Willow Creek Terrace
receives Remembrance
Walk proceeds
50¢
VOL. 143
NO. 14 10 Pages
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Robbery/burglary interrupted in Irrigon
County law enforce-
ment interrupted an at-
tempted robbery in Irri-
gon on Saturday, and three
suspects were arrested for
their suspected roles in the
attempted burglary.
Around 6:50 p.m. on
Saturday, April 1, Morrow
County Sheriff ’s Office
Communication Center
(dispatch) received a 911
call from an individual
on Wagon Wheel Loop in
Irrigon advising that they
had a trespasser. The caller
told dispatch that a man was
trying to enter the house
and that he had a gun. The
caller then advised they had
to go because the man was
in the house. The call was
disconnected.
MCSO Patrol Sgt. Gor-
don Adams was dispatched
Morrow County Sheriff Vehicle -Contributed photo
to the scene in Irrigon.
Boardman Police Sgt. Jer-
emy Fye heard the radio
traffic and also responded
to assist. Oregon State Po-
lice (OSP) was called for
additional backup. Later,
Deputy Neubert and K-9
Telly were also called out
to assist.
Adams, Fye and two
OSP troopers worked to-
gether to take control of the
situation and investigate the
incident. Within about 30
minutes, three persons were
safely detained without fur-
ther incident.
Joel Ernesto Rodriguez,
37, of Irrigon was arrested
and charged with robbery I,
burglary I, harassment (x2),
unlawful use of a weapon
(x3), trespass II, felon in
possession of firearm and
unlawful possession of a
concealed weapon, as well
as a parole and probation
detainer. He was lodged at
Umatilla County Jail with
no bail.
Kaylee Lynn Mack,
25, of Irrigon was arrested
and charged with robbery I,
burglary I and trespass II.
She was lodged at Umatilla
County Jail with no bail.
Shavon Lee-Onne Er-
ickson, 24, of Irrigon was
arrested on an unrelated
Umatilla County Warrant.
Umatilla County advised to
cite and release Erickson on
the warrant.
Board of commissioners gets refresher on
SIP, EZ agreements
By Andrea Di Salvo
Morrow County Tax
Assessor Mike Gorman ap-
peared at a Morrow County
Board of Commissioners
work session last week to
help give the board and
other audience members a
clearer picture of the dif-
ferences between county
tax exemption programs.
Specifically, Gorman gave
a presentation on the Stra-
tegic Investment Program
(SIP) and Enterprise Zone
(EZ) property tax exemp-
tions the county can extend
to businesses within the
county.
Morrow County cur-
rently has properties in both
SIP and EZ agreements; the
EZ agreements in the coun-
ty fall within the Columbia
River Enterprise Zone, or
CREZ. Gorman said these
two property tax exemption
programs, while similar
in some ways, are unique
and substantially different
from one another. SIP and
EZ exemptions are not tied
to a specific type of prop-
erty, though Gorman said
that enterprise zones pretty
much rule out any type
of commercial properties
except for motels and ho-
tels. Enterprise zones cover
specific physical areas with
detailed boundaries, while
SIP agreements have no
such restraints.
What is an SIP?
The Strategic Invest-
ment Program has three
statutory components—the
taxable portion, the com-
munity service fee and the
exempt portion, as well as
a non-statutory component,
which may consist of an
additional payment amount
negotiated between the
company and the county
or city.
An SIP can be located
anywhere in the county.
“If it’s inside the city
limits, then the city could
negotiate. If it’s outside the
city limits, then the county
has jurisdiction,” Gorman
told the board, adding that
a city can negotiate an SIP,
though the county does
have final say, needing to
ratify any SIP for it to take
effect.
The dollar amount the
county gets depends on the
amount of the total invest-
ment.
“It kind of follows the
assessed value of taxable
property with its statutory
three percent increase,” said
Gorman.
