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EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, January 6, 2021 Irrigon manager bullish on city and county’s future Says new Enterprise Zone money is ‘blessing’ to the city and county By David Sykes Irrigon City Manager Aaron Palmquist says he likes what is happening in Morrow County and sees good things coming our way not only in 2021 but also into the future. Much of his optimism comes from the new tax money generat- ed by the Columbia River Enterprise Zone, CREZ, and the opportunities for growth and enhancements those dollars are causing. “Regardless of who we are in the county, we need to say this is an oppor- tunity that has come to Morrow County and to our communities, and count it as a blessing,” Palmquist says. “Long term it is going to add sustainability and growth opportunities to our cities,” he adds. Most of the new tax money is coming from construction of Amazon data centers at the Port of Morrow in and around Boardman, but also from expansions at the Lamb Weston food processing plant and construction of a new Tillamook Cheese whey processing facility, also at the Port. Palmquist’s bright as- sessment of the county’s fu- ture comes on the heels of a recent CREZ disbursement of over $9.2 million dollars around the county, includ- ing a new funding program of $200,000 to each of the five cities in the county. The new disbursement is aimed at infrastructure spending, mainly to help cities lay plans for new sewer sys- tems. Palmquist says in Irri- gon part of the CREZ funds could be going to continue the removal of 300 septic systems left over in a city that actually has a central sewer plant. “We had 300 septic tanks or effluent tanks still in the system,” he says, pointing out the city has already removed 150 septic tanks with those homes then hooked up to the central sewer system. These efflu- ent tanks are a hybrid sort of septic tank that keeps the solids on the property and pumps the effluent to lagoons. It is a system Ione is reportedly looking at to possibly replace their entire town which has complete onsite septic with drain fields at every home. The onsite systems need larger building lots, and the De- partment of Environmental Quality, DEQ, wants to get rid of them. Lexington also has complete onsite septic systems at every property. The CREZ extra fund- ing to cities for infrastruc- ture this year is a departure from the Enterprise Zone’s past practice of funding only four categories of spending across the county: housing, education, com- munity enhancement and public safety. The CREZ added the fifth funding category of infrastructure. and gave the cities each $200,000 with the express purpose of helping them with their sewer problems. Heppner also has a deadline from DEQ to upgrade its system and stop dumping its treated effluent into Wil- low Creek. In the long term CREZ will continue to receive millions of tax dollars per year for the next 15 years and is looking to provide stable funding to help cities throughout the county deal with not only their sewer and other infrastructure problems, but also money for economic development groups in the cities, who in turn fund quality-of-life enhancements, and housing projects. Palmquist sees this stable funding as both a blessing and a boon to the cities of Morrow County, and as an example of the good things happening in Irrigon, points out a new walking path being built from highway 730 all the way to Wyoming Street by the schools. “It’s a 10-foot- wide path for cyclists, bik- ers and walkers and a really nice quality of life addition to our city,” he says. The original money came from an ODOT grant applied for six years ago, but the city can use some CREZ money as matching funds for the remainder of the project. He also points to reported interest of a Dollar General store locating in Irrigon. “I think that is the direct result of growth that now is hap- pening in the area,” he says. As with every commu- nity, Irrigon is also facing a housing shortage, and Palmquist says with the help of CREZ money Irri- gon is tackling that problem in an innovate way. He says the city has a Local Improvement District, LID, program that helps develop- ers fund expensive streets and water and sewers for a new housing development. The high cost of these im- provements is what many times holds back develop- ment of new building lots. Under Irrigon’ s unique plan, however, the CREZ dollars help out the LID and make the lots less expensive to put in and then more af- fordable to home builders. He says the plan spreads Our Christmas Club began IN 1959! the payments by developers out over more years, and when the money is repaid it goes right back into the LID fund and recycled to more projects. “It’s tough to sell property if a developer has to add another $20,000 onto a lot