Ambulance services
review under way
50¢
VOL. 143
NO. 16 10 Pages
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Heppner renews contract with sheriff’s office
Council moves forward with purchase of security cameras
By Andrea Di Salvo
After intense discus-
sion last week, the City
of Heppner renewed its
intergovernmental agree-
ment with Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office for deputy
services.
During discussion
at the April 10 meeting,
Heppner councilor Sharon
Inskeep said she wanted
clarification that the things
the city is being charged for
are in the city and not the
county, and that violators
were being cited as needed.
“Are we paying this
amount of money and are
we getting our total city
coverage that we’re sup-
posed to be having?” asked
Inskeep. “I don’t know
how many times we have
to bring it up about log
trucks. I saw that one was
stopped and not ticketed.
I know other people that
were stopped, doing some
pretty unsafe things, and
were not ticketed.”
“Some of those things
are not occurring in the city,
but they’re on our city bud-
get,” she added. “They’re
on the outskirts of town, but
they’re coming through on
the city bill and not on the
county bill.”
Heppner city councilor
Dale Bates pointed out that
the city’s contract with
the sheriff’s office is for
320 hours per month, but
that MCSO always puts
in more; in March, total
personnel hours in Heppner
were 410.5.
“Obviously we’re get-
ting 20, 25 percent more for
our buck,” he said.
Cutsforth also said that
the contract is for a three-
mile radius out from the
207/206/74 intersection by
Heppner City Hall.
“It actually goes way
past the reservoir,” said
Cutsforth. “So we’re ac-
tually covering some stuff
outside of the city.”
“My question is, we’re
paying out the money, but
are we seeing anything
back on safety things as far
as truck stops and tickets
and that stuff that’s being
handled?” replied Inskeep.
“I just think I see a lot of
traffic infringements and vi-
olations that are not getting
taken care of.”
Patrol Lieutenant Braun
said the thinking on traffic
stops is to make the stop
and speak with the driver.
If the deputy believes the
person will be compliant in
the future, they may issue a
warning rather than a ticket.
“The officer that’s mak-
ing the stop,” he said, “It’s
on them. We can’t tell them
that they have to write a
ticket.”
Heppner city councilor
Cody High said he thought
they were past the point
of discussing the contract,
though he said he had his
own issues with it.
“I feel like the contract-
ed hours should be patrol
hours, not case hours, not
meeting hours,” said High.
“If we were paying a
cop, city police, we’d be
paying all that. Period.”
said Bates. “And here we’re
not.”
High said he would
move to approve the
contract but would be
“whole-heartedly in favor”
of it going before the police
commission or to a council
work session for a deeper
conversation regarding next
year’s contract.
“And then hash out any
changes before, because
right now they need a yes
or no for their budget,” he
added.
The council voted
unanimously to renew
the MCSO contract at
$194,831.96 for the fiscal
year.
New Security Cam-
eras
The city council also
voted to move forward with
new Verkada security cam-
eras for several locations
around town. Verkada’s
Jackson Malec, who had
given a presentation at the
council’s March 13 meet-
ing, was back April 10 to
present a pricing proposal
to the council.
The pricing propos-
al includes eight Verkada
Bullet CB52-E cameras
with 60 days of storage and
a 10-year Verkada cam-
era license for a total of
$20,593.40.
“These are some of
our best cameras we offer”
Malec told the council.
Professional instal-
lation will add another
$4,907.08 to the cost.
Included in the Verk-
ada package is a 10-year
hardware warranty, auto-
matic updates, unlimited ar-
chiving with Amazon Web
Services, technical support,
zero ongoing maintenance
costs and unlimited users.
Kraig Cutsforth said
his thought was to purchase
eight cameras and put two
at Heppner City Park, one
behind the library, one at
Hager Park, one at the fire
-Continued to PAGE TEN
Morrow County School District remains
optimistic about state budget
By Andrea Di Salvo
The Morrow County
School District Board had
an eye on the state legis-
lature at its regular board
meeting Monday, April 10,
at Windy River Elementary
in Boardman.
