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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 2018)
Missing LaGrande man found HEPPNER G T 50¢ azette imes VOL. 137 NO. 18 8 Pages Wednesday, May 2, 2018 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon County wants control of its transportation New state tax brings funds to Morrow County By David Sykes A new state employee tax earmarked for trans- portation projects goes into effect July 1, and Morrow County is deciding how it will receive and spend the money. At its April 25 meet- ing the county commission heard a report from Trans- portation Coordinator Anita Pranger, who said she was approached by Umatilla County and the Confeder- ated Tribes of the Uma- tilla Indian Reservation, CTUIR, to join together as a group, combine all of their new funds, and administer transportation programs in both counties in this man- ner. After much discussion the commission decided not to join the group and instead administer the new funds on its own. Although it was not disclosed how much money the new tax will bring to the county, it was discussed that the funds will probably be used to set up a bus system transporting employees be- tween Hermiston and their jobs at the Port of Morrow in Boardman. On July 1, 2018, em- ployers must start withhold- ing the new tax (one-tenth of 1 percent or .001) from all employee paychecks. This will amount to $1 for every $1,000 of pay. The revenue from the new tax will be used for public transportation im- provement projects (except light rail) as determined by the Oregon Transportation Commission. Estimates show that the tax will raise more than $125 million per year in the entire state. It was not announced how much of that would be com- ing to Morrow County. One reason the com- mission gave for “going it alone” rather than joining with the two other entities, was that Umatilla County does not have a transpor- tation system and Mor- row County already does. “Umatilla County wanting to control the money when they don’t have any public transportation just doesn’t make sense because they don’t have any experience but want to control the purse strings,” said Com- missioner Don Russell. Pranger said although free transportation for jobs in the Boardman area might be a high priority, she said later a transportation line could be added in other areas of the county. The advantages to having its own advisory board to ad- minister the program was the tax money would come directly to Morrow County with decisions made here; the advisory committee would be able to prioritize and accomplish projects for Morrow County; support staff is already in place, and if more staff is needed they would be employees of Morrow County; Mor- row County Transportation would be able to continue to grow and proceed forward with the program already in place without having to wait in line to proceed with projects; and it would be easier to show the state that Morrow County is getting good use of the projects. Although the com- mission voted not to join with Umatilla or CTUIR, Pranger said she would still attend their region trans- portation meetings and the county could join later if it wanted to. In other business the commission voted unani- mously to purchase 10 A frame cabins from South Morrow Enterprises LLC at a cost of $60,000. South Morrow, owned by Hep- pner resident Tom Wolff, obtained the cabins years ago after the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh commune near Antelope collapsed. The cabins had been used as housing for the residents of the commune. Wolff moved eight of them onto the OHV park, and two to Cutsforth Park where they had been used as rental cabins for visitors at the park. Wolff had an agreement with the county until it was decided recently for the county to purchase the cabins. County to purchase cabins at OHV and Cutsforth parks In other business, the commission heard from Justice of the Peace Ann Spicer who asked that one of her employees in the office be reduced from full- time to a halftime. Spicer said she thought the job could be done in halftime instead of fulltime and that the employee in that posi- tion now only wants to work halftime and will retire in August if it is not changed. In a letter to the com- mission, office employee Anne Alleman said she wanted to return to 24 hours a week “because of having to pay so much social secu- rity back as I was over the yearly limit for income.” She said she was originally hired for part time and had “only agreed to go full time to help the Justice Court out.” She said if she goes to ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. part time she will work until 2020, but if she’s made to remain full time will retire in August of this year. Commissioner Jim Doherty wanted to know if the county was tailoring a job description to a par- ticular employee’s needs. “I don’t know whether to