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.
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