EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Last private land in county now in a fire district
3,862 acres added to Boardman Rural Fire
By David Sykes
Calling it the last pri-
vate land in “no-man’s
land,” 3,862 acres between
Boardman and Irrigon have
now been included into
a fire protection district.
The addition became final
following a public hearing
Sept. 16 before the Morrow
County Commission.
“I think this is all the
private land that is not cov-
ered and is in no-man’s
land,” Commissioner Don
Russell said on the request
to include three parcels into
the Boardman Rural Fire
Protection District. The
action means fire protection
on the property will now be
the responsibility of the fire
district. Previously no fire
district was responsible.
All other private property
in the county is already
covered by various rural
fire districts.
Russell, a 25-year
member of the Boardman
Fire District Board of Di-
rectors and knowledgeable
about fire districts in the
county, said the only prop-
erty in the county not now
covered by fire protection is
land owned by the Federal
Government, and the Union
Pacific Railroad rights-of-
way in the north end of the
county.
Russell explained that
to take care of fire cover-
age the railroad has two
options. “They can either
pay property taxes on their
rights-of-way or pay for fire
services. They have fires
occasionally on their right-
of-way and they call the
local fire department,” he
said. “They are then billed
for the service and they pay.
That’s their option.”
The new property add-
ed to the fire district in-
cludes 3,632 acres of farm
land owned by the Stahl
family eight miles east
of Boardman, 10 aces of
industrial land also in the
same area owned by East-
ern Oregon Processing,
and 220 acres of farm land
also in that area owned by
Columbia Basin Real Es-
tate, LLC.
After discussion on the
addition of the land to the
district, the commissioners
voted unanimously to ap-
prove. The Boardman Rural
Fire Protection District had
earlier given its okay to the
addition, but a public hear-
ing and county approval
was needed to finalize the
action.
County okays vehicle
purchases
In other action at the
Sept. 16 meeting the com-
mission authorized the pur-
chase of two 2021 Polaris
sportsman 4 wheelers for
use by the Sheriff Office
at the County’s Off High-
way Vehicle Park located
in the mountains south of
Heppner. The ATVs will be
used to patrol the 300 miles
of trails on the 8,200-acre
park.
Cost of the two all-ter-
rain vehicles is $9,300 with
$7,440 of the cost being
paid by Oregon State Parks.
Morrow County will pick
up the remainder at $1,860.
Three bids were received
for the ATVs with the Mor-
row County Grain Growers
in Lexington coming in the
lowest.
In other purchases the
county authorized the pur-
chase of a 2021 Dodge
Ram Crew Cab 4X4 pickup
for $28,886 for use by the
Sheriff Office. As part of its
agreement with the city of
Heppner to provide police
protection and services,
Heppner will pay for the ve-
hicle. It will be used by the
Sheriff’s Office on patrols
and then after three years,
the city will take own-
ership, without attached
police equipment and at-
tachments. “It’s a good
system for the county and
it has worked out well for
the city,” Undersheriff John
Bowles said in requesting
the purchase authoriza-
tion. The commission voted
unanimously in favor.
Wind farm to install
alternate tower lights
In other business the
commission heard that an
alternate aircraft lighting
system for the new Wheat-
Rystedt makes hole
in one
On Friday, October 2, local
golfer Alex Rystedt made a
hole-in-one on hole number
three at Willow Creek Coun-
try Club. This shot was made
looking into a setting sun
with a six iron. It was Alex’s
first ace.
The shot was witnessed by To-
mas Elguezabal, Dan Sample
and Brian Sweeney.
G-T Trophy Corner
said in a letter to the county.
Awards janitorial
contract
In other action the com-
mission awarded a con-
tract for the amount of
$98,935 to Patriot Building
& Grounds Maintenance of
Hermiston for janitorial ser-
vices of the county’s nine
buildings. The county put
the contract out to bid and
Patriot, who is the current
contractor, was the only
bidder. The county voted
to accept the contract but
noted that it is $8,935 over
the amount budgeted for
janitor services.
Appoints fair board
member
The county appointed
Braxton Adams to the Fair
Board for a three-year term.
It was noted that three board
members have resigned
and, after advertising the
position, only Braxton ex-
pressed an interest, leaving
two other positions still
empty.
“I am interested in
filling the vacant position
on the fair board because I
believe it is important role
in our community,” Adams
said in his letter to the
county. “I moved here two
years ago and have enjoyed
becoming a part of this
community. My wife and
I have a 7-month-old baby
that we plan to raise in Hep-
pner. We both are invested
in community service to
help make our hometown
the best that we can. I grew
up on a dairy farm in Utah
and I’ve worked with ani-
mals my whole life. I have
participated in fairs and
rodeos since I was a kid. I
have assisted with putting
on fair rodeos throughout
my adult life. I would like
to be member of the fair
board so that I can contrib-
ute to our community and
be an active role in making
it the best that we can. I
am hopeful that my back-
ground working in fairs
and rodeos will be an asset
to the board,” Adams said.
$100,000 to Board-
man Food Pantry
At its Sept 23 meeting
the commission agreed to
give $100,000 to the newly
formed Boardman Food
Pantry. The group plans
on using the money to pur-
chase the former Lutheran
Church in Boardman and
remodel the building into a
commercial grade kitchen
and food storage center.
It is estimated the cost to
purchase and remodel the
former church building will
be $350,000 to $400,000 to
convert it for use as a food
pantry and kitchen, and
Doherty says some private
companies have expressed
an interest in helping fi-
nancially. Organizers of
ridge Windfarm towers
recently constructed in the
county will not be oper-
ational until the first of
the year. The lighting sys-
tem, called the Aircraft
Detection Lighting System
(ADLS), is installed on top
of each tower for a warning
to aircraft in the area.
