SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 26,2012
BUTTERCREEK WIND
FARM
-Continued from PAGE ONE
interested in developing the
wind farm project in an ef
fort to get a foothold in the
United States wind turbine
business. Its subsidiary, the
Sany Corp., makes wind
towers and needs to dem
onstrate the reliability of
its Chinese-made turbines
to further procure turbine
sales in the US.
“Ralls will not even
own the windfarms when
they are operational, be
cause of the planned resale
of the projects,” the com
pany says.
“Frankly, the sugges
tion that Ralls would ac
quire the windfarm projects
for espionage or for other
purposes inimical to nation
al security strikes Ralls and
its counsel as not credible.”
the court filing said.
There is a possibility
the project could move for
ward with different wind
turbines, possibly General
Electric or Vestas-type tur
bines; however, CFIUS
has reportedly not given its
okay on this proposal.
Ralls and Sany said in
court documents they are
only interested in gaining a
foothold for their turbines
sales in the US.
“At the outset, it is im
portant to understand why,
while Ralls and Sany are
formally separate and in
dependent entities, due to
their affiliations described
above, it is necessary that
Ralls act as a development
arm, in effect, for Sany
Electric turbines. Although
Sany is a large private com
pany, Sany Electric—the
subsidiary that manufac
tures wind turbines— is
small. Before it can expect
to gain a meaningful foot
hold in the U.S. market, it
will need to show to large-
scale purchasers— such
as utilities and large wind
developers—that the Sany
Electric turbines produce
energy efficiently and are
reliable. In short, the tur
bines need to have what is
known in the industry as
‘run-time,’ i.e., a sufficient
period of operating expe
rience that Sany Electric
can point to show that its
equipm ent will operate
reliably for the long-term,”
company lawyers said in
their court documents.
The ownership of Ralls
and Sany Corporations are
intertwined between two
Chinese citizens. Dawei
Duan owns 80 percent of
the outstanding stock o f
Ralls, and Jialing Wu owns
20 percent of the issued and
outstanding stock of Ralls.
They are both directors of
Ralls, and Wu is the CEO
of Ralls. Duan is also the
CFO of Sany, and a vice
president of Sany Heavy In
dustries, a publicly-traded
Chinese company that is
majorit-owned by Sany.
Wu is a vice president of
Sany, and also the general
manager of Sany Electric,
a wholly-owned Chinese
subsidiary o f Sany. Sany
Electric is the maker of the
wind turbines.
County Court news
The Morrow County
Court met at the OHV Park
on Sept. 19 with Judge Tail-
man and Commissioners
Grieb and Rea in atten
dance.
The court review ed
and approved the minutes
of the August 30 meeting
with Senator Wyden’s staff,
and the July 25 and Sept.
12 court m eetings. The
court also reviewed and
approved the account pay
ables in the net total amount
of $169,079.33. The court
reviewed the cash balance
activity for the week of
Sept. 17,2012 thru Sept. 23,
2012. The report indicates
that, at this point, the county
is ahead of last year’s cash
balance by $262,924.
Road R ep o rt: Pub
lic Works Director Burke
O ’Brien reported that the
work on Bunker Hill and
Clark’s Canyon was com
ing along well. The crew
will be attending Flagging
Training on Thursday. On
the recom m endation o f
the Department, the court
reviewed and approved util
ity Permit No. OJJ between
Columbia Basin Electric
Co-op and the county for
the installation of an over
head line about 1.2 miles
south of Social Ridge Road.
The service is for a stock
water pump. There was a
general discussion regard
ing trading the D-8 Cat that
has been used in the rock
pits for a D-6 Cat with blade
and ripper. The smaller trac
tor would be easier to trans
port for snow plowing and
could be used on the Bomb
ing Range Road project as
well as many other future
projects. O ’Brien was told
to continue looking into the
trade agreement.
Sheriff’s Association
C o llectiv e B arg a in in g
Agreement: The court re
viewed and signed the Col
lective Bargaining Agree
ment between the county
and the Teamster Union.
Employee’s retro pay will
be calculated and sent to the
employees in a reasonable
time after the Union and the
Local Union President have
signed and fully executed
the agreement.
The court conducted
the follow ing business:
At the request o f Steve
Myren, the court authorized
Sgt. Rayburn to exceed
the vacation accrual cap
until Oct. 31, 2012. At that
time, he must be back in
compliance. The court ap
pointed Dean Robinson
to the Wolf Depredation
Advisory Com m ittee as
a coexistence proponent.
The court appointed Com
missioner Rea and County
Assessor Greg Sweek to
the Strategic Investment
Program negotiating com
mittee for the “Frog” SIP
agreement.
Various correspondenc
es and upcoming meeting
notices were reviewed and
discussed. The m eeting
adjourned for lunch and
a tour o f the OHV Park.
The tour lasted longer than
expected, so the long-range
planning workshop was
rescheduled.
This inform ation is
p ro v id ed by C o m m is
sioner Leann Rea; anyone
who would like to receive
County Court minutes can
contact Karen Wolff at 541 -
676-5620.
Youth group holds
fundraiser
The Heppner ecumeni o f a new air conditioner
cal youth group is raising for Ron and Beverly Howe
funds toward the purchase for their H ow e's About
Pizza business in Heppner.
" N The project will be ongo
ing until enough funds are
raised.
