Recall vote results certified 50¢ VOL. 141 NO. 52 8 Pages Wednesday, December 28, 2022 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon County commissioners talk broadband, transit at Dec. 14 meeting By Andrea Di Salvo It was all about trans- portation and communica- tion at the Dec. 14 meeting of the Morrow County Board of Commissioners in Heppner this month. At its Dec. 14 meeting in Heppner, the Morrow County Board of Commis- sioners heard an update from Aaron Moss, Broad- band Action Team Coordi- nator. The coordinator said the project had high-level designs and was ready for grants. “The next steps for us are to get two projects out of that one high level de- sign, the one for the north end of the county and the one for the rest of the coun- ty, including the middle,” he said. “Those will most likely be different partners, so our next step is to split that project while we’re waiting on the maps from the State of Oregon for eli- gibility of their programs.” Moss said he expects assistance from the state in the next couple of months. “And that’s going to get us from high level designs to engineering designs, and designs that are actually actionable to build out. So we’re moving forward there, and we’re really just waiting for the state in that This map shows address points that have avail- ability to speeds of 100mbps Upload and 100mbps Download. The green or “served” areas are where residents have or will access to internet service offerings of at least 100mbps download speed and 100mbps upload speed. The red or “un-served/un- der-served” do not, and are the focus of our Broad- band Action Team’s infrastructure-building efforts. realm,” he added. Much of the conver- sation centered around the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” which President Joe Biden signed into law on Nov. 15, 2021. 2026 in new Federal in- vestment in infrastructure, including in roads, bridges, and mass transit, water in- frastructure, resilience and broadband. Moss informed the board that the money from the first infrastructure bill will come out about six months after the application is complete and will total about $57 million. Follow- ing that in a year or two will be the bigger money, about $600 million. He said there was some problem with the way the state fund is han- dled, and several individu- als and organizations have been working on advocacy at the state level to make sure the state funding gets fixed and the state is able to secure federal money and spend it according to federal standards. Moss said he had been keeping state and federal legislators updated, and that Sen. Ron Wyden’s office was having a webi- nar concerning the federal broadband maps, which was important to the topic of Moss’s update. Moss explained that the Federal Communica- tions Commission (FCC) releases a new broadband map every five to 10 years and recently released a map By Andrea Di Salvo The recall effort against Morrow County commis- sioners Jim Doherty and Melissa Lindsay has been successful, according to official election results cer- tified by Morrow County Clerk Bobbi Childers this week. The original certifi- cation date was set for Dec. 20, but challenges from Doherty and Lindsay pushed the certification back a week to Dec. 27. Even so, the election results stand, with county voters recalling Doherty 1,339 to 1,174 and Lindsay 1,265 to 1,244. To all appearances, that leaves Morrow County Commissioner Don Russell as the county’s sole com- missioner as of Tuesday afternoon. An article in the East Oregonian referenced a letter sent from attorneys Steve Elzinga and Joe Huddleston to Childers on behalf of Doherty and Lindsay alleging “numer- ous errors” in the recall election. However, the Heppner Gazette-Times did not receive a copy of that letter and is not aware of any legal action being taken against the election results at this time. Lindsay lost her bid for reelection in the 2022 general election, and so would have left office ear- ly in January in any case. Doherty would have been up for reelection in 2025. Heppner holds alumni basketball games Heppner Basketball Alumni women’s participants (L-R) Shelley McCabe, Madelyn Nichols, Madison Rosenbalm, Paige Grieb, Janelle Ellis, Jessica Kempken, Petra Payne, Kelly Barnett, Mindy Wilson and Savannah Poorman. -Contributed photo The Heppner Mustang start. The “young guns” led boys basketball team hosted at halftime 23-22 and the the 10 th annual Mustang game finished in a 38-38 Basketball Alumni games tie. A long overtime period this past week. The games was played and the score at brought back former Mus- the end of that was still tied tangs to showcase their tal- at 61-61. A shorter second The Biden Administration ents once again the Heppner overtime period was played touts the Bipartisan Infra- gym. Both the men’s and and the “young guns” were structure Law as the largest women’s games were very the only ones to score, tak- long-term investment in exciting to watch. In the ing the victory by the score infrastructure and economy women’s game, the “more of 63-61. in the nation’s history. It Leading the way in experienced” women won provides $550 billion over by the score of 44-25 and scoring for the winners fiscal years 2022 through -Continued to PAGE TWO the men’s game went into was CJ Kindle, who had two overtimes and saw the 15 points. Mason Lehman “young guns” beat the “old was next with 14 and Jake dogs” by the score of 63-61. Lindsay had 11 points. Lo- The women’s game gan Grieb followed with was much closer than the 10, Blake Carter four and ty to do anything other than cilor Katie Imes was the final score indicates as the Kevin Murray had three. the basic functions is a real only city representative “young gals” were ahead With two points each were