TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 28 , 2022
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE:
http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/
Published weekly by Sykes Publishing and entered as periodical matter at the Post
Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid
at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-9228. Fax
(541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor@rapidserve.net or david@rapidserve.net. Web site:
www.heppner.net. Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times,
P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $31 in Morrow County; $25
senior rate (in Morrow County only; 65 years or older); $37 elsewhere; $31 student
subscriptions.
Chris Sykes ...............................................................................................Publisher
Andrea Di Salvo ............................................................................................ Editor
..................................................................................................................Advertising
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For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for publi-
cation must be specified. Affidavits must be requested at the time of submission. Affidavits
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specified if required).
For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to
meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines
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be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10.
Obituaries
homemaker and was
Virginia Edith derful
known for her cooking.
Clark Durfey Her Sunday dinners were
Virginia Edith Clark
Durfey passed away on
Dec. 22,
2022, at
Summit
Springs
Village
in Con-
don, OR
at the
age of 103. A remembrance
was held at Summit Springs
Village on Wednesday, Dec.
28. A graveside service will
be held in Prairie City, OR
on Dec. 29.
Virginia was the daugh-
ter of Sterling and Emma
(Brosig) Clark. She was
born in Baker City, OR on
Nov. 26, 1919. She joined
a sister, LaVonne. Later, a
younger brother, Dalton,
made the family complete.
She was raised on Indian
Creek outside of Prairie
City. She graduated from
Prairie City High School
in 1938.
After graduating high
school, she married Horace
Durfey at Prairie City. She
worked as a cook at the hot
springs out of Prairie City.
She and Horace settled on
a ranch out of Unity. To
this union four boys were
born—Norman Gary, Greg-
ory Joe, Larry Dale and
Gerald Lee. She worked in
the grocery store at Unity
and also was a cook at the
Burnt River School. She
worked on the ranch and
helped in the fields. She
helped the boys maintain
forest service trails and
fence maintenance. She
was a wonderful neighbor
and friend. Virginia was al-
ways willing to help others
in need.
Along with raising her
four boys, she enjoyed gar-
dening, embroidery and
quilting. She was a won-
enjoyed by many. When
they moved to Pendleton,
she fed many Blue Moun-
tain rodeo students as well
as the baseball team mem-
bers. She was outspoken;
you knew where you stood
with Virginia. She had a
great sense of humor and
quick wit. She enjoyed fol-
lowing her boys in sports
through the years. She was
very competitive herself.
She gave 100 percent and
she expected others to do
as well.
She was preceded in
death by her parents, sister
LaVonne, brother Dalton
Clark, and son Greg Durfey.
She is survived by her
sons Norm (Delene) of
Condon, Larry (Leanne)
of Salem, OR, and Ger-
ry (Rene) of Condon,
nine grandchildren, 19
great-grandchildren, and
three great-great-grand-
children.
In lieu of flowers, con-
tributions may be sent to
Summit Springs Retirement
Village, PO Box 687, Con-
don, OR 97823 or Pioneer
Memorial Hospice, PO Box
9, Heppner, OR 97836.
Sweeney Mortuary of
Condon was in charge of
arrangements. You may
sign the online condolence
book at www.sweeneymor-
tuary.com.
Death Notice
Rena M. Henry—
Rena M. Henry, 78, of Hep-
pner, died Monday, Dec. 26,
2022, at Pioneer Memorial
Hospital in Heppner. She
was born February 2, 1944,
at Pinedale, NM. No ser-
vices are planned at this
time. Sweeney Mortuary
of Heppner is in charge of
arrangements.
A Reminder to
Insulate
Water Meters
The City of Heppner would like
to remind everyone to insulate
their water meters this winter.
It is important to protect the meter from
freezing before the temperatures drop.
Now is the perfect time. Pettyjohns the
local hardware store stocks a piece of
insulation that is a perfect fit. The cost
is $4.00, other building supply stores
carry insulation as well. Anyone that
has a difficult time accessing their meter
to insulate it is encouraged to contact
The City for assistance. The City charges
$75.00 plus materials for the repair
of any uninsulated meter that becomes
frozen. If there are any questions or
concerns please contact The City at
541-676-9618 or stop by City Hall.
County commissioners talk broadband
-Continued from PAGE ONE and reduce greenhouse gas Heppner to Boardman con- Henthorn and Charlene
for this infrastructure bill.
According to the new map,
Morrow County is shorted
in projection, about $183
million under what the
county would have gotten
with the previous map.
“So we’re in a phase
now where communities
need to challenge the FCC
map, because this map is
just as flawed as the pre-
vious ones were, to get
as much money back as
possible not only for the
state of Oregon, but also for
our communities,” he said,
adding that for each home
fixed on the map, the state
gets about $4,200 back in
this funding equation.
Moss said he has been
asking federal legislators
to make that process more
transparent and help the
state find the best way to
get money back to the state
of Oregon. Wyden’s webi-
nar was with the FCC and
others to talk about how to
get more money back to the
state and communities.
