Fire departments
receive grant
50¢
VOL. 141
NO. 29
8 Pages
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Mayor, paramedic seek Boardman
ambulance licensing
However, EMS board pursues end to 911 dispatching
The Heppner, lone
and Lexington Fire De-
partments received a Joint
Grant from Northwest Farm
Credit Services for three
thermal imaging camer-
as and 50 pagers totaling
$37,000. Northwest Farm
Credit offers grants through
their Stewardship Giving
Program to non-profit or-
ganizations for a variety
of projects. These projects
are for the benefit of the
communities the non-profit
organizations serve.
The generosity of
NFCS is deeply appreciat-
ed by all three departments.
“The thermal imaging cam-
eras provide an important
tool to detect fire and heat
on the fire ground and the
pagers are replacing current
ones that are over 20 years
old.” advises Heppner Fire
Department Chief Steve
Rhea.
Lexington receives
$4,000 technology
grant
Boardman Mayor Paul Keefer (standing) and longtime paramedic Del Turner (seated right)
speak at recent EMS meeting about on-going ambulance standoff with the Morrow County
Health District.
make sure that Boardman
and the other areas have
the best service possible.”
He said it wasn’t necessary
that all ambulance services
in all the communities of
the county be exactly the
same. “If one service in a
community gets better ser-
vice because of the situation
they are in, so be it. Doesn’t
have to be equal all over the
county because we are not
equal in our communities,”
Keefer stressed.
Also, in attendance
and speaking during the
public comment period
at the beginning of the
meeting, was long time
paramedic Delbert Turner,
who originally worked for
the health district and now
works for Boardman Fire.
He was recently removed
from the EMS board. “I
don’t understand why I am
being removed from this
committee just because I
changed employment?”
Turner asked.
Turner read a statement
which included his long ex-
perience as a first responder
in Morrow County. “I have
lived in Morrow County
most of my life. I lived in
Heppner 28 years, Board-
man 29 years, and I have
served as a first responder
for over 30 years including
law enforcement, fire and
EMS,” Turner stated, add-
ing that he has “a unique
perspective on the needs
and politics of both com-
munities, north and south
of our county.”
He too urged Board-
man Fire be allowed to
operate ambulances, saying
if they are denied there
could be consequences for
the health district. “If the
Morrow County Health
District continues on its
current path it will be dev-
astating at the ballot box,”
Turner warned. “Simply
put any agency trying to
stop a highly respected fire
department from serving its
community will embolden
and polarize the voters
to a degree of anger that
will simply not be a good
outcome for the Morrow
County Health District.”
Turner said the only solu-
tion for the situation is for
all involved to “forget the
attorneys, build a partner-
ship between both parties,
reduce costs and share and
provide an EMS system for
a growing community and
help both agencies to serve
these communities.”
He asked that the EMS
board reverse its July 8 de-
cision to remove him and
allow him to keep his seat
on the board. “I would like
to retain my seat on this
committee and keep a more
sensible perspective to
serve the communities we
are charged with to create
the best possible EMS sys-
tem for our communities.
“Why does a 14-year medic
with the Morrow County
Health District all of sud-
den decide to leave and go
to work for the Boardman
Fire Department?” Turner
asked. “I have decades of
service to this county and
this community; I have a
unique perspective that
should be recognized and
be on this committee. It
has gotten to a point where
it does not make sense.”
Turner had recently, at the
March meeting, been reap-
pointed to the board, which
is charged with advising
on emergency medical ser-
vices in the county, but
then later removed when he
quit the medical district’s
Boardman ambulance crew
and joined the Boardman
Fire staff.
It is the county com-
mission who is ultimately
responsible for issuing an
ambulance operating li-
cense in the county, and
Boardman Fire and Rescue
Chief Michael Hughes has
attended several commis-
sioner meetings requesting
that action. So far commis-
sioners have not complied
and now both sides have
hired lawyers for the dis-
pute.
The disagreement has
also spilled over into the
current recall effort going
on against county commis-
sioners Melissa Lindsay
and Jim Doherty. Both have
refused to move forward
and grant Boardman a li-
cense with the third Com-
missioner, Don Russell,
being in favor.
Hughes went as far as
to attend an initial public
recall meeting held last
week in Heppner, where he
spoke to the crowd about
his disagreements with the
commissioners. Although
his reasons are not stated on
the recall petitions, he and
members of the fire district
were at the meeting picking
up signature petitions to
take back to Boardman.
At Monday’s EMS
meeting, in addition to vot-
ing unanimously to send a
letter to the sheriff’s office
requesting an end to dis-
patching Boardman Ambu-
lances on most emergency
calls, the board also voted
to appoint Jamie Houck,
director of nursing service
from Pioneer Memorial
Hospital to the EMS board.