October 1 - Irrigon Senior Center-11 am -11:30 am
A nyone who would
October 2 - Boardman Senior Center - 11 am-11:30 am
like to donate to this out
October 3 - Heppner Senior Center 10:30 am -2:00 pm
reach project may con
-lone Fire Hall 4:30 pm - 7:00 pm
tact youth group leaders
Flu s h o ts a re a ls o a v a ila b le a t a ll r e g u la r
Robanai Disque at 541-
im m u n iz a t io n c lin ic s :
989-8535, Vicki Rayburn
Mondays Ik Tuesdays-- Boardman
at 541-240-1427 or Shelli
^__________ Thursdays- Heppner
Britt at 541-676-5478.
F lu C linics
Heppner’s scenic bikeway
holds inaugural ride
Inaugural ride sees Blue Mountain Century Scenic
Bikeway from dream to reality
Heppner’s Blue Moun
tain Century Scenic Bike
way became a reality last
weekend when the first
riders took an inaugural ride
along the route.
The ride marked the
culm ination o f several
years of efforts to make the
route a reality. In 2009, Tom
Mafera, previous District
Ranger for Heppner Ranger
District, was part of a dis
cussion at that year’s Cycle
Oregon, where he and other
riders talked about an op
portunity to develop and Evan Mackenzie of Pendleton (front) and Robin Bredtield of
promote designated scenic Heppner wheel along the bikeway during the inaugural ride
last weekend. -Contributedphoto
bikeways. These routes
would be considered the logistical support and co bette and Ali), and motel
best of the best bike rides ordination.
and tent accommodations
“We have a great team by Northwestern Motel and
in Oregon. He expressed
interest and took the lead in that has worked hard with RV Park and Willow Creek
organizing a local commit the chamber to bring the RV Park.
tee to propose a route within dream of the Blue Mountain
A Saturday evening
the Heppner area. He asked Century Scenic Bikeway to barbecue hosted by the
the Heppner Chamber of fruition,” commented She- Iqcal bikeway committee
Commerce to be the official ryll Bates. “This weekend was well received and gave
proponent, with the role of we saw the dream become everyone a chance to get to
working directly with the a reality, and it was so excit know each other and learn
Oregon Parks and Recre ing to see all of the planning more about other new bike
ation Department (OPRD), bring such success.”
ways in Oregon that many
while the committee would
Bikew ay com m ittee o f the riders had already
serve as more of an advisory members include Jay Gibbs, experienced. The inaugural
Deb Gutierrez, John Ed- ride brought great visitors
group to the chamber.
With the help of many mundson, Todd Buchholz, who enjoyed the ambience
people, the proposal for the Dr. Betsy Anderson, Jean of a small town. They said
Blue M ountain Century Cassidy, Robin Bredfield they were impressed with
Scenic Bikeway was com and Sheryll Bates.
how clean and well-kept the
The weekend’s event city of Heppner is and how
pleted in early 2011 and sent
to OPRD for consideration. started out with dinner and friendly the community is.
The 109-m ile bikeway, an evening social at Hager Besides a few flat tires and a
which crosses FS Road 53 Park on Friday night. The few drops of rain, the event
from Heppner to Ukiah, riders hit the road bright was very successful and the
travels north along High and early Saturday morning committee and riders are
way 395, then west along with the option o f start already looking forward to
Highway 74 back to Hepp ing in either Heppner or an even bigger and better
ner, was selected for further Ukiah. Everyone enjoyed ride next year.
review by the state bikeway pizza from Howe’s About
“All community mem
committee. Following a rig Pizza, boxed lunches pre bers are encouraged to join
orous review process, it was pared by Heppner Family in the fun and keep the
accepted as one of the Or Foods, breakfasts on both dream a reality...either as
egon State scenic bikeways Saturday and Sunday by a rider or a volunteer or
and officially designated in The Stable o f Youth (Bob- both,” said Bates.
September 2011.
The committee not only
wanted to promote the new
bikeway, but also celebrate
the fact that it was officially
“on the map.” The promo
tion and celebration in
cluded a two-day ride of the
bikeway that was attended
by a small group of riders
invited from Pendleton, La
Grande, Walla Walla, Ma
dras, Prineville, Heppner
and lone. As this was the
inaugural group ride along
the bikeway, the number (L-R): Tom Mafera, Chuck Hedges and Rie Hancock, all of
of riders was intentionally Prineville, pause for a photo op during the day’s ride. -Con
kept small to ensure good tributed photo
OWGL fall workshops slated,
grower input sought
Oregon Wheat Growers
League county presidents
have begun preparations for
their fall and winter work
shops. All county events are
free to wheat producers and
OWGL members.
Blake Rowe, Oregon
Wheat CEO will provide
an industry update at each
meeting and engage grow
ers in discussions on spe
cific wheat issues in each
region. FSA/NRCS/OSU
updates will also be pro
vided.
Morrow County Presi
dent Eric Orem has cho
sen Nov. 1 for a growers
workshop and dinner, in
conjunction with Morrow
County Grain G row ers’
annual meeting.
HEPPNER LES SCHWAB CONGRATULATES
HEPPNER HIGH SCHOOL'S HOMECOMING COURT!
Junior Court-
Mekayla Kindle, Samm Lemmon, Jeff Oowdy, and J C Putman
_inior Court-
Baily Bennel
Gould, Emma Osmin, Aidan Wright,
Stephen ThompsofLand Bryce Fowler.
ÈH k s i i ì m
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/J i
124 NORTH MAIN STREET • HEPPNER
OR 97836 541- 676-9481
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