“We as community
members and as a state,
hopefully, can find a way
to do this efficiently. Instead
of having individual people
submit challenges on their
own, we’re trying to find
a way for the county to do
it,” Moss said, adding that
the $183 million shortfall
for Morrow County, “may
be the difference, in our
community, between build-
ing infrastructure to most
people and to all.”
Moss then explained
that there’s a process to get
access to FCC data as an
official licensee, and if you
get access to the FCC data,
you can look at the building
footprints, see where they
say houses are and what
service levels each has, and
from there you can present
challenges. He requested
the board of commissioners
assign an official licensee
to sign a license agreement
with FCC to obtain that
data.
Because he is not actu-
ally a Morrow County em-
ployee, Moss cannot take
on the role himself. Since
it’s a GIS (geographic infor-
mation system) based pro-
gram, he suggested Mor-
row County GIS Planning
Tech Stephen Wrecsics,
with whom he has worked
collaboratively before. He
added that there is no cost,
just the need for the board
to approve the action, and
that he is not asking anyone
to take on extra work.
“Once we have that, I
can help work through…the
challenge process,” he said.
Once the contract comes
through, it will likely need
to be reviewed by counsel.
Morrow County Com-
missioner Don Russell
suggested CBEC as licens-
ee, but Moss said his un-
derstanding was that the
licensee had to be with the
municipality. He also said
the electric co-op would
only be eligible for funds
for their service area and
wouldn’t be able to get
the services to the entire
county.
The board voted 2-1
to appoint Wrecsics the
licensee. Doherty voted
against the move but with-
out comment.
Also at the meeting,
outgoing Morrow County
Transit Manager Katie Imes
presented the Statewide
Transportation Improve-
ment Fund (STIF) Plan for
fiscal years 2023-25.
The STIF Plan was
created to provide a ded-
icated source of funding
for providing, maintain-
ing and expanding public
transportation for all users.
Every two years, the public
transportation funding is
made available to “support
access to jobs, improve
mobility, relieve congestion
emissions in Oregon.”
Imes added that, new
this year, the department
has asked all the agencies to
tack on 20 percent contin-
gency, which she included
in 5310 and 5311 programs
as well.
Imes said STIF alloca-
tion estimates for Morrow
County were $409,526 for
2024, $426,221 for 2025,
$449,795 for 2026 and
$466,682 for 2027. Russell
asked whether the fund-
ing and matching funds
shouldn’t come before the
funding committee. Imes
clarified that these numbers
are for the following two
fiscal years starting July 1,
2023 and that even though
the state funding comes in
two year cycles, the coun-
ty’s budget is broken down
yearly and has to come
before the budget commit-
tee and be approved by the
board.
Imes said the two-year
plan includes funding for
four projects—match for
capital projects, capital re-
serve, operations projects,
and operations reserve.
The match total for
capital projects is $121,000
and includes up to $26,000
for local match on capital
vehicles, up to $50,000
for local match to develop
and construction of a bus
barn/transit facility, and
up to $45,000 for bus stop
signage, shelters, and pas-
senger amenities.
“That would be for
once the fixed route service
starts,” Imes added. “Once
that gets going, then you
kind of determine where
you want your bus stop
signs to be.”
The capital reserve to-
tal is $60,000 and includes
reserve funds for additional
match, equipment or vehi-
cle replacement/expansion.
The project will assist with
any unanticipated short-
fall and will support the
county’s demand response
program and fixed route
program.
Operations projects
funding delivers the opera-
tions and match for Morrow
County Public Transit/The
Loop program necessary to
preserve and expand exist-
ing services.
“This is the big one,”
Imes said. “This is what
keeps everything moving
along.”
Tasks listed under this
project included supporting
of the ongoing expenses of
delivering public transit
services in Morrow Coun-
ty, providing the match
for 5310, 5311 and STIF
Discretionary grant pro-
grams, marketing and out-
reach, driver professional
development program/CDL
assistance, and contracting
services with Good Shep-
herd Medical System Care-
Van Transportation, which
provides residents living in
Boardman and Irrigon free
transit to Good Shepherd
Medical Facilities.
“This is new this year,”
said Imes, referring to the
CDL assistance program.
“The CDL requirements
have changed at the feder-
al level, so it’s a lot more
challenging for people to
get their CDL nowadays.
It’s a lot more money and a
lot more time.
“This is the start of a
program that the commit-
tee thought would be very
useful in recruitment,” she
added.
The total estimated cost
of operations projects is
$3,071,405.
Operations reserve in-
cludes carryover for any
other emerging opportuni-
ties that might come before
the board and advisory
committee, including de-
mand response program
operations, the Boardman/
Port of Morrow circular,
nector, Hermiston to Board-
man connector and other
emerging opportunities.
The board voted unani-
mously to approve the plan.
In other business, the
Morrow County Board of
Commissioners:
-Voted unanimously to
increase wages for tempo-
rary flaggers and tempo-
rary park help from $14.72
an hour to $18 per hour.