While MCSD Superin-
tendent Matt Combe report-
ed several areas of concern,
the budget remains top-
most in everyone’s minds.
Combe said the COSA state
budget forecast for the next
biennium is similar to what
it was last month.
“We continue to remain
hopeful for the $10.3 billion
to keep up with inflation,
supply and demand trends,
but many economists con-
tinue to predict that it will
land in that 10.1 to 10.2
range,” Combe told the
school board.
He also reported that
there were a couple oth-
er bills that are current-
ly stalled but would have
affected the district. One
of those is an abbreviated
school day bill. Combe said
the last update he heard was
that it was highly unlikely
that it would take effect this
school year.
Meanwhile, Combe
said, the district is current-
ly in the budget cycling
process for the 2023-24
school year, with a budget
committee meeting sched-
uled for May 9.
MCSD Executive Di-
rector of Human Resources
Erin Stocker said union ne-
gotiations will begin soon.
“I’m a little nervous
that we don’t have a firm
number from the legisla-
tive session at this point,”
she said regarding salaries
and benefits. “The benefit
to waiting until we do have
a firm number from the
legislative session is that
then we can give all we
can give. Otherwise, we’re
being a little bit conser-
vative, making sure that
we don’t exceed what the
budget ends up being from
the state.”
Stocker also reported
that the hiring season con-
tinues to progress. She said
the district’s objective is to
fill positions but that the
hiring pool is very compet-
itive. She also reported that
it looked like the emergen-
cy substitute licenses would
be continued next school
year but with some “tighter
strings.”
“Which I don’t think
is a bad thing,” she added.
“But getting our full-time
positions filled is our pri-
ority right now.”
She concluded by say-
ing the district was mak-
ing plans for professional
development both for ad-
ministrators and teachers
based on feedback from the
schools.
MCSD Director of Ed-
ucational Services Marie
Shimer reported that the
district had its food service
audit and did very well. One
piece the district needs to
address is forming a com-
mittee to review the district
wellness policy, which the
state requires to be done
every three years.
“We will be pulling
together that committee in
May and going over the
policy with the rubric they
provide and meeting that
criteria,” said Shimer.
She also addressed the
issue of language transla-
tion during board meetings,
which board member Rosa
Delgado had raised at a pre-
vious board meeting.
“We are researching
that and looking at some
different options, so we’re
hoping by the beginning of
the school year we’ll have
that up and going,” said
Shimer.
“That would be in ad-
dition to what’s available to
the folks who are online,”
added Combe.
InterMountain Ed-
ucation Service District
(IMESD) Chief Financial
Officer Beth O’Hanlon was
also present via Zoom. She
told the board that IMESD
had received many requests
over the years for the ed-
ucation service district to
sponsor a regional board
conference for eastern Or-
egon boards to informally
network and collaborate
on issues specific to local
needs.
O’Hanlon said the
IMESD has started the
planning process for that
conference and that they
would come back to the
board with more specifics
when they had it all worked
out.
O’Hanlon also updat-
ed the MCSD board and
staff on the Crystal Apple
Awards, which is the ed-
ucation service district’s
annual event to recognize
outstanding staff. She re-
ported around 220 nomina-
tions this year throughout
the three IMESD counties.
“I feel like it’s one of
the largest amount of nom-
inations we’ve had in re-
cent years, so that’s pretty
exciting, that people are
nominating their peers,”
said O’Hanlon.
The Umatilla-Morrow
Crystal Apple Awards will
take place Tuesday, May
16, at 5 p.m. at the Pendle-
ton Convention Center.
In other business, the
board approved a request
from Heppner Technology
Student Association mem-
bers to attend the national
TSA conference in Louis-
ville, KY June 28-July 2.
The estimated cost for the
trip is $8,285, with most of
that covered by previous
years’ fundraising, Oregon
TSA travel grants and stu-
dent projects.
