Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 2011)
FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 9, 2011 Morrow County Court weekly meeting held The Morrow Coun ty Court met on February 2 in Heppner with Judge Tallman and Commission ers Grieb and Rea in at tendance. Following is a summary of the meetings provided by Leann Rea. The court reviewed and approved the minutes of January 26. The court reviewed and approved the account payables in the net total am ount o f $54,711.10. There will a slight increase in this amount due to some adjustm ents for mileage expenses. Road Report R o a d M a s te r , Burke O ’Brien provided the court with a project list for the spring, summer and fall of 2011. He also pro vided a list for long range projects. Ice and snow: The crew had to plow and sand a few days the past couple of weeks, mainly in the Hep pner area and south towards the higher elevations. Brush Crew: The brush crew has finished cleaning up the brush in the Irrigon area. Most of the clean up was done with a mini excavator and two dump trucks, the rest was hand work. This finishes the brush work for this year. They are starting some ditch cleaning in the Boardman area, mainly in the Kunze and Wilson Lane area. Culvert Cleaning: The crew finished extending five culverts along Spur Loop Road and one on Basey Canyon Road. They then continued with clean ing the culvert inlets and outlets along Balm Fork Road, Basey Canyon Road, Lunceford Canyon Road, Sanford Cany on Lane, and are currently working along Upper Rhea Creek Road and Spring Hallow Road. Road Grading: Road grad ing has been completed on County Line Road, Rand Road, Sunset Lane, Wagon Wheel Loop, West Glenn, Skoubo Road, Crum Road, and Ella Road. Other grad ers are currently working in the Hanna A rbuckle, Homestead Lane and Im migrant Lane areas. Gravel was hauled to rough spots and washouts on Fairview Lane, Ella Road, Immigrant Lane, Baker Lane, Elmer Griffith Road, and finished the upper end of Little But ter Creek Road. The crew is currently hauling gravel to Balm Fork Road to finish the project that was halted because the road was too soft. Road Signs: The crew continues with sign repairs and replacements county wide. Misc.: Weed super visor, Dave Pranger has been working on convert ing the old spray truck into a de-icing unit by adding a spray bar. He then met with ODOT and learned the ins and outs, and then test sprayed some mate rial yesterday on Bombing Range Road and a few intersections and bridges. Bid Awarding: The court on the recommendation of the road and weed depart ment awarded the herbicide bid to Wilbur Ellis in the amount of $54,383. The contract for this award was then signed. Purchase Pre- Authorization: The court approved an expenditure of $25,000 for a 500 gal lon Poly Elliptical unit and spray unit for the weed department. Permits: After reviewing and on the rec ommendation of the road department the following perm its were approved: Approach permit 163 and 164 between Blattner En ergy Inc. and the county for approaches on Four Mile Road. One approach is 3.4 miles for Highway 74 and the other is 4.6 miles from Hwy 74. The court also approved a permit between Umatilla Electric Coop and the county for a temporary overhead crossing in the area of East Columbia Lane and Lewis & Clark Drive. Sheriff Report U n d e r - s h e r if f , Steve Myren provided the court with the following report: Irrigon area - Stolen pickup recovered, agen cy assistance with mobile home fire (total loss). Ar rested a male subject walk ing over the fog line on Hwy 730 on a warrant out of Washington, failure to register as a sex offended and cited for possession of marijuana. A landlord called and stated that he was being threatened by a 19 year old male with a knife. Two Pit Bulls attacking and killing livestock, dogs put down. Boardman area - A male riding a horse with a ma chete, threatening persons and livestock was arrested for harassment. Heppner - Agency assistance for a fire at the Blake Ranch. The home was fully involved, no injuries involved. A single log truck accident on Hwy 207, with driver trapped for approximately 1.5 hours, driver was transported to Pioneer Memorial Hospital. The court also reviewed the proposed vehicle rotation. Title II Project Prioritiza tion D al^ Boyd, r e viewed the projects pre sented from the Northeast Oregon Forests Resource Advisory Committee. Fol lowing are the ratings of the three projects: Noxious Weed Eradication Project (High Priority), Black Mt. Fuels reduction (thinning and piling) near the Blake Addition along Shaw Creek Road, (high priority) and Morrow County small di ameter thinning (medium priority). Budget Update Financial director, Fred Carlson provided the court and several depart ment heads with a status report