FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 19, 2017
New invasive weed found in county
Plumeless thistle, a
state listed noxious weed,
was recently found in South
Morrow County by an ob-
servant landowner who was
spraying other thistles at the
time and saw something
that stood out as just a little
different. Its previously
known range in the state in-
cluded Grant County, with a
few small spots in Wallowa
and Klamath Counties.
Plumeless thistle has
a branching growth form
with spiny wings on the
stems that extend to the
flowers. The weed grows
to more than four feet tall.
Plumeless thistle
Rosettes form on a stout
fleshy taproot. Leaves grow
4-8 inches long and have
wavy margins with yellow
spines along the edges.
Flowers are rose to purple
atop globe-shaped heads
measuring 1-2 inches in
diameter. Bracts of the
flowerhead are tipped with
yellow spines. The plant
blooms May to July, with
seeds developing by late
summer.
Plumeless thistle may
look like Scotch or musk
thistle from a distance, but
up close it is distinctively
different. Once established,
plumeless thistle degrades
the quality of range and pas-
ture land and, if allowed to
expand, will crowd out de-
sirable forage and exclude
livestock from grazing.
If you suspect you have
found a thistle that looks
a little different than the
ones you’re used to seeing,
or any other suspect weed,
please contact the county
weed control office to report
it to confirm identifica-
tion. Early detection and
rapid response is critical to
controlling and eradicating
new invaders before they
become established.
WIND FARM
-Continued from PAGE ONE is a program to get some man, and is cooperating have SIP agreements with
“We have a new work-
force training center,” com-
missioner Jim Doherty told
Hochmuth. “We would like
to see you train local people
for local jobs and hope you
talk to them and see if there
local people to access these
high paying jobs.” Doherty
was referring to the new
Blue Mountain Community
College (BMCC) work-
force training center that
recently opened in Board-
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with businesses at the Port
of Morrow to train local
workers for the many jobs
at the Port.
Hochmuth said in North
Dakota, where NextEra
operates wind farms and
is building more, the com-
munity college has train-
ing programs to train local
workers. “Eighty percent of
our workers come from the
training program. We want
to use local vendors and
resources,” she said.
Commission chair Me-
lissa Lindsay wanted to
make sure it was under-
stood what she means by
“local.” “Local to us is not
The Dalles, but Morrow
County,” she told Hoch-
muth. “This project was
sold as a local project,” she
said about Wheatridge, the
original developers based in
Ione. “A lot of the county
backed off opposing this
project because they were
told it was a local project,”
she said, in urging NextEra
to hire locally.
Commissioner Don
Russell agreed, saying lo-
cal people will also be bet-
ter for the company. “Local
people make better em-
ployees because they aren’t
going to be moving away,”
he said. “They live here so
they are going to stay here.”
Hochmuth said there
will initially be “hundreds”
of construction jobs, but
it is understood those are
specialized workers most
likely coming from outside
the area who then leave
once the project is com-
pleted.
The commissioners
also discussed the upcom-
ing Strategic Investment
Program (SIP) negotiations
NexEra will be starting
with the county. The SIP is
available to new companies
locating in the county, and
lowers the company’s prop-
erty taxes as an incentive to
locate here. Currently the
other wind farms and the re-
cently completed Portland
General Electric Carty Gas-
Fired plant at Boardman
the county, and NextEra
will begin negotiating its
own SIP soon. Hochmuth
says her company wants to
have an agreement in place
by the end of August. The
construction timetable for
the new windfarm is to start
at the end of 2018 and have
the wind farm completed
and producing energy by
the end of 2019 or first of
2020, she said.
With that in mind the
commission voted to ap-
point county assessor Mike
Gorman, county admin-
istrator Jerry Sorte, com-
missioner Jim Doherty and
the county’s attorney to the
negotiating team. Com-
missioner Don Russell will
serve as an alternate mem-
ber. NextEra will need to
have a separate SIP agree-
ment covering that portion
of the project located in
Umatilla County.
On other issues, the
commission and Hoch-
muth discussed transmis-
sion of the electricity once
it is generated by the wind
turbines. There is now an
ongoing dispute concerning
“wheeling,” or sending the
generated power out to the
grid once the wind farm is
in operation.
Columbia Basin Elec-
tric Cooperative and Uma-
tilla Electric Cooperative
are presently in a dispute
about who might end up
building and owning a
transmission line to get the
power out. Columbia Basin
filed a complaint in Janu-
ary with the Oregon Public
Utility Commission accus-
ing Umatilla Electric of en-
croaching on its exclusive
service territory. Hochmuth
said NextEra will only be
owning transmission lines
between the two groups
of wind turbines in Mor-
row and Umatilla counties,
and will not be involved in
wheeling.
“The outward transmis-
sion line will not be part of
this project,” she said, and
it is up to the two co-ops to
figure that part out.
COMMUNITY
COUNSELING
-Continued from PAGE ONE new head offices on Sperry
opmental disability, and
alcohol and drug abuse
treatment services for Mor-
row County residents over
the next two years.
