Small towns have
rewards
50¢
VOL. 140
NO. 5
8 Pages
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Dollar General looks to open
Heppner store
Several businesspeople seek to block
By David Sykes
Nation-wide store
chain Dollar General is
looking to locate a store in
Heppner and some local
businesspeople are organiz-
ing to stop it. Dollar Gen-
eral has 16,278 stores in 46
states across the country
and wants to add Heppner
to its list, but some local
businesspeople have made
it clear they don’t want
them here, and they are
looking for ways to keep
it out.
“I believe there will
only be negative impacts
on our already established
businesses and the small
community we all love so
much,” said local business-
man Drew Brannon who
along with his wife Tayllor
are spearheading the effort
to stop the store. “The pred-
atory practice that Dollar
General establishes is to
target failing communities
and Heppner is not a failing
community,” Brannon said
on a Facebook post and
letter to the editor in last
week’s paper. Drew and
Tayllor own the Breaking
Grounds Coffee Shop and
Breaking Bread distribu-
torship in Heppner and both
are adamantly opposed to
the new store. The Bran-
nons have enlisted other
businesses in the effort and
plan to attend a February
8 city council meeting and
let their concerns be heard.
They have also urged others
to attend the 7 p.m. meeting
and voice opposition to the
new store, however because
of COVID restrictions there
will limited entrance to the
night’s meeting. (see city
manager letter to editor).
The couple’s efforts
have sparked a lively debate
on Facebook with people on
both sides weighing in on
the positive and negative
effects of a store like Dollar
General. The Brannons say
not only would the store be
in competition with existing
Heppner businesses, but
would also provide prod-
ucts already for sale here,
offer limited employment,
not support the local econ-
omy, lack community sup-
port for schools and public
events, and “take away our
small-town pride and char-
acter on Main Street.”
Businesses signing on
to Brannon’s statement of
opposition include Mur-
ray’s Drugstore, Sage
Clothing, Two Old Hags
Pizza, Heppner Auto Parts,
Brannon’s Auto Repair, Pe-
terson’s Jewelry, Breaking
Grounds Coffee and Break-
ing Bread Distribution. The
majority of comments from
individuals on Facebook
have also been negative and
opposed to the locating of
a Dollar General Store in
Heppner.
Some individuals,
however, have weighed in
saying Heppner needs the
economic stimulus of a new
business with new employ-
ees and the spillover effect
of more money being spent
at all local businesses. Sup-
porters also say the store
would attract new shoppers
A new Veterans memorial is on display at the cemetery thanks
to a local citizen’s generosity. -Photo by Giselle Moses.
Nationwide discount chain Dollar General is looking to establish a store in Heppner and is By Giselle Moses
Gazette.
currently negotiating to purchase the Cornerstone Gallery and RV Park property on Main
She also said she has
Living in a small town
Street. -Photo by David Sykes.
brings many challenges. It always had respect for the
from the surrounding area
that don’t currently buy
in Heppner, and also offer
local people lower pricing
on food and other house-
hold supplies. According
to Dollar General’s website,
their stores offer low prices
on items including food,
snacks, health and beauty
aids, cleaning supplies,
basic apparel, housewares,
seasonal items, paper prod-
ucts and necessities such as
laundry detergent, toilet pa-
per, soap, shampoo, socks
and underwear.
The options for ac-
tually stopping the store
seem limited however, as
Heppner City Manager
Kraig Cutsforth explains
the store will be locating in
a commercial zone under an
allowed use, which means
there shouldn’t be any need
for the city to grant either a
variance or conditional use.
Cutsforth also pointed out
that Heppner does not have
business license require-
ments and does not regulate
what businesses operate
within the city limits. (See
Cutsforth’s letter to editor
in this week’s paper). Cuts-
forth also pointed out that
the city follows all zoning
codes and offers free advice
as to their purpose when
someone wants to find out
if it is a permitted use in
a particular zone. This is
information he has given
to Dollar General represen-
tatives as they research the
Heppner location. He says
all the zoning information
is also available on-line at
the city’s website (cityof-
heppner.org). “In regards of
what information has been
asked of the city, so far it
has only been on permit-
ted uses of a property and
what utilities are available,”
he says of his discussions
with Dollar General. He
also pointed out that any
building licenses sought by
the store would be obtained
not at Heppner City Hall but
from the building inspec-
tor’s office in Boardman.
Some people have sug-
gested the city adopt an
ordinance similar to one in
Tulsa, OK that opponents
say might be able to block
the store from locating here.
The Dollar General store
will not be on the city coun-
cil agenda next Monday as
a separate discussion topic
but will come up under
the public comment and
discussion section, which
is part of each month’s city
council meetings.
The property being
considered for the new
store is currently owned by
local businessman Alvin
Liu, who in addition to
owning the RV Park and
Cornerstone location, also
owns the Northwestern
Motel across the street and
the Gateway Café on Main.
Liu also runs a catering
business which has a food
trailer called Happy Pap-
py’s Catering Service.
