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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 2020)
County COVID stats explained 376 cases still considered ‘active’ 50¢ VOL. 139 NO. 36 8 Pages Wednesday, September 2, 2020 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon County moves forward with new Heppner sheriff’s building Morrow County Emergency Management posts the COVID-19 updates on the Health Department Facebook page daily. A new County Emergency Services Building is being planned next to the firehall in Heppner. By David Sykes The county is moving forward with a plan to build a new Emergency Services Building in Heppner after losing its current facility at the old Kinzua Mill Site. The building will be used to mainly store sheriff office vehicles and equipment such as the mobile emer- gency command center vehicle. The county currently leases a building at the former mill site for its emer- gency building, however the current owner, the Port of Morrow, has sold the building for $100,000 to local businessman Jay Coil who plans on moving his fabrication business there from its current location on Riverside Ave. The county had the right to match the offer and buy the building but opted instead to find a location and build its own new emergency building. Subsequently the city of Heppner offered to donate a lot next to the current firehall located between G-T closed Labor Day The Heppner Ga- zette-Times will be closed for the Labor Day holiday on Monday, September 7. The deadline for all news and advertising for the September 9 issue will be Friday, September 4, at 5 p.m. Normal business hours will resume Tuesday, Sep- tember 8. The G-T wishes every- one a happy and safe Labor Day weekend. Riverside and Hwy 74 be- hind the Devin Oil facility for free. The county engaged Engineering Northwest from Ontario to come up with a price estimate for a new building. The engi- neers came back and said a new 60 X 80 ft wood- en structure would cost the county an estimated $549,000. Commissioners at their August 22 meeting debated whether the price was too high and if the new build- ing should even be built in Heppner. Commissioner Don Russell said the build- ing originally belonged to the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) for use when the Umatilla Army Depot decommissioned its chemical stockpile near Irrigon. The site was cho- sen because it would have been outside the impact area if there was an inci- dent during decommission- ing, Russell said. “That is why they didn’t build it at Boardman or Irrigon. We started storing stuff in that building, and now that we are going to have to build a new building, Is that really the right spot?” he asked. “I use the analogy we cer- tainly wouldn’t store snow mobiles in Boardman and Irrigon and would it make sense to store a 24 ft ma- rine patrol boat in the south county,” Russell asked. Sheriff Ken Matlack was at the meeting and he said having the building located in south county has worked well. “It seemed like it worked pretty well right where it is at,” Matlack said. “The times we had communications issues we have been able to use the portable command center. South county has been a logical place to keep it and I don’t see any reason to move it up north. We use it a lot down south,” Matlack told the commissioners. All the commissioners seemed to think the price -See NEW COUNTY BUILD- ING/PAGE THREE Census takers to gather information Census takers will be set up in Heppner at the Murray’s Garden between Sage Clothing and Kuhn Law office on Thursday and Friday, September 3 and 4 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to gather census informa- tion. The Morrow County response rate is currently at 44.6 percent, lower than the state average of 67.8 percent. Currently Heppner’s response rate is 35.4 per- cent, Lexington’s is 43.9 and Ione’s is 30.7. Com- missioner Jim Doherty is working with the county’s lead census taker to set up census takers at each end of the county as soon as possible to increase the response rate. County Commissioner Melissa Lindsay reported, “Not only are a great deal of dollars at stake but also redistricting of our repre- sentation is at stake with the population count.” The Loop is available for transportation to the site in Heppner by calling 541-676-5667. By Bobbi Gordon According to the report from the Morrow Coun- ty Health Department on Monday, August 31, there are no new COVID-19 cas- es in the county. Currently they report a total of 437 positive cases county-wide, with the majority of those in Boardman. Currently the report shows 304 positive cases in Boardman, 118 in Irrigon, 11 in Heppner, three in Lexington and one in Ione. With the cities in the south end of the county lumped together for reporting for several months, a request was sent asking when the cases were actually report- ed in Heppner, Lexington and Ione. The breakdown shows Heppner as having one in March, five in June, four in July and only one