price,” Palmquist says. “That doesn’t sell lots very well, but if they have a LID, they can spread the cost over 10 years. With the city having the money it can then be lent at a very low rate. When the mon- ey comes back in it goes right back into the fund and can be used again,” he points out. Palmquist says he thinks the city will see more housing opportuni- ties coming to Irrigon with the innovating program, meaning more growth. And Irrigon is also ready to ask the Port of Morrow for as- sistance on new housing de- velopments, just as Ione did on their Emert Additions. Speaking on the politics of the now expired by still generating funds CREZII board and the formation of a new CREZIII, Palmquist says he hopes the process stays similar. He says he likes the past CREZII poli- cy of giving money directly to cities, economic devel- opment groups and taxing districts and letting them decide how the money is spent specifically. He likes the idea of adding a fifth category of spending for infrastructure and hopes the CREZ continues resisting giving money for “asks.” Asks are when a particu- lar group or organization comes directly to the CREZ to ask for money instead of going through cities or eco- nomic development groups, most of who have well publicized plans to disburse the funds. Palmquist says if CREZ begins accepting “asks” from small groups or organizations it would open a flood gate that will turn the process into a political grab bag and slush fund. He feels disbursement of the funds should also be based on population, since cities in the county with more people have higher infrastructure needs. With the millions of new dollars coming into the county it is possible that CREZ “could become too political,” he says, and rec- ommends the new CREZIII set up the five disbursement categories, and that they continue to use population figures in their funding de- cisions. “I think if it is going to one of those five buckets that will be great and we can avoid a lot of problems in the county,” he says. Irrigon City Manager Aaron Palmquist is optimistic about the future and sees good things happing in his city and around the county. He does advocate to continue giving extra mon- ey directly to the City of Boardman, the county and the Port as was done this year as they are the three CREZ members and bear the brunt of the new busi- ness development costs. “That was new this year (funding the three mem- bers) and I commend them for the process they did,” Palmquist says. “There is going to be more money coming down the road and I think those three entities should get extra funding. The port needs the money because they are having the growth; Boardman needs the money because they are the epicenter for the ma- jority of the development, and then the county gets some too. Should they get it equal? Yes, they should,” Palmquist says emphati- cally. He does think the CREZ process of awarding the yearly money should be “codified” with the new CREZIII rules to “set the standard and be very clear,” on how the money will be disbursed around the coun- ty. He feels this will allevi- ate a lot of the politics and cut down on “power plays” Print & Mailing Services *Design *Print *Mail Sykes Publishing 541-676-9228 Marriage Licenses The Morrow County Clerk’s office has released the following report of marriage licenses: December 3, 2020: - Esai Trinidad Alvarez, 22, Boardman, and Esther Isolina Cruz Casana, 21, Boardman. - Jessica Garcia Queza- da, 27, Irrigon, and Omar Muniz Navarrete, 32, Ir- rigon. - Lucila Moreno Go- mez, 33, Irrigon, and Flo- rentino Pena Ramos, 31, Boardman. December 31, 2020: - Lorenzo P. Cardenas, Jr, 37, Irrigon, and Bertha Alicia Cardenas, 39, Irrigon. around the county, which he says would not be beneficial and divide the county. “It’s been clear to our city council that ev- ery dime, every dollar that comes from the CREZ is considered a blessing and an opportunity to improve and it is not a guarantee,” Palmquist says. “Some people in the county think it is owed them. It’s not owed. The CREZII has been very judicial and forward think- ing how they help all com- munities in the county, and I hope they continue that way,” he says of the future. YOUR AD COULD BE HERE! Submit Ads heppner.net Call 541-676-9228 Email graphics@rapidserve.net We also offer design and printing services Heppner Gazette-Times Sykes Printing Church window broken 2021 for Start Saving erest! t n i h t i w r a e next Y Now’s the perfect time to Join the Club for 2021 * Inquire at your local branch. HEPPNER • IONE * RESTRICTIONS APPLY Member FDIC A window was broken at Hopeful Saints Ministry on Gale Street in Heppner between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. on January 3-4. Anyone with information is asked to call the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office at 541-676-5317.
