SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon
Wednesday, June 29,2011
SMALLTOWN VALUES County Court news
-Continuedfrom PAGE said those small town con
ONE nections followed him to
Iraq.
He admitted there
is a big difference between
his job in 2004 and his work
as the battalion’s personnel
officer now.
“Last time, obvi
ously, the threat level when
you left the [Forward Op
erating Base] was much
higher,” he said.
Now Qualls, who is
entering his 14th year of mil
itary service, sits at a desk at
battalion headquarters. Yet
the two jobs, platoon leader
and personnel officer, are
not mutually exclusive in
terms of importance.
If a 3rd Bn. solider
goes on leave, he can thank
Qualls and his personnel
staff. If a solider is injured,
Qualls knows about it. And,
if a solider encounters pay
problems, it is Qualls and
his team in the personnel
shop who fix it.
“ I ’m re s p o n s i
ble for all the personnel;
awards, injuries, leave, all
the pay, anything you’d as
sociate in the civilian world
to a human resources job,”
he said.
Like his first tour,
though, Qualls said he faces
stress. The tension, though,
is different from what is
normally associated with
command of a platoon.
“I worry about ev
eryone getting leave,” he
said.
In the c iv ilia n
world, Qualls works at the
Bank of Eastern Oregon.
He manages a group of loan
officers as well as his own
portfolio.
“[My employers]
have been great all through
this,” said Qualls, who
graduated from Heppner
High School in 1995; he
Not long ago, he
received a letter from one of
his former customers. The
letter talked about the cus
tomer’s grandson who hit a
home run in the high school
baseball quarterfinals.
“They’re thinking
of me, even w hile I’m over
here,” Qualls said.
Qualls said his rea
sons for joining the Army
National Guard 14 years
ago were simple ones.
“ I wanted to do
something for the country.
Something bigger than my
self. I knew I had to give
back something,” he said.
“We’re proud of the heritage
we have in Eastern Oregon
and of the battalion’s hard
work and dedication.”
One thing Qualls
said he could never get
used to is leaving his fam
ily for a year. While he said
soldiers sacrifice when they
deploy, families pay a high
price, too.
“I ’d say families
sacrifice more than we do,”
he said. “They don’t have
us there to help with the
kids. For children it is hard
as well. The lack of having
a parent there is probably
the biggest sacrifice of the
war.”
Qualls said this
deployment demonstrated
strength not only in his
ability to lead but also his
capacity to overcome chal
lenges.
“[The deployment]
has made me more resilient
as far as spending time
away from my family,” he
said. “I think we all have
a greater appreciation for
family to the point we won't
take them for granted.”
Fire season declared on
private lands
Declaration o f fire season is in effect for forest
and range lands protected by Oregon Department of
Forestry - Central Oregon District in the John Day Unit
beginning at 6 a.m. on Monday, June 27. This includes
private, state, county, municipal, and tribal lands in coun
ties Grant, Wheeler and portions of Gilliam, Morrow,
Harney and Umatilla.
During this declared fire season:
-Open burning is not allowed. Bum permits are
required for bum barrels on all private forest and range
lands. Contact your local ODF office in John Day, Fossil
or Monument for a permit.
-Contact your local rural or city fire department
to find out more about any additional restrictions related
to bum barrels.
-Landowners who conducted burning of slash
piles last fall and this past spring are encouraged to check
these piles and ensure that they are completely out.
-Logging and other industrial operations must
meet requirements for fire prevention, such as fire tools,
water supply and watchman service when those operations
are occurring on private lands protected by ODF.
-Campfires must be out. Do not leave unattended.
Get permission from the landowner before starting a
campfire.
Temperatures are expected to increase through
the 4th of July weekend, drying out vegetation.
“It is important to practice fire safety when using
fireworks,” cautions Angie Johnson, unit forester. She
reminds the public that Oregon law prohibits illegal fire
works and that fireworks are forbidden on federal lands,
in parks and in campgrounds.
The Morrow Coun ders, it took several days
ty Court met June 15 in for the water to go down,
Boardman with Judge Tail- the culvert was then cleaned
man and Commissioners and base fock and gravel
Grieb and Rea in atten was added.
Hannah Arbuckle
dance.
The court reviewed Hoad: Water crossed the
and approved the minutes of road for about 400 feet at
the June 8 meetings and the Bennett’s residence just off
account payables, voids and of Highway 74, causing the
Retirement Taxes in the net road to be closed for four
days. This left two large
amount of $106,312.13.
R o ad R e p o r t: holes alongside the asphalt
Blake Ranch Road: There and flooding at Bennett’s
were seven places where house and barn. For the
water crossed the road and next five miles there were
caused minor washes. There several places that were
was one place where water scoured out due to all of
washed out three foot into the water crossing the road.
the road. Rip rap and base These areas were re-graded
rock was brought in to make and ditches re-established.
