Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current, February 08, 2023, Image 1

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    Hughes under ethics
investigation
50¢
VOL. 143
NO. 6 8 Pages
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Field narrowed to
three for vacant
commissioner seat
Oregon Rural Action again on
hand to grill commissioners,
county staff
By Andrea Di Salvo
The search for a third
Morrow County Commis-
sioner is making headway,
with a field of candidates
narrowed to three who have
been selected for interviews
this week. The Morrow
County Board of Com-
missioners also discussed
support for a grant request
from a Boardman fertilizer
company and heard more
citizen concerns at its regu-
lar board meeting last week
in Heppner.
Morrow County Clerk
Bobbi Childers reported
receiving six filings for
the vacant commissioner
position by the time the
application window closed
Jan 31. Of those, the com-
missioners selected Gus
Peterson, Mike McNamee
and Roy Drago, Jr. to move
on to interviews this week.
At the meeting, com-
missioners David Sykes
and Jeff Wenholz discussed
a letter they received from
Margaret Hoffman, USDA
Oregon’s Rural Develop-
ment State Director, asking
for input on a Fertilizer Pro-
duction Expansion Program
(FPEP) grant request from
True Organic Products in
Boardman.
The FPEP was created
to combat rising fertilizer
prices, which have more
than doubled since last
year. In September 2022,
USDA Secretary Tom Vil-
sack announced that $500
million in grants would be
available to increase Amer-
ican-made fertilizer produc-
tion. True Organic Products
is requesting $4,999,999
in FPEP grant funding to
construct a new organic fer-
tilizer production facility in
Boardman. It would include
a 24,700 square foot build-
ing for blending and pellet-
izing fertilizer and 208,925
additional square feet of
open-air product storage.
True Organic Products says
this would allow the com-
pany to more than double its
production, increasing pro-
duction of pelleted organic
fertilizer by 15,000 tons.
The commissioners
asked Morrow County
Planner Tamra Mabbott
for input, and she told the
commissioners that True
Organic Products had ap-
peared before the board of
commissioners last year
requesting support for the
grant application, but the
board had not given it.
“They didn’t object to
it. They just didn’t support
it directly,” Mabbott said,
adding that the issue was
and continues to be that
the company does not have
a land use permit for the
expansion of the business.
She said she got in
touch with the company
when she saw that the letter
was on the board’s agenda,
and she believed they were
now moving forward with
applying for that permit, but
that True Organic Products
had previously begun the
permit application process
but had not completed it.
Mabbott provided a
copy of a letter the planning
department had sent to the
company in November de-
tailing what else the county
needed in order to process
the permit request. She said
she also had other concerns.
“It’s not abundantly
clear that the use would
qualify,” she added. “It’s
in the airport industrial
zone, and I don’t see how
this proposed expansion is
airport related.”
Wenholz questioned
whether the grant would
be specific to that piece of
property, since it was for a
business plan or proposal.
“I would think that
we would want to support
any established business in
their endeavors to secure
more federal money for
expansion. Maybe if he (the
business owner) can’t make
that work on that piece of
property, maybe there’s
another piece of Port prop-
erty that he’d be willing to
relocate to and work with
the Port,” said Wenholz.
“Again, I don’t believe that
the grant is tied to this piece
of property.”
Mabbott pointed out
that the letter did reference
expansion at the Tower Rd.
location in Boardman, but
also said that she thought
the board could offer pro-
visional support while mak-
ing it clear they were not
making a land use decision
that day.
“And that, all things
being equal, they would
need to qualify and obtain
the necessary land use per-
mits,” she added. “Which
may mean they need to
relocate.”
Sykes asked if there
was any other reason the
previous board had with-
held support, and Mabbott
said it was really all about
the permit and whether that
was the right location.
“It has a lot of merit,”
she added. “Clearly there’s
federal, state, local need
for it. It’s just, is that the
right location, and we don’t
know until we receive their
application.”
Sykes said he agreed
with Wenholz that, as long
as they made it clear there
was no land use decision,
he thought the board should
support a local business in
an effort to expand.
It was decided that
Mabbott and Morrow
County Counsel Justin Nel-
son should draft an appro-
priate letter of support and
Contributed Photo
The Oregon Govern-
ment Ethics Commission
voted unanimously last
Friday to begin an investi-
gation of Michael Hughes
of Boardman for possible
misuse of department re-
sources in his position as
Boardman Rural Fire Pro-
have a major concern about tection District Chief.
The ethics commission
that,” he said, adding that
industry average was 30 to
40 years.
“And they don’t last
30,” board vice chair Diane
Kilkenny added.
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Health district hires
new ER provider,
moves forward with
Boardman remodel
By Andrea Di Salvo
The Morrow County
Health District approved
another emergency provid-
er and took a step toward
a remodel of its Boardman
clinic at a regular board
meeting Monday, Jan. 30,
in Heppner.
The MCHD board vot-
ed to move forward with
a bid from Clark/Kjos Ar-
chitects out of Portland to
draft plans for remodeling
Boardman Immediate Care.
The space of approximately
2,234 square feet is cur-
rently used by the district’s
physical therapy and occu-
pational medicine.
The space is intended to
house four exam rooms, an
office for two providers, a
reception desk and a larger
waiting room to allow for
eight to 10 patients, among
other changes. The space
occupied by the Murray’s
Drug Boardman pharma-
cy is not included in the
remodel.
