FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 14, 2016
REA RETIRES
Special desk helps
horned cattle, vaccinated
In 1969 they moved cattle…Jack of all trades,
student rise to
back to the Lexington master of none.”
and broke some farm
She returned to school
classroom challenges area
ground where the Finley in 1986, attending two years
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Liam Heideman at his new stand-up desk. -Contributed photo
by Jessa Bigsby
Contributed by Jessa
Bigsby, Ione fourth-grade
teacher.
When Liam Heideman
entered my fourth-grade
classroom this fall, he was
full of energy. I had con-
ferenced with his parents,
Deacon and Erin Heide-
man, about his diagnosed
ADHD (Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder)
prior to school starting, and
we had discussed strategies
of communication with
them and expectations for
him in the classroom. It
soon became apparent to
me that this kid needed to
be standing up while doing
his work. This prompted me
to dig into some research
and talk to former col-
leagues about a stand-up
desk.
Research shows that
kids, especially those with
ADHD, are fidgety and
have an extremely diffi-
cult time staying focused.
Stand-up desks help reg-
ulate that and facilitate
learning. They can also
help improve test scores
and classroom attention for
students who just need to
move. With the help of my
supervisor, I wrote a grant
request to the ICABO (Ione
Community Agri-Business
Organization) in Ione, and
we now have a desk.
Right now, Liam has
two desks. One he can sit at
and the other the stand-up.
I draw names at the begin-
ning of each day and allow
other students the opportu-
nity to use the stand-up desk
if Liam isn’t using it. It’s
been a hit in my classroom.
“As a parent, I’ve been
very impressed and appre-
ciative of the work Jessa
has facilitated with Liam,”
said Erin Heideman. “He is
having an exceptional year
in school and that is a credit
to her professionalism and
competence as a teacher.”
Guide dog meet-and-
greet next Monday
The meet-and-greet session with Pastor Tony Long-
Drew and his guide dog, Earl, originally planned for this
past Monday, was cancelled due to a weather-created
schedule conflict. The public is now invited to meet Earl
on Monday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m. at Sweet Productions in
Heppner.
WE HAVE CHRISTMAS
WISH LISTS ON FILE!
STOP BY AND CHECK
OUT OUR REGISTRY
OR GET YOURS
FILLED OUT TODAY!
- Donate a winter coat to receive
$1 off your drink at murrays
-Those in need are encouraged
Coat to stop
by to choose a coat from
e
now
thru
Christmas
iv
r
D
ESPRESSO GIFT CARDS MAKE
GREAT STOCKING STUFFERS!
We have them in the following amounts
$3.50 $10, $15, and $25.
General Gift cards avail in any amount.
LAST MINUTE SHOPPERS...
OPEN THIS SUNDAY
DECEMBER 18 12-4 pm
(Pharmacy and floral depts. closed)
Buttes Landfill now sits.
“We broke ground,
levelled it, drilled a well,
started farming,” she says.
“As a farmer’s wife, I was
the bookkeeper; I drove
tractor, swather, baler…
spent many hours out in
the field, farming.” She
said they grew a variety
of crops, including alfalfa,
strawberries, beans, mint
and, of course, grain. They
stayed with that until 1984,
when Gerald went to work
from the Port of Morrow
and they moved to Board-
man. The family bought a
small, 80-acre farm near
Boardman and raised cattle.
“I’ve pretty much lived
everywhere in the county,”
Rea says.
At that time, she says
she was “just a housewife”
with “one chick left at
home,” but “just a house-
wife” may not be the whole
story.
“I’ve done my share of
catching calves and elasti-
cating them and ear-tagging
them,” says Rea. “I’ve de-
at Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College and passing
the state exam to become a
licensed tax preparer.
Rea also served on the
West Extension Irrigation
District from 1989-95, first
as a bookkeeper and later as
bookkeeper and manager.
After her time at the irriga-
tion district, she worked
as a paralegal for a water
rights attorney.
