EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, April 12, 2023 CTE training Ione School -Continued from PAGE ONE that are combined to make one image that has a more solid, three-dimensional feel. Recognition software interprets the coded pat- terns on the workpieces and converts them into realistic virtual reality, which the student sees on the screen inside the helmet. In other words, while working with the imple- ments and digital metal, the student sees a realistic representation of virtual steel plates, welding beads and flying sparks. It’s as close as you can get to a real welding experience without feeling the heat. That’s one side of the equation. The AR welder is also integrated with Nation- al Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) level one and level two curriculum, and includes classes, projects and tests to guide student learning. The whole setup also comes with a separate trainer’s screen, where the instructor can view the student’s work in real time or play a recorded exercise. The school has pur- chased both the tabletop equipment and a smaller, hand-held version. Ione School District Superinten- dent and Secondary Princi- pal Kevin Dinning says it’s part of the school’s growing focus on more Career and Technical Education (CTE) opportunities for students. “If we’re talking about teaching our kids stuff that they will find in the work- force, these are the skills they will need,” says Din- ning. “We want to be able to expose our students to a broader range of training materials.” And that’s not all that’s happening in the shop class. Across the building, Ione student Khira Kreitzer is experimenting with the school’s laser engraver, the Trotec Speedy 400. Kreitzer has engraved a kitchen paddle board and then painted it. Now, she’s preparing to engrave it again to see what effect that will have on the design. The pattern changes color under the laser, as well as becoming deeper. “It feels more flat if you just do it once,” explains Kreitzer, adding that the design gets deeper the more times the engraver goes over it. She also says that the engraver has different set- tings for different materials, including glass, different metals and a wide array of Kelvin Rietmann cutting metal . -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo A student-built shed in progress at Ione High School. - Photo by Andrea Di Salvo The school’s laser engraver at work. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo woods. The setting deter- mines the specific voltage of laser, or burn, that goes into the material. Dinning pulls out some samples of other engraved items—granite coasters, a wood engraving of a trac- tor—and says the students have been busy creating a variety of projects, includ- ing jewelry, leather and cups. Dinning says they want to attempt burning on jeans, next. “It’s applying art to something that’s tangible,” says Dinning, adding that many of the items made in the shop are given or sold to people in the Ione commu- nity. “We’re really trying to get students to the entrepre- neurial side of CTE.” By this time, Rietmann has finished welding and has moved to working on a metal project using the school’s plasma cutter, which prints and cuts metal sheeting. “It lets you be more detailed without having to do it by hand,” explains Dinning. Other equipment in the shop includes a heat press for printing on shirts and a hat press. The next big plan the school has for CTE is for a heavy equipment simulator. In back of the shop sit several storage sheds. They’re a familiar sight, but these are special—they’ve all been built by Ione stu- dents. Dinning points out a shed built the previous year next to this year’s shed, which is finished except for the roof. The sheds don’t just collect out back, either. They are also sold, even made to order, for members of the community. “We like to build them,” Dinning says. He says that the school would eventually like to work up to building a house a year. For now, building the sheds teaches students the principles of things like flooring and studs, “But not having to do it while you’re building a house,” he adds. Dinning says it’s been great to walk into the school shop and see all of the projects happening as the students learn valuable skills while also providing services to the community. “It’s cool,” he says. “It’s all built by the kids.” County approves new SIP Agreement with Amazon By Andrea Di Salvo The Morrow County Board of Commissioner approved a new Strategic Investment Program (SIP) with Amazon Data Ser- vices at its regular meeting last Wednesday, April 5. Included in the agreement was a resolution asking Oregon Business Develop- ment Commission (Busi- ness Oregon) to exempt the development from property taxes. The SIP exemption is for 15 years, and Mor- row County Assessor Mike Gorman said it is a “fairly large” investment that will trigger $100 million tax- able value, as well as up to $2.5 million in community service fees. Gorman said the agreement also includes some negotiated additional payments, including future bonding and payments to benefit local infrastructure. Amazon has agreed to an Annual Contribution Pay- ment equal to $850,000 and an up-front