for the 2011-2012 budget year. From all infor mation provide it appears the next budget cycle is going to be very tight and all departments will need to help reduce costs where possible. CSEPP Update The E m ergency manager, Casey Beard pro vided the court withtan up date regarding the close out of the Umatilla Army Depot destruction of chemicals. Explaining how this will impact the county when some of the facilities are turned over to the county and the costs associated with this action. The court conduct ed the following business: Signed a letter requesting Raymond James & Associ ates (retirement fund man ager) to transfer $ 1,000,000 from the fixed account into the equity account. This transfer is being made be cause the equity fund has been outperform ing the fixed account. Last year the equity fund had a 12.4 per cent return while the fixed account only had an 8.17 percent return; Approved a resolution for an applica tion for a grant program from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for development at Cutsforth Park; The court heard a re quest from Lisa Rietmann, Shannon Rust and Kyle Carnine to have Morrow County forward a request for a Disaster Declaration for Morrow County be cause of significant damage caused by aphid. Several letters regarding this mat ter were also reviewed, the court then agreed to sign a letter to the gover nor regarding this matter; The court reviewed and updated committee appoint ment for the commission ers; The court agreed to continue membership in the Columbia-Blue Mountain RC&D, pay the $225 dues and appointed Com m is sioner Grieb to represent the county on their board; Approved the expenditure of $718.84 for misc. items for the remainder o f the 2009 “Needs and Issues” award for the Boardman Senior Center; Approved the expenditure of $376.54 for signs and flags for the remainder of a “Needs and Issues” award for the Town o f Lexington; The court reviewed the status of the remaining “Needs and Is sues” awards and trans ferred $ 15.76 from unspent awards back into the Tip- page Fund; Reviewed and granted a refund of over payment of taxes to Larry & Cindy Curry in the amount of $536.02; Awarded one scholarship in the amount of $340 from the court’s Discretionary' Fund to al low a local girl to attend Oregon Girls State. In ex change for the scholarship the Court did request that the girl make a presentation before the court, related her experiences. Various correspon dences and upcoming meet ing notices were reviewed and discussed. If you would like to be placed on the list to receive county minutes, please contact Karen Wolff a t (541)676-5620. Senior wrestlers recognized during weekend tournament A view from the hill By Doris Brosnan Hard to believe, some Willow Creek Terrace residents say, that Christmas and New Year’s celebra tions happened so long ago that the Terrace is now just a week away from a Valentines Day celebration! In December, the Christmas theme prevailed in the halls decorated by eleven of the residents and throughout the many visits by carolers, the OF Time Fiddlers’ Jamboree, and Rebecca Jepsen’s harp con cert. Residents and staff enjoyed caroling by the fire on Christmas Eve, and the staff looked almost elf-like when they brought individualized gifts to all the resi dents. And Dorothy O’Dell celebrated a birthday on December 23, with her family enjoying a special lunch and cake with her and her neighbors. Symbols and symbolic foods were part of the festive meals served on New Year’s Day, all said by some cultures to be important to a good year ahead. The Rose Parade and Rose Bowl were appreciated by some fans on that day, and the designated Fruitcake Toss Day on January 8 was appreciated by some not- fans of that traditional holiday food. With that last vestige of the holiday season taken care of, thoughts turned to the bizarre, the mundane, and the crazy-fun special days of January, as well as the days designated as celebrations of some really good foods. “Read and Share a Book” was the theme from the 16th to the 22nd. And the 24th through the 28lh highlighted “Belly Laugh” week, with joke-telling during morning exercises be cause the residents learned that one good belly laugh bums up six calories! Dessert-first was a surprise at lunch on January 28, a surprise that residents warmed up to quickly on Backwards Day, the perfect excuse for starting a meal with that last course that diners are sometimes too full to enjoy. And the last meal of the day? A blueberry-pancakes breakfast, of course! Maybe January 10’s Organize Your Home Day - when residents were encouraged to organize their closets - was not as enjoyable as Bubble Wrap Ap preciation Day, with the popping of those tiny bubble pockets, on the 31“. Eleven residents, all women, enjoyed a morn ing of free