Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 2019)
FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, April 10, 2019 NEW CITY MANAGER -Continued from PAGE ONE of output for four hours, allowing the excess water from Hinton Creek to safely run off down Willow Creek. Bowles said the Corps had “no concerns.” Interim city manager Kim Cutsforth told the council that there were “historic water levels” at the lake now because of the hold back. Public Works director Chad Doherty said the Corps action of cutting back on outflow saved one of the city’s water lines that runs along the creek from being washed out. On other public works business, the council praised the city crew for their hard work in get- ting the city ready after the big snow storms for last month’s St Patrick’s Day event. The council also heard from Doherty who said the city’s street sweeper is wearing out and another one is needed. The council voted to have Doherty put in a bid for a used sweeper from the city of Cornelius. Doherty said he went and looked at the machine and it is in good condition. Dropping business water fee The council discussed possibly dropping a water surcharge of $17.50 per month that businesses in Heppner pay. Called a fire- flow charge the city put in the extra business water charge when the new water system was put in many years ago. The businesses do not receive any addition- al services for this fee and it is really a business tax. There was push-back from the Heppner business community after it was en- acted, but the extra charge remained for many years. Kim Cutsforth said the city has been receiving extra money from the county and could now get along without the extra $18,000 per year the city receives from business water users. Cutsforth, as well as the city Utility Committee, recommended dropping the fee. “The city no longer needs to burden our busi- nesses in order to balance the budget,” she said in her report to the council. “Re- moving this fee helps small businesses and is an aide to economic development.” Some councilmembers were in favor of eliminating the extra charge, howev- er, councilmember Adam Doherty said the city may be okay without the money now, but what if it’s needed in the future? Would the city go back to the busi- nesses and reinstitute the extra water fee? He said he wasn’t anti-business but felt that businesses in town could afford the extra $210 per year they are charged and the city shouldn’t let the money go at this time. The council agreed to wait on a decision until the city starts its budgeting process and then see where it was. Sheriff looks at K-9 Morrow County Sher- iff’s Office is investigating the addition of a K-9 unit to enhance their ability to en- force drug laws and curtail illegal activities. It has been recommended by the police commission that the city budget $6,000 to participate in the K-9 program. These funds will be outside of the regular law enforcement contract and will be used as needed. The city will pay for a handler and a K-9 when they are in the city of Heppner only. No action by the council was taken and it will be taken up at city budget time. New water bill due date The council also heard a proposal to change the water payment due date from the 10 th of the month to the 15 th . Cutsforth said many people are used to having their bills due on the 15 th so the city would be more in line with other due dates. The council will consider the change at later meeting dates. April 30 last day to register for May 21 election The last day to register for the election to be held on May 21 is April 30. Registration cards that are postmarked by that date or submitted online no later than 11:59 p.m. will be accepted. According to Bobbi Childers, Morrow County clerk, military ballots have already been mailed and out of state ballots will go out on April 22. The bal- ance of the ballots will be mailed May 1. Completed ballots must be delivered to an official drop site or to the county clerk’s office no later than 8 p.m. on election day. Postmarks are not con- sidered. Items and candidates included on south county ballots will include: -Umatilla Morrow Ra- dio and Data District Posi- tion 3, Keith Kennedy and Position 5, Mark Pratt. -Morrow County Health District Director Position 1, Marie Shimer; Position 4, Aaron Palmquist and Position 5, Carri Grieb. -Port of Morrow Com- missioner Position 4, Mar- vin Padberg and Position 5, John Murray and Debbie Radie. -Heppner Rural Fire Protection District, Don- ald Bennett and Kelwayne Haguewood. -Ione Rural Fire Pro- tection District, Joseph McElligott and Keith Rea. -Heppner Cemetery District, Thomas Wolff. -Ione-Lexington Ceme- tery District, Myrna Sieler and Marilyn Childers. -Willow Creek Park District, Gary Propheter, Ronald (Skip) Matthews and Joe Armato. -Morrow County Uni- fied Recreation District Zone 5, Cyde Estes. -Unified Recreation District Zone 4, Linda LaRue. -Morrow County School District Position 1, Brian Kollman; Position 2, Marisela (Marcie) Rodelo; Position 3, Richard Cole; Position 4, Becky Kindle and Position 5, Mary Kil- lion. -Ione School District Position 1, Stacie Ekstrom and Position 2, Tricia Rol- lins. -BMCC