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Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 5, 2017 Jamie Nasario, Luke Basile perform July 10 at Boardman Marina Park Jamie Nasario and Luke Basile will perform for the Music in the Parks outdoor summer concert series at 7 p.m. on July 10 at the Boardman Marina Park, located off N. Main Street on Marine Drive. Hailing from the small town of Echo, OR, Jamie Nasario has caught the at- tention of many listeners far and wide. Her soul-driven voice and bluesy repertoire captures the classic vibe from the 50s and 60s while still maintaining a modern flavor. Although fairly new to singing, her raw talent and sultry voice sound far from unrefined. Nasario is backed by Luke Basile on guitar. Basile complements their unique sound and style; to- gether, this acoustic duo has a captivating presence and showcases talent beyond their years. Jamie Nasario and Luke Basile will perform for the Music in the Parks outdoor summer concert series at 7 p.m. on July 10. -Contributed photo The Music in the Parks concert series is held each summer alternating be- tween Boardman and Ir- rigon Marina Parks. The concerts are free to the public and begin at 7 p.m. on Mondays through Aug. 14. Visitors are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets. Concessions will be avail- able for purchase at the event, courtesy of Judy’s Chuck Wagon. The Music in the Parks series is funded by the Morrow County Uni- fied Recreation District and Portland General Electric and sponsored by the North Morrow Community Foun- dation. Additional dates and performers during the sea- son include singing duo Melissa Cunnington in Ir- rigon on July 17; Dallin Puzey in Boardman on July 24; the Buttercreek Boys on July 31 in Irrigon; guitar duo Blue Mountain Span- ish Sound in Boardman on Aug. 7 and the band Cruise Control in Irrigon on Aug. 14. In the event of inclem- ent weather, Boardman performances will be held at the SAGE Center and Ir- rigon performances will be held at the Irrigon Senior Center. For more information about the Music in the Parks concert series, contact Tami at 541-571-0844. - THREE Ione summer reading program showcases Oregon storyteller Children and adults of all ages are invited to join the fun as Oregon storyteller Christopher Leebrick weaves tales on Tuesday, July 18, from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Ameri- can Legion Hall in Ione. Leebrick has dazzled audiences with his storytelling ability since he was just 13 years old. His extensive repertoire includes world folk tales, legends, whoppers and original stories. This free event is sponsored by the Oregon College Savings Plan and the Ione Public Library. Ione Music in the Park update An updated schedule has been released for the 2017 Ione Music in the Park. The new schedule is: Saturday, July 22, at 6 p.m., Corey Peterson and band. Sunday, Aug. 27, at 6 p.m., Joe Lindsay, Corey Cooley and families. Friday, Sept. 22, at 6 p.m., Countryfied from Kent, OR. These events are free and are sponsored by the Mor- row County Unified Recreation District and the Ione library board. Everyone is invited to bring a chair and cooler and enjoy entertainment in the Ione park. Questions, contact Betty Gray, 541-422-7335. COUNTY COMMISSION -Continued from PAGE ONE $1,116,099 from Pioneer stalling a locator line on right of refusal means if process of hiring a project better service for vendors is the gold standard it’s still a gamble if the county doesn’t audit, Nelson ad- vised, adding that someone might want to take over services and the funding that comes from the state. He said they would look at the contract and his biggest concern was if the county didn’t do an oversight audit once per year. Morrow County Health Department Nurse Molly Rhea said the county should think twice about attempt- ing to implement oversight on CCS’s actual practices. “The state audit is rig- orous. I think we are kid- ding ourselves if we can audit mental health without knowing what we are do- ing. The state audit is very tough,” she said. After much discussion, the commission decided to leave things the way they are with CCS, but will look into doing a financial audit to provide the required oversite. “The county could take this back, but we don’t want to. You are doing a great job,” Jim Doherty told Kimberly Lindsay. “I don’t see us taking money out (for admin).” “We want you to con- tinue to do the work you do,” Don Russell said. Me- lissa Lindsay agreed. “Our intent is not to change the money you receive,” she said. In other business the commission accepted the recommendation of the fair board and appointed Casey Zellars of Boardman to fill an empty seat on the board. Fair secretary Ann Jones said there was still one other empty seat to be filled. The commission voted to accept the low bid of Asphalt for work on West Main in Ione and Ella Road, and for work on Division Rd, Fourth St/ Nevada St, Third, St, Wyoming St, W. 8 th Road and Patterson Ferry Rd. One other bid was received for $1,192,618 from Granite NW. They also voted to ap- prove a request from public works to close the Lex- ington office on Friday and only be open Monday through Thursday. Public works boss Burke O’Brien said the crews already work four 10-hour days, and the Friday closure of the office “would be a better use of available time.” He said that things that come up on Friday will still be handled as they are on call seven days per week. He said they would still be able to serve the public well as there is not much business at the road department office on Fridays. The commission agreed and voted to move office staff to four 10-hour days and for staff to report back in six months how it was working out. In other business at previous meetings the com- mission agreed June 14 to allow Brian Thompson of the Heppner-Lexing- ton Pipeline LLC to use a county easement area along the area where he is installing irrigation pipe to bring water down the valley from the Willow Creek Dam. Apparently some documentation on the easement was not properly filed in 2012 when he was working on easements for the pipeline, so the county okayed him to proceed while the county staff made up the proper legal docu- ments. Thompson told the commission they are in- the pipeline with GPS and will provide the county with the map. He also proposed the idea that the agreement would include language that if other utilities want to come through, the easement could be expanded to ac- commodate