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TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 16, 2017 The Official Newspaper of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow Heppner GAZETTE-TIMES U.S.P.S. 240-420 Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE: http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/ Published weekly by Sykes Publishing, LLC and entered as periodical matter at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676- 9228. Fax (541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor@rapidserve.net or david@rapidserve. net. Web site: www.heppner.net. Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $30 in Morrow County; $24 senior rate (in Morrow County only; 65 years or older); $36 elsewhere; $30 student subscriptions. David Sykes ..............................................................................................Publisher Andrea Di Salvo ............................................................................................ Editor All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. For Advertising: advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Cost for a display ad is $5 per column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $10 up to 100 words. Cost for a classified display ad is $5.75 per column inch. For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for pub- lication must be specified. Affidavits must be required at the time of submission. Affidavits require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be specified if required). For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space for the obituary. For Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor MUST be signed by the author. The Heppner GT will not publish unsigned letters. All letters MUST include the author’s address and phone number for use by the GT office. The GT reserves the right to edit letters. 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. ~ Letters to the Editor ~ The Heppner Gazette Times will print all letters to the Editor with the following criteria met: letters submitted to the newspaper will need to have the name of the sender along with a legible signature. We are also requesting that you provide your address and a phone number where you can be reached. The address and phone number will only be used for verification and will not be 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. Not supporting Walden in 2018 To the editor: Last week supporters of Rep. Greg Walden received a fundraising appeal asking for help to fight against “the most liberal agitators in Oregon” who supposedly drive from Portland to pack his town halls and “scream, chant and shout” at him. I find his whining sense of persecution unjustified. When I have attended Walden’s town halls, every speaker identified themselves by town and profession, and they were all from Congressio- nal District 2. Far from being Portland radicals supporting “the Hollywood elite,” we are constituents from Walden’s own district who need access to affordable health care and were seriously disappointed by his unwavering support of a plan that would have been disastrous for many of us. We care deeply about our rural schools and have serious concerns about the voucher system supported by the Re- publican party. We respect our neighbors who have recently immigrated and we would rather see a just and simpli- fied path to citizenship than mindless deportation and the wall dividing North America that Walden supports. Health care, education and immigra- tion are not mentioned in his fundraising appeal. Walden is either lying to get money or has become out of touch with the concerns of his own constituents after liv- ing in DC for 20 years. I have voted for him repeatedly in the past, but I will not be doing so in 2018 and I will certainly not send him money to drown out my neighbors and friends who are his critics. (s) Lea Mathieu, Ione and Redmond Morrow County Road Dept. would like to remind all motorists that with any road maintenance project to be aware of the workers, they are very important to us. Watch for signs, flags and work-zone employees and equipment. Morrow County’s goal is to provide a safe roadway. However, it is always up to the motorist to drive according to conditions. Be patient and plan ahead. Leave early if you know you will be driving through work zones. Please use extreme caution and common sense. They will do their best and would appreciate your patience Areas to be aware of this summer Paver patching Ione-Gooseberry Ella Road, Ione Baseline Road and some overlay projects West Maint (Ione) and Ella Road. North end of the County Division Rd., Fourth St/.Nevada St., Third St., Wyoming St., W.8th Road and Patterson Ferry Rd. Including...YOU WILL NEED TO BE AWARE OF WET PAINT AND STAY WITHIN YOUR LANE OF TRAVEL... Travelers should use caution when encountering a road striping operation and should not drive across the stripes when the paint is still wet. The paint used to stripe roads is a water-borne, nontoxic paint containing reflective glass beads. Motorists who accidentally get road paint