I
FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 27,2013
CREZ TALKS HOUSING
-Continuedfrom PACE ONE
program to aid developers
building rental units, when a
similar plan already in place
by the city of Boardman has
yet to have any takers.
“No one has used it. It
has been sitting there for
one year,” said Nelson.
She suggested there
be a forum so developers’
lenders and others involve
in housing could sit down
and come up with ideas to
alleviate the crunch. Nelson
also asked CREZ what the
goal of the housing program
will be.
“Eighty percent of the
w orkers (at the Port o f
Morrow) live somewhere
else, mostly in Umatilla
County and Washington.
We want people who work
here to live here,” said
CREZ board chairman Don
Russell.
CREZ board member
and Port of Morrow Manger
Gary Neal said CREZ was
founded on the theory that
the loss o f taxes (from
new businesses) would be
mitigated by taxes on new
housing, “But so far we are
not getting the mitigating
offset here in M orrow
County,” he said.
The CREZ was created
to offer property tax breaks
to new businesses moving
into the enterprise zone, a
12-square-mile area around
the Port of Morrow, as a
way to entice industry and
jobs to Morrow County. The
Enterprise Zone collects
fees in lieu of taxes from
these businesses and then
distributes this money in
the county.
So far the CREZ has
been very su c c e ssfu l,
having secured funding
c o m m itm e n ts o f $22
million through the year
2030. The money so far is
coming mainly from a large
Con-Agra food processing
expansion, construction
of new data farms by VA
Data, a division of Amazon,
com, and expansion of the
Tillamook Cheese facility
at the Port. All of the new
ex p an sio n is cre a tin g
upwards o f 200 or more
jobs, most of them paying
above-average wages.
“ W h en y o u a re
creating jobs they need a
place to live,” said Neal
in discussing the need for
more rentals instead of new
housing. “They (workers)
end up where the housing is
and then they become part
o f that community. They
don’t always know if the
job is going to work out and
they aren’t always qualified
for loans when they are new
to a job.” he pointed out.
T here seem s to be
always government funds
a r o u n d fo r “ in c o m e
restricted” or low-income
housing, “ but we need
market rental housing,”
he stressed. He said once
people are established in
rental housing then they
will later move up and
purchase a home.
Also part of a proposed,
but as yet not adopted,
h o u sin g p la n , p eo p le
moving into Morrow County
would receive either a grant
or forgivable loan, thus
attracting people to move
here. Tillamook Cheese
currently has a program
w h e re any e m p lo y e e
moving to Morrow County
and buying a home qualifies
for a $7,500 grant toward
its purchase. The company
o f f e r s th e in c e n tiv e
because only 10 percent
of Tillamook’s employees
who work in Boardman
actually live there.
B o a rd m e m b e rs
also realized that each
community in the county
has different housing issues.
“South county is never
going to have significant
issues (with employment
like Boardman),” CREZ
board member Greg Sweek
said. H ow ever, he did
acknowledge that Heppner
and south county have a
shortage of rentals.
“People live in south
county and commute to
their jobs, but many of them
lived there previously,” he
pointed out.
P h il N a c h b a r o f
GEODC was also at the
m eeting and suggested
that Boardman work on
increasing the amenities to
entice people to live there.
“ P e o p le lo o k a t
quality of life, shopping,
c o m m u n ity , n o t ju s t
commuting distance, when
they choose where to live,”
he told the board, and
suggested effort be put
into other aspects o f the
community and then “the
people would choose to
live in the community and
not have to have financial
incentives.”
Representatives of the
Heppner and Boardman
cham bers o f com m erce
have recently attended a job
fair sponsored by Con-Agra
and held in Herm iston,
handing out materials to
prospective hires touting
the benefits o f living in
Morrow County.
“The Port will continue
to create the new jobs,” said
Neal. “And we have a better
chance of capturing people
who are new workers. We
want people to eventually
own their own homes,” he
added.
“Is there something we
can do now to capture some
o f these new employees
coming in?” Sweek asked.
“We don’t have four to five
months to decide this.”
N eal estim ated that
there would be 150 to 200
w orkers com ing in the
next year, including some
longer-term construction
workers at the new PGE
gas-fired plant. Neil also
said that many of the new
jo b s are h ig h er-w ag e,
management type, which
will support purchase of
new homes.
“ Each
of our
communities are different
and we are w orking to
address the differences in
each of those communities,”
Neal told the CAPECO
officials about Morrow
County; CAPECO agreed
to study the issue further
and help CREZ formulate
a housing plan.
In other business the
board heard from their
fiscal agent Thomas Kligel,
who passed out spreads
sheets detailing the CREZ’s
finances.
The board chose Kligel,
who is also the city o f
Boardman financial officer,
to handle its finances.
Morrow County 4-H holds
Achievement Night
Local FFA members awarded
national FFA Degrees
H ep p n er g rad u ates
Devin Byron
R o b i n s o n and
Z e c h a r i a h D.