challenge,” she said, adding able to be at the meeting, 22-19 at halftime. The Beau Wolters and Hunter that that was why she decid- but she expressed her grat- “more experienced” team Nichols. Patrick Collins ed to take the initiative on itude for the county’s help took over in the second scored one point and not behalf of the cities. in the process. half and ran away with the scoring in the game was ECONorthwest’s report “I think it’s very, very game and won by the score Brock Hisler. recommended that, to alle- key that we all work to- of 44-25. The “old dogs” were viate capacity restraints, the gether to improve our in- Leading the way for led in scoring by Jeremy cities take a collaborative frastructure, improve hous- the winners was Shelley Rosenbalm with 26 points. approach together with the ing, improve the economy McCabe, who poured in Stephen Thompson was county and regional orga- here in the south Willow 23 points. Madison Rosen- next with 11 and Tate Gen- nizations in order to 1) up- Creek area,” Imes said, balm was next with 10 try had seven. With five grade water and wastewater adding that Lexington is and Janelle Ellis had five points each were Brian Rill infrastructure, 2) pursue just wrapping up a sewer points. Petra Payne scored and Andre Rauch. Lane investments to overcome and water study, which she four points for the team Bailey finished with three transportation and flood- said is really exciting. and Mindy Wilson finished points and with two each plain barriers and 3) attract “It just puts everything with two. were Leon Luna and Blas developers or contractors on paper and really gets the The “young gals” were Elguezabal. Brian Knowles for near-term development. ball rolling,” she said. “It led in scoring by Kelly and Rocky Turner contrib- Mabbott said there was does take time, of course. Barnett, who had 11 points. uted mightily but did not a definite lack of develop- It’s a slow process, and it Madelyn Nichols finished score in the game. er capacity in the South will have to be primarily with five and Paige Grieb Lots of fun was had, Morrow region. She said grant funded because of had four. With three points and no one was injured South Morrow has capable the lack of resources here was Jessica Kempken, and playing in the game. Plans builders who tend to do in Lexington. Savannah Poorman had are already underway for single-family homes or “This project really two. next year’s 11 th annual Mus- maybe duplexes, but “We helps to bring everything to The men’s game was tang Basketball Alumni don’t have the Developers light and to be able to say, a defensive battle from the games. with a capital D who come ‘Look at the big picture in and might do an entire here. What do we have to ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: subdivision. Our neighbors do and what direction are Irrigon and Boardman are -Continued to PAGE FIVE seeing that,” she said. She also pointed to a lack of funding for infrastructure and desired amenities. “ T h e r e ’s a t h e m e throughout here of capac- ity,” said Mabbott. “In par- ticularly Lexington and Ione, the existence of a floodplain is a very signif- icant barrier, so any new development would have to meet FEMA’s insurance requirements, which means you significantly increase the initial cost, and then you have a permanent, long- term requirement to insure those houses.” Lexington Town Coun- County, cities discuss housing concerns in Willow Creek Valley By Andrea Di Salvo The Morrow Coun- ty Planning Department is stepping in to help the cities in Willow Creek Val- ley address their housing concerns, Morrow County Planning Director Tamra Mabbot told the Morrow County Board of Commis- sioners at a meeting earlier this month. At the board’s regular Dec. 14 meeting, Mabbott told the board of commis- sioners that county plan- ning was awarded a housing grant by the Department of Land Conservation and De- velopment (DLCD), intend- ed to help the cities within the Willow Creek Valley. “The genesis really was some work that was done by my predecessor with all of the cities in Morrow Coun- ty, that looked at housing issues, primarily the land- based needs, so we did the buildable lands analysis, and the inventory available for each of those cities,” said Mabbott. “So I reached out to all three cities and said, ‘Hey, I’m happy to submit a grant application to the Department of Land Conservation and Develop- ment on your behalf. Are you interested?’ and the three cities in the Willow Creek Valley said yes. “Irrigon and Boardman said, ‘We’re busy, we’re growing, no thanks,’” she added. Over the past year, consultant ECONorthwest worked with Heppner, Lexington and Ione along with the county planning director to develop a plan that focused on two barri- ers to housing—a lack of infrastructure and a lack of developer capacity in the area. As part of their anal- ysis, ECONorthwest also identified another barrier, capacity to advocate for and pursue additional funding for infrastructure and ame- nities such as playgrounds, bike paths, recreational facilities, etc. Each of the three cities already have contracts with Anderson & Perry Associ- ates to develop plans to ad- dress water and wastewater infrastructure. According to the con- sultant’s report, cities across Oregon are strug- gling to attract housing development. A common theme among small cities in Oregon is capacity, which was also an issue that arose prominently in the Willow Creek Valley study. “I do want to say that that lack of capacity is not that there’s not some super-capable staff there, it’s just that when you’re a small city, especially when you’re a one-person shop, planning might not be your priority,” Mabbott said. “Generally, the capaci- MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.