Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
HEPPNE
50é
Jazette
imes
VOL. 133
NO. 3
8 Pages
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Morrow County schools
plan for post-Labor Day
start in 2014
By April Sykes
The Morrow County
School year will start after
Labor Day this year, the first
time in around 10 years, said
Morrow County School
D istrict Superintendent
Dirk Dirksen at the MCSD
Board m eeting Monday
night in Irrigon. The board
voted in favor of the post-
Labor Day start with board
member Barney Lindsay
voting against it.
Dirksen said that a tally
of staff preferences of either
a before Labor Day start
or an after Labor Day start
showed that staff preferred
a post-L abor Day start
almost two to one, 87 to 47.
Dirksen said that he
was surprised about the staff
preference, commenting
that he has been on the
record favoring the pre-
Labor Day start in order
to get in as many school
days as possible prior to
student testing. He noted,
though, that it was a very
early Labor Day, with it
falling on Monday, Sept.
1. He added, however, that
he wanted to support the
staff feedback on the issue.
He had originally planned
a two-year calendar, but
then recom m ended that
the board approve only a
one-year calendar, which
they did.
“1 think this will be a
good year to take a good
look at it,” he said.
Lindsay said he voted
ag ain st the post-L abor
Day start because it would
lessen the number of school
days prior to standardized
testing.
T he b o a rd a ls o
accep ted the d is tr ic t’s
financial audit conducted
by the Oster Professional
Group, C ertified Public
Accountants.
“It was a very good
report,” noted Dirksen.
The Oster Professional
Group noted, however, as in
prior audits, a “significant
deficiency in internal control
related to a lack of proper
segregation of incompatible
d u tie s ,” in c lu d in g the
“ m anagem ent point to
stress the importance of
proper segregation of duties
and to provide guidance
in addressing this control
deficiency.”
O ster did, however,
acknowledge that “given
the limited staff on hand in
the business office, proper
segregation o f duties is
e x tre m e ly d i f f i c u l t . ”
T hey reco m m en d ed
“involving people in non-
fin a n c ia l p o s itio n s to
assist in addressing the
d istrict’s lack o f proper
segregation o f d u ties.”
rhey acknowledged that the
district has made significant
im p ro v em en ts to w ard
segregation of duties.
O ster further noted
that they were unable to
reconcile some issues with
the capital assets listing
maintained by the district.
In other business, the
board:
-received
the
fo llo w in g e n ro llm e n t
report as of January: A.C.
H o u g h to n E lem en tary
School, Irrigon-272; Sam
B oardm an E lem entary,
Boardman-326; Heppner
E lem entary-170; Irrigon
E lem entary-174; Windy
River Elem entary,
Boardman-201; Heppner
High School-165; Irrigon
J u n io r /S e n i o r High
School-387; Riverside High
School, Boardm an-390;
Morrow Education
Center-32; total-2,117.
-approved the following
em plo ym ent action:
resignations-TaMara
Thornton, IJSH science
teacher, Sara Bevington,
IES se c re ta ry , C heryl
' -See SCHOOL DISTRICT/
PAGE FIVE
City okays permit for
county office construction
By David Sykes
The Heppner Planning
Commission Jan. 6 gave
its approval to a plan by
Morrow County to buy
three homes next to the
courthouse, tear them down
and build a brand-new,
10,000-sqare-foot, $1.75
million office complex.
Since the property is zoned
residential construction of
the new offices building
required a conditional use
permit from the city, which
the planning commission
approved.
Expected to move into
the new county 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.
O ne o f th e m a jo r
conditions on the approval
o f the new building was
for the county to improve
surfacing and widening of
Gilmore Street behind the
courthouse from Willow
to C annon streets, and
also improve drainage on
August and Willow Streets.
T h e p e r m i t a ls o
focused on landscaping
and spelled out over 30
landscaping requirements
including use of trees and
shrubs and types of plants
the county was allowed to
use. In addition the permit
addressed p ark in g and
traffic issues associated
with the increased traffic
that would be using Gilmore
to access the new office
buildings.
Formal announcement
o f the project was made
Dec. 18, and the sale has
closed on three residences to
the north of the courthouse.
Those structures will be tom
down and the facility will be
built on that property. Lead
contractor for the project
will be the Pendleton-based
Wenaha Group.
Wenaha Group provides
construction management
and consulting services to
organizations, corporations,
and tribes throughout the
region, and is a certified
Indian-ow ned business.
Tallman said the company
has committed to use as
much local labor as possible
fo r th e c o n s tr u c tio n ,
including subcontracting
when possible.
The local Intermountain
E d u c a tio n a l S e rv ic e
D is tr ic t w ill a lso be
involved, overseeing the
tear down o f the homes
and construction of the new
-See COUNTY OFFICES
APPROVED/PAGE THREE
Town and Country Awards
planned for Jan. 16
Heppner Chamber of
Commerce’s annual Town
and Country Community
Awards will be held on
T hursday, January 16,
at the M orrow County
Fairgrounds.
The event will start
at 6 p.m. with a no-host
social hour provided by
Bucknum’s. The dinner and
program will begin at 7 p.m.
Tickets are available at
Bank of Eastern Oregon,
Heppner chamber office.
Commu n i t y Bank and
M u r r a y ’s for $20 per
person.
The theme for this year
is “ Heppner Magic, It’s
the People.” As in years
past, special recognition
will be given to Man of
the Year, Woman o f the
Year, Business of the Year,
and C i t i z e n - E d u c a t o r
of the Year, as well as a
Youth Award and Lifetime
Achievement Award.
The event is sponsored
by Ambre Energy’s Morrow
Pacific Project and Portland
General Electric.
