SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 16, 2022
New sewer treatment system top ’22 goal WATER
says Heppner council
-Continued from PAGE ONE
By David Sykes
Continuing to work on
a new sewer treatment sys-
tem for the city of Heppner
is the top goal for 2022, the
city council decided during
its regular yearly goal-set-
ting session. At Monday’s
meeting the council adopt-
ed 18 separate goals for the
coming year on improve-
ments it would like to see
around town.
Developing a new
sewer disposal system has
been a long-term project
for the city since the de-
partment of Environmen-
tal Quality (DEQ) has said
Heppner needs to reduce
the amount of ammonia
being dumped from its
aging treatment plant into
Willow Creek. To solve the
problem the city council,
officials and the engineer-
ing firm have settled on
installing a lagoon settling
system as the best option.
Some of the other
goals adopted at Monday’s
meeting are to:
-Improve information
signage, fix sidewalks and
continue to replace trees
downtown.
- Continue rehabili-
tation work on Jones and
Willow View Streets.
-Decide what to do
with the $200,000 the city
received this year from the
Columbia River Enterprise
Zone.
-Chip seal Water and
Barratt Streets; install cam-
eras in the parks; crack seal
Court Street; and clean up
and add gravel to
Chase and May
BOND
-Continued from PAGE ONE
SBE ed assistant, Barbara
Phillips, MCSD executive
secretary/human resources
assistant; Amber Savage,
SBE ed assistant, Arace-
ly Urenda, IJSHS CARE
coordinator, Kyle Wyant,
IJSHS temporary spe-
cial ed teacher; extra duty
contracts-Krystal Carroll,
IJSHS head cheerleading
coach, high school assis-
tant track coach, Trisha
DeBard, IJSHS head soft-
ball coach, Ivan Navarre-
te-IJSHS head high school
track coach and Madison
Rosenbalm, HJSHS assis-
tant softball coach.
-approved the 2021-
22 spring coaching list to
rehire: Heppner-Timothy
Wilkins, head high school
baseball coach, Scott Coe,
assistant high school base-
ball coach, Russ Nichols,
head high school track
coach, Alaina Lemmon,
half-time assistant track
coach, Alan Scott, half-
time assistant track coach,
Ken Grieb, head high
school golf coach, Car-
ri Grieb, assistant golf
coach, Petra Payne, head
high school softball coach,
streets.
Neighborhood
Center
gave out 1,314 food boxes
In other business at the
meeting the council heard
from Barb Orwick of the
local Neighborhood Cen-
ter, who reported on all the
help the center has given
out during the past year
2021.
Orwick said the Hep-
pner Neighborhood Cen-
ter: gave out a total of
1,314 food boxes last year;
delivered meals to the el-
derly and homebound to
eight individuals; gave
emergency gas assistance
to 21 families; housing
assistance to 13 families;
utility assistance to pay
electricity and water bills
to 40 families; clothing to
48 individuals; prescrip-
tion assistance to five peo-
ple; household items to 25
families; gave 24 families
a happier Christmas with
the Giving Tree, and gave
37 families a kids’ shop-
ping day.
On the donations side,
Orwick said the center
received a total of 3,402
pounds of food from the
community; 4,607 vol-
unteer man-hours were
contributed; and the cen-
ter received clothing and
household donations from
community members val-
ued at $45,437. Orwick
told the council the center
currently has lots of cloth-
ing and other items for sale
at its store and invited peo-
ple to come and check it
out. “We need shoppers,”
she emphasized.
Garbage collection rates
going up
In other action the
council voted unanimous-
ly to grant the city’s fran-
chise garbage collector
Miller & Sons Disposal
Services an approximate
two percent increase. “The
last increase we had was a
substantial one in 2020,”
Miller owner Ryan Miller
said in a letter to the city
asking for the increase.
“In the preceding years we
have incurred annual wage
increases, increased fuel
costs, insurance costs and
dump fees,” he said. Mill-
er said his fuel has gone
up $2,200 a month the last
three months. “These are
costs we can’t continue
to absorb alone,” he said
about the raise in rates,
adding that the increase
will just be enough to cov-
er their increased costs.
