Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 20, 2019 -- NINE
Survey shows 16 percent favor
city credit card processing
Veterans celebrated by
Heppner HS students
Question went out on back of water bill
Sheriff’s Report
By David Sykes
The city of Heppner is
considering taking credit
and debit cards for payment
of water and sewer bills.
There is a set up cost and
a per transaction cost. The
city council was not sure if
people would use the ser-
vice, so a survey was con-
ducted. The question was
asked on the backside of
the October water bills and
there were 117 responses,
with 97 saying no, and 20
saying they would like to
pay with credit cards. The
results were announced
at this month’s council
meeting.
At last month’s meeting
the council had a lengthy
discussion on whether peo-
ple would use it and if it
would be worth the ex-
pense. City Manager Kraig
Cutsforth had said that the
new program would cost
the city in the range of
$1,500 to set up and then a
The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office has released the following information:
July 6 (cont.): Morrow
July 7: Morrow Coun- Hollow Rd North, Heppner
County Sheriff ’s Office ty Sheriff’s Office received of a lost black and white
received a report at SE a report at Sinclair Station border collie. Dog was
Division ST/E Hwy 730, on Main St N, Boardman located.
Irrigon that a tan Chevy that a customer is con-
-MCSO received a re-
truck swerved toward RP cerned someone is follow- port on SE Thomas Ave,
and punched it when he got ing him. Subject was given Irrigon that neighbors are
next to him.
a courtesy ride home.
setting off fireworks and he
-MCSO received a
-MCSO received a re- dog is getting agitated and
report on SE Utah Ave port at Oregon Trail Blvd/ trying to jump the fence.
that a black Chevy Yukon Anderson Rd, Boardman
-MCSO received a re-
went over by RP’s boat and of a possible domestic. port at SE Brandon St/SE
turned up the music on the Someone reported hear- Utah Ave, Irrigon of aerial
vehicle.
ing screaming. Unable to fireworks in the area.
-MCSO received a re- locate.
-MCSO received a
port on SE Charity Loop,
-MCSO received a re- report on SE Utah Ave,
Irrigon of 59-year-old male port at NE Washington Irrigon that a white Ford
with chest and left arm pain. Ave/N First St, Irrigon of F350 flew through towards
Transported patient.
a dog running around the Division.
-MCSO received a re- area. Dog was returned to
-MCSO received a re-
port on Hwy 74, Heppner her owner.
port at Willow Creek Rd/
that female is trespassing,
-MCSO received a re- Balm Fork Rd, Heppner
she is heading toward Hep- port on SE Utah Ave, Ir- that there is a female subject
pner on foot. She has been rigon that his neighbor’s on foot near their residence.
formally trespassed.
friend keeps stating things It sounded like she was
-MCSO received a re- between him and his neigh- vomiting or retching. She
port on I 84 W, Board- bors. She is turning around screamed no and is wonder-
man that a white tractor in his driveway and harass- ing around with a flashlight.
with white trailer is passing ing him. He would like a
July 8: Morrow Coun-
unsafely and alternating deputy to tell her to knock ty Sheriff’s Office received
speed. Unable to locate.
it off.
a report on I 84 E, Hermis-
-MCSO received a re-
-MCSO received a re- ton that a gray Volkswagen
port at Morrow County port at Murray Drugs on N Passat or Jetta is swerving
OHV Park on Forest Ser- Main St, Heppner that her in and out of the lanes. Re-
vice 21 Rd, Heppner left daughter found a stray dog ferred to other agency.
Monument about five hours and brought it home. Dog
-MCSO received a re-
ago, he is highly intoxicat- was located at the park next port at Boardman Bombing
ed. Most likely headed to to Murray’s. Deputy re- Range on Bombing Range
OHV or Heppner.
turned dog to owner, owner Rd, Boardman of a found
-MCSO received a re- was given a verbal warning Chihuahua, ginger colored.
port on Kunze Ln, Board- for dog at large.
-MCSO received a re-
man that there is a male that
-MCSO received a re- port at Oregon Trail Library
came from the house that is port that Joshua Thomas on H Main St, Heppner of
tweaking and is making a Bergie Moore was arrested four or five kids behind
lot of dust trying to blow the by UCSO on MCCC war- the library screaming cuss
gravel with a weed blower. rant. Subject was lodged at words and yelling “I’m
Deputy spoke to male.
UCJ with no bail.
gonna kill.” Would like the
-MCSO received a re-
-MCSO received a re- children talked to about
port on Garrison Ln, Board- port on I 84 W, Boardman their language and scream-
man of loud music. Depu- of MVA. Vehicle was hit ing in a public place.
ties responded, resident was from behind.
-MCSO received a re-
advised to turn the music
-MCSO received a re- port on Rand Rd, Irrigon
down.
port at Spur Loop/Sand that he has had a Jersey in
his pasture for approx. two
weeks and does not know
who it belongs to.
-MCSO received a re-
port on SE Thomas Ave,
Irrigon that RP found a
Husky. Would like a deputy
to take it to pet rescue be-
cause it keeps slipping out
of her fence.
-MCSO received a re-
port on I 84 W, Boardman
of an eight-foot hunk of
tread in the middle of the
left lane. Unable to locate.
-MCSO received a re-
port on C Street, Lexington
of ID theft, someone took
money from his bank ac-
count.
-MCSO received a re-
port at Smiley’s Happy
Place on Boardman Ave
NW, Boardman that a male
was knocked unconscious.
Patient refusal.
July 9: Morrow Coun-
ty Sheriff’s Office received
a report at Maple Crest
Apartments on Wilson Rd
SW, Boardman that a ve-
hicle hit parked vehicles.
Francisco Gomez was ar-
rested by BPD on charge
of hit and run and DUII.
