Boardman considers
homeless camping
ordinance
50¢
VOL. 143
NO. 24 12 Pages
Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Boardman Fire responds to lawsuit with
legal action
By Andrea Di Salvo
The saga over ambu-
lance services in Morrow
County continued last week
when Boardman Fire Res-
cue District responded to
the Morrow County Health
District’s lawsuit with a
legal petition of its own.
On June 7, Board-
man Fire Rescue District
(BFRD) filed a petition
for writ of review and to
stay proceedings pending
review in Morrow County
Circuit Court. The petition
came as a response to a
May 2 default order by the
Morrow County Health
District (MCHD) and a
subsequent lawsuit filed by
the health district on May
10 of this year.
M C H D ’s l a w s u i t
against BFRD, Boardman
Fire Chief Michael Hughes
and Morrow County sought
a restraining order and
injunction against BFRD
and Hughes, which would
prohibit the fire department
from engaging in ambu-
lance services in Morrow
County.
Monetary claims
against Hughes and Board-
man Fire included $3 mil-
lion for estimated loss of
cost-based reimbursement,
damages in the amount
of $1,203,350 for tortious
interference with business
relations between the health
district and the county, plus
an additional $169,000 in
fines for what the health
district says are multiple
violations of the 1998 ASA
plan.
In response, Boardman
Fire is now asking the court
to order the health district
and related entities to stop
any further proceedings in
the matter, including further
prosecution of the declar-
atory and injunctive relief
MCHD is seeking against
Boardman Fire. BFRD is
also asking for the court to
reverse or annul the health
district’s default order in
full.
While both the health
district and the county have
released statements—or
been downright outspo-
ken—about the conflict
over Boardman ambulance
services in Boardman,
Boardman Fire has been
largely silent about the law-
suit. In its own legal case,
however, the fire district
now says that MCHD has
no jurisdiction or authority
over BFRD under the 1998
Ambulance Service Area
plan (ASA).
The 1998 ASA is the
plan under which the coun-
ty has stated it is currently
operating until a new plan
can be created.
Boardman Fire says
the plan vests the “County
Court”—now the board of
commissioners—with both
jurisdiction and authority
over the 1998 ordinance,
not the health district.
BFRD also states that the
Morrow County Emer-
gency Medical Services
Advisory Committee and
Quality Assurance Sub-
committee are operating
illegally because they were
appointed by the MCHD
board and not the county
commissioners.
BFRD also contends
that it is not a party to the
1998 ASA at all, since it
neither fits the definition
of an ambulance service
provider nor holds an am-
bulance service area under
the ASA.
“Yet, despite MCHD’s
lack of jurisdiction and
authority over BFRD under
either ASA Plan, MCHD
has nonetheless improp-
erly sought to enforce its
unlawful and improper
findings and orders against
BFRD…,” the lawsuit
states.
In addition, BFRD
claims that the health
district’s efforts to keep
Boardman Fire from being
dispatched to 9-1-1 calls
in Boardman are illegal,
calling MCHD’s claims
that the fire district was
call jumping inaccurate and
malicious.
Finally, Boardman Fire
says that, even if MCHD
had jurisdiction over them,
the health district is operat-
ing in “bad faith” based on
its own business interests
and not for any legitimate
reason.
Meanwhile, Boardman
Fire, Hughes and the county
have each been issued a
summons under the health
district’s lawsuit, with no
further proceedings sched-
uled at this time.
By Andrea Di Salvo
The Boardman City
Council approved the first
reading of a homeless
camping ordinance, adopt-
ed a new budget and learned
about the progress of a pro-
posed urban renewal area
during its June 6 meeting.
The city council unan-
imously approved the first
reading of a new home-
less camping ordinance,
prompted by House Bill
3115. The bill, which
passed the Oregon Legisla-
ture in 2021, requires cities
to make “objectively rea-
sonable” rules about when,
where and how people can
“sit and lie” outdoors on
public property. It also re-
quires cities to provide
alternatives if they do not
allow camping on public
property. It goes into effect
July 1.
“In order for us to en-
force the camping and the
homeless activities that are
going on, we have to have
an ordinance in place,”
Boardman City Manager
pro tem Rick Stokoe told
the council.
The city says the
Boardman ordinance aims
to allow individuals and
families who are experienc-
ing the temporary effects
of homelessness to camp
in relatively safe and san-
itary locations while they
are actively seeking access
to stable and affordable
housing.
Stokoe said the city has
been working with multiple
entities during the crafting
of the ordinance, including
Stepping Stones Alliance in
Umatilla County.
“Once we have this or-
dinance in effect and we’ve
got the IGA (intergovern-
mental agreement) with
those entities, we can help
these folks that need shel-
ter and services,” Stokoe
added.
Boardman Planning
Official Carla McLane
spoke more to the purpose
of the ordinance and the
role of entities like Stepping
Stones and Umatilla Coun-
ty’s Project Path.
“The ordinance that
you’re being asked to look
at tonight and give full con-
sideration of is a Boardman
approach to help manage
what could be coming af-
ter the first of July,” said
McLane. “What this does
is give Boardman the op-
portunity to manage what
happens on public property
and how that functions rel-
ative to when folks arrive
in Boardman or our own
citizens find themselves in
a tough place.”
The council will be
scheduling a special meet-
ing later this month for
-Continued to PAGE EIGHT
Cyclists pause in Heppner
during coast-to-coast trek
Morrow County to be home to Northwest’s
largest solar facility
A map of the proposed Sunstone solar project to be located
near Hwy. 207 and Bombing Range. -Contributed
By Andrea Di Salvo
The Morrow County
Board of Commissioners
heard an update on the
planned Sunstone Solar
project at its June 7 meeting
in Heppner. Logan Ste-
phens, Senior Director of
Project Development for
Pine Gate Renewables, was
present at the meeting to
update commissioners on
the project.
