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HEPPNER
Eizette
if
imes
VOL. 133
NO. 38
8 Pages Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
New county administration
building grows in size, cost
Estimated price now at $4.1 million for
11,200-square-foot facility
À
r ;
Construction has begun on the new Morrow County adminis
tration building, which w ill be over twice the size and cost that
was originally proposed. -Photo by David Sykes
By David Sykes
T he new M o rro w
C ounty A d m inistration
building under construc
tion next to the existing
courthouse in Heppner was
originally estimated to cost
$1.8 million, but will now
cost around $4.1 million,
county Judge Terry Tallman
told the Heppner Gazette-
Times last week.
Tallman and Project
Manager Scott Rogers of
the Wenaha Group said the
main reason for the cost in
crease is that as the building
went through the planning
stage it increased in size
from an original proposal,
and the cost of land acquisi
tion was not included in the
original estimate.
“ Why did 1 say $1.8
million back then?” asks
Tallman. “1 went with the
best information 1 had at the
time,” he explains.
Scott said it was origi
nally estimated that the new
building was going to be
between 4,500 and 7,500
square feet, and building
costs would be around $360
a square foot. That put the
first rough estimate to be
G-T Trophy Corner
Top: Aaron Smythe went on a quick walk around the hill
behind his house after practice, but ended up shooting this
big-bodied 2x3 whitetail in his backyard on the way down to
the house for dinner. Aaron is the son of Scott and Claudia
Smythe. Bottom: Aaron Smythe killed his first elk, this 4x5
bull, in Buck Canyon at 7:15 a.m. on Nov. 10. He shot the bull
with a Savage 30-06 he purchased with his own money for elk
season. Aaron said he came out of mist and encountered the elk.
the first one he'd seen. He got excited, shot high and missed at
100 yards. The elk then moved over a rise. Aaron snuck up the
rise and shot the elk in the lungs at 30 yards...this time saving
his excitement for after the kill. -Contributedphotos
between $1.6 and $2.88
million. However, Tallman
had publicly stated a $1.8
million figure. Not only
did the facility increase in
size when planning started,
but the original estimate
did not include purchasing
the three homes next to the
existing courthouse, which
were torn down to make
way for the new structure.
However, according
to Wenaha’s own website
the company still lists the
admin building as 8,000
square feet, which at the
$360-per-foot estim ated
w ould still have made
the original estim ate to
be $2.88 million. Even as
late as February the square
footage was estimated to
be 9,500 square feet. Scott
still says Wenaha’s original
square-footage estim ate
was spot on, pointing out
that recent hard construc
tion costs have come in at
$357 per square foot, which
makes the cost of the larger
11,200 square foot building
to be $4.1 million.
Why the county was
so far off on the size of
the facility can be traced
mostly to county officials
underestimating the need
for more space.
“ W hen we got into
planning the actual facil
ity we found out we were
not very realistic,” says
Tallman.
The n eed s fo r the
Health Department and for
more storage and confer
ence rooms are just sev
eral of the reasons for in
creased the square footage,
he points out.
“Our estimates were
grossly underestimated,”
he admits.
Tallman says mandates
from the state increased the
needs for the health depart
ment, which is currently lo
cated upstairs of the Gilliam
Bisbee building. As every
one who has visited the
health department knows,
there are steep stairs to get
up there, and the building is
in a deteriorating condition.
“Our main problem
with fixing up the Gilliam
Bisbee Building was the
steep stairs, no elevator and
the water running through
the basem ent,” explains
Tallman. There is a spring
below the building and
water can at times literally
flow through the basement
in a stream.
“It sounds like a small
waterfall down there,” Tall
man says.
Judge Tallm an also
said he went through the
courthouse and asked each
department if they wanted
to move to the new facility.
The clerk, accountant and
assessor all said they did not
want to move, he says. The
District Attorney will stay
in the present courthouse
-See ADMIN BUILDING S
RISING COSTS/PAGE FIVE
Tom Gould (#61) pushes hard against a Myrtle Point player during last week's playoff game
in Heppner. The Mustangs crushed the visitors 49-0 to advance to quarterfinals. Gould's per
formance this season earned him a spot as an offensive line on CBC all-league second team.
-Photo by Sandra Putman
-See fu ll story PAGE FOUR
Morrow County voters buck
state trends in election
By Andrea Di Salvo
Morrow County voters
faced some highly contest
ed races this
election. At
th e lo c a l
level, close
races made
the outcome
u n c e rta in .
