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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2022)
Morrow & Umatilla Counties urge state to lock in nitrate water research funding 50¢ VOL. 141 NO. 7 8 Pages Wednesday, February 16, 2022 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon School prepares to put up $138 million bond Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area has long history of high nitrate levels in the drinking water. Con- cern over nitrate levels has increased recently with the DEQ charges against the Port of Morrow. Artist renderings of proposed new Heppner K-12 percent 11 years ago, to 96 percent now. “I don’t have the right words to say,” he said. “It’s really wonder- ful,” attributing “attention to detail” by teachers and administration.D Dirksen said he ex- pected some new guide- lines on COVID 19 to come from the state which would increase school’s local control, albeit with “some strings attached.” He expects a federal deci- sion on or around March 31. “So stay tuned,” he said. “I’m hoping to get more local control. We’ve done a great job keeping the masks on. We didn’t have to shut the schools down.” In other business the board: -learned of the hiring of Barb Phillips, the new executive secretary taking over from current secretary Cheryl Costello, following her retirement at the end of the school year. Dirksen is also retiring at that time. -received the follow- ing revenue statement: as of January 31, the district received $28,937,833 in revenue, with $28,092,874 in expenditures, with $844,959 in revenue over expenditures for a be- ginning fund balance of $4,508,248 and a project- ed ending fund balance of $5,353,207. -received the follow- ing enrollment report as of February: A.C. Houghton Elementary, Irrigon-209; Sam Boardman Elementa- ry-356; Heppner Elemen- tary-182; Irrigon Elemen- tary-255; Heppner Jr./Sr. High School-159; Irrigon Jr./Sr. High School-376; Riverside Jr./Sr. High School, Boardman-485; Morrow Education Center, Irrigon-67; total-2,274. Enrollment by com- munity is as follows: Boardman-an increase of 41 from 1,055 in 2021 to 1,096 in 2022; Heppner-an increase of 22, from 319 in 2021 to 341 in 2022; Irri- gon, a loss of 2, from 772 in 2021 to 770 in 2022; Morrow Education Center, a loss of 56, from 123 in 2021 to 67 in 2022; district totals, a gain of five, from 2,269 in 2021 to 2,274 in 2022. -approved the 2021- 22 Spring Coaching List to rehire (Heppner listed only): Timothy Wilkins, head high school base- ball coach, Scott Coe, assistant baseball coach, Russ Nichols, head track; Alaina Lemmon, half-time assistant track; Alan Scott, half-time assistant track, Ken Grieb, head high school golf, Carri Grieb, assistant high school golf, Petra Payne, head high school softball, Madison Rosenbalm, assistant high school softball, Antonia Nichols, junior high head track, Stephani McAninch, junior high assistant track. -approved the fol- lowing employment ac- tion for February: resig- nations-Krystal carroll, IJSHS ed assistant, Whit- ney Coffman, IJSHS head cheerleading coach, Misty Johansen, SBE head cook, Julia Longoria-SBE first grade teacher, Dulce Pena, SBE ed assistant, Sybil Stewart, HES second grade teacher; retirements-Robin Graff, PERS retiree, work- ing the remainder of the school year; employment/ promotions/transfers-Yis- el, SBE temporary teacher, Rachel Flynn, RJSHS lan- guage arts teacher 2022- 23, Robin Graff, RJSHS career and technical ed teacher 2022-2023; Ale- jandra Gomez, MCSD be- havior tech, Alicia Perez, 2022 St. Patrick’s Collector’s Button for sale starting this week The 2022 St. Patrick’s Collector’s Button will be available to purchase this week. The St Patrick’s 2022 Collector’s Button is being made and will high- light 2022 St. Patrick’s cel- ebration Grand Marshal, Randall Peterson. The button will be available for purchase for $3 at the Chamber of Commerce, the City of Heppner offic- -See BOND/PAGE SIX By David Sykes Morrow and Umatil- la counties have joined together in urging The Department of Agricul- ture (ODA) to expediate the hiring of, and lock in funding for, a researcher to study nitrate levels in their two counties. The effort comes on the heels of a recent $1.3 million fine by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) against the Port of Morrow for exceeding ni- trate application on farm ground in the area over the past three years. The DEQ says the Port violated their per- mit more than a thousand times, resulting in 165 tons of excess nitrate be- ing applied to farm ground in areas already identified with high nitrate levels. The two county govern- ments are apparently so concerned about the im- pact of the violation that they wrote a joint letter to the Oregon Department of Agriculture urging them to lock in $250,000 in al- ready allocated funding for the