At last month’s meeting, the
board appointed Richard
Hernandez, an EMT with
the district ambulance team
in Boardman, to fill a vacant
spot on the advisory board.
According to the EMS
advisory board rules board
members will be included
from this group:
1. The supervising phy-
sician for the ambulance
The town of Lexington
was recently notified it
had been awarded a grant
for $4,025 to be used for
“Technology Enhance-
ments for Town Hall.” The
money will be used to pur-
chase a system designed to
share meeting materials,
agendas and other public
documents and informa-
tion with the public. Town
Recorder Veronica Hess,
who worked on the grant,
said the system would also
allow town hall meetings to
be attended virtually and for
a town web site.
The council heard a
report from councilmember
Katie Imes who is applying
for a Transportation Growth
Management grant. The
grant would be used to
develop a downtown im-
provement plan and trans-
portation system planning.
Imes said these studies
will help the town for fu-
ture development and grant
writing for other projects.
Imes also said it was
time to apply for Small City
Allotment grant if it wanted
to. This is a state grant and
has been upped to $250,000
for those cities who are
awarded.
The council heard a
report from maintenance
man Keith Hess who said
he installed new meters at
290 and 285 A street. He
also installed a street sign
for E. East and A street
and moved the street sign
from the side of C to the
adjacent comer of C and
West Street where it was
originally. This allows for
better visibility after it was
knocked over.
Hess said he removed
dead trees and branches
that were obstructing power
lines, and also killed Hem-
lock along the water way on
B street by the bridge, by
the FEMA park water way,
and under Arcade Street
bridge. He said he also
caught up on the mowing
of all easements, alleyways
and empty lots except for a
few areas.
Hess said the town
could use a field and brush
mower in order to handle
the areas with tall grass
and heavy brush. He talked
to equipment manufacturer
DR’s sales representatives
and got a recommendation
for the model which would
best fulfill the town’s needs
and at what price. He is
going to look at the budget
and see if there are funds
available and then report
back to the council at a
later date. There are also
attachments for the equip-
ment that would be of use
to the town.
service provider, which is
Dr. Ed Berretta from Mor-
row County Health District.
2. An EMT from each
ambulance service provider
location. One each from
Boardman, Heppner, Ione
and Irrigon.
3. Director of nursing
service or designee, one
from Pioneer Memorial
Hospital in Heppner and
one from Good Shepherd
Hospital in Hermiston.
4. One fire department
representative
5. One 911 represen-
tative
6. One Quick Response
Team representative from
Lexington
-See LEXINGTON GRANT/
PAGE EIGHT
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
An ongoing disagree-
ment between the Morrow
County Health District and
Boardman Fire Rescue over
ambulance service in north
county was the topic of
discussion at Monday’s
Emergency Medical Ser-
vices (EMS) advisory board
meeting.
After hearing pleas
from both the mayor and a
longtime county paramedic,
however, the board voted
unanimously to request
that the sheriff no longer
dispatch most 911 calls to
the Boardman Ambulance.
Both Boardman May-
or Paul Keefer and para-
medic Del Turner attended
the meeting urging board
members to work together
with Boardman to end the
dispute, which has blocked
Boardman Fire ambulances
from obtaining a county
license and transporting
patients. “I don’t get the
conflict,” Keefer told the
board during public com-
ment section at the begin-
ning of the meeting. “We
have an opportunity here to
increase EMS in the city of
Boardman and I do not get
the conflict.”
Both Boardman Fire
and the health district have
ambulances stationed in the
city, and 911 has been dis-
patching both on emergen-
cy calls. The EMS board’s
letter to the sheriff’s office
will request Boardman Fire
no longer receive those 911
calls.
In a plea to end the dis-
pute, Mayor Keefer asked
the board to set aside pol-
itics and do what he says
is best for the citizens of
Boardman. “I think we are
forgetting about them. We
have the opportunity to
provide ultimate and better
care and I don’t get why we
are being stubborn, and our
entities are not providing a
better service. What is the
problem we can’t make
our ambulance service and
our EMS service the best
possible?” he asked.
Keefer said since
Boardman is growing there
is a need for more ambu-
lance service. “Boardman
is growing. Boardman is
getting bigger. Boardman
wants better service and
who cares who is in charge.
Get over it and lets figure
out how we are going to
make the service the best
service possible,” Keef-
er urged. “There are five
ambulances in Boardman,
and we can only use two. I
am hoping that whoever is
making the decisions start
thinking about having to
Pictured (L-R): Josie Miles, Eastern Oregon Operations
Manager NFCS/Lexington volunteer firefighter; Chief Char-
lie Sumner, Lexington Fire Department; Chief Steve Rhea,
Heppner Fire Department; Chief Virgil Morgan, lone RFPD
and Eric Orem, Local Advisor NFCS/Heppner RFPD board
member/lone fire fighter. -Contributed photo.
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