Pine Gate is based
in North Carolina, but is
developing, owning and
operating renewable en-
ergy facilities nationwide.
Sunstone is a proposed
1,200-megawatt solar en-
ergy and energy storage
project that would be locat-
ed about halfway between
Heppner and Boardman,
roughly in the North Lex
area. The bulk of the project
would be north of 207 from
just east of Bombing Range
Rd. to Doherty Rd.
“This is an area that al-
ready has a lot of renewable
energy and transmission
infrastructure with a num-
ber of windfarms and solar
projects proposed in that
area,” Stephens said.
Sunstone will connect
to an existing transmission
line owned by Umatilla
Electric Co-op. That line
runs to Boardman and con-
nects to a Bonneville Power
substation.
Sunstone Solar was
previously named Echo
Solar, but parent compa-
ny Pine Gate Renewables
changed the name to avoid
confusion with the town
of Echo and the similar-
ly-named Echo Windfarms.
The project was original-
ly developed by Gallatin
Power, Stephens said, and
was previously presented
to the board by Gallatin’s
Jeff Fox.
The project is currently
in the development stage.
The company plans to file
its preliminary application
to the Oregon Dept. of
Energy by the end of this
month. Because of that,
Pine Gate is currently fo-
cusing on impacts relating
to the agricultural economy,
environmental resources,
housing and transportation.
“To make sure that
when we bring workers
in, they’re going to have
a place to stay and be able
to get out to the site every
day,” said Stephens.
They’re also engaging
with local tribes regarding
cultural resources, as well
as looking into the best
way to source labor and the
project’s water needs.
“We really pride our-
selves on building strong
partnerships at the local
and state and national lev-
el,” said Stephens. “Part
of my role and the role of
my team going forward
is to make sure that we’re
working closely with the
community, engaging with
a variety of stakeholders
and making sure that we
address all the impacts from
the project and really try to
make this project a success
for everybody.”
Sunstone will be the
largest solar facility in
the Pacific Northwest and
among the largest in the
country, Stephens told the
commissioners. The 1,200-
MW output is roughly equal
to power for 228,000 homes
for a year.
“So we’re pretty ex-
cited about that,” he said.
“As part of that, we need
to develop the project with
very careful consideration
for the land and for all of
the impacts that are going
to come along with the proj-
ect, as well as the benefits.”
Pine Gate signed a PI-
LOT (Payment in Lieu of
Taxes) agreement with the
county last November for
an estimated $8.4 million
in PILOT payments per
year over the first 17 years
of operation. The project
would then transition out
of the PILOT program and
into normal taxation. The
company estimates that the
PILOT, property tax and
statutory tax payments over
the four-decade life of the
facility would total around
$376 million.
“We hope that will help
enable the county to make
investments in some of the
infrastructure here in the
area,” Stephens said.
The company also es-
timates the project would
create more than 600 local
jobs during construction.
“We’re still kind of
working through the sourc-
ing for that, but we expect
a decent portion of that
we’ll be able to source from
within an hour, hour-and-a-
half commute from here,”
he added.
Once Sunstone’s ap-
plication is filed, Stephens
said that will begin a 12- to
18-month process to get a
site certificate. They hope to
begin construction early in
2026 and build the project
out in phases over a period
of about four years. Sun-
stone should become fully
operational by 2030.
The land the solar proj-
ect will be located on has
been in dryland wheat pro-
duction. Stephens said the
company was also working
to address the impacts from
taking that land out of pro-
duction.
Three Northern Virginian cyclists and their support driver
stopped in Heppner for lunch during a 3,600-mile trek from
Oregon to Delaware. L-R: Rob Garratt, SAG driver Pam
Wimberly, Heidi Cummings and Phil Grisdela. -Photo by
Andrea Di Salvo
By Andrea Di Salvo
A group of three cy-
clists from Northern Virgin-
ia is on a mission to cycle
from Oregon to Delaware,
covering a distance of 3,600
miles in just 37 days. The
cyclists—Heidi Cummings,
Rob Garratt, and Phil Gris-
dela—are averaging 94
miles per day and have been
gaining an average of 4,000
feet per day in their climb
toward the Blues.
To support the cyclists,
Pam Wimberly is driv-
ing the Support and Gear
(SAG) vehicle (which she
prefers to call the GAS,
Gear and Support, vehicle).
The group’s support vehicle
is Grisdela’s car, which he
drove 4,000 miles across
Canada to be a part of this
journey.
The group’s age rang-
es from 55 to 65 years.
Already, they have been
cycling through challenging
terrains and weather condi-
tions, with more to come in
the next weeks.
Even though the cy-
clists are the ones who
might be considered to be
doing the hard work, Gris-
dela took care to point out
the importance of the SAG
driver.
“They have the car, and
if the car doesn’t move,
we’re in trouble,” said Gris-
dela.
Wimberly has been
with the group since the
start of their journey in
Tillamook, OR, and will
be their support driver until
Missoula, MT. After that,
another support driver will
take over until Rapid City,
SD, and a third will drive
from Rapid City to Ligo-
nier, PA. Finally, a fourth
driver will take over for the
final leg of the journey to
Lewes, DE.
The small group
stopped in Heppner for
lunch June 5 before con-
tinuing their climb east into
the Blue Mountains.
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information