Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2013)
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Libran University of Oregon Eugene. OR 97403 County to build new administrative offices Health, accounting and juvenile to have new home next to courthouse VOL. 132 N 0. 51 10 Pages Wednesday, December 18, 2013 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Boardman Kiwanis and county MDT join together to make blankets for children Two Morrow County groups recently banded together in a holiday project to keep at-risk children warm. On Dec. 9 and 10, members of the Boardman Kiwanis and the Morrow County Multidisciplinary Team (M D T ) w o rk ed together to make 16 blankets for children involved with the Department of Human S e rv ic e s (D H S ). The blankets will be donated to DHS so they can be given to children who have been taken into DHS care. “ D u r in g o n e o f o u r m o n th ly M orrow C ounty MDT m eetings we discussed how many o f the children in DHS care enjoyed the blankets that have been made for them,” said Morrow County D istrict A ttorney Justin N elson. “ We wanted to make sure that DHS had an adequate supply of blankets to provide to children in their card, so we contacted the Boardman Kiwanis to see if they could assist us in providing blankets. “ T he B o a rd m a n Kiwanis group has a long history of public service to Morrow County,” Nelson continued. “ As a jo in t venture we were able to An aerial site plan of the courthouse and the proposed new administrative offices. -Contributed photo Pictured are(L-R): Margie Hollandsworth, Justin Nelson and Mickie Khert working on blankets at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Boardman on Dec. 9. Contributed photo make a total of 16 blankets over a two night period.” O thers involved in the project, Nelson said, were Mickie Ebert. Deona Siex, Jim and M argie H o lla n d sw o rth . K aren Dike, Carolyn Carter. Cindy Isham . C heryl Taylor, Miranda Taylor and Jane Pope. “ B e c a u s e o f th is hard w ork, th ere w ill be a co n tinued supply o f b la n k e ts ,” N elso n concluded. The Morrow County M ultidisciplinary Team (MDT) is responsible for reviewing both physical and sexual child abuse cases, as well as neglect cases in Morrow County. It is part of a multi-disciplinary te a m c o m p r i s e d o f r e p r e s e n ta tiv e s from law enforcement, public schools, ESD, hospitals, D o m e s ti c V io le n c e Services, courts, health d e p a rtm e n ts , and the O regon D epartm ent o f Human Services (DHS). I he MDT m em bers w ork in c o lla b o ra tio n to address the needs o f children and their families in M orrow County and to facilitate a process in which professionals from diverse disciplines are able to work more effectively and efficiently. A n y o n e in te re s te d in learning more about or joining the Boardman Kiwanis is urged to contact Mindy Binder at 541-571- 0817 or kmbinder@msn. com. By David Sykes In a major move to consolidate county offices an d s e r v ic e s in one location, Morrow County has announced a plan to p u rch ase three hom es next to the courthouse in Heppner, tear them down and build a brand-new, 10,000-sqare-foot, $1.75 million office complex. Expected to move into the new offices are health, juvenile and other offices from the Gilliam Bisbee building, and accounting and other services from the annex on Rock Street. There will also be two conference rooms that will be available for public use. County Judge Terry Tallman says the entire project will be funded with money collected from county wind projects, and will not raise county property taxes. “ Through planning sessions with accounting, th e c o m m i s s i o n e r s determined that the new adm inistrative building could be built and fully fu n d ed th ro u g h wi nd energy projects funds; this project will not result in any increase in taxes,” Tallman told the Gazette-Times. Formal announcement of the project was expected to be made at county court meeting Wednesday, Dec. 18. Tallman said deals have been struck to purchase the three residences to the north o f the courthouse. Those structures will be torn down and the facility will be built on that property. Lead contractor for the project will be the Pendleton- based W enaha G roup. Wenaha Group provides construction management and consulting services to organizations, corporations, and tribes throughout the region, and is a certified Indian-owned business. Tallman said the company has committed to use as much local labor as possible fo r the c on s t r u c t i o n , including sub contracting when possible. The local Intermountain Educational Service District will also