At the state
le v e l, the Skip Matthews
majority of
county voters bucked trends
that swept through the rest
o f Oregon, putting voter
sentiment at odds with elec
tion outcomes.
At the local level, the
race for Heppner mayor
and councilor positions
was a hot issue going into
this election, as was proved
by the close margins in the
mayoral race. Skip Mat
thews won the mayoral
election with 37 percent of
the vote, trailed closely by
incumbent Joe Perry with
34 percent and challenger
Cody High with 29 percent.
For H eppner’s coun
cilor position number 5, in
cumbent JoAnne Burleson
fought off challenger Kathy
Marick, retaining her seat.
Councilor position number
6, which had no incumbent
running, was won by Adam
Doherty.
With all of lone’s coun
cil candidates running un
contested, there were no
surprise overturns in that
city, with M ayor Linda
LaRue and councilors Dea
con Heideman, Beverly
Crum and Joel Barnett all
winning their seats by land
slides.
Still up in the air is the
Lexington town council.
A vast majority voted for
Deona Siex, the single con
tender for council position
2, but the mayor and the
rest of the council positions
were all determ ined by
write in. Morrow County
Clerk Bobbi Childers said
she had not yet verified
the results of those races;
more information will be
published in the Gazette as
it becomes available.
On the county level,
Don Russell became the
new county commission
er, running away unop
posed with 95 percent of
the votes. Measure 25-69,
which changes the position
o f county commissioner
from partisan to nonparti-
Will)
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san, passed with 63 percent
of the vote.
On the state level,
Republi
can Gr e g
Walden,
who r e
tain ed his
seat in the
U.S. House
o f R e p re
sentatives, JoAnne
was certain Burleson
ly helped by
the 80 percent of Morrow
County ballots cast in his
favor. Likewise, State Rep
resentative Greg Smith will
continue to represent the
57th district, thanks in part
to the 98 percent of county
voters who supported him.
However, the majority
of Morrow County voters
was often at odds with the
rest of the state, such as
when Morrow County sup
ported Republican Dennis
Richardson over incumbent
John Kitzhaber for gover
nor with 2,057 votes, or 66
percent. Likewise, Morrow
County would have elected
Monica Wehby for U.S.
Senator by a narrower mar
gin of 55 percent versus the
36 percent who voted for
winner Jeff Merkley.
While Oregon at large
passed Measure 91, making
recreational use of marijua
na legal, Morrow County
voted down the measure by
66 percent.
Measure 87,
wh i c h a l
lows judges
to be hired
by the N a
tional Guard
and public
universities,
was passed Adam Doherty
at the state
level but rejected by a nar
row 53 percent o f county
voters. Fifty-two percent of
Morrow County voters also
cast their ballots against
Measure 89, whereas 63
percent o f total Oregon
voters approved amend
ing the state constitution
to state that “state/pol itical
subdivision shall not deny
or abridge equality of rights
on account of sex.”
The issue of Measure
92, which would have man
dated labeling o f certain
foods containing GMOs
(genetically modified or
ganisms) was almost too
close to call at the state
level before falling by a
narrow margin, but not in
M orrow County, where
73 percent of voters were
-See ELECTION TRENDS/
PAGE SEVEN
County DA’s office to
continue prosecution
of marijuana cases
DA announces prosecution as usual
until law takes effect next year
Last week, a major
ity of voting Oregonians
passed Measure 91, Or
egon’s legalized m ari
juana initiative. Unlike
the majority of voting Or
egonians, Morrow County
residents voted against the
measure by a margin of 66
percent to 34 percent.
The Morrow County
District Attorney Office
has announced it has no
plans to dismiss any open
m arijuana cases, or to
refuse to prosecute any
future m arijuana cases
based upon the passage
of Measure 91. The provi
sions o f Measure 91 will
not take effect until July 1,
2015. Until the provisions
of Measure 91 take effect,
the Morrow County Dis
trict Attorney Office says
it will continue to review
all marijuana cases that are
submitted to the office for
prosecution.
“ T here will be no
blanket dismissal of open
marijuana cases, and no
refusal to file charges of
new marijuana cases based
upon the passage of Mea
sure 91,” says Morrow
County District Attorney
Justin Nelson. “The Mor
row County District At
torney O ffice enforces
the criminal laws o f the
state, and until July 1,
2015, those laws have not
changed.”
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Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed A Seed
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