She also kept herself
busy doing volunteer tax
preparation for low- to
moderate-income clients
through an AARP program
for 17 years, as well as serv-
ing on various boards, in-
cluding the Umatilla Mor-
row County Farm Bureau,
Umatilla Basin Watershed
Council, and being involved
in the startup of Lower
Umatilla Basin Groundwa-
ter Management Area. She
also spent 13 years on the
Morrow County Planning
Commission.
It was while living in
Boardman, in 2008, that
Rea was first elected as a
-Continued from PAGE ONE happy about that, it’s just business?” he emphasized. tion workers being in and
the CREZ board, argued
that her city should be con-
sidered for more funding
since Boardman receives
the brunt of the “impact,”
such as increased municipal
services, from the new busi-
nesses locating in the zone.
Over the past three
years the CREZ has given
money to the Boardman
Community Development
Association, Irrigon Hous-
ing Group and Willow
Creek Valley Economic
Development Group for
use in a housing grant pro-
gram to try and alleviate a
shortage of housing in those
communities. The board
has also funded the Morrow
Education Foundation for
education, the Boardman
Rural Fire District, Board-
man Police Department,
Morrow County Sheriff
and the Morrow County
Health District. Money has
also been given to each
area of the county, with the
funds then re-distributed as
community enhancement
grants for small projects in
each city.
A discussion was held
that perhaps the CREZ
should focus its funding
more on just giving to tax-
ing districts that can di-
rectly show impacts, such
as increased fire department
or police protection needs,
arising from the new CREZ
business. Currently there
are a number of Amazon
data centers with new facili-
ties located in the enterprise
zone, and a large expansion
of the ConAgra vegetable
processing plant, as just
two of the examples of new
businesses.
“Boardman has been
the most impacted from
this,” Pettigrew told the
board. “We are not un-
we are showing the biggest
impact.”
Board member and Port
of Morrow manager Gary
Neal said it is important that
if certain taxing districts
such as the city of Board-
man are being impacted,
those services need to be
definable, and the board
needs to look at it (for pos-
sible funding).
Morrow County Asses-
sor Mike Gorman said that
he felt all areas of the coun-
ty are impacted if a business
goes into the enterprise
zone, because then those
exempt tax monies do not
go into the county general
fund for even distribution to
all county taxing districts,
but instead end up only in
the CREZ fund. The CREZ
has wide discretion on how
to distribute its funds and,
in fact, although much is
written in the Oregon laws
about how the CREZ will
collect money, not much
can be found guiding en-
terprise zones on how to
spend the money. The local
enterprise zone stated when
it was formed that one of
its objectives would be to
reimburse taxing districts
impacted by the creation of
new businesses in the zone.
Neal has said many
times that not only does
the Port of Morrow need
the tax-exempt zone so it
can compete state-wide for
businesses, but also many
of the businesses would not
even be in the county pay-
ing any portion of taxes, if
it were not for the CREZ.
“Additional services,
not lost revenue, should be
considered,” Neal told the
board. “You can’t look at
lost revenue as an impact.
What additional costs are
you having because of this
The North end and South end Transfer
Stations will be closed f or the
Holidays! Dec 24th & 25th and
So the attendants
can spend time
with their families
217 North Main St., Heppner • Phone 676-9158 • Floral 676-9426
around the city. SIP funds
are paid directly through
the county budget process,
but county officials have
wide latitude how to spend
the funds. CREZ board
member Don Russell said
the county has spent a lot
of money on Tower road
where the Carty plant is
located. “Tower Road is
the most expensive road in
the county to maintain. We
have spent a lot of money
to make sure those 600 to
800 workers can get to and
from work safely,” he said.
Neal pointed out how
Morrow County is one of
the top counties in the state
for economic development.
“What is on the tax
rolls and will continue on
the rolls is very good. This
is working,” he said. “If we
didn’t have this enterprise
zone, we would not have
all this development. This
has been a good thing,” he
reminded the board.
Gorman pointed out
that Morrow County has
one half the valuation of
neighboring Umatilla coun-
ty, with one eighth the pop-
ulation. Morrow County
was also recently named the
third highest county in the
state for average income.