be involved, overseeing the tear down of the homes and construction of the new building. There are still details to be completed, Tallman stressed . The City of Heppner planning department will need to issue a conditional use permit since the property is zoned residential, and purchase of the three homes should be closed by the end o f the year. Construction of the facility is expected to take about 14 months, Tallman said. Tallman stressed that funding of the new offices will come from the Strategic Investment Program, or SIP agreem ent, an in- lieu-of-taxes agreem ent between the county and the Shepherds Flat Wind Farm, which brings in $1 million to the county per year for the next 15 years. “This is a very good thing for the county, and for South County,” Tallman -See NEW COUNTY OF FICES/PAGE TWO Other taxing districts ask CREZ to split the money By David Sykes A representative o f four Morrow County taxing districts presented a proposal at M onday’s Columbia River Enterprise Zone (CR EZ) m eeting, asking that other county t a x i n g d i s t r i c t s no t represented on the CREZ board receive 50 percent of the future fees collected by the CREZ. Larry Mills, Chairman of the MC Health District board o f directors, was making the req u est on behalf of the MC Unified Recreation District, MCI ID. Nort h M orrow V ector Control and the Oregon Trial Library District. Mi l l s p r e s e n t e d a schedule of proposed taxes and said that 50 percent of the funding after meeting ongoing expenses and prior commitments of the CREZ should be distributed to 11 other districts in the county. The schedule did not include any money to Morrow County, the City of Boardman or the Port of Morrow because the group felt these entities have the opportunity for the other 50 percent of the CREZ funds. T he C R E Z b o a r d is m a d e up o f s i x representatives, two each from the Port of Morrow, City o f B oardm an and Morrow County, and they decide how the money is to be spent. The CREZ guidelines loosely stipulate that spending is to be on “ im pacted” districts, or those seein g the m ost increase for services as a New towing business opens result of new businesses locating at the Port. C R E Z f u n d s ar e collected from businesses locating in the Enterprise Zone, which pay the fees instead o f property taxes. The zone is a recruitment tool to attract businesses and jobs to the Port o f M orrow and so far has been very s u c c e s s fu l, expecting to collect at least $22 million over the next 15 years. So far this year the CREZ board has agreed to gi ve $ 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 to Morrow County Education Foundation and another $ 150,000 to a housing plan to entice new workers to live in Morrow County. The board will not be receiving any other funds until next year. Mills said a concern of the other districts is the loss of coal-fired plant taxes, estimated to be $3.5 million per year, that will be going off the rolls when the plant closes in 2020. “This group of small districts wishes to present to the enterprise board members a proposal for possible distribution of payment in lieu o f taxes payments that the enterprise fund will receive in future years. “The group recognizes that the (coal) plant will not go completely off the tax rolls immediately; however, it appears it will probably come off the rolls as soon as the owners can accomplish -See CREZ FUND DISTRI BUTION/PAGE TEN G-T closed for Christmas, New Year’s Contributors , advertisers asked to note differing deadlines fo r those issues The Gazette-Times will be closed Wednesday, Dec. 25 and Thursday, Dec. 26, for the Christmas holiday. Next w eek’s edition o f the G azette-Tim es will be published on Tuesday, Dec. 24; the news and ad deadline for that edition will be this Friday. Dec. 20, at 5 p.m. Normal business hours will resume Friday, Dec. 27. The Gazette-Times will also be closed Wednesday. Jan. 1, for New Year's Day. c le a r a n c e sale 50 % Oil Gary Wall* show* off the truck for the new towing business. Martin’s Towing. The business will offer 24/7 towing and, according to Walls, has been registered with the sheriff for towing calls. They will take all calls including flat tires, accidents, disabled vehicles and more. Walls will be operating the business for owner Sam Martin. The company's phone number is M I- 571-4260. - Photo by David Sykes I I a The news and ad deadline for the Dec. 3 1 edition will be Friday. Dec. 27 at 5 p.m. Normal business hours will resume Thursday, Jan 2. We wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas and New Year. treat for feet! 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