appreciate them (the em- ployee) for telling us we are overpaying (the posi- tion) or be upset because we have been overpaying them for the past one and a half years,” Doherty told Spicer by speaker phone at the meeting. Spicer said she didn’t know if the job could have previously been done by a halftime person, and that she wanted to try the ar- rangement for 60 days and continue only if the work load is being completed. “If it is not working, Ms. Alle- man will retire in August of this year and will help train her replacement before she retires,” Spicer said. The commission voted to reduce the position to halftime. “It will be equally discouraging to find out it is, and has been a halftime position,” Doherty said. In other business the commission voted to award a contract to Silver Creek Contracting for construct- ing a foundation for a yard building at the Lexington public works grounds. Sil- ver Creek’s low bid was $229,729. Jacob Aaron Cart- wright, the CMV driver who was missing for four days, returned home on Apr. 28 and was taken to Grande Ronde hospital in LaGrande for medical evaluation. Cartwright informed an OSP trooper that he had encountered snow and mud on the roadway and his ve- hicle began to slide toward a steep embankment. After the vehicle became unsafe to move, Cartwright de- parted the area and began traveling on foot along Forest Service Road 5125 in a northeast direction. He continued walking in what was estimated to be in excess of 14 miles before emerging from the forest at the 270 interchange of I 84, approximately nine miles south of LaGrande. He traveled at elevations from approximately 5000 to 6500 feet, crossing snowy mountain peaks back down to I 84, where he flagged down a passing motorist who provided him with a ride to LaGrande. Jacob Aaron Cartwright’s (inset) truck was located on Forest Service Road 5125. -Contributed photos. The initial investiga- tion revealed Cartwright may have encountered a problem with his naviga- tional GPS system and was routed off of State Route 244 onto Forest Service Road 51 where he traveled approximately 12.5 miles before turning onto Forest Service Road 5125. Mr. Cartwright traveled an ad- ditional 9 miles on Forest Service Road 5125 before his vehicle spun out and began to slide toward the steep embankment along the shoulder of the road. Cartwright was unsure of the name of the road that he had traveled onto, but said it began with the let- ter G. Grande Ronde River Road is located approxi- mately 1.5 miles from the last known GPS location the night Cartwright went missing, so with the new information an OSP aircraft was deployed to the area and located the semi-truck and trailer. This area is a remote and mountainous location that has very limited, if any, cellular service. County proposes $37.8 million budget Up 4.74% over last year By David Sykes The Morrow County budget committee has fin- ished its work and sent a proposed $37,857,309 2018-19 budget to a public hearing and approval by the county commission- ers, Wednesday, May 16 in Boardman. The budget represents an increase of about $1.7 million or 4.74 percent over last year. Revenue for the county comes from various sources with $8.7 million derived from local property taxes, and the remainder from a combination of fees, grants and reimbursements. The tax rate for property owners will remain the same the coming year at 4.1347 per thousand dollars of valua- tion. The county also enters the new year with an unex- pected surplus of almost $2 million, caused when last year’s expected property tax revenues were under- estimated by that amount. Some other highlights of the proposed budget include $375,000 towards construction of a new Boardman Public Works facility and $400,000 for new county office buildings in Irrigon. The total cost of the new 12-thousand-foot facility in Irrigon has been estimated to be in the $3.5 to $4.5 million range. Some other new expen- ditures are $54,972 for a new vote counting machine in the clerk’s office and an increase of about $55,000 for the grants to cities pro- gram. Other new items in- clude $50,000 to the school district to fund behavioral classrooms at north end schools and $40,000 for installation of new scales for the north end garbage transfer station. In the personnel area, the sheriff’s department is set to add two new posi- tions, a patrol deputy and a criminal investigation dep- uty for an additional cost of $191,758. The county finance office is adding a staff accountant for $87,433 per year and the three coun- ty commissioners are each receiving a pay raise of $11,436, raising their year- ly salaries from $39,564 to $51,000. Other county elected officials, employees and staff received an across the board three percent cost of living increase with the Justice of the Peace receiv- ing a $2,504 per year salary bump. In the debt depart- ment, the county still owes $1,788,000 on a