H in tz, m em bers
o f th e H ep p n er
FFA c h a p t e r ,
were awarded the
A m e r i c a n FFA
Degree at the 2013
N a t i o n a l FFA
Convention & Expo, Oct.
30-Nov. 2 in Louisville,
KY.
Each year, the National
FFA Organization honors
FFA members who show
the utmost dedication to
the organization through
their desire to develop
their potential for premier
leadership, personal growth
and career success through
agricultural education.
The A m erican FFA
D egree is bestow ed up m e m b e r s mu s t h a v e
on a select group earned and productively
o f s t u d e n t s in invested $7,500 through
recognition of their a supervised agricultural
rears o f academic experience program in
and p rofessional which they start, own or
excellence.
hold a professional position
S p o n s o r e d in an existing agriculture
by A D M
enterprise.
C rop Risk
Recipients must
Services,
also com plete 50
Case 1H, DuPont
hours community
P ioneer, E lanco,
service
and
Farm C redit and
demonstrate
S y r g e n t a as a
outstanding
Zechariah
special project of Hintz
l e ader s hi p
the National FFA
abilities and civic
F oundation, the aw ard involvement.
recognizes demonstrated
Each o f the 3,573
ability and outstanding recipients of the American
achievements in agricultural FFA Degree received a gold
b u s in e s s , p ro d u c tio n , American FFA Degree key
p ro c e s s in g or se rv ic e and a certificate after being
programs.
recognized on stage at that
To be eligible, FFA national convention.
Boardman adopts ordinance
for west urban renewal agency
At its last meeting, the
Boardman City Council
ad o p ted an or di nanc e
f or mi ng a new ur ban
renewal area in Boardman.
The West Boardman Urban
Renewal Area boundary
encompasses approximately
170 acres in the area to the
south of Interstate 84 to
Wilson Lane and to the west
of the Columbia Terrace
Subdivision.
Urban renewal allows
for the use of tax increment
financing paying for urban
ren ew al p ro je c ts . Tax
increment revenues, the
amount of property taxes
generated by the increase
in total assessed values
in the urban renewal area
from the time it is first
established, are used to
fund investm ents in the
urban renewal area.
Urban renewal
investments
can
include construction or
improvement o f streets,
utilities, parks and other
public facilities.
The main objective of
the West Boardman Urban
Renewal Area will be to
p ro v id e in fra s tru c tu re
improvements to facilitate
development in the area.
This new urban renewal
area is the second urban
renew al area formed in
Boardman.
Cub Scouts take field trip to
newspaper office
The Bears Cub Scout
Troop visited the Heppner
Gazette-Times on Thursday,
Nov. 21.
Scouts on the field trip
were Felix Matthew, Roen
Waite and Seth Grigg, all
nine years old. Leaders are
Andrea Grigg and Taomi
Matthew.
The Scouts learned
about writing news stories
for the Gazette, how people
submi t sto rie s for the
newspaper and how the
newspaper is put together
on the computer. They also
got to see the big paper
cutter in the back room.
They told the Gazette
staff that they had learned
about the first newspaper
writer in Oregon, who was
Ashael Bush.
The Bears Cub Scout Troop recently visited the Gazette-Times.
Pictured are (L-R) in front, Cub Scouts Seth Grigg, Felix
Matthew and Roen Waite, with leaders Taomi Matthew and
Andrea Grigg. -Photo by April Sykes
The boys all attend Elementary School and are
s c h o o l at H e p p n e r in the fourth grade.
Sheriff’s Report
Award recipients from the 2013 4-H Achievement Night event. -Contributedphoto
Morrow County 4-H
celebrated the past year at
their annual Achievement
Night awards celebration
on Sunday, Nov. 17, at
Riverside High School in
Irrigon.
4-H ers from across
th e c o u n ty r e c e iv e d
re c o g n itio n fo r th e ir
outstanding achievements
in their project areas, many
p e rfe c t reco rd b o o k s,
accomplishments from the
centennial Morrow County
Fair and for other special
county awards.
4 -H le a d e r s a n d
outstanding clubs were also
recognized for all of their
hard work to make the 4-H
program possible.
M o rro w C o u n ty
4-H Am bassadors Kane
Sw eeney, Tim G o u ld ,
M organ O rem , E m ily
Taylor, Miranda Taylor,
Sydney Qualls and Macy
Gibbs worked weeks in
advance to practice and
polish the event, and they
reportedly did a “fantastic”
job at announcing and
operating the entire event.
The B o a rd m a n
Community Club assisted
with the facilities, set up
and clean up.
A ch iev em en t night
begins with a family potluck
for all those in attendance,
followed by the awards
cerem ony. Each year a
committee o f volunteers
is formed who commits its
time to purchase all of the
fair awards.
