Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, April 19, 2023 - SEVEN
Heppner council votes to close
Stansbury two hours on school days
Stansbury Street in Heppner may soon be closed for a cou-
ple of hours during school days for student safety. -Photo by
Andrea Di Salvo
By Andrea Di Salvo
Drivers looking to go
through Stansbury St. in
Heppner may soon need
to reroute during morning
and afternoon traffic times
at the elementary school,
the Heppner City Council
voted last week. No date is
yet set for when that closure
might start.
Heppner Elementary
School submitted a request
to the city to be able to close
Stansbury St. for up to an
hour both morning and
afternoon on school days
to allow children to safely
cross the street. Heppner
councilor JoAnna Lamb,
who also works at HES,
told the council that there
have been several traffic
violations, with drivers
trying to go through when
there are people crossing
the street.
“Not everyone has been
very patient with wanting to
get where they’re going,”
said Lamb.
The traffic flow for
parent drop-off would be a
circle through the parking
lot and then down to the
side of the school to drop
off at the school yard gate.
“So there’s not really
any need for them to be go-
ing through and just throw-
ing the kids out at the gym
or in front of the school,”
she added. “There’ve been
several of them that have
done U-turns. We do not
have a sheriff ’s deputy
available to just sit there
the whole time.”
Times would be 7:30-
8:30 a.m. and 3-4 p.m.,
though Lamb said most
of the time they probably
wouldn’t have to close the
street for the whole hour.
The crossing guards would
still be on duty and would
be there to put up and take
down street barriers, includ-
ing if an emergency vehicle
needed to get through.
Council members ex-
pressed concern with the
idea, and Heppner Pub-
lic Works Director Chad
Doherty asked if it wouldn’t
be better to educate the
public first.
“What if the officer was
there to help police that be-
fore we went to the drastic
step of closing one of the
two accesses to that side
of town?” asked Doherty.
“If we educate before we
shut down, I would like that
better.”
Councilor Dale Bates
also brought up the idea of
using cameras to catch vio-
lators, especially if they had
license plate recognition so
those drivers could be cited.
“That would really cure
somebody,” said Bates.
“They’d never do it twice.”
Lamb said the school
has cameras, but she didn’t
believe they had that capa-
bility.
Heppner City Manager
Kraig Cutsforth suggested
the city divert the Morrow
County Sheriff’s Deputy
to the school for a time to
monitor the situation.
“At least for the af-
ternoon we could redirect
those resources that we
have at our disposal to see
how big of a problem this
is,” he said.
“The ultimate concern
is the safety of the chil-
dren,” replied Lamb. “And
there are people not being
safe.”
Councilor Cody High
said that, while he saw
some issues with closing
the street, it came down to
the school making a request
because of safety.
“I don’t think for two
hours a day that it’s too
much for people to avoid
one cut-across,” said High.
“People would get used
to it,” agreed Heppner May-
or Corey Sweeney.
The council voted
unanimously to allow Hep-
pner Elementary to block
off Stansbury for the re-
quested time during school
days. The school has not
yet started blocking off the
street but is still figuring out
logistics for the temporary
closures.
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
Rockwell appointed to fill
Boardman councilor vacancy
Roy Drago, Jr. (left) receives a certificate of appreciation
from Boardman Mayor Paul Keefer. -Contributed photo
Boardman Paul Keefer (left) swears in new city councilor
Richard Rockwell at the April 11 meeting. -Contributed photo
At its April 11 meeting,
the Boardman City Council
appointed Richard Rock-
well to fill the vacant coun-
cilor seat formerly held
by Roy Drago, Jr. Drago
resigned from the council
upon his recent appoint-
ment to the Morrow County
Board of Commissioners.
Rockwell is a 40-year
resident of Boardman and
owns a local business. He’s
been involved in the com-
munity as a long-time wres-
tling coach and volunteer.
Rockwell’s term expires
Dec. 31, 2026.
In other city business,
Mayor Paul Keefer present-
ed Drago with a certificate
of appreciation for his years
serving on the city council.
Councilors also moved
forward with establishing
a timeline for the hiring of
a new city manager. The
community will be able
to attend a meet and greet
with the candidates for the
city manager’s position on
April 27. It will be held at
the SAGE Center from 5:30
p.m. to 7 p.m.
T h e n e x t r e g u l a r-
ly scheduled city council
meeting will be Tuesday,
May 2, at 7 p.m. at Board-
man City Hall.
Water
control
district to
meet next
Wednesday
The Heppner Water
Control District will meet
next Wednesday, April 26,
at the Ag Service Center
conference room at 6:30
p.m. The agenda includes
the district’s annual meet-
ing, election of officers and
annual financial report.
The regular meeting to
follow includes minutes of
the previous meeting, finan-
cial report and bid opening
for the Shobe Creek Rus-
sian Olive Project.
Meetings of the district
are open to the public.
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