The taxable portion of
an SIP will increase three
percent per year during the
exemption period, and the
exemption period can be up
to 15 years. The enterprise
zone does not have any
taxable portion.
Gorman said there are
three tiers relating to the
taxable portion. An invest-
ment of $25 million to
$500 million has a taxable
portion of $25 million. An
investment of $500,000,001
to $1 billion has a taxable
portion of $50 million. An
investment of more than $1
billion has a taxable portion
of $100 million.
“That goes on the tax
rolls, gets taxed normally,
goes to all the affected dis-
tricts,” said Gorman.
The new Amazon data
center on Bombing Range
Road is currently being
negotiated as an SIP. Ama-
zon’s intended investment
-Continued to PAGE SIX
Health district approves agreement to take online payments
By Andrea Di Salvo
Morrow County Health
District patients will soon
be able to make online pay-
ments through their patient
portals, the health district
board of directors decided
at its March 27 meeting in
Ione.
The board approved an
agreement with TruBridge
for a 1-Pay service that
will allow patients to pay
bills through their online
patient portals once the
district switches to its new
electronic health records
(EHR) system.
The agreement with
TruBridge includes ac-
cess to a secure website
via Evident’s patient por-
tal for processing patient
payments, secure credit
and debit card transaction
processing, auto-posting of
payments to the applicable
patient account in Evident’s
Thrive System, tracking
of all payment transaction
activity and reporting of
processing activity includ-
ing denials and exceptions.
The five-year contract
will cost the health dis-
trict a $1,700 service setup
fee with a $550 monthly
service fee. MCHD board
member Aaron Palmquist
asked if this system would
incur fees to the patients
or, if not, if the health dis-
trict was increasing costs
somewhere to cover the
increased merchant fees
for card processing. Health
district CEO Emily Roberts
told the board it will not
raise patient fees.
“This should help us
increase our collections,
which should make it worth
it, and it’s a patient conve-
nience,” she said.
MCHD Interim Chief
Financial Officer Nicole
Mahoney pointed out that
the district already pays
fees for merchant services,
but that right now they have
to run the cards manually.
This agreement was only
for the processing software
and would not change any
other district practices or
fees.
“It’s just to collect pay-
ments through the portal,”
added Roberts. “Anything
else would be a separate
contract or discussion.”
“I understand that, but
I think everybody needs to
be very clear what’s there,”
said Palmquist, adding that
he thought the board should
look into a way to distribute
the card processing costs to
patients, because he knew
those could add up.
“From a fiscal point, as
a board member, that needs
to go forward. That is big-
ger than this agreement,”
he added, “but I think it’s
still pertinent to have that
understanding so staff can
look at that down the road.”
The board also ap-
proved part of a commu-
nity benefit request from
Irrigon Jr./Sr. High School.
The request was for a total
of $9,224.99 to replace
soccer goals and purchase
a volleyball coaching box.
MCHD Board Chair
Marie Shimer abstained
from the conversation due
to any perceived conflict
from her employment with
the Morrow County School
District.
Roberts told the board
that, while the request was
one that could normally be
funded through the Com-
munity Benefit Fund, the
district did not have enough
left budgeted in the fund to
meet the request.
“We typically have not
used those funds to fund
this type of activity, and I
do know we have two more
AED (automated external
defibrillator) requests com-
ing in this fiscal year, and
we likely have a food bank
donation,” said Roberts.
She suggested the board
approve the $425 for the
volleyball coaching box but
not the entire amount.
Palmquist agreed.
“Our fund is a com-
munity benefit thing, and I
know that it’s needed, but I
think it’s going to be locked
up and it only benefits a
certain…I mean, it’s very
limited,” he said.
Palmquist said again
that he knew the school
needed new equipment but
made a motion to approve
only the $425.
“Because we have oth-
er stuff that is true, prop-
er, community benefit on
behalf of who we are,” he
added.