Subject lodged at UCJ with
bail of $10,000.
-MCSO received a re-
port on I 84 E, Boardman of
a dead elk on I 84. Referred
to other agency.
-MCSO received a re-
port at Sandpiper Apart-
ments on Main St N, Board-
man that male subjects
outside are getting loud, RP
heard some bottles break.
-MCSO received a
report at Heppner Grade
School on SE Stansbury St,
Heppner that a white van
is parked next to the grade
school, unsure if it belongs
there.
By Cami VanArsdale
Last week Heppner
High School celebrated
their local veterans through
their annual celebration.
Every year, students get the
opportunity to listen to vet-
erans’ stories. Personally, I
am always amazed by the
veterans’ stories every year.
This year was no exception.
Heppner High School
hosted over 40 veterans
this year. After students
listened to the veteran’s
stories, veterans, students
and staff made their way
to the gymnasium for the
program. The Heppner
High School band and choir
played music performanc-
es. There was a slideshow
featuring all of the veteran’s
photos, roll call and a key-
note speaker. The keynote
speaker was a veteran and
former Heppner student,
Travis Hughes. The key-
note speaker presented a
Heppner student, William
Cerda, with a challenge
coin for his hard work in
school.
The veterans partici-
pated in a group photo and
from there made their way
to the luncheon where they
were able to socialize. Hep-
pner High School would
like to thank all the veterans
for attending and for their
service.
$125 monthly charge. In ad-
dition, any citizen who used
credit or debit cards to pay
their bill would be charged
an additional $2.95 fee for
online payments, $3.95 for
credit/debit card and $4.95
for running cards in house.
H o w e v e r, a t l a s t
month’s meeting coun-
cilmember Teresa Hughes
said that before spending
the money and signing a
three-year agreement, she
wanted to know how many
people would actually use
the payment option. She
said she didn’t like sign-
ing a three-year contract,
having the city pay out the
setup fee and then spend-
ing $125 per month before
knowing how many might
use the payment option.
The survey was an at-
tempt by the city to find out
how many would pay this
way. Cutsforth had estimat-
ed 10 percent would use it,
and the survey results came
back with a 16 percent yes,
he pointed out.
Cutsforth said the city
has about 690 water us-
ers and does about 8,000
transactions per year. At
this month’s meeting he
proposed spreading the
cost of taking credit cards
out on all the transactions,
which would come to about
60 cents increase per trans-
action. He said this is the
“normal” way credit card
charges are handled at busi-
nesses. He said after talking
to Columbia Basin Electric
Co-op which does about
50,000 transactions and
also takes credit cards, he
was told that taking credit
cards cuts down on the
number of delinquent ac-
counts “drastically.”
At the October city util-
ity meeting CBEC General
Manager Tom Wolff said
when the co-op first started
the credit service, they had
a four percent fee added
on. They have since been
able to drop the fee, but the
co-op has many more cus-
tomers. He said the savings
in postage helps offset the
fees. The Utility Committee
had moved to recommend
adoption of the credit card
option.
Hughes, however, was
still unconvinced. “I don’t
think we have enough in-
terest,” she said. “I think
those that are delinquent
are delinquent. I don’t think
this is worth it. They don’t
pay because they don’t have
the money,” she said. Coun-
cilmember John Bowles
said he had talked to people
about it and found support
for the city taking credit
cards. The council took no
action on the proposal.
In other business at
the meeting Rusty Estes
announced his retirement
as Fire Chief. There will
be an interview with Estes
about his time on the job
in a future edition of the
Gazette-Times.
The city council also
received the annual audit
report from Barnett & Moro
Accountants. The report
was positive with no major
issues for the city.
The council received
notice from the Oregon De-
partment of Transportation
that the city has received
a grant of $65,000 for im-
provements to Fairview
Way. The work includes
building new base and pav-
ing approximately 150 feet
of the east end of Fairview
Way.
The council received
the Public Works Report
for October. Some of the
work done by the crew
included: installing wa-
ter meter and sewer ser-
vices on Cowins St. for the
new duplexes being built;
Flushed hydrants on Frank
Gillam and Lakeview Ct.;
Installed new fire hydrant
on Rock St above the clin-
ic; Did 13 septic dumps;
removed two trees in front
of Corner Stone; picked up
a dead deer; put up two 25
mph signs on Riverside;
took down hanging flow-
er baskets and turned off
drip watering system and
cleaned up the leaves at the
city park.
In other business at last
month’s utility commission
meeting engineers Ander-
son and Perry had done a
study for a lagoon location
for the city’s proposed new
sewer treatment system.
The city is under pressure
from the Oregon Depart-
ment of Environmental
Quality to stop dumping
treated effluent from the
sewer plant into Willow
Creek. New ammonia
standards will prohibit the
dumping at some point so
the city has to find a new
method of treatment. It is
looking at a lagoon system
but needs land.
The city will need about
11 acres and the proposed
site is close to the storage
tank for the Golf Course
irrigation. The golf course
currently uses treated ef-
fluent for irrigation. There
would be an irrigation cir-
cle on the hill above for
any excess. The next step
is to present the study to
the landowner and discuss
compensation for the prop-
erty. Anderson Perry will
also assist the city in finding
funding for the project. The
utility commission voted in
favor of moving forward
with the proposal.
Morrow County Foster Children Gift Drive
C ome take a tag from our g iving t ree .
r eturn unwrapped gift by d eCember 9 th with tag attaChed .
y ou don ’ t have to purChase everything on the list .
g ive what you Can .
i f you take a tag , please buy the gift .
i f you Change your mind , bring the tag baCk and put it
on the tree .
124 N. MAIN STREET HEPPNER OR 541-676-9481