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Bessie Wct/ell Newspaper l.ibrar>
UimcrsitN of Oregon
Eugene. Ò R 97403
VOL. 133
NO. 30
8 Pages
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
MCSD to buy Boardman
property for possible expansion
District to sell or demolish Lexington School
By April Sykes
The Morrow County
School Board, at its regu
lar meeting Monday, ap
proved the purchase o f a
plot of land next to Windy
River Elementary School in
Boardman.
MCSD Superintendent
Dirk Dirksen said that the
district is in the process of
purchasing 7.75 acres of
land for $196,000 from A1
Phillips. Dirksen said that in
the event that a new school
is needed in the future, the
district thought it advisable
that the property be near a
current school rather than in
a separate location.
“We don’t want to have
to locate another school
som ew here else,” com
mented Dirksen. who added
that they don’t have a cur
rent plan for possible ex
pansion.
MCSD Business Man
ager Andy Fletcher said
that they hope to have the
deal done by the end of
September.
Also at the meeting,
Fletcher told the board that
the district is planning to
advertise the old Lexington
School building for sale.
He said that the district has
spoken with the Lexington
Town Council concerning
the matter.
Fletcher said that if the
district cannot find a buyer,
they plan to “take the build
ing down.” He said that
one concern is to find the
right buyer, so that the new
owner would have the abil
ity to maintain the building
and not let it become even
more dilapidated.
“If we can't find a buy
er,” said Fletcher, “we will
work with the city (town of
Lexington) to turn it into a
recreation area for the kids.
The kids in Lexington don’t
have a park.”
He said that because
the building is 100 percent
asbestos free, it probably
could be demolished for
around $60,000. ,
In related business, be
cause the district will be
losing storage space when
the Lexington school build
ing is sold or demolished,
it has had to find alternate
storage for records that
have been housed there.
Subsequently Fletcher has
spoken with the Oregon
State A rchiving D epart
ment, which has agreed to
take the records, which are
books of pre-1940s atten
dance records.
Fletcher said he thought
the district could transport
the books to the archiving
department in a pickup.
The board also heard
good news in terms of stu
dent population. Dirksen
said that the district has
around 100 more students
Mustang Tommy Bredfield (#42) makes a run with the ball while teammate C. J. Kindle (#24)
fends off a Tri-Cities Prep Jaguar during last Friday's game in Hermiston. The Mustangs
dominated the game from the beginning to a crushing 47-7 finish. -Photo by Sandra Putman
-See fu ll story and more sports news, PAGE FOUR
enrolled this September,
compared to last year. He
said that the increase has
come “across the board”, so
it will not create problems
with space or staffing.
In other business, the
board:
-learned from Dirksen
that the district has hired
Peggy Doherty of lone to
fill the district's new posi
tion of care coordinator.
-heard from Dirksen
that at least two MCSD high
school students could earn
associate’s degrees through
the Eastern Promise Pro
gram by the time they grad
uate from high school in
the spring. Through the
program, students can earn
college credits by passing
certain approved classes.
-heard from Assistant
S uperintendent G eorge
Mendoza about early learn
ing programs that would as
sist pre-school children and
their parents. He said that
grant monies are starting to
flow to fund parent training
and child safety programs,
among others. Governor
John Kitzhaber had earlier
announced an expanded
emphasis on education for
children from birth, perhaps
even prenatally, to college
age.
-h eard from board
member Becky Kindle that
Janet Dezellem has agreed
to be appointed to a three-
-See MCSD/PAGE FIVE
Cutsforth Corner fire causes Housing grant program
major property damage
receives additional CREZ
funding
Willow Creek Economic Development Group to
continue successful real estate purchasing program
By David Sykes
The Willow Creek
Valley Economic Develop
ment Group (WCVEDG)
last week received ad
ditional funding for its
successful
real-estate
grant program. In April
WCVEDG had received
$50,000 from the Colum
bia River Enterprise Zone
(CREZ) for the “Residen
tial Real Estate Revocable
Grant Program” for South
Morrow County.
“The interest in par
ticipating by individuals
purchasing real estate has
been outstanding and those
funds have been exhaust
ed.” WCVEDG president
Ed Rollins said. He said
WCVEDG was able to
fund 10 grants for homes in
the South Morrow County
boundaries, resulting in six
new residences and four
rental homes.
The economic devel
opment group decided to
go back to CREZ to ask
for more money for the
program, and last Friday
was given the additional
funding.
“WCVEDG will now
be able to continue to ac
commodate buyers and
investors who would like
to take advantage of this
grant opportunity,” Rollins
said.
“One of the biggest
barriers to business devel
opment in Morrow County
is the lack of quality rental
housing.” he added.
The Residential Hous
ing Program was devel-
-See CREZ FUNDING/PAGE
EIGHT
A burned and twisted pile of metal is all that remains in the wake of last week's (ire, which
came dangerously close to doing even more damage. -Photo by David Sykes
A fire near Cutsforth
Comer last week destroyed
property but caused no
injuries, reports Morrow
County Sheriff’s Office.
The fire started Tues
day, Sept. 2, around 4:45
p.m. near the edge of Mar-
quardt Rd., approximately a
quarter mile north of Hwy
207. The cause of the fire
is unknown. Landowner
Jeff Cutsforth stated that
he heard his dog bark and,
when he looked out the
window o f his home, he
saw the fire.
With w inds gusting
to 25 mph, the fire was
quickly driven to the west to
consume a single-wide mo
bile home, two sheds, five
G-T
motor vehicles and various
pieces of farm equipment
before fire crews were able
to extinguish the blaze. In
addition to the destruction
of property, several acres of
stubble also burned.
All o f the property,
with the exception o f two
vehicles and the contents
o f the single-wide trailer,
is owned by the Cutsforth
family. MCSO reports that
the occupant of the mobile
home was out o f state at
the time, and has been con
tacted.
No estimate was avail
able o f the value o f the
damaged property.
Fire units from Hep
pner, lone, L exington,
Boardm an and Irrigon,
along with multiple neigh
boring ranchers, responded
to the scene.
The sheriff s office said
in a statement that a small
white car described generi-
cally as an “older hatchback
or wagon” was seen leav
ing the area northbound on
Marquardt Rd. It is unclear
if the vehicle was involved
or not, but authorities say
they would be interested in
speaking to the occupants.
Anyone with information is
urged to contact the Mor Columbia River Enterprise Zone Chairman Don Russell (left) presents Willow Creek Valle}
row County Sheriff’s Of Economic Development Group Director Sheryll Bates and President Ed Rollins a S45.000
check last week for renewed funding of the successful housing grant program.
fice.
The incident is still
E3MD O F S E A S O N P L A N T SALE
under investigation.
to close early this Friday
■marro, gumne
The H eppner G azette- will close at 11 a.m. that 15. We apologize for any
Times will close early this day. Normal business hours inconvenience.
Friday, Sept. 12. The office will resume Monday, Sept.
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