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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 2015)
HEPPNER 50¢ Talking rocks dedicated; individuals honored for their role in the project M o n d a y, M a r c h 9 marked the official dedica- tion of the Talking Rocks project in Heppner. Several year ago the City of Heppner’s Beauti- fication Committee, headed by JoAnne Burleson, be- gan this project. The rocks themselves were donated by Frank Osmin and Mark and Pam Wunderlich, while funding for the plaques came from families and groups of local citizens. Doris Brosnan and others wrote the drafts for the text Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon that appears on the plaques. Sixteen of the com- memorative rocks were placed along the walkways around town. Each plaque “speaks” to wanderers as it tells a brief story about Heppner’s history. The rocks are also tech- nologically savvy; they have their own Facebook page created by Kay Proc- tor. Those who would like to follow them can search for the Talking Rocks of Heppner on Facebook. Proctor also designed a brochure that includes a map and descriptions of rocks. Brochures are avail- able at Heppner City Hall and the Chamber of Com- G T azette imes VOL. 134 NO. 10 10 Pages Wednesday, March 11, 2015 KUMA Coffee Hour and Ceili have another great program planned A previous year’s Coffee Hour all-star lineup featuring (L-R) Father Gerry Condon, Dominic Monahan, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden and Tom Melton. The coffee hour will return this Saturday at 10 a.m., with the annual Ceili beginning at 2 p.m. –Photo by Sandy Matthews A great lineup has been scheduled again for the KUMA Coffee Hour and Ceili for this year’s St. Patrick’s event. Both pro- grams will be held upstairs at the Elks Lodge as in the past. The KUMA Coffee Hour, scheduled from 10- 11:30 a.m., will be led by Tom Melton, with jokes and stories shared by Rep. Greg Walden and our own Father Condon (Dom Monahan can’t make it this year, so there are sure to be a lot of “lawyer” jokes in his absence). The Irish Singers will be there to entertain with the usual Irish songs, and those who gather for the coffee hour will get to hear from this year’s Great Green Parade Grand Marshal, the Monagle family. Of course, Joe Lindsay will be singing and will bring a couple of other “Irishmen” to join him. The Irish Broque Con- Scott Rose of the DLR group out of Portland made an initial presentation on long range planning before the Morrow County School District Board Monday night at Irrigon Elementary School. Primary emphasis was on upgrading the in- frastructure of the school buildings and DLR pro- vided data on preliminary estimates for renovations for each district facility. Rose, however stressed that the procedure is a very lengthy one, requires exten- sive community input and ultimately depends on what each community decides it wants for their schools, even before the concept of a bond issue arises. The first long range meeting was to be held on Tuesday. Selected members of each community, admin- istrators and teachers have been asked to participate in the initial process. The preliminary complete renovation list includes: A.C. Houghton Elementary, Irrigon-repairs to the exterior, interior, specialty upgrades, plumb- ing, electrical, equip- ment, building site equip- ment and mechanical for $3,815,000; Sam Board- man Elementary-repairs to exterior, interior, specialty projects, plumbing, electri- cal, equipment, site, me- chanical for $2,411,000; test (Blarney) will give the audience a chance to tell the best “blarney” stories for a chance to win some gold coins. The Ceili will run from 2-4 p.m. with the Irish Sing- ers, Joe Lindsay and the Irishmen, and our main entertainment for this year, the Gothard Sisters, stop- ping by to sing a few of their songs. The last button winner will also be drawn during this event. School board hears long range planning presentation G-T Trophy Corner Phegley Padberg of Ione with the 45” sturgeon she caught while fishing with Jim Benson and Grandma Bev Crum. Phegley is the daughter of Darrin and Camie Padberg. –Contributed photo Heppner Elementary-inte- rior, plumbing, electrical, mechanical-$5,821,000; Heppner Junior/Senior High-exterior, interior, spe- cialties, plumbing, electri- cal, equipment, building site equipment, mechani- cal,-$16,458,000; Irrigon Elementary-structure, ex- terior, interior, electrical, building site equipment, mechanical-$1,141,000; Irrigon Junior/Senior High School-exterior, interior plumbing, electrical, build- ing site equipment, me- chanical-$6,746,000; Riv- erside Junior/Senior High School, Boardman-exterior, interior, specialties, plumb- ing , electrical, equipment, building site equipment, mechanical-$6,250; Windy River Elementary, Board- man-structure, exterior, interior, specialties, plumb- ing, electrical, building