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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 2018)
Seven counties elect governor 50¢ HEPPNER G T azette imes VOL. 137 NO. 46 8 Pages Wednesday, November 14, 2018 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon County transfers ownership of Gilliam-Bisbee to Heppner Community Foundation Sets aside $235,000 for improvements Plans are underway to turn the Gilliam-Bisbee building into a community events center. By David Sykes The Morrow County Commission has approved transfer of ownership of the Gilliam-Bisbee build- ing in downtown Heppner from the county to the new- ly-formed Heppner Com- munity Foundation. At the same time the Commission- ers also set aside $235,000 in county money to be used toward upgrading the build- ing to code. The Community Foun- dation is a non-profit set up recently by Kim Cuts- forth, administrator of the Howard and Beth Bry- ant Foundation, to accept ownership of the Bisbee building. Cutsforth has said the foundation, which do- nates funds to worthwhile community projects, will donate additional funds to “renovate the property for the use of the community for events and social ser- vices to include education and training,” according to the resolution passed by the county. The county purchased the Gilliam-Bisbee build- ing in 1997 and has mostly used the upper floors for the County Health Department and rented out additional offices upstairs to Commu- nity Counseling Solutions. Community Counseling recently moved into its new offices in Heppner and the Health Department has moved to the Bartholomew building, leaving it mostly empty. The county had been using the bottom floor for storage but has since cleared out much of their office equipment and fur- niture, leaving that space empty. County officials have wrestled with what to do with the Gilliam-Bisbee building, not wanting to see it deteriorate and realizing there would be costs to ei- ther demolish the structure, which is not needed, or pay for continual upkeep on the structure. Cutsforth had earlier proposed that the building be renovated with a combination of county and Bryant Foundation funds, and turn the facility into a nice community type center. In order to carry out this vision however, it was necessary to transfer own- ership from the county to the new Community Foun- dation. In voting in favor of the proposal, Commission- er Melissa Lindsay said she had been asked to join the Heppner Foundation board, but would have no financial gain from the project. In other business at previous meetings: At the Sept. 12 meet- ing: The commission ap- proved the purchase of a new vehicle for the Sher- iff’s Parole and Probation department. The vehicle is a 2018 Dodge Durango from Salem Withnell Dodge for the amount of $28,897. The current Dodge Charger will be rotated out of service the Sheriff’s Department said. They voted to approve a new subdivision located outside the city of Irrigon off of Eighth Street. There will be five lots of about two acres each. The new street in the cul-de-sac will G-T Trophy Corner be named Bohemia Drive and is a public access road that will not be paved. The landowners agreed to main- tain the road. In a report by County Planner Carla McLane the commission heard that with the approval in July of a 14 lot subdivision west of Boardman and the new Ir- rigon subdivision this will -See GILLIAM-BISBEE/ PAGE TWO Morrow County Clerk Bobbi Childers stands next to the new ballot counting machine. -Photo by David Sykes. By Bobbi Gordon Morrow County was among 29 counties in the state that had a majority of the votes cast for Knute Buehler for Oregon state governor. Those counties did not carry enough weight to offset the votes in the seven counties that voted for Kate Brown. The per- centage of voters in Mor- row County who voted for Buehler was 67.67 percent, compared to 22.35 percent for Brown. A reported 69.06 percent of voters turned out to cast ballots statewide. In other statewide elections, Morrow County voters cast 70.03 percent of their ballots for Greg Walden for US Represen- tative, District 2 compared to Jamie McLeod-Skin- ner’s 24.8 percent. Total votes within District 2 were 56.54 percent for Walden and 39.17 percent for Mc- Leod-Skinner, a much clos- er margin. Measure 102 was the only measure that passed statewide, with Morrow County voters voting 58.21 percent no. Measure 103 was defeated at the state level, but Morrow County voters had a majority of yes votes. County voters also had more yes votes on measures 105 and 106 that were both defeated at the state level. Morrow County agreed with the rest of the state on measure 104, de- feating it with 52.30 percent of their votes. Measure 102 is de- scribed as amending the constitution to allow bonds for financing affordable housing with nongovern- mental entities. Measure 103 would amend the con- stitution to prohibit taxes and fees based on trans- actions for “groceries.” Measure 104 would amend the constitution to expand application of requirement of three-fifths legislative majority to approve bills raising revenue. Measure 105 would repeal the law limiting use of state/local law enforcement resources to enforce federal immi- gration laws. Measure 106 would amend the constitu- tion to prohibit spending “public funds” directly/ indirectly for abortion. Locally, Heppner may- or Cody High was defeat- ed by Jim Kindle. Kindle had 407 votes compared to High’s 205. Heppner council position five was the only other position with two candidates. David Gun- derson’s 403 votes defeated Sharon