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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 2021)
Good crowd turns out for hometown author’s book signing 50¢ VOL. 140 NO. 42 10 Pages Wednesday, October 20, 2021 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Lexington housing growth depends on additional water, infrastructure County Planner Tamra Mabbott talks infrastructure with town council. -Photo by David Sykes. ber Will Lemmon said. The town has only one well and in the past has looked at ways to develop a second one, not only for backup but to provide more supply for new homes. The town is on a central water system, but each home has its own septic system. Lemmon also ques- tioned if the town had enough available vacant land for building. “We don’t really have that much space to build in this town, do we?” he asked. Lemmon pointed out that some pri- vate developers have al- ready been doing some housing development but wondered if there is vacant land available. Mabbott pointed to a 2019 buildable lands study that showed Lexington has 19 partially vacant acres and 29 vacant acres that could support development, however 25 of those acres being diffi- cult to serve without infra- structure. She said more building lots could be made available in Lexington if the town were to consider expanding its urban growth boundary. In any case it was generally agreed for the town to grow with new housing and residents, it would need another water source, such as a second well. Mabbott was asked about the recently enacted county rural residential lot ordinance, allowing 10 acres of land to be created from larger farm parcels for residential building. While that option is available, she said the state of Ore- gon makes it very difficult to create the smaller lots. “Creating rural residential minimum 10 acres; I have talked to some people (in Morrow County about it) but nothing has developed yet,” she told the council. “I spent 20 years as a planner in Umatilla County, and we did two of them,” she said of the difficulty in creat- ing the lots. However, she says if it was done, making the smaller building lots could help with the housing crunch. “It just takes plan- ning and paperwork, but it is possible,” she said. Mabbott said there is also a state land use law that allows even smaller lots than 10 acres to be created from larger farm- zoned parcels, but that is even harder to accomplish. Vaccine mandate Health District not expected to lose staff; School District says no impact on education Oregon Governor Kate for Teachers and School know that the mandates are Brown has mandated that Staff was put into effect frustrating given the lack in order to keep their jobs, making it unlawful for of local control, but staff is all health care workers and school districts to employ, determined to give students school employees receive contract with or accept the the best education experi- the COVID-19 vac- volunteer services of ence possible,” he said. cination or provide any individual over Emily Reynolds Rob- accepted proof of the age of 16 that is erts, Interim Health District a medical or reli- not fully vaccinated Administrator, said the dis- gious exemption. or have a documented trict intends to fully comply That mandate went medical or religious with governor’s vaccine into effect on Mon- exception,” mandate and the day. In anticipation School District Oct. 18 federal of the mandate the Superintendent mandate. Roberts Gazette-Times con- School Dirk Dirksen said the mandate tacted both the med- Supt. Dirk told the Gazette. affects all 180 (ap- ical and school dis- Dirksen “We current- prox.) employees tricts for comment ly have 306 full of the district. on the effect the mandate time employees and When asked was expected to have on roughly 60 substitutes if the district ex- staffing and operation of the that the mandate will Interim pected to lose em- Health districts. affect. With the dead- District ployees, Roberts “Yes, on August 25 th , line of October 18 th Admin. said, “We hope Vaccination Requirements still upon us, we cur- Emily (and expect) that rently do not know Reynolds we will not lose what staffing impact Roberts any employees. that we might have,” We are working he explained. “We continue closely with each of our to work with all employees employees and volunteers to support them in any per- to ensure that we have ap- sonal decision they make, propriate documentation, while complying with the which would be either proof law. We are not planning of vaccination or a docu- on there being any impact mented religious/medical on student education. We do accommodation,” she said. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. “There is a way to create smaller acres in Oregon, but I don’t know anyone who has done it,” she pointed out. Since most of the cities in south Morrow County are surrounded by large farm parcels, not being able to create smaller building lots is contributing to the rural housing shortage. After much discussion, Mabbott said the town clerk Janette Eldrige had agreed to serve on a technical ad- visory panel to work with the consulting company on the project, but she was asking for additional cit- izens to volunteer. “Any grant that comes from the state of Oregon now has an emphasis on addressing populations that are under- served, and that includes people of color and people of low income and very low income,” Mabbott told the council. “If there are folks that you think need housing or whose voice is not represented