The board heard from
Heppner TSA Advisor
Dave Fowler and TSA state
officer Jacob Finch, as well
as chapter officers Elizabeth
Finch, Riley Palmer and
Delilah Sauceda. The stu-
dents told the board about
their projects, what they
had accomplished in TSA
and what they hoped to
accomplish at the national
The Morrow County
Board of Commissioners
has authorized the updat-
ing and modernizing of the
County’s Ambulance Ser-
vice Area Plan and designa-
tion of Ambulance Service
Area Providers, the county
announced last week.
During the process,
the county will be working
with the Oregon Health Au-
thority, all the parties who
provide or are interested
in providing ambulance
services, and any others
who wish to be consulted
or provide advice regarding
the plan and the boundaries
of ambulance service areas.
While the county is
working on that update,
ambulance services will
continue to be provided by
the Morrow County Health
District under the 1998 Am-
bulance Service Providers
Ordinance, so the public
should not see any change
in services.
Questions or concerns
can be directed to Roberta
Vanderwall, Morrow Coun-
ty Interim Administrator,
rvanderwall@co.morrow.
or.us.
Lexington gears up for
May Day Celebration
The Town of Lexington is
getting ready for its third
annual May Day celebra-
tion, with more events, more
food, and more “flowers and
flags.” -Contributed photo
Plans for the third annu-
al Lexington May Day cel-
ebration are in full swing,
with a day of festivities
planned for Saturday, May
6. The theme this year is
“Flowers and Flags,” with
special focus on members
of the military both past and
present.
The day will start with
the Fire Department Break-
fast from 7-10 a.m. Break-
fast options include a meal
of pancakes, sausage and
eggs, small for $3 or large
$6, or biscuits and gravy,
small $2.50 and large $5.
Breakfast will be held at
the Lexington Fire Hall
and will be served by local
volunteers.
At 9 a.m., those who
want to burn off those
breakfast calories can par-
ticipate in the 5K run/walk
from the fire hall to the red
barn and back. The walk/
run begins at 9 a.m. The $10
entry fee will go to support
veterans.
The Holly Rebekah la-
dies will hold a craft bazaar
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at
the Holly Rebekah Lodge
on C St.
The May Day parade
will take place at 11 a.m.
down Arcade St., with a
veteran speaker to follow
at noon.
In the afternoon, a corn
hole tournament will take
place at 1 p.m. at the fire
hall. Entry fee is $20 per
team. The event is spon-
sored by the Broken Spoke.
From 12:20 to 4:30
p.m., residents and guests
can enjoy live music by
Tony Buckman.
Other events through-
out the afternoon will in-
clude a Cruz In, kids’ ac-
tivities including a bouncy
house, food trucks, raffles
and a cake walk.
The event is sponsored
by the Morrow County Uni-
fied Recreation District, the
Morrow County Cultural
Coalition and the people of
Lexington.
OHA lifts water testing
application deadline
for LUBGWMA well
users
Morrow County residents can
submit vouchers for foresee-
able future so they can learn
nitrate exposure levels
PORTLAND, OR—
Oregon Health Authority
(OHA) has lifted deadlines
for domestic well users in
the Lower Umatilla Ba-
sin Groundwater Manage-
ment Area (LUBGWMA)
to submit applications for
free water testing to help
determine their risk of ex-
posure to nitrate and other
contaminants.
OHA is now accepting
testing voucher applications
for the foreseeable future—
the vouchers no longer
must be submitted by May
-Continued to PAGE NINE 15, and they do not expire
June 7.
The vouchers cover
testing for nitrate, arsenic,
bacteria, lead, iron, man-
ganese and hardness. Ap-
plications are available at
http://bit.ly/3xzx1cp. They
also can be accessed from
OHA’s LUBGWMA page
in both English and Span-
ish, by emailing Domestic.
Wells@odhsoha.oregon.
gov, or by calling 971-673-
0440.
Households in the
LUBGWMA that rely on
domestic well water for
-Continued to PAGE SIX
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information