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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 26, 2021)
May 18 election sees only 30 percent voter turnout Stokoe, Healy retain Port seats; Cain, Davis win school spots; Ione bond gets yes vote 50¢ VOL. 140 NO. 21 10 Pages Wednesday, May 26, 2021 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Port and Morrow Development plan new industrial park facility at Heppner By David Sykes In a joint venture be- tween the Port of Morrow and the Morrow Develop- ment Corporation a new 10,000 square foot “flex space building” is being planned for the South Mor- row County Industrial Park site near Heppner. The fa- cility is to be constructed across the highway from the old Kinzua mill site up higher next to the former mill office building now housing the Oregon State University Extension of- fices. According to Port Man- ager Ryan Neal the building will be 50 X 100 ft and have 20-foot-tall eaves and be dividable into 2,500 sq ft suites for rental to different businesses. “Each space will have room for a small office and warehouse space along with a large rollup door for activity in and out of the warehouse along with office and customer park- ing,” Neal told the Heppner The new planned flex space building is to be located across the highway from the former mill site next to the current OSU Extension office. The building will be located outside of the flood plain with visibility from the highway. Gazette-Times. Under the development arrangement Morrow De- velopment will finance and own the facility with the Port managing and over- seeing its development. Neal says the Port has also requested funds from Or- egon’s federal delegation for help with development of a potable (drinkable) water system for the South Morrow County Industrial Park during this current legislative session. Morrow Development Corporation was founded in 1994 to pro- vide gap financing to busi- nesses in Morrow County. It has a five-member board of directors consisting of Jerry Healy, Karen Pettigrew, John Moffit, George Koffler and Ryan Neal. For more details and in- terest in potentially leasing space in the new facility, Neal says to contact the Port at 541-481-7678 or email leases@portofmorrow.com. Health District problems aired in front of packed board meeting A large crowd crammed into the Morrow County Health District Board meet- ing room in Heppner Mon- day night, some to protest the resignation of Dr. Russ Nichols, some to criticize the practice of a current physician, some to praise that physician and some to vent their frustration with the district. Over 25 people, in addition to board mem- bers and staff, attended the meeting. Staff, board and many in the community had earli- er received an inflammatory letter from a disgruntled health district employee, who may have composed the letter on company time on a company com- puter. The Heppner Ga- zette-Times also received that letter but chose not to publish it due to a lack of a signature, as per the G-T policy. Sheridan Tarnasky, who worked for the district for many years as an RN and then as a provider, said that she was saddened by the current situation and noted that the district “will be losing a lot of revenue” with the departure of Dr. Nichols. In addition to clin- ic and hospital duties, he also performed upper and lower endoscopies. “Where was the plan when you knew you had a problem?” asked Tarnasky. Tarnasky’s mother was an early admin- Victor VanderDoes, interim administrator istrator at the hospital. Toni Young, medical assistant at Pioneer Me- morial Clinic, chided the board, saying “You guys Boardman Food Pantry holds appreciation dinner ‘Pantry was formed by whole community of Boardman coming together’ Debbie Radie (far left) Vice President of Operations at Boardman Foods, visits with Boardman Food Pantry Board Chair Mary Killion, while Madison Hynes (left) and Karla Jimenez get ready to serve visitors at the appreciation dinner held last week. -Photo by David Sykes To show appreciation for all those who made it a success, the Boardman Food Pantry held an ap- preciation dinner at its new facility, a former church, last week. “The pantry was formed by the whole com- munity of Boardman com- ing together and supporting us. We wouldn’t be here today without the help we have had not only from individuals but businesses, volunteers, people bring- ing goods and also donat- ing financially,” said Food Pantry Board Chair Mary Killion. Since opening in March of 2020, the pantry has served food boxes to over 2,100 households and 7,360 individuals. The pantry continues to help people providing food boxes to 50 to 60 households per week averaging up to 160 people, Killion said. She also put out the word for people who would like to volunteer to help. “We are always looking for people to help us in some way, whether to come and pack boxes or those who can help financially,” Kil- lion told the Gazette-Times. The Pantry, located in a former church at 314 Locust Road in Boardman, is a nonprofit and governed by