manicures on January 26. The free experi ence was offered by Pat Edmundson, Jan Paustian, Sharon Harrison, Carmen Healy, and Doris Brosnan. It was as much an opportunity for some visiting as it was for a relaxing pampering of the digits. This was a soothing start to birthday day for Mary Lou Wilson, who was joined for lunch by family who brought her favorite pie for dessert. A new resident was recently welcomed to Willow Creek Terrace. Meg Murray brought her posi tive energy with her on January 23, to the delight of the staff and her new neighbors. Now, two apartments remain available at the Terrace. Administrator George Naims has announced, however, that, until rented to new residents, these apartments can be rented for temporary respite care. Naims explained “respite care” as a service in tended for individuals who need temporary assistance, for any of a variety of reasons. Occasionally, a person who faces a health setback needs extra help until he or she can return home in better health. Occasionally, a care-giver in a home environment needs to be gone for a period of time and the person being provided the care needs somewhere to stay until that care-giver returns. Sometimes, a person simply needs some extra rest and a break from the physical and mental demands of living independently. Any of these situations, and others, may be viewed as reasons for turning to Willow Creek Ter race for this respite-care service. A furnished apartment and meals are basic to this service, and added assistance can be included, if needed. Naims encourages calls to 541 -676-0004 so she or her staff can answer questions about the respite-care service. With Valentines Day approaching and St. Pat rick’s Day around the comer, the following wish for friends and neighbors of Terrace residents is viewed as an appropriate closing to today’s column: May the sun always shine on your windowpane; May a rain bow be certain to follow each rain; May the hand of a friend always be near you; May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you. Allstott makes University of Oregon’s dean’s list Aaron Michael Allstott of Heppner has been named to the University of Oregon dean’s list for the fall semester of the 2010-11 academic year. Allstott is a senior studying journalism with a focus on advertising. The dean’s list is compiled for fall, winter and spring terms. To qualify, a student must be an admitted undergraduate and complete at least 15 credits for the term; 12 of the 15 credits must be graded with a GPA of 3.75 or better. Senior wrestlers Jerreid M iller (left) and Alex Fuentes (right) were honored during the Bank of Eastern Oregon Invitational wrestling tournament held this past weekend at Heppner High School. -Photos by Sandy Matthews Community Lunch Menu Applications for GRP to be received through Feb. 25 Willow Creek Baptist Church members will be serving lunch on Wednesday, February 16, at St. Patrick’s Senior Center. The meal will include chicken pot pie, coleslaw, Jell-o with fruit, hot rolls, and raspberry mouse. Menu is subject to change. Valentine's Special Saturday, F ebruary / 2th Steak 8 Crab D in n e r $ 2 f.0 0 p e r p la te D essert t S alad B ar In clu ded Heppner Christian Church to host community ham dinner Heppner Christian Church will hold a free com munity ham dinner with all the fixings on Sunday, Febru ary 13, at the Senior Center dining room from 4-6 p.m. There is no charge to the public. Anyone who needs a ride or cannot attend and would like a meal delivered can call Sam Bellamy at 541-561-8881. Marriage Licenses The Morrow County Clerk’s Office has issued the following marriage licenses in December: February 3: Leonardo Martinez-Nava, 34, Ken newick, WA and Josefina Costeno Pantaleon, 32, Ken newick, WA. The Grassland Re serve Program (GRP) is a voluntary program to help landowners and land managers protect, restore and enhance rangeland, pastureland, shrubland and other grasslands. The b en efits o f GRP include: protecting vital grazing lands from co n v ersio n , prom oting agricultural stability, in creasing forage production, maintaining and improving wildlife habitat and biodi versity of plant and wildlife populations, and providing scenic and recreational op portunities. By participat ing in GRP, landowners/ operators retain ownership of the land and the right to •use the land for grazing and other compatible uses. Eligible landown ers or operators who man age their grasslands, have an active grazing operation, and who want to maintain and prevent their land from future conversion from uses other than grazing can ap ply for GRP at the USDA Service Center. Applica tions must be received by Friday, February 25. For more information contact the Heppner Service Center, 430 Linden Way, call 541- 676-5021, or visit www. or.usda.gov.
