutes of January 6. The c o u rt r e viewed and approved ac counts payable and retire ment taxes in the amount of $134,429.85. Road Department Bom bing Range Road: With the assistance of an ODOT crew of two and a vehicle mounted re flector driver, all o f the reflectors along our detour routes have been put in place. Currently the detour routes are too soft to use, so the Bombing Range High way 207 junction is still open. The crew continues working on the intersec tion project, until it can be closed. One half of the large culvert has been installed, backfilled and a concrete retaining wall on the outlet end has been completed. A water line for a nearby landowner has been relo cated. Some base rock has been added to the section of the road that is to grade on the north side of Highway 207. Miscellaneous: The crew continues to work on the ditches and shoulders along the Lexington Grange Road. There is a grader, roller, broom and three trucks hauling rock to this location the build up the shoulders. Some washouts that were found along the N olan Road and Kemp Lane have been repaired. Juvenile Department Tom Meier, Direc tor, provide the court with the “Juvenile Department Quarterly & Year End Re port and a copy of the "Mor row County Juvenile Crime Prevention Plan”. The court requested a week to review the plan before adoption. Veteran’s Service Linda Skendzel, Veteran’s Service Officer discussed office space and needs for her office. At the court’s direction she will conduct some additional research and get back to the court. Planning Department C a rla M cL ane, planning director, present ed by title "An Ordinance Adopting Amendments to the Morrow County Zoning Ordinance Article 6 Condi tional Uses” for the court’s review. Final review and action will be taken at the Jan. 21, 2010 meeting. The court conduct ed the following business: Michael Strong, UMCDF Site Project Manager and Bob Dikeman, URS Project General Manager made a presentation to the court regarding the status on the disposal o f the m ustard at the Army Depot; An extension request for a “Needs and Issues” grant for the Willow Creek Park District was reviewed and extending to December 31, 2010; The 2010-2011 bud get calendar was reviewed and approved; The pur chase of two new SUA1000 UPS battery backups in the amount of $880 for the courthouse computers was reviewed and approved; A request from the Sheriff, Ken M atlack, regarding the January 6 minutes, was reviewed and granted; Ap proved the payment of a SAIF claim rather than turn in to the SAIF Corporation; Approved the establishment of an account with BAN- CARD USA for the receipt of Justice Court payments; Several correspondences and meeting notices were reviewed; Commissioner Rea provided the court with an update on the activities of the newly formed Uma tilla Basin Water Commis sion, the recent fair board meeting and the Oregon Consortium and Oregon Workforce Alliance tele conference; The Notices for the upcoming Sheriff’s sale were reviewed. The Morrow Coun ty Court met on January 20 in Boardman with Judge Tallman, Com m issioner Grieb, and Commissioner Rea in attendance. Follow ing is a summary o f the meeting provided by Leann Rea. The court reviewed and approved the minutes of January 13. The court reviewed and approved accounts payable, payroll and a fi nal payroll in the amount o f $106,397.75, plus an add-on in the amount of $769.80. Road Department B om bing Range Road: The crew continues w ith getting the new section of the road on the south side of Highway 207 down to grade and have been slop ing the banks to the slope stakes. Juniper Canyon Road: Have been haul ing gravel with our trucks. Miller and Sons’ trucks, and Roger Britt’s truck to the road from Baseline Lane to Juniper Canyon Lane. We are grading out the gravel and rolling it in order to firm up the road enough to use as the main detour route when the south end of Bombing Range Road is closed. Lexington Grange Road: The crew continued with hauling base rock along w ith the road work on the ditches and shoulders. A couple of culverts were lengthened. This project is on hold until the Juni per Canyon Road work is finished, and then will con tinue. Miscellaneous: Cul vert inlets and outlets along Social Ridge Road from Clarks Canyon to Rhea Creek Road were cleaned. Graders have been grad ing on our gravel roads. To date have worked on Upper Rhea Creek Road, Spring Hallow Road and Clarks Canyon Road. A blow-out on Buttermilk was repaired. Bids/Permits: Two bids for herbicides were opened. The bids will be reviewed for completeness and the awardi , will take place at later d ,e. A bid from Miller and Sons in the amount of $21,804 for upgrades to the South County Transfer Station was reviewed and awarded. The project will begin mid February weather permitting. A new provider for the dumpster boxes at the South County Transfer Station was discussed. No decision was made at this time. A permit from Cen- turyLink for the installation of approximately 3000 feet of a 25X telephone line in the Black Horse Road and Piper Canyon Road area was reviewed and on the recom m endation o f the road department was ap proved and