Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 14, 2016
County Planning
Commissioners
needed
Morrow County is look-
ing for volunteers on the Mor-
row County Planning Com-
mission. Planning Commis-
sioners serve four-year terms.
One appointment, represent-
ing Irrigon, is to fill a term
ending December 31, 2020.
The other two positions
are for vacated positions, and
therefore are to fulfill those
terms. One position, to repre-
sent Heppner, has a term end-
ing December 31, 2018. The
other position is at-large, and
has a term ending December
31, 2019.
The planning commission
generally meets once a month,
alternating meeting locations
between Heppner and Board-
man. Duties of the planning
commission include approving
land-use actions, maintaining
the county’s subdivision and
zoning ordinance, and work-
ing with the county court to
manage the county’s land use
comprehensive plan.
Parties who are interested
in taking a more active part in
land use planning in the county
are encouraged to submit a let-
ter of interest to the Morrow
County Planning Department,
PO Box 40, Irrigon OR 97844,
by close of business Oct. 7,
2016.
Health district,
emergency services
plan disaster drill
Morrow County Health
District and area emergency
services will be conducting
a disaster drill in Heppner
on Tuesday, Oct. 4, from 6
to 8 p.m. This will include
but will not be limited to
hospital staff, emergency
services, Life Flight and
Heppner Fire Department.
Morrow County Health
District personnel say they
want community members
to understand that the Oct.
4 event is just a drill, but
add that they do take it very
seriously as an important
component for emergency
preparedness.
People in the area of Pi-
oneer Memorial can expect
to see and hear emergency
vehicles, and could witness
a great deal of traffic around
the hospital and clinic. They
ask that the public remains
out of the area during that
time unless there is an ac-
tual emergency.
Anyone who lives in
the in vicinity of the hospi-
tal and has questions about
how the drill might affect
them, please contact Diana
Grant at 541-676-9133 ext.
2932.
~ Letters to the Editor ~
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printed in the newspaper. Letters may not be libelous. The GT reserves the
right to edit. The GT is not responsible for accuracy of statements made in
letters. Any letters expressing thanks will be placed in the classifieds under
“Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10.
Kudos on keeping
roads litter-free
To the editor:
Last Thursday I did a “Windshield Inspection” of the
Heppner Chamber of Commerce ODOT Adopt a Highway
segment. This was in anticipation of our neighbors from
John Day being here for a high school football game. I
observed and disposed of the one small item of litter that I
found on the 1.7 miles of highway that the chamber does.
I am very pleased and proud of our community for
doing a good job of keeping our highways and streets
litter-free for ourselves and for our visitors.
Keep up the good work, Heppner!
John Edmundson, Heppner
NOW
HIRING
DRIVERS
CITY WATER ORDINANCE
-Continued from PAGE ONE Sharon Inskeep, who lives of privately-owned prop- John and Kathy Marick to
the renters and the city, not
the landowner.
“The city enters into an
agreement with the person
who uses the services, not
the property owner,” he
said. “This only adds undue
burden on landowners.”
Sheryll Bates, a Hep-
pner resident who also
owns a rental unit, said the
practice is common in other
cities including Gresham.
“Hermiston, Pendleton
and La Grande do not have
it,” High responded. “I
don’t think Heppner needs
it to fix a small problem
that affects just three to four
people.”
City officials estimate
that the city loses on aver-
age over $1,000 per year
on renter’s unpaid water
bills. City Manager Kim
Cutsforth said the city has
lost $397 so far this year.
City councilmember
Dale Bates said it should
be the landowner’s respon-
sibility.
“It is the landlord’s
responsibility, that is part
of being a landlord, you
take it in the shorts once in
a while,” he said.
High testified he would
like to see the council not
pass the ordinance and send
the issue back to the utility
commission. “You have
other options. Homeowners
are taking a gamble as it is,
and there has to be a better
way,” he told the council.
Also part of the same
ordinance was a provision
to give relief from water
and sewer bills when a
landlord is working on
an apartment and it is not
rentable. “A multi-family
dwelling that is unrentable
for a period in excess of
30 days because it is being
remodeled or repaired may
be granted rate relief,” the
ordinance reads.
High testified against
this portion of the ordinance
saying that it would do no
good and would cost the
city money.
“Rate relief seems like
it will do no good,” he told
the council. “Thirty-day
remodel where you are
expecting to use no water?
This is nearly impossible.
He said he thought the city
was passing an ordinance
“to make people feel good
but costing the city money.”
After discussion the
council passed the new
ordinance by a unanimous
vote.
In other business the
council heard from a lo-
cal citizen who said cer-
tain streets in town are
deteriorating badly, and she
wanted to know when the
city was going to fix them.
on Summit Drive in Hep-
pner, says her street is so
bad half of it is complete
pot holes with drivers “bot-
toming out” on it. She also
said Willow Street down-
town and Water Street are
in very bad shape and need
to be fixed. “We have real
problems with our streets,”
she told the council.