in August. Lexington had two in July and one in Au- gust and Ione had just one in July. Many county residents have wondered why the cat- egories showing recovered, hospitalized and deaths do not add up to the total positive cases. A request with that question sent to the health department did not receive a response but County Commissioner Me- lissa Lindsay explained the definition of recovered. “These numbers correlate with the amount of cases that started 60 days ago,” she stated. OHA defines a person as recovered as follows, “Any confirmed or presumptive case who is alive 60 days after the earlier of their onset of symptoms or collection of their first positive test will be considered recovered (§7).” She also explained how hospitalizations are counted. “The daily num- bers reported indicate the amount of people in the hospital on that given day, not total hospitalizations. These numbers are usu- ally in flux as people are discharged and admitted,” she added With those explana- tions, the statistics currently would count 55 as recov- ered, three hospitalized, three deaths and 376 still considered active. If the person does not meet the definitions of recovered or hospitalized, they are still active. New board member sworn in John Murray, chair- man of the Morrow Coun- ty Health District Board, swore in new member, Andrea Fletcher, Heppner, at the August 30 meeting at the Pioneer Memorial Clinic conference room. Fletcher was selected by the board to fill the spot vacat- ed by long-time member, Leann Rea, who is moving out of the district. CEO Bob Houser re- ported the district has nar- rowed the search down to five applicants for the CEO position. Houser, who is slated to retire by Decem- ber, said that onsite inter- views are being set up for the first part of September. The board voted to approve a motion to pay for travel, lodging and meals for the candidates and their “sig- nificant others” to come to Heppner for interviews. In other business, the board: -learned from Houser that Todd Schmidt has ac- cepted the offer to serve as the next director of radiol- ogy. He said Schmidt, who was previously working for Curry Health in Gold Beach, has had over 20 years of experience. He also reported that an MA/ X-ray tech has resigned and accepted a position at Columbia River Health in Boardman and the position has been posted internally. -learned from Houser the district has purchased a pre-made 10x12 building to be used as a COVID screen- ing site at Irrigon Medical Clinic. He said the main- tenance department will complete the inside work, which will include install- ing a heating and cooling Andrea Fletcher, left, is sworn in by Morrow County Health District Board Chair John Murray at their Monday night meeting in Heppner. Todd Schmidt, new MCHD director of radiology unit. COVID funds were used to pay for the shed and improvements. -heard from Houser that Patti Allstott, Human Resources director, is now part of the executive team, joining Chief Financial Of- ficer Nicole Mahoney and Director of Nursing Jamie Houck, RN. -approved renewal of the commercial and med- ical malpractice insurance from Parker, Smith and Feek, Inc., broker and Cov- erys, their current carrier, for $52,522. The district had budgeted $57,583. -approved the consul- tant agreement for review of the clinic processes from Harris Consulting. -approved a motion to appoint board member Ma- rie Shimer to the Compli- ance Committee, with any available board member to serve as an alternate in the event that Shimer cannot attend. -approved Mahoney’s plan to reverse $490,000 from the 2019-2020 budget to settle the district’s cost report, close it out, and then move the funds to the 2020- 21 budget, when COVID details and reimbursements are more defined. -approved a resolution regarding the CEO’s spend- ing authority/limit. -approved the low bid from Direct Supply for $19,263 for replacement of the district’s current dishwashing unit for the di- etary department. They also received a bid from Curtis Restaurant for $20,190. -approved the district’s revised code of conduct. -approved a bid from -See NEW BOARD MEM- BER/PAGE TWO Gazette-Times Trophy Corner Trevor McLaren, 13, Hep- pner, shot this bear at his home at Blake Ranch. He was reportedly bringing the garbage can in when he saw the bear. Since he had a bear tag, he got his gun and shot the bear. Trevor is the son of Matt and Tara McLaren and attends Heppner Junior High School. – Photo by April Sykes. DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5PM The Heppner Ga- zette-Times wants to see pictures of your trophy animals from this hunting season. Stop by to have your picture taken, drop off photos, mail them to PO Box 337 in Heppner, email them to editor@rapidserve.net or text cell phone photos to 541-980-6674. MORROW COUNTY GRAIN GROWERS 350 MAIN STREET LEXINGTON OR 97839 CONTACT JUSTIN BAILEY 541-256-0229, 541-989-8221 EXT. 204 Offers vary by model. 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