Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 11, 2015
CITY COUNCIL
-Continued from PAGE ONE council.
equipment; and curfew.
If the property is a
rental unit the owner of the
rental must pay to have the
renters relocated to another
home. The city can also put
a lien on the property for
any costs imposed in the en-
forcement of the ordinance.
The ordinance can even be
used if the nuisance occurs
“on or within 400 feet of a
property.” The ordinance
also says the person caus-
ing the nuisance does not
have to actually live at the
home but only has “entered,
patronized, visited, or at-
tempted to enter, patronize
or visit, or waited to enter,
patronize or visit” the prop-
erty. The ordinance applies
not only to residential prop-
erty but to any “business
or residence, parking area,
loading area, landscaping,
building or structure” in the
city of Heppner.
When discussing the
ordinance deputy sheriff
John Bowles, who sits on
the council, said if adopted
the ordinance “will let ab-
sent home owners pay at-
tention to whom they are
renting to.”
Mayor Skip Matthews
said he felt that “for the
little town of Heppner this
may be a little heavy hand-
ed.”
However, the council
voted unanimously to move
forward with the process of
adopting the ordinance.
Marijuana sales
banned in Heppner
In other action the
council voted to ban the
distribution or manufacture
of all marijuana, medical or
recreational, within the city
limits of Heppner.
The city is allowed to
enact the ban since it voted
over 55 percent against the
legalization of marijuana in
the recent state-wide elec-
tion. Also under the law,
however, it will not share in
the taxes generated through
the sales of the drug.
Only one member of
the public was on hand to
speak at the public hearing
on the proposed ban. Cody
High of Heppner spoke
against the ban.
“I don’t think we need a
ban. There is no difference
between alcohol and mari-
juana. I don’t see how you
can make this a dry town.
Let people who want to sell
in town do so,” he urged the
He said if nobody sup-
ported a business selling
marijuana then the busi-
ness would close and move
away. “Oregon voted to
allow this and Heppner is
part of the state of Oregon,”
he said.
He pointed out that
the Oregon Liquor Control
Commission controls the
sales of marijuana, it is not
allowed to be sold to people
under 21 and it is against
the law to drive under the
inluence.
Council member Adam
Doherty also urged against
the ban.
“In the first week of
legalized sales the state of
Oregon collected over $11
million,” he said. “Oregon’s
number one cash crop is not
blackberries, not wheat, not
roses,” he told the council.
“It is marijuana.”
He said he lives down
by the mini mart in Heppner
and hears visitors coming
through saying there is no
place in Eastern Oregon
to buy marijuana. He said
he did not know an exact
amount, but the city of
Heppner was going to lose
quite a bit of money for not
allowing the sales.
At this point the state
law stipulates that a com-
munity that does not have
a marijuana distribution
store cannot share in the
tax revenue collected by the
state, but that is expected to
change when the legislature
next meets and changes the
law. Doherty also felt there
was no difference between
alcohol and marijuana.
City Attorney Bill
Kuhn said that the city
could rescind the ban later
but, if it did not pass the ban
now, it could not do so at a
later date.
Councilmember Dale
Bates spoke in favor of
the ban saying the city did
not need another outlet for
substances for people to
get high.
The council voted four
to one in favor of the ban.
Attorney says water
rate structure valid and
legal
In other business the
council heard from Hep-
pner landlord and former
mayor Joe Perry, who felt
he was being over-charged
on his water bills. (See Oct.
21 Gazette-Times.) Perry
had been to the council pre-
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viously saying that, when
the city charges him a $53
base charge per month for
every one of his 11 units in
the Baltimore Apartments,
even though there is only
one water meter, it is illegal
and not fair.
Perry says because of
this discriminatory pricing
the city has overcharged
him for water.
“All I want is fairness,”
Perry says. He points out
that the RV parks and the
Assisted Living Center are
not billed this way and says
he has been overcharged
$4,748.85 so far this year.
He also says neither Board-
man nor Irrigon bills their
apartments this way.
The council received
an opinion from Kuhn, who
said in part “The current
rate structure for the City is
non-discriminatory and ful-
ly legitimate. The City has
the legal ability to set the
current rate structure. The
City is charging its basic
water fees to those that are
city residents. Apartment
dwellers are legitimately
considered city residents.
The code gives the City the
ability to allow an apart-
ment building to have one
connection with separate
services to each tenant.
Spreading the water us-
age equally to the various
tenants is an appropriate
method of allocating the
water usage. Mr. Perry
could make arrangements
to install separate meters
for each tenant, but that
would be an expensive
proposition.
“In his October 12,
2015 council presentation
and in the October 21, 2015
Heppner Gazette Times
newspaper, Mr. Perry does
not recite any law which he
sees Heppner violating. It is
the City Attorney’s opinion
that the current City water
rate structure is legally
valid.”
The city utility com-
mission, at its Oct. 15 meet-
ing, also spent time dis-
cussing Perry’s request to
restructure his apartment
building’s water rates, and
moved at that time to take
no action on his request.