a board of directors. Their phone number is 541- 219-9535, and their pickup hours are 9:30 to 11 a.m. on Mondays and 6 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays. (the board) have a lot of explaining to do.” Dr. Edward Berretta, who, along with his wife, Dr. Jeanne Berretta, was employed by the district for many years, offered to step in as a member of the medical staff remotely. Interim administrator, Victor VanderDoes, who served as administrator in past years, was in atten- dance at the meeting. The district ended the contract with previous administrator Ryan Fowler, “effective immediately” May 7. He had been with the district for only short period of time since previous ad- ministrator Bob Houser’s retirement in December. VanderDoes said at the Monday night meeting that the board will be receiving a weekly update, adding that he plans to listen to the community at Chamber of Commerce meetings and to “each individual staff member, privately.” Dr. Ken Wenberg, for- mer physician with the district for “some 30 years”, also commented on his em- ployment with the district and expressed regret con- cerning the district’s current situation. John Murray, MCHD Board Chair, said com- plaints have been received By David Sykes Last week’s election saw Morrow County voters sent current board mem- bers Rick Stokoe and Jer- ry Healy back to the Port of Morrow for another term, elect- ed Jacob Cain and Kalie Davis to the Mor- Jacob Cain, row Coun- school board t y S c h o o l Board and saw Ione voters give a yes vote to an ambitious $18.5 million bond measure that will see major new construction on that school’s campus. Turn- out was low in the May 18 special election, with just 30 percent of voters bothering to fill out their ballots. Out of 6,874 eli- gible voters, Rick Stokoe, only 2,108 re-elected to voted. Port In the most con- tested race in the county, Stokoe won three out of five precincts to get the win with 925 votes at 49 percent in the three-way election. Healy won handily with 62 percent of the vote and the Ione bond passed 177 to 107 with 62 percent saying yes. See the election spread sheet in this week’s paper for a recap of all the con- tested races. The school bond for $18.5 will finance sever- al proposed projects at the school including a new 19,000 square foot high school Kalie Davis, b u i l d i n g , school board new gym and fitness center, library and public meeting rooms and a shop remodel. It is also pro- posed to do a kitchen re- model, con- version of an existing stage into a music room and con- struct cov- ered secure Jerry Healy, re-elected to w a l k w a y s . Port Repairs are also planned for both the swimming pool and the principal’s house. Since the bond passed, the school district will now be awarded a matching grant of $4 million from the Oregon School Capital Im- provement Matching (OS- CIM) Program for a total of $22.5 million available for the proposed projects. Results for contested elections in the county Candidate & Position Heppner Ione Lexington Irrigon Boardman Total Percent Port of Morrow Pos. 1 Jonathan Tallman Rick Stokoe Won John Kilkenny 54 22 172 138 323 94 21 64 108 117 175 127 108 376 72 322 925 724 16.32 46.88 36.7 123 34 402 204 20 12 41 130 7 172 177 39 212 582 259 1172 49 127 30.88 62.18 6.74 151 302 47 98 249 168 155 370 602 938 39.04 60.83 251 161 47 98 228 165 248 295 798 685 53.59 46 3 2 4 3 0 1 1 0 300 290 309 342 303 293 314 345 24.07 23.27 24.94 27.4 166 64 150 43.46 16.75 39.27 313 195 645 606 51.48 48.36 Port of Morrow Pos. 3 Rick Weiss Jerry Healy Won Chandler Schaak MC School Board Pos. 7 Tia McNamee Kalie Davis Won MC School Board Pos. 2 Jacob Cain Won Marisela Rodelo Boardman Fire & Rescue Kenneth Browne Won Jeff McCauley Donnie Griggs Won Lisa Pratt Won Irrigon Fire Protection Scott Ezell Won Steven DeRushe Tom Arbuckle 166 64 150 OR Trail Library # 4 Anna Browne Won Stephanie Case 177 188 155 223 OR Trail Library # 3 Jeanette Meyers Won Nicole Kent 189 144 226 157 259 195 674 496 57.41 42.25 78 413 161 212 217 240 456 865 34.47 65.38 205 165 401 1010 108 553 64.5 35.31 340 198 340 198 62.73 36.53 100 186 259 239 154 100 186 259 239 154 10.66 19.83 27.61 25.48 16.42 421 161 279 421 161 279 48.84 18.68 32.37 177 107 62.32 37.68 OR Trail Library # 5 Ragna TenEyck William J Kuhn Won Radio District # 2 Loren Dieter Won Karen Primmer 208 116 168 61 80 51 Boardman Park At large David Boor Won Marie Cain Boardman Park At large Teiko Villegas Mike Hughes John Christy Won Norma Ayala Won Lynn E Prag Boardman Cemetery Smokey Joe Wightman Won Chandler Schaak Karen Pettigrew Won Ione School Bond Yes Passed No 177 107 from district employees who said they often didn’t know what was going on at the hospital until they read about it in the newspaper. Murray suggested the board move their meeting night to Thursday, so the employees would have time to learn the details before the in- formation came out in the Gazette-Times. Life-long community member Co- rey Sweeney, who is also a member of the Heppner -See HEALTH DISTRICT/ PAGE THREE