4-H is a year-round
program , w hich begins
Oct. 1 o f each year and
concludes on September
3 0 . A s lid e s h o w o f
highlights from the past
year is available on our
website, http://extension.
oregonstate.edu/morrow/.
For more information on
the 4-H program or how
to sign up, call the OSU
Extension Service, Morrow
County office at 541-676-
9642, check out the website
or follow them on Facebook
under “Morrow County 4-H
Oregon.”
C o m p le te a w a rd s
from achievem ent night
are as follows; results not
p ublished here w ill be
published in future editions
of the Gazette:
Gracey DeLoach
Will Keefer
Jaiden Mahoney
Kylee McClure
Matt Orem
Ashley Price
Olivia Schmidt
Intermediates:
Kolby Currin
Rileigh McClure
Morgan Orem
Riley Gorham
Skylar Wightman
Seniors
Lilly Sandford
Paige Bither
Tyanna Billings
Junior Leaders:
Brittany Lesperance, Lilly
Sandford, Sydney Qualls,
Taylor Hamby, Tyanna
Billings.
2013 Camp Counselors:
Tom Gould, Tim Gould,
Brittany Lesperance, Morgan
H a s e lb u s c h , M adisen
Haselbusch, Alaxandria Dunn,
Bryan Fowler, Amanda Rea.
Sydney Qualls, Lexi Bray,
Macy Gibbs and Ian Meakins.
County Medals:
Junior Division:
Achievement: Serenity
Rodriguez
Beef: Jacee Currin
Cavy: Emma Hermanns
Clothing & Textiles: Gracey
Outstanding Record Book DeLoach
Community Service: Hayden
Awards:
Qualls
Juniors:
Cooking: Jaiden Mahoney
O c to b e r 2 (c o n t.):
-MCSO, Boardman
Ambulance received report
o f a 54 -y ear-old m ale
subject in a semi with a
bulk trailer being dizzy
with his neck stiff and his
arms going numb on 1-84
Boardman.
-MCSO received report
from an Irrigon woman
that she found a bike in
her mom’s storage shed
that was left there by a
previous tenant and the
previous tenant’s son had
been caught stealing.
-MCSO received report
from a subject in Irrigon
that she thinks another
female stole her driver’s
license.
-MCSO received report
from a man who lives on
Kunze Lane that vehicles
drive by his residence at
a high rate of speed. He
requested extra patrol.
-MCSO received report
from a woman in Heppner
that she found a brownish/
tan purse by the Cornerstone
Gallery. MCSO returned
the purse to its owner.
-MCSO received report
of a female who had become
unconscious in a vehicle
on 1-84 Boardman. The
caller advised that she had
a root beer float right before
and then when she woke
up she was clutching her
abdominal area. Caller said
that she had not had any
intoxicants. They requested
that dispatch call to the ER
and advise they would be
arriving.
-MCSO received report
of several tractors in the
road, completely blocking
one side of Bombing Range
and a pickup in the ditch
with a tractor hooked up to
it. A deputy responded, but
the vehicles were no longer
there.
-MCSO received
re p o rt th a t H erm iston
Police Department arrested
Rebecca Ann Mayes, 21, on
a Morrow County warrant
for P a ro le Vi ol a t i on/
Unauthorized Use of Motor
Vehicle, Failure to Appear,
Eluding and Unauthorized
Use o f a Motor Vehicle.
She was lodged at Umatilla
County Jail with no bail.
O c to b e r 3: Irrigon
Ambulance, Irrigon Fire
D epartm ent received a
request for an ambulance
for a 53-year-old male in a
wheel chair who had fallen
off the ramp and received
an injury to his hand.
-Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office reported
a s s is tin g a n o t h e r law
enforcement agency with
suspicious circumstances.
-MCSO reported
transporting a prisoner,
J a v i e r R o q u e z , Jr . ,
from E a s te rn O reg o n
Correctional Institution to
Umatilla County Jail.
-MCSO received report
of a black SUV abandoned
in the parking lot on Main
in Irrigon.
-MCSO received report
of a horse running at large
that had been cornered
on Second and Wyoming
streets in Irrigon.
-MCSO received
request for a welfare check
on a little girl who was
playing at a park in Irrigon.
The caller said the little
g ir l’s g ran d fath er was
traveling in a large newer
RV and he had walked away
and left the girl. The caller
said his attitude seemed
suspicious.
-MCSO received report
of a small red Toyota pickup
all over the road last seen
headed up to Blake Ranch.
The owner was identified
and MCSO responded, but
he was unable to locate the
pickup.
-MCSO received report
from an Irrigon subject who
said that her brother had hit
his girlfriend and kicked
her in the face. The caller
requested deputy contact.
-MCSO received report
from an Irrigon male that
his girlfriend said she was
going to watch a football
game in Pilot Rock at 10
a.m. and he had not heard
from her. It was 11:18 p.m.
I