The bid was for ba-
sic services billed at their
standard hourly rates, to a
maximum of $65,702.
The board also dis-
cussed bids to replace the
roof of Boardman Immedi-
ate Care but tabled the de-
cision when board members
raised concerns over the life
of the proposed roof.
Chief Operating Officer
Nicole Mahoney informed
the board that the roof on
the Boardman building
has had some “significant”
leaks. Temporary repairs
have been done, but more
extensive repairs are need-
ed to prevent further water
damage in the building,
she said.
The health district did
get a bid for the cost of
Nicole Mahoney
repairing the roof, which
came in at $12,300. That
was about half the cost of
replacing the roof, Ma-
honey told the board, so
they decided to request bids
for replacement.
They received three
bids, and Mahoney recom-
mended the C&C Construc-
tion bid of $25,950. She
said the quote included la-
bor and material to remove
the tile down to the roof
sheathing, and they would
then decide how much
needed to be re-shingled, at
a maximum price of $9,950
if they needed to re-shingle
the entire roof. That would
make the total project cost
as much as $35,900. The
shingles would be regular
composite able to withstand
130 mph winds and would
have an expected life of 15
years.
Board member Aaron
Palmquist questioned the
expected life of the roof.
“I have to be honest; I
-Continued TO PAGE EIGHT
received a complaint that
Hughes allegedly used the
department fire truck and
fire district staff to install
a hot tub at his home. The
complainant apparently
provided a photo of the fire
truck lowering the hot tub.
Hughes was not present
at the hearing but submitted
a statement that his contract
allows him to use district
equipment for his personal
use and that the department
also assists other commu-
nity members with the fire
truck. However, a prelimi-
nary investigation did not
satisfy the commission that
installing a hot tub fell
within accepted personal
use, and the commissioners
voted 6-0 to pursue formal
investigation.
Green accepts
settlement in county
lawsuit
Emily Roberts
After hearing Palm-
quist’s concerns, the board
decided to revisit the deci-
sion in February after gath-
ering more details about
roofing options.
The board also ap-
proved a new contract for
Family Nurse practitioner
(FNP) Mark Stevens.
Stevens will work in the
emergency room (ER) full
time, which will consist of
eight days of 24-hour shifts
each month. MCHD Chief
Executive Officer Emily
Roberts said came highly
recommended, and that this
would give them three full-
time ER providers rather
than rotating through other
providers who also have
other duties.
“It’s better for resourc-
es, better for cost, better for
continuity,” said Roberts.
When asked where the
district stood with ER doc-
tors and whether more were
needed, Roberts said, “I
think we would probably
still sign a locum if they
wanted to, because it is
always nice to have people
in that pool, but I don’t
think that we could support
another full time.”
Dr. Michael Metzler
and Dr. William Everts are
both full time in the emer-
gency room, and the district
has a “handful” of locums,
Roberts said. Locums are
physicians who work in a
practice temporarily. Dr.
Rio Lion is looking at an
ER locum contract that may
come before the board next
month, she said.
Also at the meeting,
the board appointed Dr.
Jianming Song to the med-
ical staff and gave him
emergency room and inpa-
tient privileges. Song was
previously approved by the
board as a new provider.
Morrow County As-
sessor Mike Gorman was
-Continued to PAGE TWO
Darrell Green
Former Morrow Coun-
ty Administrator Darrell
Green has accepted a set-
tlement offered by Morrow
County, according to court
records. According to a
settlement agreement filed
with Morrow County Cir-
cuit Court, Green accepted
a settlement of $50,001 plus
“reasonable costs and attor-
ney fees” last week.
Green was the Morrow
County Administrator from
November 2017 until the
Morrow County Board of
Commissioners terminated
his employment in June of
2022. Green was terminated
June 28 for allegedly violat-
ing a nepotism agreement
involving his wife Debra,
who also worked for the
county in the health de-
partment.
In August of 2022,
Green filed a civil suit
against the county, claim-
ing unlawful employment
practices, wrongful dis-
charge and violation of
open meetings law. In his
lawsuit, he sought $250,000
in economic damages for
lost income and $500,000
in non-economic damages
for mental stress, humilia-
tion and inconvenience.
The county sought the
settlement at the end of
January. Green accepted the
settlement via his attorney
Feb. 1
County hires interim
administrator
Vanderwall to start Feb. 15
replaces Greg Sweek, who
resigned from the position
Jan. 13.
Vanderwall currently
lives in Haines, OR. She
has extensive prior admin-
istrative experience, mostly
in city management. Her
resume includes working
for the cities of Lakeview,
Coquille, Nyssa and North
Roberta Vanderwall
Morrow County has Powder.
Her start date will be
hired Roberta Vanderwall to
Feb.
15.
be the new interim county
administrator. Vanderwall
DeSpain Pizza grand
opening this week
DeSpain Pizza is cel-
ebrating its grand opening
in Heppner this week. The
kickoff is Wednesday, Feb.
8, from noon to 4 p.m. The
pizza shop will be open
seven days a week. Nor-
mal business hours will be
Sunday and Wednesday,
12-4 p.m., and Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
and Saturday 4-8 p.m.
A full story will follow
in next week’s Heppner Ga-
zette-Times. DeSpain Pizza
is located at 111 North
Court St.