Liu told the Ga-
zette-Times Monday that he
is currently in negotiations
also comes with rewards.
A local townswoman
saw a vacancy that needed
to be filled. The Veteran’s
memorial at the Heppner
Masonic Cemetery was
missing something. The
trees that once graced the
spot had died and been
-See DOLLAR GENERAL/ removed. It “needed some-
PAGE SEVEN thing,” the woman told the
through a real estate agent
with an agent of Dollar
General for sale of his prop-
erty, but nothing has been
finalized. “They came to
us,” Liu says of his contact
with Dollar General. “They
said this property is the
most suitable in Heppner.”
military. The only veteran
she can recall in her family
was her great-grandfather.
She continued saying she
always liked the “Wounded
Soldier,” so she commis-
sioned Steve Marlatt to cre-
ate what is now on display
at the Heppner cemetery.
The donor asked to
remain anonymous.
$65 million in Port bonds to finance
Lakeview wood waste biorefinery
Court to determine legality of funding project outside
Morrow County
By David Sykes
The Port of Morrow
is in court to determine
the legality of issuing $65
million in revenue bonds
to fund a jet and diesel
fuel biorefinery under con-
struction in Lake County
Oregon. The petition, filed
in circuit court January 22,
is required to determine if
the Port can legally issue
bonds for a project con-
structed outside its juris-
dictional boundaries. The
Port’s boundaries are the
same as Morrow County.
If approved the bond
proceeds would then be
loaned to Red Rock Bio-
fuels for help financing
the company’s new biore-
finery nearing completion
at Lakeview, Oregon. The
plant will convert wood
waste into jet and diesel
fuels and the company re-
portedly already has a con-
tract with Shell Aviation to
distribute the low-carbon
product.
The Port decided to
issue the bonds for the
benefit of Red Rock after
a $10 million tax exempt
bond opportunity to finance
a local Morrow County
solid waste disposal facility
became unneeded. Con-
gress only allows a limit-
ed amount of tax-exempt
bonds issued each year, and
rather than let the special
tax-exempt funding oppor-
tunity it possesses expire,
the Port decided to combine
the $10 million tax-exempt
with another $55 million
in regular revenue bonds
to help the Oregon project.
The Port will also reported-
ly realize “a small monetary
gain” from the deal. Tax
exempt bonds are coveted
by investors as the interest
income is federally non-
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
Bonds from the Port of Morrow could help fund this biorefin-
ery in Lakeview, OR.
taxable.
The tax-exempt bond
opportunity had originally
been allocated by the state
to the Port for use in fi-
nancing a local solid waste
project called Three Mile
Canyon Project. Three Mile
ended up not needing the
money, so rather than lose
the special bonding oppor-
tunity which expires at the
end of 2021, Port commis-
sioners voted to issue the
bonds and then loan the
money to Red Rock. The
Port did not have another
project in Morrow County
that qualified for the bonds
so they would have gone
unused. “Helping a fel-
low, small eastern Oregon
community, Lakeview in
this case, realize a sizable
economic gain appeals to
me as we may need their
help in the future, whatever
that might be,” Port Com-
missioner John Murray told
the Gazette-Times about
his decision to support the
deal. “Not using them also
sends a signal to the grantor
that we didn’t really want to
send. To my way of think-
ing, they should be used
to help someone,” Murray
added.
The Port’s liability
in the bond issue will be
limited as the bonds are
revenue and not general
obligation or full faith and
credit, which means they
are backed only by the
revenue from the Red Rock
project. Also, the bonds
will not be a charge on any
other revenue or property of
the Port. However, before
the bond sale can move
forward the court is being
asked to weigh in and de-
termine if it’s legal. Oregon
law allows for such court
proceedings to determine
the legality of a governing
body’s proposed actions,
such as a bond sale.
According to the Fort
Collins, CO based Red
Rock company the biore-
finery is scheduled for com-
pletion in spring of this
year. Once operational, it
will be the world’s first
commercial scale plant to
utilize waste woody bio-
mass from forests to create
sustainable aviation fuel
(SAF) and cellulosic re-
newable diesel.
“This has been one of
the most devastating wild-
fire seasons on record,” said
Red Rock CEO Terry Kule-
sa. “We have seen wildfires
grow in intensity, acreage,
and damage to public health
and the environment.” He
said a benefit of the new fa-
cility is to reduce the wood
waste on the forest floor and
help mitigate the spread of
these wildfires. He said the
new facility producing fuel
from wood waste will also
support the “decarboniza-
tion of aviation and heavy
transport” and protect the
environment.
Red Rock says SAF
and wood waste renewable
diesel are expected to be
up to 80 percent lower in
carbon emissions than con-
ventional jet fuel. The SAF
will be supplied to airports
through the Shell Aviation
distribution chain using ex-
isting airport infrastructure
and can be used blended by
airlines without requiring
technical modification to
their current fleet, the com-
pany says.
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