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.