site equipment, mechani- cal-$2,315,000; Morrow Education Center-structure, exterior, interior, plumb- ing, electrical, mechani- cal-$498,00. Also at the meeting, Blue Mountain Commu- nity College President Cam Preus made a presentation on preparing students with special programs specifi- cally designed for employ- ment in local agriculture and other area businesses in Morrow and Umatilla coun- ties. BMCC is preparing to put another bond issue before the voters. In other business the board: -learned that the li- cense for the district’s audi- -See SCHOOL BOARD PAGE NINE David DeMayo, JoAnne Burleson and Kay Proctor (holding granddaughter Callahan Baker) in front the Jackson Morrow Talking Rock by Heppner City Hall during the project’s of- ficial dedication Monday. The Jackson Morrow rock briefly supported an additional piece of memorabilia—a plaque mounted on a shard of rock that fell off the larger boulder during installation. The rock fragment and plaque honor the contributions of Beautification Committee Chair JoAnne Burleson to the project; it will be moved to her yard later to commemorate her role in the creation of the Talking Rocks. –Photo by Andrea Di Salvo merce office. Dave DeMayo with the Morrow County Historical Society will be hosting a Talking Rock bus tour dur- ing the St. Patrick’s celebra- tion this weekend. The bus will meet interested people in front of the library at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, March 14. “We hope that everyone enjoys this project that was truly a community-wide effort,” says Heppner City Manager Kim Cutsforth. St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock found After four weeks of clues and hunting, the Heppner St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock was found. Mike Lynch of Heppner found the hidden shamrock last Wednesday morning at its hiding place at Gro- shens Spring across from the Morrow County Fair- grounds. For his efforts, Lynch won a 2014 Silver Eagle valued at approximately $50, donated by the Bank of Eastern Oregon. Trisha Rollins of Bank of Eastern Oregon presents Mike Lynch of Heppner with the 2014 Silver Eagle he won for finding the hidden sham- rock last week. –Photo by Megan Futter City approves medical marijuana ordinance By David Sykes The Heppner City Council Monday approved a zon- ing ordinance spelling out where medical marijuana facilities may be located in the city of Heppner. As it turns out there is only one small area in the city limits which complies. Under the new ordinance, which early passed by the city planning commission, marijuana dispensary fa- cilities cannot be located with 1,000 feet from any school, day care, sports facility, pool, library, park or playground. The distance restrictions along with the requirement that facilities be located in a commercial or industrial zone, left a very small area in Hep- pner near Columbia Basin Electric where a dispensary could be located. State law allows the estab- lishment of medical mari- juana facilities in Oregon, so the city was not allowed to outright ban the dispen- saries within the city limits, but was allowed to put zon- ing restrictions where they could be located. Other cities in Morrow County, as well as the county plan- ning commission, have all be wrestling with issues of how to allow medical marijuana facilities, but also how to regulate them. The ordinance also ap- plies to a licensed medical marijuana grow facility or laboratory, however, these facilities cannot be located on the same lot as a dis- pensary. Grow facilities are also allowed under Oregon law. In other business the coun- cil agreed that people who stay longer than 30 days at the RV park will now be charged the full rate for water and sewer hookup. At the February utility com- mission meeting members held a long debate about the city policy of charging for multiple users on one water meter. A local apartment owner had questioned the practice, saying one meter should mean one sewer and water charge not multiple depending on how many people use the hook up. ON SALE! Winter Clothing Coveralls, Jackets, Selected Winter Boots Electric Heaters The city did not change the policy but agreed to begin charging “permanent” resi- dents, those over 30 days staying at the RV park, full water and sewer fees. The council also heard from Fire Chief Rusty Estes who said in the month of Febru- ary his department handled five wild land fires, one chimney fire, secured the land zone twice, had no motor vehicle accidents, no structure fires, three lift assists, two mutual calls to Ione, and 21 chief calls. This map shows the 1,000-ft buffer zones around various activities in Heppner where neither medical marijuana dispensaries or grow facilities may be located. 25% OFF Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed 242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)
