EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 11, 2020
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Gazette-Times
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541-676-9228
azette
imes
VOL. 135
NO. 12 10 Pages
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Heppner’s Wee Bit o’ Ireland celebration is back for its 34th run this week, March 17-20. See
stories PAGE TWO and a full schedule of events pages FOUR AND FIVE. -File photo
Heppner facing big decision on its
waste water treatment
EPA says ammonia too high in waste water going into Willow Creek
By David Sykes
The Environmental
Protection Agency has in-
formed the city of Hep-
pner its ammonia levels in
waste water being released
into Willow Creek are too
high and will have to be
reduced, the city council
was told Monday night.
City officials say there are
two options to alleviate the
problem, and neither is go-
ing to be easy.
One option would be
for the city to install am-
monia reduction equipment
at the waste water treatment
plant, and then continue to
dump the effluent into Wil-
low Creek. The equipment
may cost between $750,000
and $1.5 million. The other
option is for the city to set
up a lagoon system, spread
the effluent on farm land,
and discontinue dumping
any effluent into Willow
Creek. The lagoon system
also has problems, as the
city does not have land at
this time on which to place
the lagoons or spread the
water. It is estimated it
will take approximately 38
acres of land to handle the
lagoons and less than 20
acres if they irrigate with it.
At this time the city uses the
17-acre local golf course to
irrigate with the effluent.
Public Works Direc-
tor Chad Doherty told the
council the city would also
have to look for land on
the hillside, away from the
Willow Creek and out of
the flood plain, on which to
locate the lagoons.
“The EPA is trying to
get us out of the creek,”
city manager Kim Cutsforth
said. “Spending $750,000
on ammonia reduction
equipment is putting a band
aid on a 50-year-old plant,”
Cutsforth said about that
option.
Cutsforth later said it
might cost up to $1.5 mil-
lion “by the time we are
done” to install the ammo-
nia equipment.
Cutsforth said before
any decision is made she
wants to have an engineer
study the problem and come
up with the correct solution.
“We have been offi-
cially told (by the EPA), and
now we need an engineer
to come and look at it,”
she told the council. “They
need to come back with a
plan to make it work. I don’t
think ammonia abatement
is the answer,” she added.
The council passed a
motion authorizing the city
manager to contact Ander-
son Perry Engineering and
start the process of a study.
In other business the
council heard that the low
bid on the new fire hall
came it at $930,000, high-
er than city officials had
hoped.
“It’s over what we
wanted, but in the range
we can live with,” Cutsforth
told the council.
The low bidder, Apollo,
Inc, is located in Kenne-
-See WASTE WATER PROB-
LEM/PAGE TWO
School district approves entrance age
policies for elementary, kindergarten
By April Sykes
full-time school during the program based on an analy- sion for parents to appeal
The Morrow County entire school term.
sis by qualified staff. The the decision.
School Board, at its March
The policy goes on to analysis would include the
Also at the meeting,
meeting at Irrigon Elemen- say that a child will be ad- child’s cognitive, social and the school district approved
tary School, adopted policy mitted to kindergarten if his physical development, with hiring 2015-16 probation-
on early school entrance fifth birthday occurs on or the superintendent identify- ary teachers for extension
to read that a child will be before Sept. 1 or he or she ing screening processes and for 2016-17, including:
admitted into public school is transferring from a public instruments to provide the Amy Stringer, a counsel-
if his sixth birthday occurs school in another district.
assessment. Parents will be or who divides her time
on or before Sept. 1 or if his
The policy also speci- required to pay the cost of among A.C. Houghton El-
sixth birthday occurs after fies that early entry into the special testing involved ementary School, Irrigon,
that date if he has main- school may be allowed for a and complete a request for Irrigon Elementary and
tained regular attendance student whose needs would early entrance by August Heppner High School, and
in any grade of a public best be met in the school 15. There is also a provi- Madison Rosenbalm, fifth/
sixth grade teacher at Hep-
pner Elementary (north end
teachers not included).
Teachers Terri Gentry,
who teaches PE and health
at Heppner Elementary
and Heppner Junior/Senior
High School, and Sherry
Matteson, who teaches kin-
dergarten/first grade at Hep-
pner Elementary, have an-
nounced their retirements.
