TEN - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, April 13, 2016
LIVING LEGACY
-Continued from PAGE ONE
This impressive stand of evergreens stands as a legacy to
Smith’s care over the decades. –Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
“My son brought it
home in sixth grade,” he re-
calls. “He was up at Tupper,
and they gave them to them
there.” His son, who would
have been 49, passed away
three years ago.
“He (Smith’s son)
brought it home in that little
Styrofoam cup and planted
that seedling,” recalls Bob
Jepsen, who was Heppner
mayor during the early
years of Smith’s planting
endeavors. “I’m tickled
to death that we can take
people up there and show
them a tree that was planted
as a seedling.”
Smith says the oldest
tree in the row is the Doug-
las fir, which he brought
down from the mountains
and planted some 20 years
ago. More prosaically, he
purchased the blue spruce
locally.
He says he started the
project because the patch
of ground owned by the city
didn’t look good.
“It was a mess over
there,” says Smith. “It was a
weed patch and full of junk.
I cleaned it up and hauled
two or three loads of bark
from the mill and spread it
over there.”
Jepsen recalls the time
when Smith came to the city
council with a request to use
city water and permission to
plant more trees. Both were
granted.
“And he could take care
of it to suit himself,” Jepsen
says. “It’s a city park. He’s
got some beautiful trees in
there.”
Smith continued to
maintain the property and
the trees over the years. He
also used to clean up along
Shobe Creek and keep the
area mowed.
Rayburn says her par-
ents’ dedication to the land
always impressed her.
“I thought it was re-
ally cool; my parents went
above and beyond,” she
says. “They just really cared
about the community and
wanted to do what they
could to beautify it.”
Jepsen says he wants
to see the work Smith has
done continue. Speciically,
he would like to see a red-
wood added to the impres-
sive group of trees. He also
says he’s been trying to get
people involved to keep the
area cleaned and get the
trees trimmed; volunteers
from Willow Creek Baptist
Church went and cleaned
up undergrowth last fall.
“We’re trying to pre-
serve the park and make
it look good and keep it
watered,” says Jepsen.
Now, with his own
health failing, Smith admits
he appreciates the help, as
he’s slowed down a bit and
tends to stick to his own
yard—which still boasts an
impressive array of roses.
“I love roses,” he says.
RAPE
INVESTIGATION
-Continued from PAGE ONE Regional Youth Facility and
information to secure a
search warrant for the Irrigon
residence. While MCSO did
not disclose the nature of the
evidence that was seized in
the search, Snyder was able
to develop enough probable
cause to arrest the juvenile.
The 15-year-old was
transported to the Northeast
lodged there on one count of
irst-degree rape, two counts
of unlawful sexual penetra-
tion, and three counts of irst-
degree sexual abuse. Matlack
reported that the juvenile was
to be arraigned by video Tues-
day afternoon at the detention
facility.
Eastern Oregon MS Walk planned for
April 23 in Heppner
Everyone is invited to
join in for the 18 th annual
Eastern Oregon Walk MS
on Saturday, April 23, at All
Saint’s Episcopal Church,
460 N. Gale Street, Hep-
pner. Registration begins
at 9 a.m., with the walk at
10 a.m. Brunch and a prize
drawing will follow.
There is still time
to pre-register at www.
walkMSoregon.com or
1.503.445.8358. Sign-up
is also welcome the day of
the walk.
Funds raised will go
toward MS research, with
the intention of realizing the
Oregon Chapter’s research
promise to stop MS in its
tracks, restore lost function, Sixty-four people turned out for last year’s Eastern Oregon Walk MS. -File photo
and end MS forever.
For more information, contact Barb Orwick at 541-256-0455 or Taylor Disque at 541-256-0295.
NEIGHBORHOOD NUISANCE
-From PAGE ONE had enough and we want it
By David Sykes
Heppner city oficials
and the city council got
an earful Monday night
from frustrated homeown-
ers along Water Street who
are fed up with one land-
owner who continues to
accumulate junk cars, trash,
debris, and carries on ac-
tivities causing noise and
disturbances in the middle
of the night. But after listen-
ing to all of the complaints,
city oficials couldn’t offer
any solutions, or even say
when the problems might
be solved.
Eight neighbors of 495
Water Street, and some
acreage below that address,
came to the council to say
there is an ongoing prob-
lem of junk cars (11 by one
neighbor’s count), piled up
trash, burning trash and late
night activity that is keep-
ing them awake at night, de-
grading their neighborhood
and driving property values
down. The property they
were complaining about,
and have made multiple
complaints and calls to the
sheriff and city hall, is 495
Water St., owned by Taree-
na Healy. Also a problem is
about ive acres and a small
pasture located on the back
side of the home.
“We have people com-
ing and going there at all
times of the night,” said
one neighbor. “They come
in there and work on cars at
any hour of the night, keep-
ing us up, then when the sun
comes up and I have to go to
work, they are all asleep.”
“We are fed up with it,”
said one man. “We have just
stopped.”
One neighbor reported
hearing explosions twice in
the middle of the night on
the property. What caused
the explosions wasn’t clear.
The neighbors also com-
plained about large piles of
trash on the property, which
are sometimes burned,
sending clouds of pungent
smoke drifting throughout
the neighborhood.