After a lengthy discus-
sion, the board agreed that
the housing fund estab-
lished by the three differ-
ent areas of the county has
been successful, and agreed
to fund each group with
$100,000 immediately, but
warned that future funding
may not be available. The
board also agreed to re-
evaluate its expenditures
for the remaining $1.3 mil-
lion it has to disburse this
coming fiscal year, with an
eye towards looking espe-
cially at those areas of the
county most “impacted.”
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Saturday, December 24th closing 5 pm - Christmas Eve
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Monday December 26th we will open at 9 am.
Serving Morrow, Wheeler & Gilliam counties Since 1959
Irrigon City Manag-
er Aaron Palmquist said
sometimes the impact is
not as evident as others. He
pointed out that because of
the large number of work-
ers who live in Hermiston
and surrounding area and
work in Boardman, he is
seeing up to 100,000 addi-
tional trips through Irrigon
for workers getting to the
CREZ businesses. He said
that has an impact on his
city.
Morrow County Health
District Administrator Bob
Houser, who turned in a
request for $206,250 from
the CREZ to help pay for a
proposed clinic expansion
in Irrigon, said the expan-
sion was needed because
of the increased population
in North Morrow County.
“The addition to the
clinic is needed due to the
large growth of patient
volumes since 2014,” he
said in his request. Houser
said the clinic has seen a
40 percent increase of pa-
tients since 2014 and the
expansion would add 1,500
square feet of space for
more exam rooms, lab area
and waiting rooms. He said
Boardman has a “beautiful”
clinic and the district was
not trying to compete with
them, but just add services
not available there.
Neal also pointed out
that other construction proj-
ects in the county, such as
the new Carty Gas Plant,
have impacted the Board-
man area disproportion-
ately. The gas plant will
be receiving a property tax
reduction under a different
incentive plan, called SIP
agreements, and Boardman
has not received money
from that program to help
with offsetting the impact
of up to 800 construc-
Dec 31st and Jan 1st
CHRISTMAS HOURS:
Floral dept. closed)
ture, she also seemed slight-
ly at a loss about that.
“I don’t know. I think
I’m gonna try retirement,”
she says. “I wouldn’t mind
working, but I’d want it on
my time schedule, and it’s
difficult to find a job like
that.
“I wouldn’t mind get-
ting on Heppner city plan-
ning,” she adds. “I was
on county planning for 13
years. If I could be of as-
sistance, I’d be willing to
do that.”
When asked about
plans for fun, Rea says
she may make time for
four-wheeling and travel-
ing throughout the west,
but “This is fun,” she says.
“Morrow County’s been
good to me, and I’m happy
that I had the chance to give
back to the county.”
A farewell reception is
planned for Rea and Tall-
man this Friday, Dec. 16,
from 2-4 p.m. in the Upper
Conference Room at the
Bartholomew Building in
Heppner. Refreshments
will be provided, and the
public is invited to attend
and visit with the outgoing
commissioners.
CREZ TALKS FUNDING
Order Holiday floral arrangements soon!
Our centerpieces make fantastic Hostess Gifts.
(Pharmacy will be 1/2 day 2-6 pm- clinics are closed.
Morrow County Commis-
sioner. A few short years
after that, Gerald’s health
started declining.
“I couldn’t run the ir-
rigation and be there to
take care of everything and
work,” she says. The couple
returned to Heppner in
2011, where Rea still lives.
Now that she’s handing
the political reins to newly-
elected commissioner Jim
Doherty, she says she’s
not sure what her next step
will be.
“I have mixed feel-
ings. I totally enjoy doing
this job, totally,” says Rea,
“but I am kind of looking
forward to slowing down a
little bit.”
Rea expressed some
concern over the future
of the county court—not
because of the incoming
commissioners, whom she
describes as “good, solid
people,” but because of the
relative lack of experience
on the new commission.
“I’ve told them I’m not
going anywhere, and if they
need advice, I can offer it
and they can take it or they
can leave it,” she says.
As far as her own fu-
North end Transfer, 69900 Frontage Lane, Board-
man, Oregon 97818 South end Transfer, 57185
Hwy 74, Lexington, Oregon 97839
Questions or concerns please contact Sandi Putman
at 541-989-9500 or sputman@co.morrow.or.us
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