construction loan for the Bartholomew building in Heppner. The county is using Strategic Investment Program funds (money received from windmills located in the county) to pay down that debt. A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held on May 16 at 9 a.m. at the Port of Morrow River- front Center, Wells Springs Room, 2 Marine Drive, Boardman. A summary of the 2018-19 proposed bud- get is also printed in this week’s newspaper. Firewood permits available Personal-use firewood permits for the Umatilla National Forest will go on sale Tuesday, May 1 at Forest Service offices and several local vendors. Firewood permits can be purchased for $5 per cord with a minimum pur- chase of four cords for $20. The maximum limit for per- sonal-use firewood on the Umatilla National Forest is 12-cords-per-household- per-year. Local vendors will sell firewood permits in four- cord packets. An additional vendor fee, up to $2, will be charged for each four- cord, $20 firewood permit purchased at a local vendor. A list of vendors is avail- able on the Forest Service website. “Our vendors provide a great service to our wood- cutters by selling firewood permits at times more con- venient to the public,” said Slater Turner, Acting Forest Supervisor. Most vendors are open early mornings, late evenings and on the weekends. An additional fee is not charged if you purchase a permit at a For- est Service office. Firewood cutters are required to carry an axe, a shovel, an eight ounce capacity or larger fire ex- tinguisher and have their chainsaw equipped with an approved spark arrester when cutting wood. During early spring months, many forest roads are still inaccessible due to snow. Forest visitors are asked to use extreme care to avoid getting stuck or causing extensive and il- legal resource damage to the land and vegetation. Woodcutters are asked to: -Contact the local Ranger District office be- fore heading out to make sure the area you’re travel- ing to is accessible. -Avoid driving off roads and onto wet, un- stable ground or fragile meadow environments to load firewood. -Be prepared. Pack ad- ditional food, water, cloth- ing and other emergency supplies. -Let someone know your destination and esti- mated time of return. Tribal members exer- cising their Treaty rights are reminded that permits are not required but they must be in possession of valid enrollment identification when cutting or transport- ing firewood. As we move into the hot, dry summer months, Public Use Restrictions (PURs) may be imple- mented. Restrictions will be announced by 6 p.m. on the day prior to the restriction(s) going into ef- fect. Weekend restrictions will be announced by 6 p.m. on Friday. An updated recording at 1-877-958- 9663 will let you know if firewood cutting is allowed all day, restricted to specific hours (i.e. 1 p.m. chainsaw shutdown), restricted to specific areas of the forest or closed completely due to wildfire danger. Restric- tions will also be posted on the website at: www. fs.usda.gov/umatilla. The public is responsible to check if firewood cutting is allowed. Firewood season on the Umatilla National Forest will end Nov. 30, 2018. MORROW COUNTY GRAIN GROWER 350 MAIN STREET LEXINGTON, OR *Offers vary by model. Rebate and finance offers valid on select 2014–2018 new and unregistered models purchased between 3/1/18–4/30/18. See your authorized dealer for complete details. **Rates as low as 2.99% APR for 36 months. Examples of monthly payments required over a 36-month term at a 2.99% APR rate: $29.08 per $1,000 financed; and with a 60-month term at a 5.99% APR rate: $19.33 per $1,000 financed. An example of a monthly payment with $0 down, no rebate, an APR of 2.99% APR for 36 months at a MSRP of $12,299 is $357.62/mo. total cost of borrowing of $575.16 with a total obligation of $12,874.16. Down payment may be required. Other financing offers may be available. See your local dealer for details. Minimum Amount Financed $1,500; Maximum Amount Financed $50,000. Other qualifications and restrictions may apply. Financing promotions void where prohibited. Tax, title, license, and registration are separate and may not be financed. Promotion may be modified or discontinued without notice at any time in Polaris' sole discretion. WARNING: Polaris off-road vehicles can be hazardous to operate and are not intended for on-road use. Driver must be at least 16 years old with a valid driver's license to operate. Passengers, if permitted, must be at least 12 years old. All riders should always wear helmets, eye protection, and protective clothing. Always use seat belts and cab nets or doors (as equipped). Never engage in stunt driving, and avoid excessive speeds and sharp turns. Riding and alcohol/drugs don't mix. All riders should take a safety training course. Call 800-342-3764 for additional information. Check local laws before riding on trails. © 2018 Polaris Industries Inc.