very well, we would do everything we could to address those hous- ing needs at every level,” she said. The study will not cost the cities any money as the consulting firm is being paid for with a state grant. At the Heppner City Council meeting it was brought up that many peo- ple who could volunteer for the advisory committee hold full time jobs and are not available to meet during working hours. Mabbott said she would take that into consideration. In other business at the meeting the council heard a report from Eldrige who said she had finished a re- port to Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group detailing what work was done with the $3,549 grant the town received. The town painted, carpet- ed and installed a new air conditioning unit in the town hall building. She also reported that the town’s new billing system was up and running and working well. “It’s easy to use,” she told the council of the new system. DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5PM Bestselling author Scott McEwen signs one of his books for Jean Collins, while Flood Town Books owner Andrea Nelson looks on. -Photo by David Sykes Hometown author Scott McEwen, now of San Diego, was back in Hep- pner Saturday for a book signing at the new Flood Town Books bookstore on Main Street. A good crowd turned out to visit and have their books signed by McEw- en, who so far has written 10 books, including his first one American Sniper, which is based on the life of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. American Sniper, published in 2012, was an immediate New York Times best sell- er, remaining at number one for three months. It was eventually turned into a very successful Holly- wood movie directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Bradley Cooper. McEwen said it has become the high- est grossing war movie of all time. McEwen, who grad- uated from Heppner High School in 1979, told the crowd he is very concerned about the direction of the country, and that he is cur- rently working on a new book about the second amendment. Morrow County deputies graduate Pictured (L-R): Collin Brill, Jacob Stutzman and Zachary Kilgore. Jacob Stutzman, Collin Brill and Zachary Kilgore, all Morrow County dep- uties, graduated from the Department of Public Safe- ty Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Police Academy on Friday, October 15. According to the MCSO press release, the training is normally com- pleted in a 16-week time- frame, but due to COVID delays the training was 20 weeks. Each deputy will also complete a 12- week field training program with he sheriff’s office and the additional required 84 hours of training over the next three years. Robbery suspect arrested Jace Allan Hendren, 28, was arrested following a robbery of the Irrigon Shell Station on Monday, October 18. The Morrow County Communications Center received a 911 call reporting the robbery at approximately 2 a.m. Depu- ties were close by and were on the scene within one minute of the call. Deputy Miguel Flores and Deputy Ivan Dike be- gan the investigation and within 30 minutes had de- tained Hendren in a nearby home that he had entered uninvited. The property and money from the Irrigon Shell Station was recovered Jace Allan Hendren and returned. Hendren was arrested, charged with Burglary I, Theft II, Criminal Trespass II and Criminal Mischief III and lodged at the Umatilla County Jail with bail of $57,000. E L E VAT E YO U R A DV E N T U R E CALL 541-989-8221 ext 204 NEW 2022 FOR By David Sykes To see more housing growth in Lexington the town needs more water, county planner Tamara Mabbott was told at a town council meeting last week. Mabbott was at the meeting to explain a new program she’s developing to remove roadblocks and find funding for housing de- velopment in south Morrow County. She has already spoken to and received approval from the Heppner City Council, (See Oct. 13 G-T), and was now laying out the details to the Town of Lexington. Under the plan, con- sulting firm ECO North- west will work with Hep- pner, Lexington and Ione to find money for new in- frastructure and increase available housing lots. Mabbott said the number one obstacle to developing new housing in south coun- ty is infrastructure. Streets, sidewalks, gutters, water and sewer lines as well as water sources and sewer facilities are needed before homes can be built in south county. You can have all your land but if you don’t have infrastructure, it’s not going to happen,” Mabbott said. She said Boardman and Irrigon are “growing like gang busters” so don’t need the help with housing. At the Lexington meet- ing Mabbott was told new water sources are what’s needed for additional hous- ing development. “We need more water,” councilmem- for more information CHECK OUT THE ALL-NEW 2 0 2 2 P O L A R I S L I N E U P. WE’LL HELP YOU LOCK I N W H AT Y O U W A N T. WARNING: Polaris ® off‑road vehicles can be hazardous to operate and are not intended for on‑road use. Driver must be at least 16 years old with a valid driver’s license to operate. Passengers, if permitted, must be at least 12 years old. All riders should always wear helmets, eye protection, and protective clothing. Always use seat belts and cab nets or doors (as equipped). Never engage in stunt driving, and avoid excessive speeds and sharp turns. Riding and alcohol/drugs don’t mix. All riders should take a safety training course. Call 800-342-3764 for additional information. Check local laws before riding on trails. ©2021 Polaris Inc.