Director Zone 1, Chris Brown. -Intermountain ESD Director Zone 7, Joe McEl- ligott. -Oregon Trail Library District Position 2, Lisa Constantine. -Ione Library District, Anne C Morter and Betty Rietmann. -Heppner Water Con- trol District, Al Osmin, Ar- chie Ball and Jerry Gentry. Additional information regarding candidates and the election can be found on the Morrow County web- site: https://www.co.mor- row.or.us/clerk/page/elec- tions-and-voting. Cemetery Arbor Day tree district giveaway scheduled schedules meeting The Heppner Cemetery Maintenance District will hold their monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 16 at 5:30 p.m. at the Ag Service Building conference room, 430 W Linden Way. Agenda items include minutes of the previous meeting, financial report and cemetery oper- ations. Meetings of the Hep- pner Cemetery Mainte- nance District are open to the public according to ORS 192.640(1). For addi- tional information, contact Janet Greenup at 541-561- 6768. The annual Arbor Day tree giveaway, sponsored by Pendleton Parks and Recreation, US Forest Ser- vice, the Tree Commission and the Parks and Recre- ation Commission, will be held Saturday, April 13. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Wal-Mart parking lot near the grocery entrance. Trees will be given away by volunteers on a first come, first served basis along with informational handouts. Varieties avail- able include Blue Elder- berry, Redosier Dogwood, Golden Currant and Quak- ing Aspen. Event sponsors welcome the opportunity to answer questions and provide a wide variety of information on trees. Arbor Day is celebrated nationwide on an annual basis. Each state and mu- nicipality set the date, with Oregon’s Arbor Week being the first full calendar week in April. For additional informa- tion call 541-276-8100 or visit pendletonparksandrec. com. The parks office, 865 Tutuilla Rd, is open Mon- day through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. This month’s feature is a new animated retelling of a classic allegory, in print continuously since 1678 and widely read by pioneers and pilgrims as they trav- Students from Morrow County have been named to the Oregon State University Honor Roll for winter term 2019. Boardman – with 3.5 or better; Lizbeth Gaytan, senior, business adminis- tration; Taylor R. Hamby, sophomore, biology; Tania Mendoza, sophomore, uni- versity exploratory studies. Heppner – with a straight-A average; Mekay- la S. Kindle, senior, human development and family science. With a 3.5 or bet- ter: Jessica M. Kempken, junior, bio health sciences; Kane P. Sweeney, sopho- more, political science. Ione – straight A av- erage; Oskar M. Peterson, senior, mechanical engi- neering. Irrigon – 3.5 or better; Asusena Munoz Flores, junior, human development and family science; Brandy Quezada-Hermosillo, ju- nior, human development and family science; Bruno Salas Garcia, junior, micro- biology; Corbin M. Tegner, senior, pre-computer sci- ence. Lexington – 3.5 or better; Logan S. Grieb, sophomore, management; Weston J. Putman, junior, marketing. A total of 1,371 stu- dents earned straight-A (4.0). Another 4,728 earned a B-plus (3.5) or better to make the listing. To be on the Honor Roll, students must carry at least 12 grad- ed hours of course work. Dam Right committee to hold meeting A newly formed com- mittee with concerns about Willow Creek Reservoir and the dam has been formed and will hold a meeting to discuss those concerns on April 11. The meeting is scheduled at 7 p.m. in the Heppner City Hall conference room. A few of the concerns to be discussed are the effects of the algae, swim- ming and fishing in the lake and what is being done to fix the problems. Another concern is how the dam is holding up after 35 years and is everything possible being done to keep the dam safe. Everyone is invited to become involved and be- come a part of the solution by joining the Dam Right committee. Chamber Chatter Wednesday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m., Crafty Nights at the Library book folding. This event is sponsored by the Oregon Trail Library District and will be held at the Heppner branch. Register online at https:// oregontrail.ploud.net or call 541-676-9964 for addition- al information. Wednesday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m., High School Tri-County Band Festival hosted by Heppner High School at the Heppner El- ementary School gym. The event will include students from 10 area schools per- forming a concert. Ad- mission is $1 per person and everyone is invited to attend. Thursday, Apr. 11 from noon to 1 p.m., Heppner Chamber to host a candi- date’s forum for the Port of Morrow Commissioner Position #5 in the Heppner City Hall conference room. Lunch will be catered by Tacos Hometown for $10 per person. RSVP to the Heppner Chamber at 541- 676-5536 or email at hep- pnerchamber@centurytel. net. April 12 through May 5, Tastiest Taco contest will be held as a fundraiser for United Way of Umatilla/ Morrow Counties. Partic- ipants may buy a Tastiest Taco stamp booklet of 10 locations for $10. Test one taco at 10 different local restaurants in Hermiston, Irrigon, Pendleton, Stan- field