111 II 1 1111111■111 111 1( ) I l , I , , , 11
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
County, Port & Boardman sign
Backspace money agreement
Enterprise zone exempts company from regular property taxes
Bv David Sykes
The city o f Boardman,
Port o f Morrow and Mor­
row County have signed
an agreement with Rack-
VOL. 131
N 0, 26 8 Pages
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
will seek a building permit,
and added that the issues
will likely delay the project
“a little.”
B lauer said th at the
district is making final ar­
rangem ents to be able to
attest that M CH D 's elec­
tronic records system is
functioning according to
government standards. He
said that MCHD conducted
a security audit in June
to ensure that they have
policies and procedures in
place to protect electronic
health information and they
are making improvements
based on that audit.
In other business, the
board:
-learned from Blauer
that the state has not ap­
proved any C oordinated
Care Organizations in Mor­
row County. He said that
the primary applicants have
been asked to reapply.
“There are a lot o f ques­
tions regarding how CCOs
might affect our organiza­
tion,” said Blauer, “as well
as other rural health care
providers in eastern O r­
egon, and we have been
involved in many discus­
sions w ith the state and
with potential CCOs in an
effort to have our questions
answ ered. However, be­
cause the state’s transition
is happening on a fairly
rapid timeline, there are still
many rules and regulations
that haven't been finalized.”
Under the plan, Medicaid
p a tie n ts ’ care w ould be
managed by a CCO. Under
the plan, the patient would
rec e iv e a c ertain d o llar
am ount, which would be
distributed, or managed, by
the CCO to pay for a wide
range o f care, from clinic
and hospital care to dental,
psychological and more.
-discussed the expira­
tion o f the current levy
in June 2014. The district
plans to put a new levy,
which provides the district
w ith “ necessary su pple­
mental operating funding”
on the ballot.
space, Inc. spelling out how
much money the company
w ill pay in fees instead
o f property taxes over the
next 15 years. Because the
com pany’s new data center
will be located at the Port
o f Morrow in an enterprise
zone, it is exem pt from
regular county taxation.
T h e n e w ly - s ig n e d
agreement will cover how
m uch the $6 billion San
A ntonio, TX -based data
hosting company agrees to
pay each year “as a contri­
bution to local services or
in frastructure benefiting
the F a c ility ” instead o f
property taxes.
In the agreement. Rack-
space, which trades on the
New York Stock Exchange
under the sym bol RAX,
agreed to pay the county
$100,000 per year for the
first three years of the agree­
ment; from years four to 15
it will pay $200,000 per
year in what is described as
a “ local service fee.”
The funds will be col­
lected and held by Morrow
County government; how­
ever, disbursement o f those
funds will be governed by
a six-person board o f the
Columbia River Enterprise
Zone. The board is made up
o f two representatives each
o f the Port, the county and
the city of Boardman.
Under the rules of the
Enterprise Zone Committee
the board "shall receive rec­
ommendations and requests
from affected Special Dis­
tricts o f potential impacts
involving the service pro­
vided by said D istricts,
including but not limited to
schools, fire protection, and
public safety.”
Those members on the
committee are Mayor Chet
Phillips and City Manager
Karen Pettigrew from the
City o f Boardman, General
M anager G ary Neal and
board member Don Russell
from the Port o f Morrow,
and Com m issioner Leann
Rea and A sse sso r G reg
Sweek o f Morrow County.
N on-voting Chairm an o f
the Enterprise Zone Com­
mittee is Carla McLane o f
the Morrow County Plan­
ning Department.
The board was set up
in M arch o f 2009, and
governs the approximately
12-square-mile enterprise
zone in the north end o f
M orrow C ounty, w hich
includes m ostly the Port
o f Morrow and the city o f
Boardman.
As part o f the agree­
m ent, 15 percent o f the
money Rackspace pays will
go to the recently-formed
Morrow Education Founda­
tion. The Foundation is not
part o f any school district,
and was set up to be simi­
lar to the lone Education
Foundation, which receives
money outside the regular
taxing system but helps
fund education through a
series of grants to the local
schools.
In addition, the agree­
ment calls for Rackspace
to pay an additional amount
equal to four percent o f the
-See RA C 'KSPA CE A GREE-
MENT/PAGE FIVE
Rock band releases album
Irrigon clinic expansion
titled: Port of Morrow?
held up by Irrigon Planning Boardman
industrial park is inspiration for indie
rock band's new album
Commission
By April Sykes
Morrow County Health
District CEO Michael Blau-
er told the board, at their
regular meeting in Irrigon
June 25, that the “planned
remodel and expansion of
the Irrigon Medical Clinic
is being reviewed by the
city of Irrigon and the city
m an a g e r has e x p re sse d
concern regarding areas
where our plans do not meet
the most recent codes for
Irrigon’s downtown com­
mercial area.”
B lauer said that the
“board discussed its con­
cerns over the cost o f in­
corporating som e o f the
suggested im provem ents
and proposed some pos­
sible responses to the city’s
requirements.”