Garbage hauler
making changes
In other business the
council heard from Ryan
Miller of Miller and Sons
Disposal, who said there
would be changes to the
type of dumpsters they will
be providing. He said the
company is replacing the
large brown metal dump-
sters with smaller plastic
ones of either 300 gallons
or 450 gallons.
Miller said rates would
not change, and added that
the reason for the switch is
that his company has pur-
chased new garbage trucks
which will not handle the
old brown metal dumpsters.
He said there would
be no change in the resi-
dential garbage cans, but
the company is going to be
more stringent on curbside
pickup as the new trucks
have a device that extends
out from the truck and grabs
the garbage cans for dump-
ing. He said around the
irst of the year they will
be implementing curb-side
service where the trucks can
reach the containers.
Boardman—The Wil-
low Creek Symphony, un-
der the direction of con-
ductor R. Lee Friese and
associate conductor Ralph
Werner, will perform at
Riverside High School in
Boardman at 4 p.m. this
Sunday, Nov. 15.
The program will in-
clude “Larghetto from
Symphony No, 2, Op. 36”
by L. Van Beethoven, “The
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in situations of chronic
depredation or wolf-related
declines of prey popula-
tions (deer and elk) is al-
lowed with Commission
approval.
The vote was not unani-
mous. Commissioner Greg
Wolley voted not to delist
while Commissioner Laura
Anderson supported del-
isting only in the eastern
part of the state and voted
against the motion.
Other Commissioners
also expressed support for
delisting in eastern Oregon
only. However, they noted
that Oregon ESA law does
not allow for delisting in
only a portion of the state.
sending a note to the Or-
egon State Legislature ask-
ing that the law be changed
so that listing and delisting
would be allowed in only a
portion of the state for other
species in the future. Com-
missioners also asked that
penalties for unlawfully
taking a wolf be increased.
Currently, the maximum
penalty is a $6,250 ine and
a year in jail and that pen-
alty does not change with
the delisting of wolves.
The Commission is the
policy-making body for
ish and wildlife issues in
Oregon. Its next meeting is
Dec. 4 in Portland.
Two weeks left to
apply for multimodal
funding
SALEM—Applica-
tions are due by 4 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 20, for the
ConnectOregon VI multi-
modal transportation fund-
ing program, offering up to
$45 million in lottery-bond
backed funds for projects
in air, bicycle/pedestrian,
marine/port, public transit
or railroad transportation.
ODOT’s website has com-
plete details. As a reminder,
applicants—both public
and private—must com-
plete their tax certiication
to be eligible.
ConnectOregon VI as-
sists with project funding
for private sector appli-
cants, municipalities, cit-
ies, counties, governing
organizations, and other
transportation-related enti-
ties. Criteria for qualiied
projects include readiness
for construction, economic
beneit and value in linking
transportation modes. Con-
nectOregon VI projects are
eligible for up to 70 percent
of project costs for grants.
A minimum 30 percent
cash match is required from
the recipient for all grant-
funded projects.
See the complete re-
quirements and applica-
tion materials online; for
specific questions and to
submit completed applica-
tions, email ConnectOre-
gonApps@odot.state.or.us.
Right: The Willow Creek
Symphony, directed by R.
Lee Friese and Ralph Wer-
ner, at a performance in Ir-
rigon. The group will play in
Boardman this Sunday. -Con-
tributed photo
WE HAVE NEW MIXED MOCHA DRINKS!
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COME AND TRY OUR NEW YO SHAKES
-Continued from PAGE ONE Commissioners will be
Halls of Ivy” arranged by
Ralph Matesky, “French
Masters Suite” arranged
by Philip Gordon, and “Hot
Staccato” by Roger Britten.
The performance is free
and a reception will follow.
Prime rib
Every Saturday night
COME IN AND TRY OUR SPICED PUMPKIN LATTE
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Willow Creek Symphony to perform in
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Come in and check out our new soups!
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THE GAZETTE-TIMES...
CO-OP MEETING
-Continued from PAGE ONE student representatives for
was in the room when the
irst light bulb was turned
on when the co-op went live
at the Ralph Potter farm on
October 14, 1949.
Columbia Basin Elec-
tric has grown from its orig-
inal membership of roughly
400 to over 3,500 members,
and has 18 local employees.
The co-op serves residen-
tial, commercial, industrial
and irrigation customers
throughout a service area of
approximately 3,000 square
miles in ive counties.
Also part of the pro-
gram last week were Dima
Anglin and Rylee Kollman,
the Columbia Basin Elec-
tric Cooperative who made
a trip to Washington, D.C.
this summer.
Anglin, a junior at Fos-
sil High School, and Koll-
man, a junior at Heppner
High School, were selected
to represent the coopera-
tive at this year’s youth
tour hosted by the National
Rural Electric Cooperative
Association.
The annual meeting
was held in conjunction
with the Heppner Cham-
ber of Commerce monthly
meeting.
Marriage Licenses
The Morrow County Clerk’s ofice has released the
following report of marriage licenses:
November 5: -Brent Daniel Hall, 29, Yakima, WA,
and Kayly Elizabeth Abercrombie, 24, Irrigon.
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