EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Port agrees to dual county sponsorship of new enterprise zone
Major obstacle appears removed
By David Sykes
In a major concession
toward reaching an agree-
ment on the structure of a
new enterprise zone, the
Port of Morrow has agreed
to dual sponsorship with
just Morrow County. Pre-
viously the port had wanted
the new zone identical to
the current agreement with
the city of Boardman as a
permanent partner.
However, the county
commission had objected
to this structure, with Chair-
man Melissa Lindsay insist-
ing only the port and county
be partners in any new zone,
and then other cities in the
county be brought into the
zone’s governing board
depending on the location
(or influence zone) of any
future economic activity.
She said this arrangement
would place all the cities in
the county on equal footing
with Boardman and make
decision making about eco-
nomic development and
fund disbursement more
equitable.
In what appears to be a
major move toward recon-
ciliation with the county,
the port commissioners
at their April 24 meeting
backed off the requirement
that Boardman be a per-
manent zone member, thus
apparently removing the
major disagreement with
the county. Also, at the
meeting the port put forth a
map with “influence” zones
around the five cities in the
county. Under the plan if
a business proposes a new
facility or activity in one of
the zones, then a represen-
tative from that city would
become a voting member
of the enterprise zone and
included in the contract and
money distribution decision
making.
The concept of hav-
ing all cities throughout
the county instead of just
Boardman part of the
CREZ, was originally pro-
posed by Lindsay. She has
remained adamant about a
dual sponsorship through-
out ongoing negotiations
between the county and
port. Whether the county
accepts this new offer from
the port, however, has not
been decided, with the com-
mission set to discuss the
proposal at its Wednesday,
May 6 meeting, after the
Gazette-Times deadline.
In a fallback position
at the April 24 meeting, the
port also passed a motion
to co-sponsor an enter-
prise zone with just the
city of Boardman, but only
if the county and the port
are unable to agree on the
structure of a new zone.
That motion passed unan-
imously.
Under state enterprise
zone law the city of Board-
man can apply for and have
its own zone, but must
have the sponsorship of
the port, and have the zone
only located within its city
limits. The port can only
have an enterprise zone
outside the city limits such
as the current zone covering
much of the port industrial
park, with approval from
the county.
The current Colum-
bia River Enterprise Zone
(CREZII) expires June 30,
and zone administrator
Greg Sweek was is in the
process of drawing up an
application to recertify to
the state for a new zone.
Both Port Chairman Rick
Stokoe and Port Director
Ryan Neal have repeatedly
emphasized the importance
of having an enterprise zone
when the port negotiates
with new businesses look-
ing to locate here. Both say
much of the new develop-
ment happening at the port
would not have occurred
without the enterprise zone
in the port’s “tool box.” The
current enterprise zone cov-
ers about 12 square miles,
mostly encompassing the
Port of Morrow where all
the new development is.
New and expanding busi-
nesses receive tax breaks
for locating in the zone.
Some of the businesses
who have located there and
taken advantage of the tax
breaks include Amazon,
Lamb Weston and Tilla-
mook Cheese. Over the past
A map of the proposed areas of influence each city in the county
would have in a proposed new enterprise zone. The map was
presented by the Port of Morrow at a recent meeting.
WIND TOWER COMPONENTS
WILL START MOVING THRU
LEXINGTON ON MONDAY
MAY 11
EX P E C T
D E L A Y S
10 years the current zone
has generated over $20
million in revenue in lieu
of taxes and in the coming
10 years is expected, with
current contracts in place,
to take in over $100 mil-
lion, much of this coming
from the new Amazon data
farms being built around
Boardman and at the Port
of Morrow. Regardless of
the current negotiations
and zone applications, the
current enterprise board
will decide how the $100
million will be spent. In the
past the current board has
made an effort to disburse
the money across the coun-
ty, giving grants to cities
and economic development
groups such as the Willow
Creek Valley Economic De-
velopment in south county.
They have been disbursing
the money in four broad
categories of education,
community development,
housing and public safety.
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Joel Peterson
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Experience & Integrity
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