Approximately five
the repairs. Willow Creek
Road: There were seven miles up the road, water
mud slides which caused washed out a four-foot flat
the water to run across the bottom culvert which ended
road and wash onto both up about a hundred feet
sides of the road. These downstream. This was re
were cleaned up and ditch trieved and reinstalled. The
lines were re-established. road was then reopened.
There are still some small East Baseline Road/Mv-
areas that need cleaned up ers Lane: Water crossed in
and one large slide near several places causing mud
Black Mountain Lane that to stay on the pavement; it
is next to the pavement and was graded off. However,
will need to be addressed there is still some residue.
Several places ditch lines
soon.
Balm Fork Road: were washed out which
There were three washouts left extremely deep ditch
on Balm Fork Road. There es along the asphalt. The
was one small washout crew has started filling in
around a culvert and two the ditches with shot rock
large washouts. The two and will continue to re
large washouts took six pair as time allows. Sand
days and five trucks hauling Hollow Road: There are
rip rap to repair. The gravel several places along the
section of Balm Fork Road road that washed out ditch
had to be re-graded due to lines causing extremely
numerous small washouts. deep ditches that will need
Little Butter Creek Road: to be addressed with base
There was water cross- * rock. Upper Hhea Creek
ing over the bridge at the Road: There were two
Hughes residence on Little places where water eroded
Butter Creek which washed the inlets and outlets of
out the outlet end. This was culverts, as well as one
back-filled with rip rap once place where approx, a third
the water receded. Upper of the road was washed out
Little Butter Creek: Water for about 100 feet. These
crossed the road in several areas were repaired with
places and caused scour rip-rap and base rock. There
ing in the road. The road were also several ^qctiops
was graded.and gravel was of this road that had small
added. Water also filled the washouts that just needed
culvert at Hisler’s residence to be graded and have some
and washed out the shoul gravel added. Lunggfard
Canvon Road: There was
some minor scouring of
gravel in a few places that
needed to be graded to re
pair. Road Canvon: This
road is still closed due to
major washouts from an
earlier event.
Misc: The chip
sealing project on Willow
Creek Road has been fin
ished. All that is left is a
little shoulder work and a
final sweeping just before
the lines are painted. Due to
the weather the project was
started a week late and then
there were three times dur
ing the project that weather
events caused temporary
delays. ODOT helped the
county on this project with
three to four trucks per day
hauling chip rock to our
chip spreader. The crew is
currently helping ODOT
with paving patch work on
the Heppner/Spray High
way. The county is provid
ing paving equipment, two
men, and one truck and
pup hauling hot mix from
Hermiston. The graders are
fixing roads that have minor
washouts. There are two
graders working on Wyland
Grade and Deadman Loop
Roads. The crusher crew
has tore down the crusher
and moved all the units to
the Halvorsen pit and are
currently getting set up to
start crushing.
Public Hearing:
Community Development
Block Grant Application:
The hearing was attended
by Patty Good (USDA) and
Karen Kendall (GEODC).
They answered questions
the court had regarding
the work load this project
may create for county staff
as well as other questions
regarding who is eligible
and what types of projects
would qualify for the fund
ing. The court decided to
process with the project.
2011-2012 M or
row bounty Budget Hear
ing: Finance Director, Fred
Carlson provided the court
with a spreadsheet for the
New program pays Columbia
Basin landowners for allowing
public hunting access
Biologists to survey Lahontan
trout populations in Willow
Creek basin
Columbia Basin
landowners with good up
land bird habitat on their
properties can earn addi
tional income by provid
ing public hunting access,
thanks to ODFW’s new
Oregon Open Fields pro
gram.
Funded by a federal
grant, the program seeks to
open 95,000 acres of private
land in the Columbia Basin
to upland bird hunting.
Landowners that
participate will receive pay
ment based on criteria like
the size of the access area
and type of access permit
ted (advance reservation
required or walk-in hunting
access). Payment will range
from 78 cents to $3 per
acre. Payments for hunting
access for similar programs
average about $2 an acre.
ODFW staff help
The desert range-
lands of southeast Oregon
may seem like an unlikely
place to survey fish popu
lations. But in the Willow
creek basin, a population of
native Lahontan cutthroat
trout has defied the extreme
conditions and has survived
of floods, droughts and
silty, alkaline water.
To better quan
tify just how well these
fish populations are do
ing, ODFW biologists will
walk the length of Willow
creek in July and August,
counting fish. They will
use electro-fishing devices
to send an electrical charge
through the water to tem
porarily stun the fish, al
lowing them to be counted
and measured before being
released unharmed.
“Currently, [the
Whitehorse and Willow ba
sin] is the only pure native
Lahontan trout population
in Oregon, and we’re ex
cited to see how it’s endur
ing,” said Shannon Hum,
ODFW district fish biolo
gist in Hines.
