Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 2017)
It’s agreed, ‘fix Gale and Chase’ HEPPNER G T 50¢ azette imes VOL. 136 NO. 41 8 Pages Wednesday, October 18, 2017 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Finley Buttes eyes Metro’s trash Could mean 60 more trucks a day to Morrow County By David Sykes Morrow County’s large landfill, Finley Buttes, has its hat in the ring for a new solid waste contract, that if obtained could see 500,000 more tons of trash com- ing here each year. Metro, which handles Portland- area trash, is coming to the end of a 30-year contract with Columbia Ridge Land- fill near Arlington and is currently seeking propos- als from other landfills for disposal. Will Elder, Senior Waste Operations Planner for Metro attended the Sept 27 meeting of the Morrow County Commission and said they are looking at four landfills, not only in Morrow County but also in Wasco County, the current location Gilliam County and Klickitat County in Washington. Elder was to have met with the Metro council Oct. 12 to sum- marize feedback he has received from each of these counties. Landing the contract could mean hundreds of millions of dollars for Fin- ley Buttes owner Waste Connections, as well as more “tippage” money for the county, and more jobs at the landfill. It will also mean more trucks on the road as it is estimated it will take 60 trucks more per day to bring the trash to Finley Buttes, which is located along Bombing Range Rd. in North Morrow County. Morrow County com- missioners were gener- ally supportive of receiving the increased trash, with Don Russell saying Finley Buttes has been a good part- ner of Morrow County and that the county welcomes the opportunity for Finley Buttes to grow its busi- ness. The landfill has over -See TRASH/PAGE FOUR Lexington town council hears from guests By Bobbi Gordon Special guests from the city of Heppner and Morrow County present- ed information to council members Bill Beard, Sheila Miller, Bobbi Gordon and Deona Siex at the Lexing- ton town council meeting on Oct. 10. Carla McLane, Morrow County Planning Director, has been attending council meetings for all cities in the county to discuss its com- prehensive plan, economic development and buildable land. McLane stated that most of the cities in the county have an outdated comprehensive plan. An economic development task force is trying to work cooperatively with all areas in the county to investigate land use types and do a buildable land analysis. The task force recognizes the fact that most of the south end of the county has residents that either live in the city, in the urban growth boundary or on farm land. The goal is to determine whether or not the employ- ment and residential land inventory is in balance and is being used properly. Councilmember Miller expressed concern that Lex- ington does not have much buildable land as it is due to the septic system issues. She stated the city might be interested if the analysis covers buildable land now and how it would differ if a wastewater treatment plant is installed at a later date. McLane suggested Lexington should look at residential uses and zones that currently exist and reschedule to discuss it further at the November meeting. Edie Ball, Heppner City Manager and council member Dale Bates, attend- ed the meeting to discuss the grant application that would be specifically used for planning a shared waste- water treatment facility for Heppner, Lexington and Ione. Ball stated she would have the grant application completed and submitted by the due date of Oct. 13. Other Heppner council members were attending the Ione council meeting at the same time to discuss the project with them as well. The city of Heppner is ask- ing for participation from all three cities in the south county area to participate in a feasibility study to deter- mine the best way to imple- ment a shared wastewater treatment lagoon, whether it be a lagoon in each city Public voices ideas on transportation needs in Heppner Matt Hughart, associate planner with Kittelson & Associates, leads a group discussion on the future transportation needs of Heppner. By David Sykes There was widespread consensus at a public meet- ing Monday, that the streets needing most work in Hep- pner were Gale and Chase. A group of citizens got together with consultants, city staff and representa- tives from Oregon De- partment of Transportation to begin putting together a plan for the future of transportation in Heppner. The group later went on a walking tour of Heppner to get firsthand knowledge of various transportation issues in town. Not only was the con- dition of streets discussed, however. The group also talked about walking and bike paths, public transpor- tation options and general growth potential for Hep- pner. Matt Hughart from the transportation engineering firm Kittelson & Assoc. was in charge of the meet- ing since his firm received a $32,450 grant to upgrade Heppner’s Transportation System Plan. The plan will be used to