Community Development Contribution of $5 million. According to the agree- ment, the development will provide 80 new, permanent, full-time equivalent jobs in the county. Prior to making a deci- sion, the board went into a short executive session to discuss the agreement, after which it held a public hear- ing on the SIP agreement. Wenholz again recused himself from discussion and voting due to possible impact on a company with which he does business. Morrow County Coun- sel Justin Nelson pointed out that board approval does not mean the SIP agreement is a “done deal.” The agree- ment will now have to go to Business Oregon. BMCC announces winter honor roll Blue Mountain Com- munity College winter term 2022-2023 honor roll rec- ognition went to the follow- ing full-time students from Morrow County: President’s List (3.75 - 4.0 GPA): Roselyn Cal- dera, Lainey Claybrook, Chad Doherty, Keith Flem- ing, Jasper Hardy, Clifford Hauger, Omar Madrigal, Luke Meyers, Cielo Munoz Rosales, Monserrat Pache- co, Caelyn Pullen, Damian Quiriconi, Jose Romero, Eleazar Salas, Lucero Zara- goza. Vice President’s List (3.5 to 3.74): Lelila Cam- bero, Sadie Hasbell, Sa- mantha Howard, Mckenna Kendrick, Leslie Lopez, Carmelita Morrison, Mat- thew Orem, Jimena Vil- larreal. Ambulance service area plan -Continued from PAGE ONE united from when it came self from discussion and counsel on the topic. The board had chosen to table a request by Hughes to repeal a 1998 ordinance regard- ing the county’s ASA plan until commissioners had a chance to consult legal counsel. At last Wednesday’s meeting, Morrow County Board of Commissioners Chair David Sykes thanked everyone for their input on Morrow County ambulance services and said the county had engaged an attorney who was very knowledge- able on ASAs. The attor- ney, Bob Blackmore had presented the board with council on both the letter request and the ordinance. “In the last month, the commission has taken ac- tion by engaging outside legal council to guide us in our understanding of our legal obligations and re- sponsibilities of the county board of commissioners as we move forward in this process,” said Sykes. At a board of commis- sioners meeting Feb. 22, Hughes had requested a repeal of county ordinance MC-C-4-98, which reg- ulates ambulance service providers in the county. Sykes said Blackmore had advised them not to repeal the 1998 ASA ordinance, but to instead move for- ward with preparing a new ASA plan to address and resolve many of the issues in the dispute. He also said counsel had advised them the 2021 ASA plan was not legally effective, as it was never legally approved by Morrow County. “Counsel suggested a new ASA plan would include many of the pro- visions of that plan and mentioned that it would be a good starting point,” Sykes said. He added that, if the commissioners decided to move forward with a new ASA, county staff members would work on the ASA plan. Those county staff members would include Morrow County Interim Administrator Roberta Van- derwall, Morrow County Emergency Manager Paul Gray and Morrow County Counsel Justin Nelson, along with Blackmore, with others added to assist in plan development as need- ed. “The goal in moving this forward would be to give everyone certainty, define ambulance service providers and territory and, in that process, create the best ambulance service plan for everyone in the county,” said Sykes. He added that par- ticipation by MCHD and BFRD as essential partners would be beneficial moving forward. “If this road map is approved, we could then instruct legal counsel and staff to begin work on a new ASA plan as quickly as possible,” he said. Sykes said develop- ment of the new plan would include “appropriate” in- volvement from MCHD and BFRD and others inter- ested in ambulance services in Morrow County, and that the county would expect ambulance services to con- tinue as is in the interim. During the following discussion, Morrow County Commissioner Jeff Wen- holz said that because legal counsel indicated that the current ASA isn’t legal, it seemed clear that the county needed to move forward and develop a new ASA. Morrow County Commissioner Roy Drago, Jr. agreed, and the board voted unanimously to move forward with a new ASA plan with Vanderwall, Nel- son and Gray taking the lead with counsel from Blackmore. The board of commis- sioners showed less of a to the request for a letter in support of ambulance licensing from Boardman Fire. Hughes had appeared before the board March 15 to request a letter in support of Boardman ambulance licensing from the board of commissioners. Sykes said Blackmore had advised them that, until the new ASA plan was cre- ated, certifying additional ambulance needs would not mean BFRD would be licensed as an ambu- lance service provider in the county. That is, the attorney had advised the board that Boardman Fire would not be licensed without being designated an ambulance service area. Blackmore further said that, if BFRD was seeking to work in Umatilla Coun- ty as Hughes had previ- ously stated, they should seek their letter of support from Umatilla County, and Morrow County would not oppose that. Drago raised the issue of BFRD’s proposed work with a