nitrate research. “It is our current understand- ing that the procurement documents related to the hiring of a researcher are currently under review. As you are aware, time is of the essence regarding the use of these one-time funds provided by the Legislature, as the funds are set to expire in June 2023,” the letter said. “We appreciate your efforts in furthering the review of this procurement and the hiring of a researcher,” the Feb. 9 letter said. In the letter the coun- ties also asked the funds be reallocated if the research work is not completed by the deadline. Morrow County Planner Tamra Mabbott was at the Feb. 9 meeting of the county commissioners, urging them to approve the letter. Mabbott said new studies are needed since most of the available data on ni- trate levels is outdated. The DEQ and the Or- egon Department of Ag- riculture (ODA) declared the Lower Umatilla Ba- sin a Groundwater Man- agement Area (GWMA) in 1990 because regional nitrate-nitrogen concen- trations exceeded 7 milli- grams per liter. The area encompasses Morrow and Umatilla counties includ- ing Hermiston, Boardman, Irrigon, Stanfield, and Echo. High nitrate concen- trations in drinking water are linked with serious health concerns for infants and pregnant or nursing women. Sources of excess nitrate in water include fertilizers, septic systems, wastewater treatment efflu- ent, animal wastes, indus- trial wastes and food pro- cessing waste waters. The Port of Morrow especially takes the food processing waste water from the busi- nesses located in its indus- trial park at Boardman and spreads that water over farm ground in the area. It has a permit with the DEQ for how much of the nitrate-rich water it can ap- ply over a period of time, a permit the DEQ says the Port exceeded, and the rea- son for the fine. The Port is in the process of appeal- ing that fine. At the commission meeting Mabbott said the request to lock in the funds was needed because those involved do not think the research will be done by the June 2023 deadline. Commissioner Don Russell asked Mabbott if the DEQ target of 10 parts of nitrate per million for safe drinking water was ar- rived at by science, or “just a dart thrown at the wall.” Mabbott said that threshold had some science behind it since it was developed by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Dis- ease Control. Russell also pointed out that those nitrate safe drinking water standards were adopted some time ago and perhaps they need updating. “Those were set -See WATER/PAGE SIX E L E VAT E YO U R A DV E N T U R E CALL 541-989-8221 ext 204 es and Murray’s Drug in Heppner. No $100 “Pot O’ Gold drawings this year and a limited supply of buttons will be made. NEW 2022 FOR By April Hilton-Sykes The Morrow County School District released design photos of the pro- posed changes to schools in in preparation for the $138 million bond mea- sure to go before voters on May 17. If the measure passes, the district would be awarded a matching grant from the Oregon School Capital Improve- ment Matching Program for $4 million. MCSD announced that the proposed bond and grant funds, if passed, would finance the follow- ing: -Heppner: “New se- cure entries and offices with a reconfigured line of sight; new auxiliary gym and locker rooms; a new building added to current seven-12 building to in- clude elementary students (at the current Heppner High School site); and a reconfigured playground and parking.” -Irrigon: “New secure entries and offices with a reconfigured line of sight; new competition gym and locker rooms; reconfigure three classrooms at A.C. Houghton Elementary; construct new front office at ACH; reconfigured traf- fic and parking at Irrigon Elementary and Irrigon Jr./ Sr. High. -Boardman: “new secure entries and offic- es with reconfigured line of sight; new competition gym and locker rooms; four new elementary class- rooms; four new Jr./Sr. High classrooms; recon- figured traffic and parking between Sam Boardman Elementary and Windy River Elementary. “If the proposed mea- sure passes, the proposed bond would mature in 20 years or less and the bond rate would be an estimat- ed $2.67 per $1,000 of assessed property value, although the actual levy rate may differ. If the pro- posed measure passes, it is estimated that a taxpay- er who owns a house as- sessed at $200,000 would pay approximately $534 per year,” according to the district “proposed bond measure information.” “If the proposed bond measure does not pass, the grant money would not be received from the state, the proposed projects would not be completed and tax rates would not increase.” Also at the meet- ing, Superintendent Dirk Dirksen reported on the increase in attendance dis- trict-wide from only 76 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. 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