Lexington
discusses sanitation
franchise fees
Hermiston Sanitary would stop
providing service
50¢
VOL. 140
NO. 29
8 Pages
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Gubernatorial candidate Jessica Gomez
visits eastern Oregon
“Resources and respect must return to Oregon’s rural Counties.”
-Jessica Gomez
Gubernatorial can-
didate, Jessica Gomez,
stopped in at the Heppner
Gazette on Monday to share
some of her plans and ideas
for eastern Oregon cit-
ies. After her visit at the
Gazette, she continued to
a meeting at the Gilliam
and Bisbee building before
heading to Condon.
Strong and diverse
economies, education stan-
dards, poorly spent tax
money and access to natural
resources are the resound-
ing themes Gubernatorial
candidate Jessica Gomez is
hearing while visiting with
local business and commu-
nity leaders across eastern
Oregon this week.
“Eastern Oregon is full
of talented and hard-work-
ing Oregonians who know
that when rural counties
thrive, so does the whole
of Oregon.” said Jessi-
ca Gomez. “Their voices
have been largely ignored
because they haven’t been
listened to by our current
governor. What this week
has solidified for me is the
need for a governor who
will focus on opportunities
for the entire state -- not just
the big cities.”
Gomez, a small busi-
ness owner from Medford,
says it is high time for a
reboot and that Oregon’s
recovery is dependent on
Candidate for governor, Jessica Gomez, visited Heppner on
Monday.
building strong regional
economies. She does not
believe in piling on crip-
pling taxes and regula-
tions. Gomez will encour-
age targeted and strategic
investments in broadband,
water, transportation and
infrastructure so both urban
and rural communities can
support growth in indus-
tries like biotech, advanced
manufacturing, smart Ag
tech and wood products.
To get the workforce busi-
nesses need, Gomez said
she would encourage em-
ployers to offer at-work
childcare and classify em-
ployer-based childcare as a
non-taxable benefit for both
employer and employee.
“Our reputation as a
business-friendly state has
badly slipped. We must
foster an environment to
make our state once again
a great place to live and to
work,” said Jessica Gomez.
“As governor, my goal is to
build back growth in every
sector via small business
development, infrastructure
development, and expand-
ing access to education.”
Another area of im-
portance is giving Oregon
students more opportunities
to build academic skills.
Gomez -- who at age 9
could not read, but later at-
tended community college
and, at age 26, built the first
state-of-the-art microchip
manufacturing facility in
southern Oregon-- knows
first-hand the importance of
giving children multiple av-
enues to access educational
opportunities and thrive.
While in eastern Ore-
gon, Gomez also stopped
in Boardman to exchange
ideas with local leaders
and joined the Lions Club
breakfast and the Miners’
Jubilee in Baker City. She
attended the La Grande
Car Show and Crazy Days,
visited a manufacturing
plant and was welcomed
with an evening meet and
greet. In Pendleton, she met
community members and
held a frank discussion of
the challenges of rural Or-
egon, watched some early
harvesting at Weston and
met with the Oregon Wheat
Growers League. While
in Hermiston, Gomez met
with city and county leaders
and spent time with Fred
Ziari the founder of the
innovative Farmers Ending
Hunger.
Gomez will continue
meeting with business and
community leaders in Con-
don, Moro, The Dalles and
will attend the 100 Year
Hood River Fair this week.
To learn more about
Jessica Gomez, visit her
website: jessicagomezfor-
governor.com.
CREZ keeps steady course after
wide-ranging discussion
Most members like what’s happening
By David Sykes
It was a lively discus-
sion, but in the end the
majority of CREZ board
members last week thought
the system they have craft-
ed over the past 10 years
developing new businesses
and disbursing over $26
million in tax money around
the county, is working pret-
ty well and shouldn’t be
changed.
Meeting together for
the first-time, board mem-
bers from both CREZ II
and the new CREZ III spent
time last Friday not only
talking over the future of
CREZ spending, but also
the general state of econom-
ic development in Morrow
County.
Over the past 10 years
the Port of Morrow and the
Columbia River Enterprise
Zone (CREZ) have worked
hand in hand to attract new
businesses and encour-
age expansion of existing
businesses in the county,
and that alliance has been
highly successful. The Port
has attracted new and di-
versified businesses such
as Amazon data centers
into the county and helped
existing businesses such
as food processing grow
and expand. The enterprise
zone has been an important
tool for the Port in recruit-
ing these new businesses,
almost all which have been
located on Port proper-
ty near Boardman. The
zone offers substantial tax
breaks for locating and cre-
ating good paying jobs in
the county. As an offshoot
CREZ has collected sub-
stantial revenues in lieu of
taxes. In the past 10 years,
for example, it has taken in
$26,470,660.
The CREZ board has
wide ranging discretion
on how these funds will be
spent but has adhered to a
“four bucket” approach of
giving money to education,
public safety, community
enhancement and housing.
This past year it added in-
frastructure to that group. It
has also stuck with a system
of distribution which sees
money allocated to local
groups and municipalities
for distribution avoiding a
long line of groups, taxing
districts and individuals
coming before the CREZ
board seeking funding.