Other windfarms con-
structed with the traditional
aircraft warning lights are
red and blink on and off
continuously. Many peo-
ple consider the always
on blinking lights a visual
nuisance. Morrow County,
with the urging of Commis-
sioner Russell, requested
that NextEra Energy con-
sider placing the ADLS on
the new Wheatridge Wind-
farm thus reducing “light
pollution”. According to
one company that sells the
system “ADLS vastly re-
duces the impact of aviation
obstruction lights on local
wildlife and communities
while preserving the dark
sky.”
The lights will only
come on and start blinking
when an aircraft is detected
in the area. The system is
safe as it maintains contin-
uous, reliable 360-degree
monitoring of the airspace
surrounding a wind farm,
allowing aviation obstruc-
tion lights to remain off
until an aircraft is detected
nearby. Once the aircraft
enters the designated wind
farm safety zone the sys-
tem automatically activates
the necessary obstruction
lights and then turns them
off once the aircraft safely
exits the area. The majority
of the time when the lights
are not needed, they will
remain off. Commissioner
Russell, himself a pilot, has
been pushing for the system
since it was announced that
the new windfarm would
be built in Morrow County.
During discussion of
the lights, David Lawlor,
director of development for
NextEra Energy Resources,
owner of the Wheatridge
Windfarm, said although
the windfarm is scheduled
to go online this month, the
company did not expect
the ADLS system to be
activated until the first of
next year. “We have not
yet received FAA (Federal
Aviation Administration)
approval of the ADLS and
the manufacturer is back-
logged for delivery of these
types of systems. Neverthe-
less, we have installed the
ADLS compatible lighting
in each tower and have
completed system design.
Additionally, we will be in-
stalling all foundations and
conduit to facilitate the final
installation and commis-
sioning of the ADLS,” he
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eligibility to even receive
the funding. “I have a ques-
tion about the eligibility
of paying $100,000 to a
Boardman non-profit (the
Food Pantry). I don’t know
how that is directly related
to COVID,” she told the
commissioners. “I have ad-
ditional questions on that.”
Expected state reve-
nue loss
At the afternoon work
session the commissioners
discussed an expected cut
in revenue from the state
because of the Coronavirus
lockdown. It is estimated
the county will receive $
321,370 less in road funds,
$ 26,583 reduction in fair
funding, a 50 percent drop
in lottery money, and $
50,921reduction in parks
funding expected in state
money this year.
Interviewing for new
county surveyor job
On October 19 the
county will begin inter-
viewing to hire a county
surveyor. The position used
to be elected but county
governments in Oregon
now have the option to
make the position a hired
staff member, which Mor-
row County did. The county
has been advertising for
the position since Sept.
28, however, and so far,
no applicants. Commis-
sioner Russell said there
is apparently a shortage of
surveyors “out there.” The
commission voted to ap-
point newly hired planning
director Tamra Mabbott to
be part of the interviewing
team for the new surveyor.
The salary will be $64,445
per year with $47,141 in
benefits. The current elect-
ed surveyor Stephen Had-
dock provided his own
equipment on the job and
now the county will need to
purchase survey equipment.
Commissioners received
an estimate of $90,000
for survey equipment they
will need to purchase, and
an additional $12,800 for
materials and services for
the position.
Purchased portable
sawmill
In other business the
county authorized public
works parks department to
purchase a portable sawmill
for use at the county parks.
Parks manager Greg Close
said the $55,067 sawmill
will be used for building
such things as signs and
picnic tables. He said the
parks have over 200 tables
and there would be a lot of
other use for the mill. The
county asked for bids and
received three. The model
is a Timber King and all
but $3,423 of the costs will
be covered by a state park
grant to the county.
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Harley Anderson (16) of Hep-
pner shot her 3x4 buck early
opening day in the Fossil Unit.
the new group said they are
planning on having large
coolers installed so they
can receive bulk delivery
of foodstuffs to save cost
and distribute to those in
need in the community.
The center would also teach
kids and families to have
good nutrition.
Commissioners plan to
use of Federal Coronavirus
Aid, Relief, and Economic
Security (CARES) money
funneled down from the
state for the donation, how-
ever, the county does not
have the CARES money
yet to pay the Pantry so they
authorized an expenditure
from the general fund to
make the payment. Com-
missioner then plan on re-
imbursing the general fund
once the COVID money
becomes available. Before
approving the funding,
commissioner Russell want
to know if it was sure the
Pantry funding would qual-
ify for CARES funding.
“I want to make sure this
qualifies for reimbursement
from CARES,” he asked
Commissioner Jim Doherty
who had earlier advocated
for funding the Pantry re-
quest. “There is no question
on that. I am comfortable
this will qualify,” Doherty
responded. He had pushed
for the expenditure, saying
he has been in consultation
with the operators and they
are fulfilling a need in the
community that is becom-
ing more acute since the
coronavirus epidemic. The
commission voted unan-
imously to approve the
expenditure and give the
Pantry the money from the
general fund.
At a work session later
that same day, however, it
was revealed there is not
enough money coming in
from CARES this year to
reimburse the general fund
for the Pantry donation.
In addition, the eligibility
of the Pantry to even re-
ceive COVID money was
called into question. “We
have $132,000 left (of the
CARES money) and that is
to last through December.
Is that correct?” Russell
asked Finance Director
Kate Knop. Knop replied
yes and Russell responded
that with other commit-
ments from the CARES
funding there didn’t seem
to be enough money left
to give to the Pantry. “Isn’t
this the bucket of money
that we promised $100,000
to the Boardman Food Bank
out of? How do we do that
when there’s not enough
money in there?” he want-
ed to know. “I don’t have
an answer for that,” Knop
said. “The dollars just don’t
go that far.” She then also
questioned the Pantry’s
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