City officials and the
council had little to offer
saying there is no money
to do any fixing, although
Public Works boss Chad
Doherty said he could fill
in the potholes on Sum-
mit Drive and then blade
it out, but that would only
be temporary fix. He also
suggested putting a sign
farther down the hill warn-
ing people that Summit is
not a through street, thus
decreasing traffic that goes
up that way thinking they
can drive through.
The city just finished
paving Chase Street and
adjacent Bruce Kelly and
Skyline Drive. That proj-
ect, however, was fund-
ed through a cooperative
agreement of the Cemetery
District, Morrow County,
Oregon Department of
Transportation, Special
City Allotment Grant, and
an un-named foundation
grant.
Bad sidewalks were
also a topic of discussion
at the meeting, with reports
of a woman tripping on a
raised section of sidewalk
on Main St. The raised
section was caused by tree
roots growing under the
sidewalk section, lifting it
up and leaving a gap. Ap-
parently this was not the
first person to trip in the
same place.
In her report to the
council Cutsforth said a
company named Terra Fir-
ma Foundations, which
specializes in lifting and
leveling sidewalks, was in
Heppner and walked all
of Main St. with city of-
ficials looking at problem
areas. Cutsforth said the
company would be sending
the city an evaluation of the
sidewalk problems and a
solution and bid for repair.
She said it was only in op-
tion stage at this time and
no plans have been made
to fix any sidewalks.
Under city ordinance
each property owner is re-
sponsible for paying to fix
the sidewalk in front of their
home or business.
“We have quite a bit
of problems on city side-
walks,” Cutsforth told the
council, including side-
walks located in front of
city-owned property. On
sidewalks located in front
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- THREE
180 N. Chase Street Hepper
541-676-5737
erty she said one plan would
be for the city to either do
the work and charge the
landowners, which is what
the city ordinance calls for,
or find another way such as
the city providing the man-
power and the landowner
buying the materials.
Doherty said fixing
sidewalks is a tricky busi-
ness, especially when tree
roots are involved. He said
have 20 chickens on their
property at Center Street in
Heppner. The council was
wary of giving a permit for
that many chickens in one
place, and sent the request
back to the Maricks with
instruction to get an okay
from the neighbor before
approval.
The council also voted
in favor of transferring the
liquor license from the cur-
Heppner City Council heard complaints about pot-
holed and deteriorating streets such as this one at
Summit Drive.
you can lift up a section of
sidewalk and remove the
roots, but “what happens
to the trees after that I don’t
know,” implying that the
tree may or may not survive
having a root cut out.
In other business at
the meeting the council
received a request from
rent Heppner Family Foods
to the new owners, who
have renamed the business
Heppner Market Fresh. The
license is for carry-out beer
and wine. According to the
application the new owners
plan on keeping the market
open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
seven days per week.
COUNTY COURT
-Continued from PAGE ONE county road right-of-ways.
finished so that it would
be both nice and appropri-
ate when raised above the
level of the existing bench,”
Blaine added.
In a related matter
judge Terry Tallman asked
that the courtroom be left
open so people from the
public can go in. “Lots of
people come to our court-
house,” Tallman said. “And
they should be able to see
the courtroom.” He said it is
always locked and pointed
out that it is a public build-
ing and should be available
for people to look inside
when court is not in session.
“You are right; it is a
historic place,” Blaine re-
sponded.
In other circuit court
related changes, it was
said that the current jury
room at the courthouse will
now become the circuit
court judges’ chambers,
and the current chamber
will eventually become the
jury room. Blaine said the
purpose of the change was
to “address the discom-
fort jurors experience in
the cramped deliberation
room.”
In other action at the
Sept. 7 meeting the County
Court:
-Approved a request
to allow the public works
director to approve permits
for construction work in
-Heard from new OSU/
Morrow County 4-H Youth
Outreach Program Coor-
dinator, Damion Turner,
who said he
was looking
forward to
building up
the youth
outreach
program,
possibly by
putting in D a m i o n
new after- Turner
school pro-
grams.
-Signed an agreement
with physician assistant
Amanda Fabian, PA-C, to
provide services for the
Morrow County Health
Dept. Public Health Direc-
tor Sheree Smith was on
hand to urge the county
court to agree to the con-
tract. The agreement allows
Fabian to provide services
to the county health depart-
ment.
In other contracts the
county agreed to award a
janitorial contract for all
county buildings to Hep-
pner Janitorial LLC. A five-
member county committee
had evaluated applicants
for the contract and rated
Heppner Janitorial the best
for the job. The company
will be responsible for all
county buildings county-
wide.
Multi-County Veterans
Resource Fair &
Vietnam Veterans 50th
V ETERANS Anniversary Commemoration
Thursday, September 29, 2016 2 pm - 8 pm
Port of Morrow Conference Center 2 Marine Drive, Boardman
Come with your questions about your VA Benefits.
Representatives will be on site to support you with
information and application for services through local,
State and Federal agencies.
Presentations by: Oregon Department of Veterans
Affairs, VA Health Care & more! Veterans Town Hall at
6:30 pm. Spouses, families and loved ones of Veterans
are encouraged to attend!
Flu shots available for veterans.
For transportation cal1-844-676-5667 RSVP 541-922-6420