and Umatilla to deter- mine the tastiest taco. The booklet will include one taco per person per vendor, but additional tacos may be purchased. Booklets are available at umatilla- morrowunitedway.org or from Sheryll at the Heppner Chamber office, 541-676- 5536. Saturday, Apr. 13 and Saturday May 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., SAGE Cen- ter Saturday Agriculture/ Science based activities with free admission. Plan on spending the day at the SAGE center and partic- ipate in the activities and take a tour of the SAGE Center while you are there. Contact 541-481-7243 for questions. Monday, Apr. 15 is he deadline for the Communi- ty and Public Enhancement grant offered by Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group. To obtain an application, con- tact the Heppner Chamber at 541-676-5336 or email heppnerchamber@centu- rytel.net. The application is also available on the Chamber website: heppner- chamber.com. Monday, Apr. 15 is he deadline for the Business Enhancement Grant re- quests offered by Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group. Al- though the grants are open for consideration if funds are available, current re- quests will be reviewed along with the Community and Public Enhancement grant requests. To obtain an application, contact the Heppner Chamber at 541- 676-5336 or email hep- pnerchamber@centurytel. net. The application is also available on the Chamber website: heppnerchamber. com. Thursday, Apr. 18 from 1-4 p.m., CPR Public Class in the Pioneer Memorial Clinic conference room provided by Morrow Coun- ty Health District. Tom Sanders, Respiratory Ther- apist, will be leading this class. If you are interested in participating or need more information, call 541- 676-2930. Friday, Apr. 19 at 7:15 p.m. and Saturday, Apr. 20 at 2:15 p.m., SAGE Center movie event showing Bum- blebee. Plan on coming and watching this movie at the SAGE Center for a $3 ad- mission cost (includes free popcorn). Bottled water and concessions are available for cash purchase. Friday, April 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., First Friday Friends of Je- sus will hold a special year- end wrap-up session at the All Saints Parish Hall. For additional information, contact the church office at 541-676-9970. Saturday, Apr. 27 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., 6 th Annu- al DVS Walk in her shoes awareness event at Riv- erfront Park in Hermis- ton. Domestic Violence Services, Inc. is looking for sponsors for the event stations and sponsorships to help cover the expenses for the event. Station sponsor, $250; Platinum sponsor, $150; Gold sponsor, $100 and Silver sponsor, $50. For additional information or to sign up for the event call 541-276-3322. Thursday, May 16 from noon to 1 p.m., Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group host- ed annual luncheon at the Heppner Senior Center dining room. Updates on the programs WCVEDG is working on and guest speakers from Portland General Electric will be on the agenda. Alvin Liu with Gateway Café will cater a BBQ lunch. RSVPs are re- quired no later than May 13. June 22-29, Bicycle Rides Northwest’s BRNW Oregon 2019. The group will be spending the night in Heppner, as part of the ride, on Friday, June 28. The ride will begin and end in Condon and travel to Moro, Maupin, Fossil, Spray and Heppner. For additional information or to register to ride access their website: http://bicycleridesnw.org/ rides/brnw-oregon-2019/. Hold the dates for the summer music in the park concerts from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Hopeful Saints Minis- try volunteers will provide meals for purchase. Sunday, June 9 will be Chasing Ebenezer. Dakota Brown will perform on Sunday, July 14 and Wasteland Kings on Sunday, August 11. Thursday, August 1 is the deadline to apply for Morrow County Cultural Coalition grants. Applica- tions for cultural-based ac- tivities are being accepted, with grants to be awarded for up to 50 percent of the total project cost. For com- plete guidelines and appli- cation form, contact Gayle Gutierrez at 541-676-5630 or via email at ggutierrez@ co.morrow.or.us. OWC to hold meeting Free movie night scheduled The monthly free mov- ie night sponsored by Hope- ful Saints Ministry will take place this Friday, April 12, beginning at 7 p.m. at the All Saints Parish Hall. Local students named to OSU honor roll eled to a new land. Pizza and beverages will be provided. More information is available by calling the church office at 541-676-9970. The Oregon Wheat Commission (OWC) will hold a special commission meeting on April 11 to discuss commission busi- ness. The meeting will be held at the Port of Morrow Riverfront Facility, 2 Ma- rine Drive, Boardman, OR beginning at 10 a.m. in the Riverfront Room. Lunch will be provided. Commission meetings are open to the public and anyone wishing to attend is encouraged and welcome to do so. Dress is business casual. The meeting location is accessible to persons with disabilities. The ADA prohibits discrimination against persons with dis- abilities For additional infor- mation contact the Oregon Wheat Commission office at 503-467-2161.