on their vehicles should remove it immediately, before the paint sets up, with a pressure washer. Again be prepared and be safe. Questions or concerns may be addressed to 541-989-9500 Morrow County Road Department. FOREST -Continued from PAGE ONE material, or; when fully con- tained within a pickup truck bed that is empty of all flam- mable material, or; when fac- tory installed in a recreational vehicle and the generator exhaust discharge is located in the center of an area at least 10 feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable material. No off-road/off-trail ve- hicle travel or travel on roads not cleared of standing grass or other flammable material. Vehicle travel is never permit- ted on currently closed forest service roads where access has been impeded or blocked by earthen berms, logs, boulders, barriers, barricades or gates, or as otherwise identified in a closure order. Smoking is allowed only in enclosed vehicles and build- ings, developed recreation sites, or in cleared areas. Chamber lunch meeting The next lunch meeting of the Heppner Chamber of Commerce will be an all en- tities report Thursday, Sept. 7, in Heppner City Hall conference room. There will be no chamber meet- ing Aug. 17 due to fair and rodeo week. Cost of lunch is $10. 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 be- fore the meeting to Sheryll Bates at 541-676-5536. -Continued from PAGE ONE continue funding even if the new base is formed. At an early meeting of the Morrow County Court when the group was asked by Extension to support the new district, now mention was made of discon- tinuing county funding if the new district were formed. Extension officials are proposing a tax base of .33 per thousand dollars of valu- ation. Under the new district, annual tax funds would still be funneled through the county budget process, but allocated and controlled by a special Extension board. The city council asked Corp several questions about the proposed tax base. Under Oregon law certain cities in Morrow County, such as Heppner, are currently under what is called compression, City Council -Continued from PAGE ONE or a cap on how high property tax rates may go. Heppner’s cap is $10 total per thousand dollars of valuation. If another district, such as Extension is formed, this would lower the annual tax money the city would receive. Tax assessor Mike Gorman has said earlier there are so many changing factors yearly, he is unable to calculate what would be the net effect on the city of Hep- pner, however Heppner Mayor Cody High said Monday he understood the city may lose around $15,000 annually. What if Heppner votes to opt out, and not be part of the new tax district, was also asked? “If Heppner opts out, then we will figure out what the fee is for kids (who live in Heppner) who want to be part of 4-H and would have to pay,” Corp said. She said the Hep- pner kids would be required to pay the fee to participate because “we would have to be fair,” she said. Kuhn said if the city opts out extension would have to break out all the different services to determine the extra charges. “This would be difficult,” he said. Council member Dale Bates asked if the new district was just changing the way Extension is funded. “Is this just another way of funding? I don’t see a difference in actual dollars,” Bates said. Corp said it would result in more dollars for Extension. “It is more money. More fund- Community lunch menu Heppner United Meth- odist Church volunteers will serve lunch on Wednes- day, Aug. 23, at St. Patrick’s Senior Center. Lunch will include parmesan crusted fish, rice pilaf, green beans, seven-layer salad, rolls and strawberry ice cream for dessert. Milk is served at each meal. Suggested donation is $3.50 per meal. Menu is subject to change. Justice Court Report Morrow County Justice of the Peace Ann Spicer has released the following Justice Court report: -Jay A. Coil, 56, Heppner, was convicted of failure to obey a traffic control device, $260 fine. -James Healy Jr, 67, Heppner, was convicted of violation of basic rule, 93/55 mph, $260 fine. Murray’s 21st Annual Beer & Wine Tasting Thursday, August 17, 2017 6:00–10:30 PM Morrow County PRE Fairgrounds Fair a dmission required Price$10.00 S tarter Pack 2 drink tickets & take home g lass . Additional tickets $5.00each Live Entertainment: Joe Lindsay Family/Friends : 6:00 PM PARTY Award Winning Wines From all over the NorthWest! Enter to win a bottle of your favorite wine Nate Botsford: 8:00 PM Kids drinks provided by Dinner offered by Heppner Chamber, Breaking Grounds Coffee prepared by Alvin Liu Be sure to bring of Gateway Cafe. Meat Lasagna Green Salad Roll Cookie Bottled Water $10 adults $5 kids 11 and under lawn chairs! QUESTIONS: Murray's 541-676-9158 Check out our facebook page MURRAY’S OPEN THIS SUNDAY 8am-6pm ing than what commissions give extension. And it would be stable funding,’ she said. Currently the counties could reduce funding to Extension if chose to. It was also asked what if one county passes the new base and the other does not? Corp said the county com- missioners in the county that rejected the tax base would