HEPPNER
G T
50¢
‘Not enough hours in the day’
to enforce property violations,
says county planner
‘We could do nothing else,’ McLane tells
commissioners
azette
imes
VOL. 138
NO. 20 8 Pages
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Neighbors complain still no
cleanup of fire-destroyed house
‘Smells so bad we can’t sit outside’
A fire gutted house on Linden Way has still not been removed
By David Sykes
A home destroyed by
fire on Linden Way in Hep-
pner on April 1, still has not
been knocked down and
cleaned up, and the neigh-
bors are complaining.
Jay Keithly lives next
door to the destroyed home
and he says the smell is so
bad he and his wife can-
not sit outside and enjoy
their yard. “It’s been over
a month and nothing has
been done,” Keithly told
the Heppner city council
Monday night.
Keithly said he called
the insurance company
trying to find out when
it is going to be knocked
down and cleaned up, but so
far has gotten no answers.
“Frankly I’m surprised it’s
still standing,” he said of
the completely gutted struc-
ture. He added he is holding
back on doing some repairs
to his house next door in
case there may be addition-
al damage during clean up.
Jim Healy, a relative of
the owner of the home, was
also at the council meeting
and said he hasn’t heard
when the structure will be
cleaned up. Others in the
audience said its condition
is so bad not only is it a
smell hazard but if kids
were to get inside someone
could get hurt.
City Attorney Bill
Kuhn said the city could
send a letter to the insur-
ance company to try and
speed things along, and also
suggest that the city could
start the cleanup and then
lien the property for the cost
if the insurance company
doesn’t pay.
In other business the
council signed a contract
with newly hired city man-
ager Kraig Cutsforth. Cuts-
forth, 58, comes to the
job with a wide range of
experience in both govern-
ment and the private sector,
including a stint as Burns
city manager and seven
years on the Hermiston City
Council.
Cutsforth takes over
from his sister Kim Cuts-
forth who has served previ-
ously in the same position
and is currently the interim
manager. His first day on
the job was May 1 and the
council had his contract
ready at Monday’s council
meeting.
Under his contract
Cutsforth will receive
$54,000 per year plus bene-
fits. The term of the contract
is “indefinite”.
One member of the
audience questioned the
council’s procedure for
hiring the new manager.
Jim Healy said hiring the
brother of the interim city
manager could cause trou-
ble for the city. He asked
if Kim Cutsforth was on
the hiring committee that
chose her brother for the
job. She was not he was
told. “Maybe you guys
should have thought about
it a little more,” Healy said.
Several members of the
council and Kraig Cutsforth
said they did think about it
and it would not be a prob-
lem. “We feel very con-
fident about our decision
to hire Kraig Cutsforth,”
said Councilmember Dale
Valby Lutheran Church
Valby Road
Ione Oregon. 97843
Church Services 1st &
3rd Sundays
Available for:
Weddings Funerals
Family Events
Old
Country
Church
All Are
Welcome
Kraig Cutsforth
New City Manager
Bates.
In other business Cuts-
forth told the council he
had an evaluation done on
the city hall heating system
and it needs to be replaced.
He estimated the cost would
be not more than $50,000.
The council voted to have
him move forward with
getting bids on the project.
Cutsforth said energy sav-
ings realized from the new
system would pay for itself
in 10 years.
In other action the
council voted to give city
employees a cost of living
pay increase for the next
fiscal year of 2.1 percent.
In other business the
council discussed the condi-
tion of the RV park in Hep-
pner across the street from
the motel. Councilmem-
ber Dave Gunderson said
there is a strong smell of
dog excrement and rotten
food when walking by the
park and he wondered what
could be done about getting
it cleaned up. There was
also talk about the general
conditions at the park hav-
ing deteriorated over the
years. The council agreed
they did not want to cause
a business to shut down
or leave town but thought
there must be a way to im-
prove the conditions there.
People are living long-term
in the park which is owned
by the same people which
own the motel across the
street and the gift shop in
the front. “It’s a horrible
thing going on there. Peo-
ple are not paying rent,”
said citizen Jim Healy at
the meeting. He said the
owners are nice people and
are letting some people live
there rent free.
Policing trash and debris filled properties around the county could be a full-time job.
By David Sykes
There is such a back-
log of property violations
across the county, “There
are not enough hours in the
day to do all the code en-
forcement,” County Planner
Carla McLane told the Mor-
row County Commissioners
last week. By code enforce-
ment McLane means viola-
tions such as piles of trash,
old wrecked car bodies and
mobile homes, and also a
large number of places with
people living permanently
in recreational vehicles,
which is illegal.