CCS has been provid-
ing these services for some
time and has received high
praise not only from the
commissioners, but from
mental health organizations
state-wide. The contract
was an extension of one al-
ready in place with several
minor changes.
Earlier the commission
had wrestled with how to
provide adequate oversight
of CCS as required by the
State of Oregon. State fund-
ing for CCS flows through
the county, and along with
the money comes a mandate
for the county to provide
“oversight” of the organi-
zation.
At an earlier meeting,
the county decided a finan-
cial audit was the best way
to provide that oversight,
and therefore requested
that CCS be required to
turn over all of its finan-
cial audit information as
part of their contract with
the county. However, CCS
auditors balked at this, say-
ing they provide services in
five different counties, and
therefore did not want to
give all of their information
to Morrow County. They
instead only wanted to give
the county what are called
“disclosure statements.”
At the July 5 meeting
Morrow County Finance
Director Kate Knop said
county auditors would not
accept disclosure state-
ments, but she said there
would be a way around
the issue. Knop said full
audits and tax returns for
CCS can be obtained from
the Federal Audit Clear-
ing House website, so the
county can get the infor-
mation there. The Clearing
House receives this infor-
mation for any organization
receiving over $750,000
in federal funds. With this
issue cleared up, the com-
missioners moved forward
and voted unanimously to
approve the new two-year
agreement with CCS.
CCS in currently in
the process of constructing
Parks subcommittee
to meet
The Morrow County
Parks Plan subcommittee
will hold a regular meet-
ing at 1:30 p.m. on Mon-
day, July 24, at the Mor-
row County Bartholomew
Building, 110 Court Street,
Heppner.
The meeting will be
“ Our Roots Run Deep in Morrow County”
August 19-20, 2017
Fair Admission: Ages 8 & Up $4 daily or $10 week
7 & under FREE (must be with Adult)
Rodeo Admission: 13 & up $10
7-12 yrs. $6
6 & under FREE
Fair: www.co.morrow.or.us/fair
Wednesday 16 th
The Reptile Man
Kid Fun Zone
Scarecrow Contest
The Junebugs
Ice Cream Social
4-H Food Contest
4-H/FFA Small Animal
Showmanship
4-H Fashion Revue
RDO Tractor Pull
Cory Peterson Band
Thursday 17 th
The Reptile Man
Kid Fun Zone
Old Time Fiddlers
Talent Show
FFA Floral Design
Murray’s Wine Tasting
Featuring:
Joe Lindsay
Nate Botsford
Friday 18 th
The Reptile Man
Kid Fun Zone
4-H/FFA Showmanship
Ballet Performances 4-7 yrs.
Master Showmanship
Adult Showmanship
Greased Pig Contest
OTPR/NPRA Rodeo
Street in Heppner. The or-
ganization offers a wide
variety of behavioral health
services to four counties,
including individual, fam-
ily, and group therapy, gam-
bling counseling, alcohol
and drug treatment, 24/7
crisis intervention services,
psychiatric consultation,
and medication manage-
ment, in addition to coop-
eration with various other
organizations including
residential and acute psy-
chiatric services and school
programs. CCS also offers
case management for devel-
opmental disabilities in five
counties.
In other business at the
July 5 meeting the com-
mission voted to look into
the parks department to
purchase two metal build-
ing for storing equipment
and machinery. The county
missed an earlier oppor-
tunity to buy some used
buildings for $12,000 when
they were sold to someone
else. Commissioner Jim
Doherty asked the board to
look into purchasing differ-
ent buildings for the parks
department.
The commission also
heard a report on the effort
to reorganize the structure
of the Oregon Trail Pro
Rodeo (OTPR). Apparently,
the group plans to recom-
mend that the county board
of commissioners create
a board-appointed rodeo
board to oversee year-round
use of the rodeo facilities.
The OTPR plans to cre-
ate nonprofit agencies to
manage the annual rodeo.
It was said there would be
the public meetings later to
further discuss the proposed
change.
It was reported that
Mary Corp, the Oregon
State University Regional
Administrator has put out
a proposal to create tax-
ing districts in Morrow
and Umatilla counties to
fund extension services and
programs. The new tax rate
proposed has been .033 per
thousand. No decision has
been made but she plans on
meeting with the board in
the future to further discuss
the plan.
Saturday 19 th
The Reptile Man
Kid Fun Zone
Parade
FFA Awards
Buyers Luncheon
Livestock Auction
OTPR/NPRA Rodeo
to discuss and work on the
Morrow County Parks Mas-
ter Plan sections regard-
ing recreation, projections,
tourism and the review of
the Off-Highway Vehicle
(OHV) Park.
The meeting location is
accessible to persons with
disabilities. A request for an
interpreter for the hearing
impaired or for other ac-
commodations for persons
with disabilities should
be made at least 48 hours
before the meeting to the
Morrow County Parks De-
partment at 541-989-9500.
For more information
please contact the Morrow
County Parks Department
Office at 541-989-9500
or by email at mcparks@
co.morrow.or.us.
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