decide if they wanted to con- tinue funding Extension under the current method. After the discussion, the council decided to put the is- sue on next month’s agenda for further discussion, and action at that time. In other business at Mon- day’s meeting the council heard a report from County Undersheriff and councilmem- ber John Bowles about the on- going vandalism problems in Heppner. Bowles said he has seen a decrease in the amount of vandalism as a result of more public awareness of the problem. “Vandalism has come down with the publics paying attention and the in- creased patrols,” he said. He urged the public to continue to report suspicious activity. “If citizens see something, report it. It’s important to report it,” he urged. The council also heard a report that there would a telephone conference call Tuesday morning to discuss the on-going issue of waste water treatment options for the city. The Department of Envi- ronmental Quality, DEQ, has given the city a fast approach- ing deadline to come up with a plan to change the way it handles its sewage treatment. Currently the city releases treated waste into the Willow Creek, however the DEQ has said because of ammonia con- tent in the effluent, this method will have to be discontinued. The city has been exploring several options, including us- ing settling lagoons or sharing a new treatment plant with the town of Lexington and City of Ione, both of which are on septic systems and have no central treatment plant. City Manager Edie Ball said she recently attended a workshop on waste treatment financing at which representa- tives of both Ione and Lex- ington were also present. Ball said all parties would expected to be on the conference call to discuss the joint treatment plan, which would call for piping to carry Heppner’s effluent down to Lexington to a shared treatment plant. High said because of DEQ deadlines it was coming to the time that Heppner needed to make a decision on how to revamp its treatment system, and the conference call Tues- day would be the final meeting before a decision needed to be made. He said if Lexington and Ione wanted to do a fea- sibility study on the proposal, Heppner would participate, but pointed out Heppner had already paid for a study from its engineering firm which mainly addressed setting up a lagoon system closer to the city limits. In other business, the council voted to replace the tree that was removed from the mini park next to the Post Office on Main Street, with a gazebo. The tree was removed after it grew big and the roots caused disruption in the area. In further action, the council voted to move for- ward with a payroll audit to be conducted by the city audi- tors Barnett & Moro, P.C. The audit will cover seven city em- ployees for a five-year period. The cost of the audit will be between $2,500 and $3,000. The city voted to explore an audit after reaching agreement in July with former city man- ager Kim Cutsforth resolving a dispute about vacation pay she claims was owed during her four years of employment with the city. Cutsforth had filed a claim with the Oregon Bu- reau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), after she had resigned the city manager job. The final settlement was for a total of $2,820.65, which included $1,764 in penalties for late payment, and $1,056.65 for 35 hours of vacation pay. In the audit proposal Barnett & Moro said their “engagement is not designed to detect instances of fraud or noncompliance with laws or regulations; however, we will communicate to you any known and suspected fraud and noncompliance with laws or regulations affecting the payroll accruals listed…” Obituaries ALLAN J. BASFORD Allan J. Basford, of Ione, passed away at the age of 79 on August 4, 2017 in Spokane, Washington. Born in Idaho in 1937 to Archie and Wilma Basford, Allan was raised in Colorado along with 6 sisters and 5 brothers. He joined the Navy in 1959 where he proudly served his country until 1963. After his military service, Allan was a miner in Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. He began to raise a family in Utah and eventually relocated to Oregon, having moved to Ione in 1976. In Eastern Or- egon, he was employed at the Kinzua Saw Mill in Heppner as a machinist. He also worked at the mill in Pilot Rock until his retirement in 2013 at the age of 75. Allan is survived by six sisters and one brother along with his wife, Verna of Ione, and children: Bill Smith of Wyoming, Ron Smith of Utah, Twilla Meadows of New Jersey, Tonya Smith of Washington, Richard Basford of Alaska, Bryan Basford of Oregon, Leslie Blais of Oregon, and Barbara Ball of Oregon. He was blessed with 27 grandchildren and nearly 20 great grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations in his name can be made to the Wounded Warriors Family Support Fund. Ione Music in the Park Saturday, July 22nd 6pm Music by Corey Peterson & Band FREE ENTERTAINMENT IN THE IONE CITY PARK Everyone invited Bring chair & cooler and come enjoy this Music in the park Performances through September Sponsored by Morrow County Unified Recreation District & Ione Library District