Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 21, 2020 -- SEVEN
Surprise vote to decide fate of Army
Depot land
By Andrew Sykes
In a surprise vote on
October 8, the Columbia
Development Authority
(CDA) voted to decide the
future of the former Army
Depot land. The CDA is
the governing body that
has control over portions
of the former U.S. Army
Depot that is in the process
of transferring to CDA.
Five main stakeholders
constitute the CDA, county
commissioners from Mor-
row and Umatilla counties,
directors of the Ports of
Morrow and Umatilla and a
member of the Confederat-
ed Tribes of the Umatilla In-
dian Reservation (CTUIR).
The intent of a motion
was to deed the industrial
land in Morrow County to
the Port of Morrow, and
the industrial land in Uma-
tilla County to the Port of
Umatilla. Kim Puzey (Port
of Umatilla) put forward
the motion, which was not
on the agenda: “As we are
trying to finalize all these,
water, waste-water, making
sure that the tribes have
access to the wildlife area.
I move that we memorialize
our intent to deed all the
industrial property to the
Ports of Morrow and Uma-
tilla on respective sides of
the county line as soon as
the transfer of the depot is
completed.” The motion
was seconded by Ryan
Neal (Port of Morrow). Bill
Tovey (CTUIR) opposed
saying, “I am not ready to
do that. I think we need to
have a lot of discussion,
particularly on the Umatilla
County side, on how the
property is going to be man-
aged, going into the future.”
Don Russell (Morrow
County) expressed the in-
tentions of previous CDA
members, “I know on the
Morrow County side I’ve
visited with previous com-
missioners, Leann Rea and
John Wenholz and they
were the CDA’s Morrow
County representatives for
20 years before I came, and
it was always the intent on
the Morrow County side,
according to my prede-
cessors. But I can’t speak
for the Umatilla County
side.” Tovey objected to
the vote. “From the Tribe’s
perspective, I would want
to wait as well. It’s great
getting wildlife properties,
but it sure would be nice to
be part of the industrial as
well.” Despite the objec-
tions, a roll call was taken
and the motion was brought
to a vote with three in favor,
two opposed. The yes votes
were Kim Puzey, Ryan
Neal and Don Russell. The
no votes were: Bill Tovey
and Bill Elfering (Umatilla
County)
Rep. Greg Smith, in an
attempt to clarify the issue,
restated the motion at hand,
“In seven years, after the
transfer of real estate occurs
and our commitment to the
BRAC (Base Realignment
and Closure) is complete,
the industrial lands in Uma-
tilla County as it relates
to the CDA property shall
be transferred to the Port
of Umatilla. Moreover the
industrial lands in Mor-
row County as it relates
to our agreement with the
BRAC shall be transferred
to the Port of Morrow. Did
I capture that correctly?”
All members concurred
with this summation. Bill
Elfring responded to the
results of the vote by say-
ing, “Morrow County is
now in a position of de-
termining the future of the
Umatilla County property. I
just don’t see that as being
appropriate.”
In a closing statement
by Rep. Smith, he stated,
“We really have not pro-
vided any benefit directly,
directly to Morrow County.
Each one of the entities
have directly benefited, but
we will need to think, in
the future, about Morrow
County.” The other CDA
board members continued
the discussion. “I have as-
sumed for 26 years that the
industrial property would
go to the Port of Umatilla.
That’s why I’ve been on
the CDA for that long,”
said Puzey. Bill Elfring
retorted, “For the last eight
years that I have been on
this board, that has not been
my understanding. Umatilla
County wishes to retain a
voice with this property
and how it is developed.
Currently we have no voice,
with the board of the Port of
Umatilla.”
Speaking in favor of the
motion Ryan Neal laid out
his concerns, “As we get the
property transferred, from
an entity standpoint, how
do I plan for infrastructure
if there is not some sort of
knowing that that money
isn’t going to waste in the
future. We have all sorts
of property that’s going
need to be demolished and
cleaned up. We also have
to get bridges, roads, water
and how do you plan that
without have some sort of
guarantee that you have
something in return. I have
to have some sort of guar-
antee that I’m going to be
able to service customers
out there and have market-
able land.”
Later, Russell’s fellow
county commissioners were
not pleased with his actions
at the CDA meeting. At
an Oct. 14 board meeting,
Chair Melissa Lindsay said
all the county commis-
sioners should have been
consulted before Russell
took such an important
step. “I’m not saying I
agree or disagree (with the
decision),” Lindsay told
Russell. “It might have
been the right thing to do.”
Lindsay said she felt “blind-
sided” by Russell’s action
and it has affected her rela-
tionship with the Umatilla
County commissioners. She
said Murdock has been her
“mentor” since she took
office as Morrow County
Commissioner and he was
upset thinking Russell’s
vote was the wish of the en-
tire commission. “To have
him (Murdock) think that I
had made a vote against his
county in that way was real-
ly frustrating and I made it
clear to him that I was not
any way consulted,” she
told Russell.
Lindsay said, as the
chair of the CDA, Russell
should not have allowed a
vote on the issue especial-
ly since it was not on the
agenda. “As the chair you
could have tabled it for
further discussion. The way
it happened is not appro-
priate for the transparency
of the office we serve,”
she emphasized. “I don’t
attend those meetings. I
guess I should,” she said. “I
assume I’m going to be in-
formed when we give away
Morrow County properties.
I assume we talk about a
plan with our partners at the
port,” she added, saying the
whole episode had gotten
“pretty negative” and was
perceived as being “under-
handed.”
County Commissioner
Jim Doherty was also at
the Oct. 14 meeting and
said the opinions of past
commissioners on the land
ownership was not import-
ant. “The people you should
have run this past is your
board (of commissioners).