The complaining
neighbors did not receive
good news from the city,
however, with oficials say-
ing even with stiff new nui-
sance laws recently passed,
there is little they can do
about the problems and vio-
lations. City manager Kim
Cutsforth told the neighbors
to keep calling the police;
however, even the police
apparently have their hands
tied. Deputies say when
responding to complaints
there, or when wanting
to check for abandoned
vehicles, if the property
owners don’t allow them
on the property to check
vehicle license plates and
other investigations, there is
nothing they can do. Mor-
row County Undersheriff
John Bowles, who is also
a member of the city coun-
cil, said he understands the
neighbors’ frustrations, but
he can’t just go on the prop-
erty without being invited,
and when the people in the
home see him coming they
will refuse to answer the
door, or in some cases run
out the back door to avoid
the police.
The police have tried to
use binoculars to see if the
vehicles are unregistered
and therefore subject to
citations for junk cars, but
have had little luck. They
also cite the lack of police
on duty to respond to com-
plaints of noise during the
night. One neighbor also
said she was reluctant to
turn in the violations say-
ing, “As a neighbor we are
scared of them.”
Cutsforth said the city
can cite the property own-
ers with tickets and ines,
but in the past the Jus-
tice Court Judge has not
been very tough on the
violators. Cutsforth said re-
cently, however, the Judge
has begun to take a harder
stance, and she was hopeful
some action could be taken.
Cutsforth said the city does
have the authority to go in
and clean up the property,
and then put a lien on the
property to pay for the
cleanup, but the city hasn’t
done that because it has no
funds budgeted for property
clean up.
Both Cutsforth and
Bowles urged neighbors to
keep making complaints to
the city and sheriff, so they
could build a case against
the landowner. Cutsforth
said it is a $250 ticket for
maintaining a nuisance
property, and when cita-
tions add up people can go
to jail. “Although no one
wants people to go to jail
for garbage,” she added. “I
am sorry,” she said about
the city’s inability to do
anything about the prob-
lems, and urged people to
take videos of infractions
and send them to city hall.
“It’s difficult, but we
aren’t giving up,” Bowles
said.
In other business at
the meeting the council
heard a report from city
attorney Bill Kuhn, who
said Community Coun-
seling Solutions (CCS) is
considering building a new
ofice building near Sperry
Street, but needs a large
swale, or 5-6,000 square
foot hole in the ground,
in order to proceed. The
hole is necessary for CCS
to build its approximately
9,000 square foot facility in
the lood plain. The city has
a swale in the area, which
could be designated for use
by CCS. Kuhn said it would
be a good thing for Heppner
to keep the CCS ofices in
town, and that there would
be no detrimental effect or
liability if the city lets them
use the swale in their lood
plain planning. Flood plain
construction apparently re-
quires an area for overlow
water in the event of lood,
and the swale provides that
area.
CCS is moving its of-
fices out of the Gilliam
Bisbee building in down-
town Heppner, and looking
for a place to build a new
ofice. Kuhn said they are
also looking at an area by
the old Kinzua Mill of-
ices, in addition to the site
on Sperry St. The council
voted unanimously to allow
CCS to use the city swale.
Boardman appoints planning
commissioner
At their April 5 council
meeting, Boardman City
Councilors appointed Ja-
cob Cain to ill a vacancy
on the Boardman Planning
Commission. He will inish
a three-year term ending
Dec. 31, 2016. In his letter
of interest, Cain said he has
been a resident of Board-
man for about three years.
He said he endeavors to be
a productive member of
the community and feels
the planning commission
would be a good place to
start.
The planning com-
mission is comprised of
seven members appointed
by the city council and is a
permanent advisory body
to the council on matters
related to planning and
development. The commis-
sion holds monthly public
meetings to consider land
use and zoning matters pre-
sented by staff, such as plan
amendments, zone changes,
conditional use permits,
variances and tentative sub-
division projects. Meetings
are the third Wednesday
of each month at 7 p.m. at
Boardman City Hall and are
open to the public.
In other city business,
the council heard a presen-
tation from Lisa Mittelsdorf
about her fundraising ef-
forts for building an indoor
multi-purpose recreation
building for public use.
She proposes the city own
the building and place it on
city property. The council
has asked her to bring more
details to the next city coun-
cil meeting. The council
also passed an ordinance
updating the city’s munici-
pal code regarding property
abatement.
The next Boardman
City Council meeting will
be Tuesday, May 3, at 7
p.m. in the Boardman City
Hall Council Chambers.
Students discover
Eastern Promise at
BMCC
Student’s in Erin Heideman’s Comm III class, a college level
public speaking course, spent time at BMCC this past week
working one-on-one with the BMCC Comm III instructor,
Cheri Kendrick, and had the opportunity to visit with the
college ambassadors. Pictured L-R: Ivy Sandford, Jared Sny-
der, Jason Juarez, Yaniva Garcia, Tristan Estabrook, Tatum
Clark, JJ Hill (BMCC Ambassador Coordinator) and Hannah
Padberg. Students have the opportunity to earn three college
credits while in high school as part of Eastern Promise. Ione
High School offers multiple college course by multiple high
school/college instructors for students. -Photo by Erin Heideman