the other lines. County administrator Jerry Sorte said the county is not asking for reimbursement for the easement and would require that the GPS tracer be included. Also at the June 14 meeting the commission was told that a Blue Moun- tain Community College building located in Board- man that the county may be interest in purchasing has a right of first refusal with the City of Boardman. It was brought up that the city also has interest in buying the building, and if it does may lease a portion to the county. The county is in the middle of a facility upgrade study to house county ser- vices in the north end of the county, and one option is to purchase the empty BMCC building for use by the county. The first BMCC receives an offer from the county to purchase the building, the city of Boardman has a right to match the offer and buy the building. Commissioner Don Russell said there is a genuine need for services and buildings to be up- dated in the entire north end of the county. But he said the county will not get into a bidding war with the city of Boardman, and he would be interested in the building at the price earlier quoted by BMCC President Camille Preus regardless of the appraisal since it has limited use. Russell, at ear- lier meetings when facility needs first were discussed, had said he understood the BMCC building would cost $250,000. It was voted not to put in an offer on the BMCC building at this time, but to keep it as an option, but focus on getting costs together on building new expanded facilities in the city of Irrigon, where many of the services are now located. The county is still in the manager to put together several options on how to best handle the need for new county facilities in the Boardman-Irrigon area. Chair Lindsay pushed the commission to come up with a clear vision on which way the county wants to go as far as new facility buildings. The commission voted to authorize purchase of a new 24’ brushless fan for installation at Wilkinson Arena, where it was quite hot during fair. Total cost will be $9,208 with the Morrow County Livestock Growers willing to donate $5,000 toward the project. It was also agreed to in- crease campsite rates by $5 effective July 1, 2017, since there had been no increase for several years. It was also announced that new cost estimates for electric work at the fairgrounds would cost $29,876. This was $6,826 more than originally esti- mated once the hard figures were accumulated. The commission approved the work, which will provide and also the six campsite hookups at the grounds. The commission also heard that Port of Morrow General Manager Gary Neal had declined to be included on a county ap- pointed committee of three people to negotiate with Amazon about Strategic Investment Program (SIP) tax reduction plans for the company. The commission had earlier wanted Neal on the committee. Amazon is currently receiving reduced property taxes through the Columbia River Enterprise Zone agreements but had expressed interest in pos- sibly switching to the SIP. Russell proposed the idea that both groups, CREZ and SIP, put forth members to form a third negotiating team. He suggested Lind- say, Sorte and Assessor Mike Gorman represent the county, and Neal and Boardman City Manager Karen Pettigrew represent the CREZ on the proposed new joint negotiating team. No action was taken on the proposal. WHEATRIDGE SALE -Continued from PAGE ONE and out,” he said. mann and Hochmuth said they hoped the problems can be fixed. Rietmann said he would like to see one single corridor with power lines taking generated power out of the county, and not lines “crisscrossing across the county.” “We want to get his resolved,” Hochmuth told the county commissioners. Rietmann said he was “comfortable” with Umatil- la Electric being the “gate- keeper” providing access to the electrical grid for the generated power. “You need to know someone can handle that, and Umatilla Electric can handle it and be fair wheeling power in Commissioner Jim Doherty asked if the sale to NextEra was “contingent on anything” such as the transmission line location and ownership. “NextEra owns the project,” Rietmann stat- ed. “I wanted someone who would not just do a 500-megawatt project, but be able to do additional wind and solar.” He said there is potential for so- lar electrical generating in Morrow County, adding that wind and solar were both compatible with farm- ing so both are good for the county. Rietmann said he expects to see more wind projects in the future for Morrow County. BURNING BAN Effective June 29, 2017, the Fire Chief of the City of Heppner is imposing a CLOSED SEASON for open burning based on local fire safety concerns. This burning ban is for the City of Heppner. A reminder that open burning also includes a “burn barrel.” The closed season will remain in effect until further notice this fall as per ORS 478.960. The sale has yet to be approved by the Oregon Department of Energy, which recently issued the fi- nal site certificate to Wheat- ridge okaying construction. A hearing on the transfer of ownership to NextEra is scheduled by DOE for July 27 in Hood River. Rietmann said in ad- dition to the site certificate there are about 20-25 land- owners who have wind leases that will be part of the deal and transferred to NextEra, and he and his investment partners are confident NextEra has the expertise and resources to build the project out and “get across the finish line” producing power. Hoch- muth said she is based on the West Coast and has a “team of land, permit and tax people,” working on the project. NextEra Energy had revenue in 2016 of $16.2 billion with 14,700 employ- ees in 30 states and Canada. In addition to extensive wind and solar generation, they also have eight nuclear units at five plant sites in four different states gener- ating power for five million households. They also own natural gas and oil generat- ing facilities. NextEra is a Fortune 200 company whose stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Have a news story? The Gazette-Times wants to know! Here’s how: Give us a call today at 541-676-9228. Don’t have a phone? Email editor@rapidserve.net. Don’t have email? Find us on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/HeppnerGazetteTimes/. Don’t do Facebook? Fax us at 541-676-9211. Don’t have a fax machine? Send us a letter: PO Box 337, Heppner. Don’t like to write? Send it by carrier pigeon. Don’t have a pigeon? Stop by to see us at 188 W. Willow, Heppner!