“I would just say that,
in the past, it’s been a little
more health-related that the
health district has funded,”
added board member John
Murray. “I’m certainly not
against equipment for kids
to play outdoor recreation
away from electronics, but
where we’ve always funded
health-related issues, I’d
kind of like to focus on
-Continued to PAGE EIGHT
Proceeds from this year’s Remembrance Walk/5K Run went
to Willow Creek Terrace assisted living, and members of the
Friends Helping Friends committee went to the facility Tuesday
to present a check to the staff and residents. Twelve of the 15
residents were able to be on hand for the presentation. WCT
manager Leanne Lankford said the $5,000 will be used for a
range of things to make the residents’ lives easier and more
enjoyable, everything from Bingo prizes to new cushions for the
patio chairs. Front (L-R): Bob Stevens, Floss Watkins, Randall
Peterson, Rita Bowman, Alex Camarillo, Ginger O’Brien, Ray
Harper, Joyce Ward. Back (L-R): Molly Turrell, Bev Sherman,
Dorothy Green Warren, Jerry Green, David Azevado, Leanne
Lankford, Kathi Dickenson, Janelle Ellis, Jacque Wilson,
Jazmyn Cimmiyotti, Tiffany Akers. Not pictured: Residents
Sandi Hanna, Virginia Peck and Rita Dezoete.
-Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
Irrigon, Heppner fire
departments among
those to receive new
engines
Engines part of State Fire
Marshal’s $25 million engine
program
Irrigon and Heppner
fire departments are among
those selected to receive
new engines as part of the
Oregon State Fire Mar-
shal’s $25 million Engine
Program, the OSFM an-
nounced this week.
Across Oregon, 76 lo-
cal fire service agencies
were selected to receive a
new type 3, type 6 or water
tender to boost firefighting
capacity. Irrigon Rural Fire
Protection District will
receive a type 3 and Hep-
pner Rural Fire Protection
District will receive a water
tender.
“This investment in
the Oregon fire service is
critical as the state mod-
ernizes equipment and in-
creases firefighting capacity
to respond to incidents in
our communities,” Oregon
State Fire Marshal Mariana
Ruiz-Temple said. “Over
the last three decades, more
communities have been
impacted by wildfire. This
investment is a major step
forward in achieving our
mission to protect people,
property, and the environ-
ment from fire and hazard-
ous materials.”
The delivery timeline
is not established because
engine chassis are on back-
order. In January 2023,
contracts were awarded to
Rosenbauer to build the
-Continued to PAGE TWO
Easter sunrise service
planned Sunday
Area churches offer Holy
Week services
The South Morrow
County Ministerial Asso-
ciation is sponsoring an
Easter sunrise service this
Sunday, April 9, at 7 a.m. in
the stands at the Les Payne
football field in Heppner.
This is a community event,
and everyone is invited.
Area churches are also
offering other opportunities
to celebrate Holy Week
and Easter this week, as
follows:
Wednesday, April 5
Evening prayer at
Hopeful Saints, 7 p.m.
Thursday, April 6
Hopeful Saints—
Maundy Thursday agape
meal and stripping of the
altar, 6 p.m.
St. Patrick’s Catho-
lic—Holy Thursday Mass,
6 p.m.
Tr i n i t y L u t h e r a n
(Hermiston)—Maundy
Thursday service, 7 p.m.
Friday, April 7
St. Patrick’s Catho-
lic—Good Friday Mass,
6:30 p.m.
Tr i n i t y L u t h e r a n
(Hermiston)—Good Friday
Service, 7 p.m.
Resurrection/Easter
Sunday, April 9
Tr i n i t y L u t h e r a n
(Hermiston)—9 a.m.
Valby Lutheran—10
a.m.
Hopeful Saints—10
a.m.
Willow Creek Bap-
tist—10 a.m.
Lexington Reformed
Baptist—10:45 a.m.
Heppner Chris-
tian—10:45 a.m.
Ione Community
Church—11 a.m.
St. Patrick’s Catho-
lic—11 a.m.
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information