L ahontan tro u t
can grow to be the largest
of all cutthroat trout and
were once found through
out desert basins in parts
of California, Nevada and
southeast Oregon. In re
cent decades, many popu
landowners who participate
in the program by post
ing signs, installing permit
boxes, patrolling properties,
coordinating hunter reser
vations, and managing all
other aspects of the hunting
access program. The state’s
Recreational Use Statute
also provides liability pro
tection for participating
landowners.
The Oregon Open
Fields program is admin
istered through the ODFW
Access and Habitat Pro
gram and is funded by a
grant from the US Depart
ment of Agriculture’s Farm
Service Agency.
For more informa
tion about participating in
the Oregon Open Fields
program, contact ODFW
at 503-947-6317 or visit
the Oregon Open Fields
website.
Loretta Lynn to perform at Wild-
horse on August 13
m U
Country music legend Loretta Lynn will appear
in an outdoor concert at Wildhorse Resort and Casino on
Saturday, August 13 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets go on sale June
27 and can be purchased at the Wildhorse Resort and
Casino Gift Shop or at www.wildhorseresort.com.
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Stop by Our Showroom! 30599 Lauback • Hermiston
The Heppner Jr/Sr high school wrestling
team is collecting batteries for an ongoing
team fundraiser. Auto, tractor. RV. and four
wheeler batteries will be accepted. Please
bring your batteries to the South end
Transfer station free of charge located at
57185 Hwy 74, Lexington, OR. For further
information or if you need batteries
picked up, call Mark Lemmon at
(541)215-9248.
o
• a
I
lations have disappeared
due to dam construction,
habitat destruction and the
introduction of non-native
brown, brook and rainbow
trout.
“ H atchery p ro
grams still provide for
popular Lahontan trout
fisheries in several states,
but there are very few self-
sustaining, naturally repro
ducing populations,” Hum
said.
So few populations,
in fact, that the species has
been protected since 1973
and is currently listed as
threatened under the federal
Endangered Species Act. In
2006, it was identified in
the Oregon Conservation
Strategy as a species in need
of conservation.
In 1989 biologists
counted only 8,000 Lahon
tan trout in the Whitehorse
basin. During the most
recent population survey
in 2005, the number had
increased to 13,500.
Populations have
improved enough that a
catch-and-release fish
ing season was opened on
Whitehorse and Willow
creeks in 2001.
Biologists will use
data from this year’s survey
to better define the trend in
the population.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem,
help is available and that help Is F R E E of charge.
If Y O U h a v e a fa m ily m e m b e r w h o su ffers fro m
g a m b lin g ad d ictio n , Y O U ca n als o re c e iv e F R E E tre a t
m e n t e v e n if th e g a m b le r is not re ce iv in g tre a tm e n t.
If you a re a re s id e n t o f M o rro w C o u n ty a n d yo u w ish
to ta k e a d v a n ta g e o f th e s e rv ic e s a b o v e o r d e s ire m o re
in fo rm atio n . P le a s e call a n y o f th e follo w in g n u m b e rs
to s e t up a L O C A L a p p o in tm e n t o r ju s t to talk:
B o b b y H a rris @ 5 4 1 - 6 7 6 - 9 9 2 5 o r 5 4 1 -2 5 6 -0 1 7 5
Community Counseling Solutions (C C S ) @ 541-676-9181
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General Funds and Road
Fund Budgets. Carlson
re-stated that the Budget
Committee had decided to
reduce the road funds his
torically paid to the cities
by $177,500 leaving the
Road Fund ending bal
ance at $1,073,283 and the
General Fund ending bal
ance at $922,913. After a
lengthy discussion the court
decided to provide an addi
tion $50,000 to the cities for
their road funds.
C o n tra c ts: The
court reviewed and ap
proved an amendment to
an IGA between the State
of Oregon for fuel pur
chases and motor pool shop
services for an additional
two years with the agree
ment effective from July
1, 2011 thru June 30, 2013.
The court reviewed and ap
proved the engagement let
ter with Barnett and Moro,
P.C. for the June 30, 2011
audit for the county. The
court reviewed and ap
proved the lease agreement
between Satellite Tracking
of People LLC for electron
ic monitoring equipment
for the Juvenile Dept.
The court conduct
ed the following business:
The court reviewed and ap
proved the new fee sched
ule for the county with
questions regarding one fee
from the District Attorney’s
office. The court reviewed
a request from the Oregon
Trail Rodeo Committee for
an expansion of the beer
garden. The court had ques
tions regarding the structure
being in the floodway and
who would be providing
the labor for the construc
tion. The court agreed to
forward the request to the
Planning Dept.
Reviewed misc.
correspondences and dis
cussed upcoming meet
ings.
If you would like
to be placed on the list to
receive County minutes,
please contact Karen Wolff
at (541)676-5620.
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