If people wanted to move
forward relative to what
past commissioners had
said, they would be sitting
here now,” Doherty said
of past verbal agreements.
“The biggest vote that has
ever taken place on that
thing (depot land), this is
beyond the pale. You got to
run this by the board. You
got to run this by the county.
You’re not a representa-
tive from Morrow County,
you’re the representative
of Morrow County and as
such you have to vet these
things. Have to run these
things past us,” Doherty
told Russell.
In a recent interview
with the Heppner Ga-
zette-Times, Russell re-
iterated the point of the
vote, “It is time to start
the conversation of who
will be titled the land.” He
also commented that he
did not know that the vote
would be put forth. George
Murdock (Umatilla County
Commissioner), according
to Elkhorn Media Group,
said “We aren’t going to
tolerate that action. It was
wrong. I’ve talked to my
colleagues and they’ve told
me that they’re prepared to
take legal action.” Russell,
in response to learning of
Murdock’s statements told
the Heppner Gazette, “I
don’t know why Murdock
is having such a strong
response,” and is “disap-
pointed in George rattling
his saber about lawsuits.”
Russell indicated that he is
open to further discussions
and when asked if he ex-
pects legal action, said, “I
hope not.”
Murdock, in ref-
erence to the CDA vote
also claimed, “It doesn’t
We proudly endorse Joel Peterson for
Morrow County Commissioner
Representative Greg Smith-
Heppner
Mike Sweek-
Heppner
Planning Commison Jeff Wenholz- Irrigon
City Manager Karen Pettigrew- Boardman
City Manager Aaron Palmquist-
Irrigon
Jeff Bailey-
Heppner
Debbie Radie-
Irrigon
ICABO Chairman Ed Rollins-
Ione
Linda LaRue-
Ione
And Former Morrow County Commissioners:
LeAnn Rea
John Wenholz
Raymond Grace
fit within their rules, their
guidelines, their charter or
anything else to do that in
the first place,” Murdock
said. “That land belongs
to the people of Umatilla
County and it’s worth quite
a lot of money. We simply
aren’t going to roll over
and let it go away.” Russell
rebuffed this claim by say-
ing, “the Schwabe law firm
disagrees.”
Another CDA Board
meeting has been scheduled
for 10 a.m. via Zoom on
Thursday, October 22. The
board is going to reconsider
the vote of the CDA prop-
erty at this meeting. For a
copy of the board meeting
agenda please visit umadra.
com.
Legion to
hold
Harvest
Bazaar
A Harvest Bazaar will
be held at the American
Legion Hall in Ione Oc-
tober 31 from 9 a.m. to 2
p.m. Due to COVID-19,
the kitchen will not be open
this year. Perk N Brew will
be open for those who wish
to purchase food or drink.
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Gorge Networks to
acquire local
PrineTIME assets
No change to pricing or service
By Bobbi Gordon
PrineTIME has entered
into an agreement with
Gorge Networks, who will
acquire the wireless and
fiber assets along with the
customer base in the Wil-
low Creek Valley. Gorge
Networks is a 25-year-
old company based out
of Hood River, OR and
according to Jason Wilkins
of PrineTIME, has a strong
commitment to the area and
customer service.
In the correspondence
PrineTIME sent to their
customer base, they said
nothing will change and in-
ternet service will continue
to work as usual. They also
said a Gorge Networks rep-
resentative will be contact-
ing each customer to make
sure accounts are converted
correctly and to answer any
questions. Wilkins stated,
“We are extremely confi-
dent that this change will
be seamless to you. Prine-
TIME did not come to this
decision lightly and we are
excited about the upcoming
solutions Gorge Networks
will be offering in your
service area.”
Dan Bubb, President
of Gorge Networks LLC.,
a Blue Mountain Networks
Company, told the Gazette
they intend to continue the
project of installing fiber in
Heppner, that has already
been started by PrineTIME,
early next year. They also
plan to install fiber to the
homes in Ione and Lexing-
ton next year.
Bubb said, “We are
adding new wireless sites
during the next couple
months so some people
that were not able to get
service may be able to get
it by the end of this year.”
When asked about pricing
he indicated there will be
no change to service or
pricing for existing custom-
ers. By first quarter of next
year they intend to migrate
everyone to their standard
rural wireless pricing plan,
which will result in a speed
increase and possibly a re-
duction in cost.
Customers are asked
to contact Gorge Networks
at 541-386-8300 for addi-
tional information. They
can also be reached at sup-
port@gorge.net for support
related questions or sales@
gorge.net for new service.
“Be assured that we are
committed to maintaining
a high quality of customer
service while continuing or
improving your rates and
service level,” Bubb con-
tinued. “We sincerely look
forward to serving you and
your community.” A special
webpage has been dedicat-
ed to Willow Creek Valley
PrineTIME customers at
https://www.gorge.net/res-
idential-services/prinetime.
Gorge Networks is part
of the Blue Mountain Net-
works family of companies.
Their mission is simple - to
provide “best in class” cus-
tomer service while giving
good value.
Heppner Outreach
plans trunk or treat
The Heppner Outreach Committee will be holding
a trunk or treat event on Willow Street from 4 to 6 p.m.
October 31. Willow Street will be closed down so anyone
can come and pass out candy from the trunk of their car.
Text or call the committee at 541-945-9495 for addi-
tional information or to reserve a spot in the trunk or treat.
$70,000
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P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
david@sykesrealestate.net
541-980-6674
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Oversized city lot on dead end street. Sewer, water,
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Addition adjacent lot available for sale.
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