City council adopts revised
property lien ordinance
Aimed only at utility bills and property cleanup
By David Sykes
The He ppne r City
Council voted Monday in
favor of a property lien
ordinance that gives the
city manager the authority
to place liens on homes that
do not pay their water and
sewer bills, or where clean
up is done on a property and
the city is not paid back for
the work. The ordinance
is a scaled-back version
o f a proposed ordinance
presented to the council last
month, which would have
given the city even broader
lien power.
City M anager Kim
Cutsforth said the intent
of the new ordinance is for
the city to be able to collect
unpaid utility bills when a
property is sold. She said
the ordinance will also give
the city the power to place
a lien on property when
the city does “nuisance
abatement” or clean-up on
a property. The city would
clean up the property and
then bill the property owner
for the clean-up, and if the
bill is not paid, then the lien
would be placed.
While the ordinance
passed Monday is a pared-
down version o f the one
presented for consideration
last m onth, it added a
provision that the city
would have the option to
foreclose on property if it so
desires, although Cutsforth
said the aim of the city is
mainly to collect bills when
a property is sold.
The lien process would
start when a w ater and
sewer bill is more than 90
days past due. The city
would notify the property
owner in writing o f the
overdue bill. The property
owner would then have 10
days in which to pay the
delinquent charges, or the
lien would be placed. The
city would then notify the
property owner by certified
mail that the lien had been
placed. The lien would
be recorded against the
property at the courthouse
and remain there until the
bill, along with filing and
other fees, was paid. The
city will charge nine percent
interest on unpaid bills. If
the city does foreclose on a
property, according to the
ordinance, those charges
will also be added to the
lien amount.
Although the council
voted unanimously in favor
of the new ordinance, it still
has to be published in the
newspaper, and the city is
required to hold a public
hearing before the law
actually goes into effect.
In a related m atter
Cutsforth asked the council
to approve a resolution
allowing the city to use an
Oregon law to better collect
for clean-up work done on
foreclosed properties within
the city.
H eppner has about
four homes currently in
foreclosure. Most of these
homes become the property
of large banks located far
from Heppner. These homes
can become neglected with
debris, weed, rodent or
other problems. Cutsforth
says repeated attempts to
contact these large banks,
urging them to maintain
their properties, has not
been successful, and the
city needs a way to perform
nuisance abatem ent and
then get paid back for
the work. By adopting a
certain Oregon law, the
city will have more legal
power to enforce nuisance
prevention on foreclosed
properties.
In other business at
M onday’s m eetin g the
council heard the following
report for Dec. work from
Public Works D irecto r
Chad Doherty:
Water Dept.
• The city was called
out to fix four frozen water
meters.
• The booster pumps
at reservoir two froze. This
resulted in having to get
pumps rebuilt. Steps have
been taken to make sure this
doesn’t happen again.
Sewer Dept.
• The city replaced the
old septic receiving station
-See HEPPNER APPROVES
LIEN ORDINANCE/PAGE
FIVE
Rill to retire from
Heppner Elementary at
end of school year
By Andrea Di Salvo
Heppner Elementary
School will lose another
veteran teacher this year
with the retirement of third-
grade teacher Molly Rill.
R ill’s official retirement
date was Dec. 1 but she
says she will finish out the
school year, with her last
day in June.
Rill, who says she tries
not to think about her 62nd
birthday in a couple o f
w eeks, is in her eighth
year teaching third grade at
HES. However, her history
with the Morrow County
School District goes back
much further.
Rill w as born and
r a i s e d , as she s a ys ,
“halfway to Condon,” in
the Liberty School Road
area o f South M orrow
County. She attended HES
and Heppner High School,
where she served for a time
as student body secretary
before graduating in 1970.
She married local man
Cecil Rill in 1980. The
couple lived in Heppner for
about a year and then moved
out to the Rill farm, also on
Liberty School Road, where
they raised sons Lonnie
and Leland. Rill still lives
there, though Cecil passed
away in 2011 and the boys
are both currently living in
Portland.
Rill’s connection with
MCSD began in 1984,
when she went to work
as secretary in the district
office. She then moved
to a position as accounts
payable and investments
clerk, where she stayed
until 1990.
HES third-grade teacher Molly Rill stands in the doorway of
the classroom where she has taught students for the last eight
years of her 15-year teaching career. Rill officially retired last
month; her last day with her students will be in June of this
year. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
“ T h e n I go t t h i s
ha r ebr ai ned idea that
I w anted to go back to
college and get my degree
and teach,” she says.
She quit the school
district and took a jo b
as office coordinator at
the local OSU Extension
Service. She also enrolled
in online classed through
Eastern Oregon University.
She says her options for
online courses were limited,
and an online education
degree wasn’t on the table,
so she worked toward her
bachelor's degree in liberal
studies with a minor in
psychology. It was slow
going while working full
time and raising a family;
she finally obtained her
Bachelor of Arts degree
in 1998. She then quit her
job at the Extension office
and enrolled in a master’s
program , obtaining her
Master of Teacher
Education degree in 1999.
She i m m e d i a t e l y
returned to the Morrow
County School D istrict,
t hough this ti me in a
different role, as second-
gr ade t e a c he r at Sam
Boardman Elementary.
After than, she says,
things were a little “crazy”
for a while.
She moved to Heppner
E l e m e n t a r y to t e a c h
kindergarten in 2000, then
stayed in H eppner the
follow ing year to teach
second and third grade.
In 2002 it was back to
Boardman for second grade,
followed by another year at
Sam Boardman teaching
fourth grade. In 2004 she
returned to Heppner to take
on first and second grade;
2005 saw her teaching
second and third grade in
Heppner.
“You realize I moved
rooms every time, even
when I switched grades
in H eppner,” she says,
-See RILL RETIRES/PAGE
FOUR