County Human Resources
Director Lindsay Grogan
told the board the wages
for those positions were
increased to $14.72 in July
of 2015. That increase was
nearly eight years ago, and
the positions have not re-
ceived another increase
since then. In 2015, the
board had increased the
wage on the basis that the
positions fell around range
six of the AFSCME Gen-
eral Scale, which is now
$18.10 per hour. Grogan
also pointed out that trans-
fer station attendees’ wages
were increased by public
work to $18 per hour in
2021. Based on all that,
she asked that the wage
be increased to $18 per
hour. The increase would
affect four park positions
and three flagger positions.
Public Works Director Eric
Imes and Parks General
Manager Greg Close said
their budgets could cover
the increase.
Morrow County Com-
missioner Melissa Lindsay
said she wanted it noted
that although there were
not benefits, there were
additional things given to
the park employees that
weren’t given to other
county employees, like free
camping spots and propane.
“I’m still all for the
increase, by all means, but
I do think it’s important to
note that,” she said.
Commission Chair Jim
Doherty said that wasn’t his
understanding and asked
Imes to address that. Imes
clarified that increased
wages are for temporary
park help, not park hosts.
“Park hosts are con-
tracted, so that’s a whole
different ball game,” added
Close. The park employees
in question don’t live at the
park; they travel back and
forth.
Lindsay questioned
who got the addition-
al spots, since there were
spots reserved for more
than just the hosts. Close re-
plied that once was his and
that MCSO also had spots
provided by the county.
-Heard from Morrow
County Planning Direc-
tor Tamra Mabbott, who
requested the board make
appointments for three open
planning commission posi-
tions. The Morrow County
Planning Commission is a
nine-position commission
with representation from
all regions of the county.
Three positions from Ione,
Irrigon and Heppner have
become vacant, one from
early resignation and two
from expiring terms.
Position #4, Ione, was
held by Rod Taylor, who
resigned before the end
of his term, which expires
Dec. 31, 2025. Position #5,
Irrigon, was held by Jeff
Wenholz. It expires Dec. 31
of this year and Wenholz,
who is a Morrow County
Commissioner-elect, did
not request reappointment.
Position #6, Heppner, was
held by Greg Sweek and
also expires Dec. 31, 2022.
Sweek did request reap-
pointment.
Elizabeth Peters of the
Ione area submitted a letter
of interest, as did Stephen
Cooley of Irrigon and John
Kilkenny of Heppner.
“It’s really nice that
we had some new faces
and some continuing and
experienced folks interested
in the planning commis-
sion,” said Mabbott. “It
sometimes takes a lot of
work and not everyone is
interested in putting that in.
Sometimes things are con-
troversial, and not everyone
wants to step up to that.”
“I appreciate everybody
that steps up,” Doherty
agreed. “We’ve always in
the past opened these po-
sitions up, and I think it’s
good. They’re not life-long
appointments. They’re op-
portunities, and you come
in and you do your fiscal
service and maybe you
move on to other things,
and maybe you remain. It
all depends.” Doherty then
moved to appoint to appoint
Kilkenny to the position
held by Sweek.
Russell disagreed with
the move. “It’s unusual for
this board to no reappoint
somebody, though it’s not
unheard of,” he said.
The commissioners
voted unanimously to ap-
point Elizabeth Peterson to
the Ione position and Char-
lene Cooley to the Irrigon
position. The board voted
2-1 to appoint John Kilken-
ny to the Heppner position,
with Russell a nay vote.
-Heard the planning
department monthly report
from Mabbott. She said the
county has a variety of ener-
gy projects and applications
in various stages and that
the department continues to
work on interpretive signs
for the Heritage Trail. The
county received a $10,000
Amazon Web Services
grant for the signs. Russell
brought up the potential
need for more power lines,
adding that it was a con-
troversial issue and that he
would like to see revenue
for those whose lands were
crossed by the lines.
-Heard the monthly
treasurer ’s report from
Morrow County Treasurer
Jaylene Papineau. Total
October interest less fees
was $63,239.09. Total paid
out to taxing districts in Oc-
tober was $2,013,026.11.
-Heard from Russell,
who brought up the issue
of what would happen af-
ter Dec. 20, which was
the original certification
deadline for the Nov. 29
recall election regarding
Doherty and Lindsay. He
said he realized the issue
was sensitive but that he
had spoken with both State
Senator Bill Hansell and
State Representative Greg
Smith, who told him Gov-
ernor Kate Brown intended
to appoint commissioner
elect David Sykes to fill his
position early if the election
results were certified. If that
were to happen, Russell
said, the board would have
a quorum and it would be
his intention to schedule
a meeting for Dec. 21. If
the election were not cer-
tified and the governor did
not make the appointment,
there would be no quorum
and no meeting.
“First and foremost,
I think it’s a little bit in-
appropriate to be talking
about an election that has
not yet been certified,”
said Doherty. “I’m not sure
at this point that you have
the power or the authority
to schedule a meeting on
the 21st. if things come to
fruition on the 20th, then
the 21st brings what the
21st brings, and you can
certainly move forward
from there.”
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