The planning commis-
sion, along with the Mor-
row County Sheriff’s De-
partment, is responsible for
identifying code violations,
contacting property owners
and following up with en-
forcement actions if neces-
sary. McLane says her staff
is not big enough to do all
their regular planning work
and also do a complete job
of code enforcement. She
says currently once per
month a staff person will go
out and follow up on com-
plaints. Discussion on code
enforcement came up at the
last county commission
meeting mainly because
of previous complaints of
people living in recreational
vehicles for longer periods
of time than allowed by law.
McLane says the county
currently has 32 cases be-
ing investigated across the
county of RV living. “Many
times, it comes down to a
test of wills,” she says. The
property owners say no one
is permanently living in
the RVs, then investigators
go inspect and there are
electrical and water hook
ups, TV satellite dishes
and other obvious signs of
permanent occupancy at
the RVs. The problem is so
pervasive she said, “Pick a
road, any road, and you can
find violations.”
Identifying code viola-
tions now is mostly driven
by complaints, usually by
neighbors. Neighbors will
call, not only about RV liv-
ing but also properties that
are piled high with trash
and garbage and needing
clean up. She says her small
staff is only scratching the
surface. “I don’t know what
to do,” she told the commis-
sioners.
“When you have some
people with 50 abandoned
cars, they don’t have the
money to clean them up,”
Commissioner Don Russell
said. “We let them go on for
years and then it only gets
worse,” McLane agreed. “It
took us 25 years to get here
and it will take us 25 years
to turn the boat around. It
all depends on how much
resources do you want to
devote to it,” she says.
Obviously frustrated
with the problem, McLane
said she “looks forward to
a conversation on how this
county does code enforce-
ment.” Commissioner Jim
Doherty said he thought ac-
tion would come when the
people of Morrow County,
and not just the govern-
ment, want something done
about code enforcement
problems.
In other business the
commissioners heard from
department heads who
wanted the new facilities
being built in Irrigon to
include break rooms for
the employees. Including
breakrooms in the new
building plans had appar-
Completed ballots for
the May 21 election must
be received by 8 p.m. on
election day. Postmarks do
not count. Drop boxes are
available in each communi-
ty in Morrow County.
According to Bobbi
Childers, Morrow County
Clerk, eligible voters for
the 2019 election consist of
1,844 in Boardman, 2,315
in Irrigon, 407 in Lexing-
ton, 424 in Ione and 1,302
in Heppner for a total of
6,292 eligible voters. The
2017 special election had
5,664 eligible voters.
There are currently
only 1,161 ballots returned,
for a voter turnout of 18.4
percent. The 2017 voter
turnout was 23.99 percent.
Ballots may be dropped
in Heppner 24 hours a day
at the drop box in the Bar-
tholomew building park-
ing lot. Ballots may also
be dropped in the county
clerk’s office, room 102,
Monday through Friday
from 8 a.m. to noon and 1
ently been questioned by
one of the commissioners.
“It’s part of doing busi-
ness. You have a micro-
wave, refrigerator and a
place for people to eat,”
said Sheriff Ken Matlack,
who pushed for including
the rooms in construction.
He said his department
sometimes has people who
cannot leave the building
during their shift and have
no other place to eat. “It’s
something that has always
been done.”
County Planner Mc-
Lane said they currently
don’t have a break room at
the planning building but
would like to see one at
the new building. “I hope
there is an understanding
of the taxpayers of Morrow
County that they would
appreciate their employees
enough to provide a place
for them to eat lunch,” she
said. Commissioner Me-
lissa Lindsay said she was
not opposed to having break
rooms or questioning the
costs but was glad to hear
the department heads’ ex-
planation for them. Russell
said employees can expect
to have a breakroom with
the basic appliances in-
cluded in the new building
construction.
In other business the
commission discussed hav-
ing a goal setting workshop
for commissioners to be
held by a professional facil-
itator. The county received
two proposals from profes-
sionals and it would cost
between $2,000 and $5,500.
The workshop would help
establish county-wide goals
and improve team building
in the county.
Remember to vote by May 21
p.m. to 5.
The Lexington ballot
drop box is located in the
public works parking lot at
365 W Hwy 74.
In Ione, the drop box is
located on Spring Street, in
front of the turn onto Third
Street.
Outside drop boxes are
currently open 24 hours, but
all drop boxes will close
at 8 p.m. on election day.
Ballot drop boxes are also
located in Boardman and
Irrigon.
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