military installation on the Bombing Range. “That is in Morrow County, and the question there is, even if they were able to go out onto the Bombing Range and be there in case something happened, that they would have to transport through Morrow County at some point,” said Drago, “which is not in the ASA. So, as far as the Bombing Range question, that was my con- cern there.” “Mr. Blackmore did say that there’s nothing that precludes us from writing the letter of support,” said Wenholz, “Really, he said, it’s a circular issue in that OHA (Oregon Health Au- thority) won’t grant you a license without having an area to serve as part of an ASA, but you can’t have an area to serve in an ASA without having a license.” Wenholz moved to pro- vide the letter of support for BFRD and let OHA “sort it out” and determine wheth- er they should receive the license. Sykes responded that he thought the county should create the ASA plan first. “I think that’s the back- bone of the whole thing and should be done without anything else coming into play,” he said. “Are we able to get the timing right with an ASA and, if in that ASA it does allow an ambulance service area, is it going to delay the position of that service area to get a license?” replied Drago. “How would we time that to make it happen at the same time?” “I do understand your point,” Wenholz told Sykes, “but I do feel it’s a chicken and egg type of thing. If through the ASA process Boardman Fire were to be granted a service area, in a sense they can’t get a ser- vice area without a license, so this allows them to go through the process and get a license. “I don’t think any- body’s under the illusion that they’re going to be able to do transports in Morrow County, because they don’t have a service area in Morrow County,” added Wenholz. The board voted 2-1 to have staff draft a letter of support for Boardman Fire to seek ambulance licensing, with chair Sykes opposing. Right-of-Way Con- struction Permits Also at the meeting, the board voted to amend the process to approve per- mits for construction in the county right-of-way. The existing ordinance required certain permit requests to go before the board for approval. Wenholz recused him- voting on the topic due to a possible or perceived con- flict, though he did state that he did not believe he had real a conflict of interests. Nelson told the com- missioners that from 2017 to 2019, all permits for work in the county right-of- way could be approved by the Morrow County Public Works Director or Assistant Road Master. Public works also had the responsibility to make sure utilities and other entities working in the county right-of-way were meeting permit re- quirements. In 2019, commission- ers amended chapter 8.08 of the county code to require board of commissioners approval for any right-of- way work that exceeded 200 feet. Last week’s revi- sion took away the need for board approval and put per- mitting back in the hands of public works. Nelson said the change was due to both the changed meeting schedule for the board of commissioners, which now meets every two weeks, and public works’ anticipation of more large projects needing permits in the near future. “A person can submit this to public works, they can review it, sign off on it fairly quickly,” Nelson said of the change. “If it goes before the board, right now about a two-week period or more.” “Again, if a person has a concern or an issue, it can still come before the board,” Nelson added. “This just lets it be stream- lined a little more.” Former Morrow Coun- ty Commissioner Don Rus- sell was present to speak in favor of the proposed change. Russell also sits on the board of directors for Windwave Communica- tions, a fiber company that he said does a significant amount of work in county rights-of-way throughout Eastern Oregon. Russell said that, as commissioner, he had ini- tially supported board ap- proval as a way for com- missioners to know who was doing large amounts of work in the right-of-way. “As it evolved, it be- came a way to slow down the process of allowing companies that do work in public right-of-way to get a permit,” said Russell. “It’s my opinion that the previ- ous commissioners picked the winners and the losers and they would slow walk permits for those companies that they didn’t like.” Russell added that Windwave never had a permit rejected but that that some of the permits took a “very long time” to get approved. He said the company is currently doing work in Morrow, Umatilla, Baker, Harney, Grant and Wheeler counties, and has done work in the past in Wheeler, Sherman, Union, Wallowa and Malheur counties. “And Morrow County is by far the hardest place to do business in,” said Russell. “When I was a commissioner, again, we never rejected a permit to work in the public right- of-way. It just slowed the process down substantially, and I don’t really see any reason for it.” He also pointed out the commissioners could still be a board of appeals but said the board had never overridden a public works decision in his eight years as commissioner. The commission- ers voted unanimously to amend the code and remove the need for board approval. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.