Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current, May 10, 2023, Page 10, Image 10

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    TEN - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Boardman extends offer for
new city manager
Shriners honor East team picks
-Continued from PAGE ONE we could maybe try to find renewal, and why it’s such
affected by limited purchas-
ing options as during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Daughter Cadance Fer-
guson added that she is an
FFA member, and it would
be helpful to her and oth-
er members to be able to
have chickens on their own
properties for FFA projects.
She also pointed out that
the number of people using
the local food pantry has
increased, and having fresh
eggs would provide another
opportunity to give to the
food pantry.
Lisa Ferguson also
mentioned cons such as
noise, loose chickens and
smell, and said she realized
the city would need some
kind of rules in place, per-
haps similar to Umatilla’s
backyard poultry permit.
“I think these are things
that the city could probably
tackle and find a middle
ground with the community
so that everyone is happy,”
she said.
Boardman City Man-
ager Pro Tem Rick Stokoe
mentioned that there were
several properties around
Boardman with partial or
no sidewalks, and that land-
owners are responsible for
having sidewalks on their
property. He proposed that
the city use funding avail-
able through the American
Rescue Plan Act for a city-
wide project that would
split the cost with property
owners to try to get those
sidewalks completed.
“Just something for you
to start thinking about,” he
said. “It’s a safety project.”
“There might be
enough funds to address
a lot of those sidewalk is-
sues,” he added.
“And if it’s successful,
funds to complete it, to fund
it a different way,” replied
Keefer.
Stokoe also told the
council that Mike Lees
with Anderson Perry &
Associates did a street in-
ventory for the city. Stokoe
explained that that the street
engineer basically looked at
every street in Boardman
and determined what it
would take to fix it, whether
a chip seal, complete re-
placement or something in
between. He said he hoped
to have the results from that
inventory in the next couple
of months.
“I strongly suggest we
look at our roads, our in-
frastructure,” said Stokoe.
“Our roads are starting to
deteriorate, some of them
worse than others.
“If we can save them
by doing a chip seal or a
top coat,” he added, “we
probably ought to do that.
At some point we’re going
to have to get those streets
fixed, and at some point
it’s going to cost you more
to repair them than to do
some maintenance on them
early on.”
Stokoe also said he
and Pettigrew had met with
Elaine Howard about form-
ing an Urban Renewal Dis-
trict on the north side of the
freeway. Howard is some-
one the city has worked
with in the past to form
urban renewal districts. He
said it would help pay back
some of the infrastructure
expenditures the city has
going forward. They also
met with Lees in the last
couple of days to prepare a
map, and Stokoe hoped to
get that to the council soon.
“And then, of course,
we have to sell the urban
a great idea for our commu-
nity,” he added.
In other business, the
council:
-Unanimously passed a
resolution approving agree-
ments between the sponsors
of Columbia River Enter-
prise Zone III and Amazon
Web Services. The CREZ
III board met on April 7 and
approved five agreements
with AWS. The resolution
formalized those agree-
ments on the city’s behalf.
-Heard from Boardman
Interim Police Chief Loren
Dieter that the officer-in-
volved shooting in April
was still under investigation
by Oregon State Police. The
officer in question is still on
administrative leave pend-
ing that conclusion.
-Participated in a round
of applause for the public
works director, who has
announced he is ready to
retire.
-Observed a moment of
silence of Corporal Jospeh
Johnson of Nyssa, OR, who
was a volunteer police offi-
cer killed in the line of duty.
“That’s the thing that keeps
me up at night, making sure
my staff gets home safe,”
said Stokoe, who temporar-
ily stepped down as police
chief to act as city manager.
-Learned from Barajas
that expenditures from the
general fund had been high-
er than normal in April, but
that $1.2 million of the $1.4
million had been payment
into PERS.
The next Boardman
budget committee meeting
is May 16. The next regular
council meeting will be
Tuesday, June 6, at 7 p.m. at
Boardman City Hall.
The Tri-County Shriners held a dinner honoring local Shrine Team picks last Sunday. Left
to right Gene Orwick, Merlin Hughes, Herman Winters, Bryce Rollins, Tyler Boor, Tucker
Ashbeck, Greg Grant, Charles Hoskins and Cody High. Heppner’s picks for the East team
were Tucker Ashbeck as offensive lineman and defensive lineman and Tyler Boor as running
back and offensive linebacker. Bryce Rollins of Ione was selected as an East team alternate for
tight end/receiver and defensive end. The game will be played on July 29, 2023 in Baker City.
-Photo by Chris Sykes
Willow Creek Water Park
Is looking for:
Lifeguards:
• Must be at least 15 years old.
• Training is now available here in Heppner!
• Training fee is the responsibility of all new lifeguards, but
can be paid over the course of the summer. About $250.
Training takes a few days, but lasts a lifetime!
• Lifeguard certification is good for 2 years. If you return for a
third year the training is free and much shorter in time.
• Beginning wage this year: $14.00 per hour. The wage will
increase each summer you return to WCWP!
Swim Lessons Instructor:
• Must be at least 18 years old with experience working
with children.
• Part time; Hourly wage DOE
• Training available!
For more information and applications, please contact
Bridget Waite at bridaet.waite@amail.com