Under the new rate
schedule, local Heppner
and Lexington in town res-
idents’ charge will go from
$22.50 per month to $23;
local businesses dumpsters
up two dollars to $82 per
month; rural pickup will
go up two dollars to $26,
while rural dumpsters will
now be $82. The company
is also increasing the large
dumpster fees and charges
to haul the transfer station
containers to the Finley
Buttes landfill or to Herm-
iston.
Miller also told the
council that since their last
increase to keep up cus-
tomer service the company
has purchased another au-
tomated truck, one addi-
tional 30-yard roll-off box,
20 300-gallon dumpsters
and 60 65-gallon carts.
“As our customer base
grows, so will our invento-
ry. Thank you for your co-
operation and help through
this process,” he said.
Bring back the Volkswalk
In other business the
council heard from local
man John Edmundson who
said he is working to bring
back the Volkswalk to
Heppner. The Volkswalk
is a nation-wide group that
sponsors healthy walking
in various communities
and venues around the
country. Billed on its web
site as ‘America’s walk-
ing club,” the American
Volkssport Association is
a “non-competitive sports
organization
committed
to fun, fitness and friend-
ship.”
Edmundson said he
wanted to bring back and
promote Volkswalking in
Heppner, and asked the
council’s permission to re-
paint 300 small shamrock
on sidewalks around town
in preparation for the walk.
The small shamrocks will
guide walkers on the route
to take when they come
to participate in a walking
event. In years’ past Ed-
mundson had painted 680
shamrocks, but says he is
spacing the shamrocks far-
ther apart so will not need
as many. The council voted
unanimously giving him
permission to paint the
shamrocks.
Madison Rosenbalm, as-
sistant high school softball
coach, Antonia Nichols, ju-
nior high head track coach,
Stephanni McAninch, ju-
nior high assistant track
coach.
-adopted the corrective
action plan for the June 30,
2021 audit findings for a
“significant deficiency.”
-accepted a resolution
accepting and appropriate
unanticipated revenues as
follows: Sam Boardman
Elementary-$200
from
the family of Millie Bak-
er; Riverside Jr./Sr. High
School-$3,338.77
from
Deborah Wryn, $120 from
a surplus sale; Irrigon Jr./
Sr. High School-$40 from
a surplus sale.
-viewed a presentation
from the Riverside Jr./Sr.
High School FFA program.
-received the follow-
ing financial update high-
lights concerning signif-
icant transactions for the
school district: The district
received more in property
taxes than originally bud-
geted and reported to the
Oregon Department of
Education the updated es-
timates for revenues and
enrollment; the district
is continuing to report to
grant agencies the sec-
ond quarter expenditures
and will see additional re-
ceipts; the district made an
interest payment for debt
service in January.
-learned of a “June-
teenth” federal holiday.
-heard the following
announcements: the next
six board meetings will be
held at the North District
Office On March 14, April
11, May 10 and June 13;
there will be no school on
Monday, February 21 for
the President’s Day holi-
day; classified apprecia-
tion week is March 7-11;
a special board meeting
of the superintendent
search/screening commit-
tee will be held Thursday,
February 17, at 7 p.m. at
the North District Office/
Zoom; a special board
meeting for the superin-
tendent search will be held
Wednesday, February 23,
at 6 p.m. at the North Dis-
trict Office/Zoom; the next
board meeting will be held
Monday, March 14, at 7
p.m. at the North District
Office/Zoom.
Single Covid antigen home tests
$14.95
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updating. “Those were set
back in the 40s,” Russell
said. “We have come a
long way to understand-
ing things and maybe that
number is too high, or
maybe it’s too low. It is
70-year-old science,” he
pointed out. Mabbott said
the target amount is actu-
ally seven parts per million
of water “which is consid-
ered safe drinking water.”
She said the point of the
new studies would be to
update data on the ground
water in the GWMA and
try and find out what is
causing the contamina-
tion. Mabbott said back
in the 1990s there were
“hundreds of wells mon-
itored” for nitrate levels
and now “there is a couple
of dozen.”
