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.