Dieter Waite, HES as-
sistant principal, will con-
tinue in that capacity, in
addition to teaching one
period at Heppner Junior/
Senior High School, along
with the following teachers:
Heppner Elementary-Me-
lissa Coiner, Rick Drake,
Mary Ann Elguezabal, Sue
Gibbs, Sarah Matheny, Sha-
ron Morris, Joselyn Piper,
Sybil Stewart and Marissa
The St. Patrick’s Day shamrock that was hidden in Heppner was found last week by man and Turner; HJSHS-Jean Col-
wife team Kandy and Dale Boyd. (Kandy said she figured out the clues and then told Dale lins, Beth Dickenson, Rick
where to find the lucky charm). So where was it? The shamrock was hidden above the Mor- Drake, Mary Ann Elgueza-
row County Courthouse in a stone barbecue on the back lawn (below). For their efforts the bal, John Flaherty, Dave
Boyds were given a $50 Visa Gift Card donated by the Bank of Eastern Oregon. The card was Fowler, Greg Grant, Troy
presented (above) last week by Heppner Branch Manager Trisha Rollins. -Photo by David Sykes Morgan, Andrea Nelson,
Jason Palmer, Petra Payne,
Jeremy Rosenbalm and
Marissa Turner.
Shamrock found
-See SCHOOL DISTRICT/
PAGE SIX
Heppner grad strikes
a chord with country
song cover track
By Andrea Di Salvo
Heppner graduate Erica
Nelson has taken her vocal
studies to the next level
with a cover recording of
the song “Burning House”
by country star Cam (Ca-
maron Ochs).
Nelson, a 2015 graduate
of Heppner High School, is
the daughter of David and
Michelle McCurry. The
18-year-old is a freshman
at Portland State University,
where she majors in Jazz
Studies.
“I toured a recording
studio called The Rye Room
as a part of my contempo-
rary vocalist class, and
knew I had to work with
Matt Greco, the producer
there. He is such a great
musician!” says Nelson.
She says she met with
Greco to discuss recording
a couple of songs, but the
two decided the haunting
tones of Cam’s “Burning
House” was a good fit,
“just because of the way
it reflected my vocal tech-
nique,” Nelson says.
Producer Matt Greco
provided the instrumentals,
providing a rich piano track
for the recording.
While it might seem
difficult to fit recording
time in with maintaining an
honor-level GPA, Nelson
says she makes it work.
Erica Nelson
“While college is a
busy time for all students,
I’ve been able to balance
my workload to add studio
time pretty easily,” she
says. “You should always
have time to pursue your
passions.”
Nelson says she defi-
nitely plans on doing more
song covers, though price
is always a factor—profes-
sional recordings aren’t
cheap. She says she’s not
sure if she wants to use
“Burning House” as a demo
track, but does plan on re-
cording a demo in the near
future.
Nelson’s rendition of
“Burning House” can be
heard online at https://m.
soundcloud.com/ricathek-
angaroo/burning-house-
cam.
Chamber plans
candidates’ forum
Thursday, April 21, Heppner Chamber of Commerce
will sponsor a candidates’ forum for the Morrow County
Judge and Commissioner Position #1. Bill Kuhn will be
the moderator.
Written questions will be accepted during the forum,
or questions can be emailed to the chamber prior to that
date at heppnerchamber@centurytel.net. Murray’s will
cater.
Pastors invited to submit
Easter messages to G-T
Area pastors are invited
to submit Easter messages
to the Heppner Gazette-
Times for publication in
the March 23 newspaper.
Deadline for submission is
Monday, March 21.
Messages may be
emailed to editor@rapid-
serve.net, mailed to Ga-
zette-Times at P.O. Box
337, Heppner, OR 97836,
faxed to 541-676-9211 or
brought into the Gazette-
Times office, 188 W. Wil- low, Heppner, OR 97836.
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.mcgg.net
david@rapidserve.net
● Hot Deli
● Sandwiches
● Ice Cream
● Fresh Produce
● Coffee
541-676-9614 - Main Street Heppner
OPEN
MON -SAT
7AM - 5PM
p eterson ' s J ewelers
541-676-5062
329 N. Main Street
Heppner OR 97836
Happy St.
Patrick’s Day
from Heppner
Chamber of
Commerce
ENJOY
THE MUSIC
FUN AND
FESTIVITIES
Columbia Basin Electric Co-op
H eppner 541-676-9200
350 Main Street
P.O. Box 367
Lexington, Oregon
www.mcgg.net
541-989-8221
1-800-452-7396