guide transporta- tion spending in the years ahead. Since Gale is the second most used street in Heppner behind Main, discussion centered around ways to fix and improve it. The street has a lot of potholes and has been deteriorating for years. Widening the street was also talked about, but that might entail taking out some of the sidewalk area to do so. Heppner has a lot of residents who like to walk and more walking paths were also discussed, pos- sibly even a trail around part of Willow Creek Lake. How to handle bicyclists was also discussed, and it was pointed out that kids who ride their bikes on the sidewalks downtown get reported, but if they move out into the street it is dan- gerous. Other topics discussed included ensuring wheel- chair access around town for those citizens, and where Heppner’s future growth will be and ensur- ing there is adequate street and walking access to those areas. The school district has been discussing moving the grade school up to the high school building sometime in the future, and it was discussed how to accom- modate the additional chil- dren who would then be walking and riding bikes on that route. Improving Mor- gan Street with sidewalks was talked about, however it was brought up that resi- dents on that street at one time said they did not want sidewalks there. The discussion group was attended by about 20 people, and lasted for 2 hours including lunch. The public meeting was just the beginning steps in the process of writing a new TSP plan, with the infor- mation gathered from the public and the walking tour being used to move on to future meetings of a smaller volunteer working group. Hughart said the general public will also have time in the future to give more input before the final plan is put together and adopted. Voters to decide on OSU Extension Service tax district Come the May 2018 primary election, voters in Morrow and Umatilla counties will have a say in whether or not to support the formation of a new tax district for Oregon State University Extension Ser- vice. Eleven of the 12 incor- porated cities in Umatilla County and all five cities in Morrow County recently passed resolutions forward- ing the proposed service districts to the voters, which would tax 33 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to help fund OSU Extension programs. According to OSU fig- ures, the Extension Service districts would raise more than $1 million annually in Umatilla County and $462,000 in Morrow Coun- ty. A spokesperson said that would help provide stable funding not only for the extension offices in both counties, but for the Herm- iston Agricultural Research and Extension Center and Columbia Basin Agricul- tural Research Center north of Pendleton. Ione volleyball girls to play in tournament -See GUESTS/PAGE THREE Gazette-Times Trophy Corner Colt Parker, Ione, with his Cameron Jewett, 14 with his first buck. -Contributed photo Billy Deloe, 91, with his four buck from near Ritter. -Contributed photo point buck taken from the Columbia Basin unit. -Contributed photo Kevin Payne, Heppner, har- vested his first deer on the last Gracie Jewett, 17 took her day of the season. -Contributed deer with a 450 yard perfect shot. -Contributed photo photo The Heppner Gazette- Times wants to see pic- tures of your trophy ani- mals from this hunting season. Stop by to have your picture taken, drop off photos, mail them to PO Box 337 in Heppner, email them to editor@ rapidserve. net or text cell phone photos to 541-980-6674. The Ione volleyball team is scheduled to play at the Big Sky District Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 21, at Sherman County High School. Games begin at 10 a.m. and Ione will play 30 min- utes after the first match. Pictured Back Row (L-R): Megan Doherty, Elaina Ehrmantraut, Emma Rietmann, Kathryn Burns, Morgan Orem, Eva Martin, Zoey Gilbert. Front Row (L-R): Ariana Solorio, Serenity Rodriguez, Emily Taylor, Renee Peterson, Susie Teeman. Front: Ola Rietmann. Not pictured: Team Manager Payton Miller. -Contributed photo MORROW COUNTY GRAIN GROWERS 2887500 MAIN STREET 350 MAIN STREET 350 LEXINGTON, OR LEXINGTON OR *Monthly payment based on new, unused MY17 Indy 550 with an MSRP of $6,799 with $1,000 down and $200 manufacturer’s rebate. $5,599 financed (6.99% APR) over 84 months on a Polaris/Synchrony Installment Loan Account. Participating Dealers. Offer valid from 7/26/17 to 10/31/17. *Offer is subject to credit approval by Synchrony Bank. APR of 6.99% will be assigned based on credit approval criteria. Monthly payments will be $15.09 per $1,000 financed. Example: A total 84-month term with an Amount Financed of $5,599 and 6.99% APR requires monthly payments of $84.48 for 84 months. Price excludes title, tax, options, accessories, and dealer fees. Program minimum amount financed is $5,000 and minimum 0% – 10% down payment required based on credit approval criteria. A $1,000 down payment is required to obtain advertised monthly payment of $84.48. All rebates are paid to the dealer.