signed. Planning Department “ An O rd in a n c e Adopting Amendments to the Morrow County Zon ing Ordinance Article 6 Conditional Uses” was read by title. The court approved and signed the ordinance and requested the planning director to incorporate the ordinance into the county’s Comprehensive Plan. Columbia River Enter prise Zone (CREZ) The court discussed the need to desig- nate alternative representa tives for board members for the CREZ. It was de cided that the alternative for Commissioner Rea would be either the count judge or the other county commis sioner depending on their availability. The alternate for Sweek will be a county designee as determined by the court. Greg Sweek, who was appointed to the board, stated that he would rather serve as a board member for the CREZ than as the CREZ m anager. Sweek added that he would not re sign as the CREZ manager until the CREZ board could meet and designate a new manager. Needs and Issues The ending fund balances from the follow ing awards were transferred back into the Tippage Gen eral Fund Account: Board- man Senior Center, floor m aintenance equipm ent $935.56, City o f Hepp- ner, water master meter $885.04, Heppner Garden Club $33.16, Town of Lex ington, Computer $97.01, Stokes Landing, building upgrade $1,379, Morrow County Tourism, county map, $759, and City of Ir rigon, relocation of recycle bins $40. All of these proj ects were completed under their original proposed bud get. The action was taken to clear the accounts from the books. The court conduct ed the following business: The Morrow County Ju venile Crime Prevention Plan was reviewed and ap proved. Nancy Gorham was approved as a tractor opera tor for the Fair Board trac tor. This information will be provided to the county’s insurance carrier. A letter from Morrow County Grain Growers regarding the need for a turn lane at the new Bombing Range Road and Highway 207 intersection was reviewed. A teleconfer ence between Fred Carlson, county finance director, a representative from Mer cer and the county court was held to clarify some of the issues stated in the Statement of Work and an Engagement Letter Agree ment. After the conference call, the court agreed to sign both documents and have Mercer conduct the “Equal to or Better” test on the county’s retirement fund. The test is required to assure that the county’s plan is equal to or better than a PERS plan. The Fifth Amendment to the DHS contract #128023 for the 2009-2010 year was re viewed and approved. Mis cellaneous correspondences and notices for meetings were reviewed. Any one wishing to be placed on the list to receive county minutes, please contact Karen Wolff at (541 >676-5620. St. Patrick’s Catholic Church students hold pro-life march BOMBING RANGE ROAD TEMPORARY CLOSURE Morrow County Public Works Department would like to announce Due to reconstruction on the south end of the Bombing Range / Hwy 207 Intersection project, It is necessary to close the South end section of Bombing Range road for a period beginning on January 4, 2010 and continuing through February 28, 2010 weather permitting. The primary north detour route will be Grieb Ln. The South detour route will be Juniper Canyon to Baseline Rd. All traffic of any kind with the exception of those local residents will be restricted and the closure will be strictly enforced during this period. Local residents will be allowed access subject to following traffic control measures necessary at the time. This project is a Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) January 24 was recognized as Pro-Life Sunday in the United States. It was the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade that made abortion legal in the United States. The students from St. Patrick's Catholic Church observed the day by making posters, praying, and singing in hopes that abortion will be banned. The children held a small rally by walking from the church through Main Street with their posters. Their cheers could be heard loud and clear as they marched along. -Contributed Photo Sheriff's Report OHM™ aunmoi I R I a n DESIGN MAY,VARY Wi W W C0SI * M l SIAS0H RADIAI Wi 10W COST This is an excellent value on highway and all season radiais. Offers a smooth quiet ride and tough stee4 belt construction. 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FOR OR « SUE I I 6 I PIE CE PRICE 676-9481 The Morrow County S heriff’s Office reports handling the fol lowing business: -MCSO received report from a subject in Boardman that a semi-truck passed her vehicle and sev eral others at a high rate of speed. MCSO was unable to locate any vehicle. -MCSO received report of a VW Rabbit that almost hit a couple vehicles on 1-84, Boardman. The 17- year-old subject was given a verbal warning. -MCSO received report of a deer laying in the middle of the road on Hwy. 74 causing vehicles to swerve around it. MCSO responded and removed the deer from the roadway. -MCSO received report of a suspicious ve hicle with a white light to the rear, forward motion, failure to mark load and the load hanging out too far. A deputy followed him to his residence to make sure he got there safely. -Continued on Page EIGHT »