He said that he and
board members plan to at­
tend the next Irrigon Plan­
ning Commission meeting
to “discuss this issue and
hopefully come to a reso­
lution.” He said that once
MCHD gets approval from
the city o f Irrigon, MCHD
By David Sykes
So you’re a hot indie
rock band called The Shins,
and you are ready to release
your first album in five
years. Now, what’s a good,
catchy name to call your
new album? O f course, call
it “ Port of Morrow.”
N o jo k e . Seem s the
b a n d ’s front man Jam es
Mercer was driving on 1-84
to Portland and saw the
sign for the Port o f Mor­
row on the side o f the road
by Boardm an. Being the
creative guy he must be,
he explained it this way:
“There’s a sign by the side
o f the road that says ‘ Port of
M orrow’ and I always just
wondered about it, I guess.
“ W hen w ritin g th at
song it popped into my
head and I was thinking
of it as death, like w hat’s
beyond the exit point, the
‘port o f morrow,’ the port
into tomorrow?
“ Everyone’s future is
death. T hat's a very dark
-See IRRIGON CLINIC/ way to look at it, but in the
PAGE FIVE song it just happened to fit
in with that thing. Like the
ace o f spades, port o f mor­
row, life is death, death is
life.”
Big rattlesnake killed on
Rhea Creek
Jerry and Patty Nance
o f Rhea Creek recently had
a brief run-in with a mon­
ster o f a rattlesnake.
P a t ty N a n c e w a s
w eedeating around their
residence, about three miles
north o f Ruggs, last month
when she said she spotted a
snake moving around their
greenhouse. When her work
took her to the front o f the
greenhouse, she saw a large
rattlesn ak e stretched on
the ground in front o f the
greenhouse door, appar­
ently seeking warmth.
She got her husband,
Jerry, and the two decided
relocation was not an op­
tion for the snake, which
measured 42 inches “with­
out its head or rattles.” So,
said Patty, the rattler “met
its demise.”
The Nances estimated
that the snake was around
four inches thick; it had 14
rattles.
Patty Nance said their
neighbors agreed it was
the biggest rattler they had
Plan ahead to run for office
A nyone interested in
running for office in the
November general election
needs to begin the process
soon.
Morrow County Clerk
Bobbi Childers says there
are no county p ositions
open in the N ovem ber 6
election. H ow ever, se v ­
eral city positions are open
county-wide.
The deadline for all
candidates to be filed with
the Morrow County Clerk's
office is August 28.
H ow ever, in terested
individuals need to think
ahead and consider their
city’s filing requirements,
which may include gather­
Top: The rattlesnake the Nances found on their property mea­ ing supporter signatures.
sured 42 inches “without head or rattles.” Bottom: The large City due dates for filings
snake sported a set of 14 rattles. -Contributedphotos
ever seen. Although they
were warned about snakes
when they bought the place,
she also said it was unusual
to see one in the open like
that.
“ T h e y ’re alm ost a l­
ways going away from you;
it’s not like they’re hanging
around looking for some­
one to beat up on,” she said.
“ W e’ve seen quite a few
this summer, though.”
Indie Rock band The Shins gets inspiration from Morrow
County’s Industrial center for it’s last album.
T he te n th tra c k on the other night because
the album is called “Port people are asking me now
o f M orrow” and you can over here, so I looked it up.
listen to it on YouTube It’s this industrial port and
at: w w w .y o u tu b e .c o m / very boring,” he said.
w atch?v=EsTJz4K9H qU.
Some o f the lyrics actually
mention the Port, too. “The
cyanide o f an almond. Let
him look at your hands,
get the angles right. Ace of
spades, port o f morrow, life
is death is life.”
Upon the album ’s re­
lease. Mercer stated that he
had not yet visited the Port
The cover of the new album
o f Morrow.
titled Port of Morrow.
“ I looked it up online
also vary, so interested can­
didates need to check with
their local city hall.
Heppner city positions
up for grabs this November
include City Mayor, a two-
year term currently held by
Les Paustian.
Also about to be va­
cated are four city council
positions cu rrently held
by Cindi D oherty, John
Bow les, Cody High and
Keith Lewis. All council
positions carry four-year
terms.
Filing paperw ork for
Heppner city positions is
available at Heppner City
Hall.
According to Heppner
City M anager David De-
M ayo, individuals inter-
ested in filing as candidate
for any o f these positions
need a minimum of seven
signatures (one percent of
the num ber o f total state
votes in the last guberna­
torial election). However,
DeMayo recommends gath­
ering more than the mini­
mum, in case any o f the sig­
natures are invalidated for
any reason. Petition signers
need to be registered voters
who are willing to support
the candidate in running for
the office.
The town o f Lexington
has two positions open, for
city councilor positions #1
and #2, which are currently
held by Billee Owen and
-See CANDIDATE FILINGS/
PAGE SIX
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