The
commissioner
voted unanimously to send
the letter with Commis-
sioner Jim Doherty saying
he was in favor. “This is
some dollars we can use
to bring somebody in and
find out what is going on,
the positives and the neg-
atives. And why it is go-
ing on.” Commissioner
Melissa Lindsay is the co-
chair on a subcommittee
of GWMA looking at ni-
trates issues.
In other nitrate and drink-
ing water news, the com-
missioner at their previous
meeting Feb. 2 discussed
ways to aid people in north
county in getting their
wells tested for nitrates.
Doherty said he’d
talked to a local testing
lab who gives out water
testing sample bottles for
free and maybe the county
should obtain a number to
make available for people
at the county health de-
partment office in Board-
man. He discussed wheth-
er the county may be able
to set up a fund to help
people who cannot pay the
$35 fee to have the water
tested.
Russell said home-
owners can also install
filtration systems that take
out the nitrates from their
well water. “You can put
in a whole house system
that takes out the nitrates
or put in a drinking foun-
tain one source. I put in the
system myself all plastic
pipes. It’s pretty simple,”
he said.
Russell also said some
areas seem to have high-
er levels than others. “I
do know the Eastregaard
area (of Boardman) has
been above the 10 parts
per million threshold for
more than 20 years. That
is one of the higher areas
in the area. Generally, in
the Boardman area, the
further west you go the
less nitrate levels. It’s kind
of hit and miss throughout
the county,” he said.
In other business at
the Feb. 9 meeting the
commission voted unan-
imously to grant one of
the county’s franchise gar-
bage collectors, Miller &
Sons Disposal Services of
Heppner, an approximate
two percent increase. “The
last increase we had was a
substantial one in 2020,”
Miller & Sons owner Ryan
Miller said in a letter to the
commission asking for the
increase. “In the preced-
ing years we have incurred
annual wage increases,
increased fuel costs, in-
surance costs and dump
fees,” he said. Miller said
his fuel has gone up $2,200
a month the last three
months. “These are costs
we can’t continue to ab-
sorb alone,” he said about
the rise in rates, adding
that the increase will just
be enough to cover their
increased costs.
Under the new rate
schedule, local Heppner
and Lexington in-town res-
idents’ charge will go from
$22.50 per month to $23;
local businesses dumpsters
up two dollars to $82 per
month; rural pickup will
go up two dollars to $26,
while rural dumpsters will
now be $82. The company
is also increasing the large
dumpster fees and charges
to haul the transfer station
containers to the Finley
Buttes landfill or to Herm-
iston.
Miller also told the
commissioners that, since
their last increase, to keep
up customer service, the
company has purchased
another automated truck,
one additional 30-yard
roll-off box, 20 300-gallon
dumpsters and 60 65-gal-
lon carts. “As our custom-
er base grows, so will our
inventory. Thank you for
your cooperation and help
through this process,” he
said.
Before approving the
rate increase, which was
earlier approved by the
county Solid Waste Advi-
sory Board, the commis-
sioners held a public hear-
ing. No one testified either
in favor or against, but the
commissioners also held a
discussion about the gar-
bage rates.
Lindsay said she would
like to see Miller and the
other franchise garbage
collector in the county,
Sanitary Disposal, get to
together and talk about the
most efficient routes for
them to cover. She felt they
were crossing paths and it
was not a good use of fuel.
“There should be a discus-
sion about re-analyzing
routes. There are some ri-
diculous crossings and that
is not productive in good
fuel use,” she pointed out.
Public Works Management
Assistant Sandi Point-
er said she thought since
Sanitary Disposal recently
purchased the waste dis-
posal franchise for part of
the county, that company
would probably being do-
ing cost analysis soon on
their routes. “This (Miller)
is a profit driven compa-
ny,” Doherty said. “And if
they are going to bump it
up because of the cost of
fuel then it is fair to say
make it as efficient as you
can.” Doherty also said it
was better for the franchis-
es to increase their rates
gradually like this than
wait and do a big increase
all at once.
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