“We have let regional part-
ners decide how the dollars
would be spent,” long-time
CREZ board member and
this year’s chairman Don
Russell said. “I think letting
people decide what works
best in their region is a good
way to go.”
As an example, he
pointed out how the CREZ
has been giving money to
various groups around the
county for use in building
up housing. Willow Creek
Valley Economic Develop-
ment Group, WCVEDG,
has served the south county
area of Heppner, Lexington
and Ione, while Boardman
Community Development
Association, has handled
the Boardman area and City
of Irrigon has taken care of
that area. Over the years
each group has morphed
their programs into what
works best for them, Rus-
sell pointed out. In Board-
man they still give a $5,000
grant for new home buyers.
In Irrigon they help out with
those buying stick-built
homes, and in south county
money has been spent on
housing rehabilitation and
building two new quality
duplexes in Heppner and
one in Ione. There has
also been money given out
in south county for com-
munity enhancement and
business development.
Several changes in the
last couple of years also saw
CREZ give money directly
to the sponsoring enter-
prise groups, the City of
Boardman, Port of Morrow
and Morrow County, who
By David Sykes
Hermiston Sanitary
Disposal reported they will
stop servicing the residents
of Lexington after Septem-
ber rather than pay a fran-
chise fee, the town council
was told last Tuesday night.
Lexington’s trash pick-
up is currently done by two
companies Hermiston and
Miller and Sons Dispos-
al of Heppner. The town
had sent letters to both
companies informing them
of an upcoming franchise
agreement requirement and
fee to continue to trash
collection. Miller and Sons
agreed, Hermiston did not.
“Our company respectful-
ly declines to enter into a
franchise agreement with
the Town of Lexington.
Therefore …. After Sept. 30
we will no longer be a solid
wase collection provider in
the Town of Lexington,”
Hermiston said in a letter
to the council. Miller and
Sons said they would be
interested in an agreement
making them exclusive, or
only company, collecting
waste in town.
Miller said with the
current number customers
they have now and the
added Hermiston custom-
ers they would pick up,
they estimated with a stan-
dard franchise fee of five
percent on gross pick up
charges, the town would
make approximately $150
per month.
The town has been con-
sidering the franchise fee
for some time, and at least
one council member never
did like the idea, saying the
cost would just be passed
on to residents as a new
tax. “Miller is just going
to raise their rates” to cover
the franchise fee, Council
member Will Lemmon said.
He also said competition
was a good thing and this
would now leave the town
will only one trash col-
lection company. “Miller
and Sons could triple their
rates, and no one could
stop them,” Lemmon said.
In their letter, Miller said,
“Contract renewals are re-
assessed and renewed every
10 years. Prices are con-
trolled and maintained by
Miller and Sons and will be
addressed within our com-
pany to raise as needed.”
“It’s just sucking it out of
the citizens,” Lemmon said
of the franchise fee. “Every-
one tries to get more money
out of the people. Let’s not
be that town,” he urged. It
was announced that council
member Curtis Thompson
intends to resign from the
council over the franchise
proposal and losing the
Hermiston service which
is apparently cheaper than
Miller’s. No official action
on the franchise was taken
by the council at last Tues-
day’s meeting.
In other town business-
es it was announced that
maintenance man Scott
Lamb was resigning his po-
sition to go to work for the
City of Heppner. Lamb’s
last day would be July 29.
The town has started ad-
vertising for a new mainte-
nance man.
Town Recorder Janette
Eldridge talked to the coun-
cil about the new improved
water billing system, which
she said cost less and was
better, allowing people to
pay their water bills online.
There will be a cost to use
a credit card. Councilmem-
bers wanted to make sure
people knew that there is a
charge to use the credit card
online payment method.
The council heard a
report from firefighter Josie
Miles who said the depart-
ment had taken possession
of a used Spartan fire engine
from the Hermiston Fire
Department, and the new
town jackrabbit emblems
had been installed on the
new truck. She said they
are planning on taking the
new engine to show during
the Morrow County Fair &
Rodeo parade in August.
Ione invited Lexington to
join this year’s Fourth of
July parade and volunteer
fireman Reid Miller drove
the town’s tender in the
parade. The town also took
both brush rigs and the
tender down to watch over
the fireworks in case they
were needed to help in fire
suppression.
Miles said the depart-
ment is working to help
received $1.8 million each.
Last year as a first CREZ
gave Ione, Heppner, Irrigon
and Lexington $200,000
each, ostensibly to be used
-See FRANCHISE FEES/
on either infrastructure
PAGE TWO
projects such as studies of
water or sewer needs.
For an idea of how
money coming into the
CREZ has grown over the
years, in the first years of
2012 to 2015 it took in a
total of $1,730,846 increas-
ing each year until 2020
there was $8,763,895 to
distribute.
One idea discussed that
was outside the normal
funding categories, came
from Port Manager Ryan
Neal who suggested the
CREZ consider establish-
ing an endowment fund
for scholarships for Mor- The Lexington Fire Department participated in the Ione 4th
-See CREZ STAYS STEADY/ of July parade with their tender, displaying the new logo.
PAGE EIGHT -Photo by Josie Miles.