Inskeep’s 184. The town of Lexington mayor and two council po- sitions will be determined by write-in votes that will be available after Nov. 20. There were 49 write-in votes for mayor, 52 for councilor position 2 and 37 for councilor position 3. Bobbi Gordon ran unop- posed for councilor position 4, receiving 74 of 82 votes. According to Bobbi Childers, Morrow County clerk, the write-in votes will be tallied on the 21 st of November. “I have uncured ballots that have until 5 p.m. on Nov. 20 to cure,” she said. Uncured ballots are ballots that may be missing signatures or have other errors. The county is also required to do a mandatory hand recount after the cer- tification day of Nov. 26. Neal gets rousing retirement send-off Gary Neal and his wife Kathy (right) get a standing ovation at Gary’s retirement party last week. -Photo by David Sykes By David Sykes A l a rg e c r o w d o f well-wishers gathered last Thursday to give Port of Morrow General Manager Gary Neil a rousing retire- ment send-off. Neal is step- ping down after 29 years at the helm of the Port, which has seen tremendous growth and success during his tenure. Speaker after speaker spoke of Neal’s hard work and dedication to the job, including State Represen- tative Greg Smith, County Commissioner and former Port Commissioner Don Russell, Port Commissioner Larry Lindsay and several other Port Commissioners and elected officials. All had good things to say The Heppner Ga- zette-Times wants to see pictures of your trophy animals 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. Allen Osmin, son of Derek and Lora Osmin, Hermiston, shot his first bear and his first elk his year. The bear was taken during deer season on the Osmin Shilling Ranch on Wilson Creek. He took both with a 300 WinMag. Allen is the grandson of Frank and Cara Osmin on Balm Fork, Heppner. about Neal’s time at the Port. Several local business leaders who have done business with the Port also spoke favorably of their time working with Neal. When Neal arrived in 1989, there were a few busi- nesses and services such as the potato flake plant, Ore- gon Potato, Lamb Weston and a couple of terminal docks on the river. By com- parison, a recent economic impact analysis shows that port businesses now gener- ate $2.7 billion of economic output and have created approximately 8,500 direct and indirect jobs. Neal graduated from Clarkston Washington High School in 1971. He attended Washington State Universi- ty from 1971-1975, major- ing in political science. He was the manager of the Port of Clarkston from 1984 to March 1989. Neal was also a Port of Clarkston commis- sioner from 1981 to 1984. From 1975 through 1984, Neal worked with his father in the construction devel- opment business in the Lewiston-Clarkston valley. He began his career at the Port of Morrow in March 1989 and was named Economic Development Leader of the Year in 2000. He is currently on the board of the Bank of Eastern Ore- gon, Pacific Northwest Wa- terways Association, Ore- gon Ports Group, Northeast Oregon Water Association and is an active committee member with several other groups. Gary and his wife Kathy have been married over 42 years and they have two children and four grandchildren. Their son Ryan has been named the new Port Manager. Now that he is retired Neal says he and his wife Kathy will be moving to Clarkston to be closer to his mother. They have a winter home in Arizona and plan on spending time there and also doing some traveling. DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5PM MORROW COUNTY GRAIN GROWER 350 MAIN STREET LEXINGTON, OR Offers vary by model. Offers valid on select new 2016 – 2019 Polaris snowmobiles. On approved Polaris purchases. Minimum Payments required. Offer may not be combined with certain other offers, is subject to change and may be extended or terminated without further notice. All rebates are paid to the dealer. The Promotional Limited Warranty consists of the standard 12-month factory warranty plus an additional 12, or 24 months of additional promotional limited warranty coverage for a total of 24 or 36 months of warranty coverage. Any additional warranty coverage after the initial 12-month factory warranty is subject to a $50.00 deductible per visit. Valid at participating Polaris Snowmobile dealers only. Model & year exclusions apply. See your local dealer for details. Offers valid between 11/01/18 – 12/31/18. US: Approval, and any rates and terms provided, are based on credit worthiness. Program minimum amount financed is $5,000 and 0% – 10% down payment required. Sales tax, registration fees, and dealer fees not included. Minimum Amounts Financed, Interest Charges, and penalties for accounts non-current, may apply. Financing promotions void where prohibited. Canada: This is a limited time offer which is valid for the purchase of selected qualifying models and is subject to credit approval from TD Auto Finance (TDAF) on qualified purchases financed during this program. Rates from other lenders may vary. Monthly payment and cost of borrowing will vary depending on amount borrowed and down payment/trade. Minimum amount to finance is $5,000. Example: $7,500 financed at 3.99% over 36 months = 36 monthly payments of $221.40 with a cost of borrowing of $470.27 and a total obligation of $7,970.27. Freight, license, PPSA/RPDRM, insurance, registration, any retailer administration fees and other applicable fees and taxes are not included in the financed amount. Dealers are free to set individual prices, but must be enrolled with TDAF to participate. Does not apply to prior purchases.
