SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 5, 2023
County commission approves
budget, expresses support
forsolar project
-Continued from PAGE ONE
the county board of com-
missioners in two regards.
“Once the Energy Fa-
cility Site Certificate is
issued, throughout that pro-
cess, there are three places
in which you would be
asked to provide input,”
she said, adding that the
board of commissioners
would also be appointed as
a special advisory group for
the project. “So, you are to
be the objective, non-biased
voice, if you will, on the
ground for people.”
At the same time, she
said, the wording of the
letter was also tied to land
use, because with a proj-
ect of this size, one of the
standards needs to show an
economic value. The letter
had been worded, she said,
to reflect that.
“So we’ve come full
circle,” Mabbott said.
“Without saying you are
giving full blessing to the
project, this letter, with the
language that’s added to it,
says you do appreciate and
recognize the economic
value of the project, not-
withstanding your other
duties as the board of com-
missioners and the special
advisory group.”
Sykes said he appreci-
ated the clarification.
“None of us like sur-
prises as we go through a
process,” he said. “There’s
enough hangups and prob-
lems without throwing in
self-inflicted wounds.”
Also at the meeting,
the board of commissioners
gave the nod to Umatil-
la-Morrow Head Start to
continue plans for more
classroom space in Irrigon.
UMHS CEO Aaron Tread-
well and COO Dan Deltosa
were on hand at the meeting
to ask Morrow County to
be the lead applicant on
a Community Develop-
ment Block Grant Program
(CDBG) through Business
Oregon.
It would be a $1.5 mil-
lion grant to add onto and
update the current Irrigon
facility next to A.C. Hough-
ton Elementary. The current
UMHS facility has been
in use for about 30 years.
Daltosa said it is getting run
down and in need of repair,
as well as having security
issues.
Daltosa said they were
in discussions with A.C.
Houghton regarding a long-
term lease, and he had al-
ready talked with Morrow
County School District
(MCSD) Superintendent
Matt Combe and other staff
about placement for the
new classrooms.
“They enjoy us being
on the school district cam-
pus, and we want to stay
there,” he said.
The idea is to keep
the existing space but also
expand through new class-
room space. UMHS is cur-
rently looking at expanding
through modular building,
as Daltosa said that is the
most cost-effective build-
ing they could get for the
$1.5 million. The Head
Start program already uses
modular classrooms at its
Child Development Center
in Hermiston.
Daltosa added that, if
Head Start were able to
secure additional funding,
they would prefer stick-
built because those build-
ings last longer.
“We’re looking for a
complete revamp of the
building and just having a
beautiful building here in
the community of Irrigon,”
Daltosa said. “We’re really
excited to have something
we can call permanent here.
We’d just like your help and
support.”
Daltosa said UMHS
would be the one working
on the application in co-
ordination with Morrow
County Interim Administra-
tor Roberta Vanderwall and
would provide more detail
throughout the process.
Currently, they were asking
for a consensus from the
board of commissioners to
move forward.
Vanderwall said the
application is due in Sep-
tember.
“I think it’s really going
to be something that the
county and the community
of Irrigon can be proud of,”
said Daltosa. “We’re open
to other ideas. We just want
to make sure we have your
support moving forward.”
In other business, the
board of commissioners
approved a contract with
Bolen Construction, LLC in
the amount of $154,232.20
for a turn lane on Bombing
Range Rd.
Morrow County and
Amazon Data Service en-
tered into a road use agree-
ment in October 2022 for
Amazon’s development on
Bombing Range Rd. As part
of that agreement, Morrow
County Public Works is
facilitating the construction
of a right turn lane onto the
property. Amazon, in turn,
has agreed to reimburse the
county for the construction,
administration and engi-
neering costs.
The right turn lane is
being added because of
concern over visibility for
drivers coming from the
north. There are no plans
for a left turn lane, since
visibility is good coming
from the south.
The board also ap-
proved a contract in the
amount of $898,334.30
with Silver Creek Contract-
ing for the Lexington air-
port Taxiway D reconstruc-
tion project. The taxiway is
one of the older pieces of
the airport and needs to be
reconstructed to meet cur-
rent Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration requirements.
The bulk of the project will
be funded through the FAA,
with the county providing a
10 percent match.
Vanderwall said most
of her time recently had
been spent preparing to
send the Morrow Coun-
ty Circuit Court building
construction out for bid.
The county has received
$12,745,000 in funding to-
ward the new circuit court
building.
“Our request was much
less than that, and our con-
struction costs came in
higher, so we put in a re-
quest for more, and we got
approved,” said Sykes.
Morrow County Com-
missioner Roy Drago added
that he wanted to clarify
that the new circuit court
building would be in Hep-
pner, not Irrigon as had
been rumored.
“There’s a lot of ques-
tions about that, and a lot
of concern,” Drago said.
“Heppner is our county
seat and will always be our
county seat.”
Morrow County Com-
missioner Jeff Wenholz
added that it is written into
Oregon statute that the cir-
cuit court be in Heppner,
and Morrow County Coun-
sel Justin Nelson confirmed
that the ORS states Heppner
by name.
Vanderwall also said
she is waiting on informa-
tion from Flo Analytical
before the county can move
forward on the new Ambu-
lance Service Area plan.
Flo Analytical is doing the
boundary assessment.
“We should be getting
that, and then we can move
forward,” said Vanderwall.
4-H to hold Cloverbud Rodeo
Morrow County 4-H
will host a Cloverbud Ro-
deo at two separate lo-
cations later this month.
All 4-H Cloverbuds and
children ages five to eight
are welcome to attend and
participate in crafts, activi-
ties and more.
South Morrow will
have its Cloverbud camp
2-4 p.m. on July 14 at
the Morrow County Fair-
grounds.
The North Morrow
camp will be held 2-4 p.m.
on July 21, with the location
to be announced closer to
the date.
Oregon’s 4-H Clover-
bud Program is an infor-
mal education program
designed for youth ages 5-8
as of Sept. 1 of the current
4-H year. It is designed to
support young children’s
natural curiosity, enthusi-
asm for learning and high
energy levels by giving
them an opportunity for
active learning.
Cloverbuds introduces
youth to cooperative learn-
ing in areas such as healthy
lifestyles, expressive arts,
plants and animals, science
and technology and person-
al development.
Families are invited to
whichever date and location
works best for them, but are
asked to RSVP to grace.
ogden@oregonstate.edu or
call 541-676-9642.
GOAL 9 analysis of South
Morrow
-Continued from PAGE FIVE planning exercise but Goal ties will next need to adopt
posing a challenge to its
economic competitiveness.
“Especially for the siz-
es for industry or business
to come in,” said Bowen.
“They do need a certain
parcel size, and with the
limitations of that, it would
require some development
of expanding those.”
Within all commer-
cial and industrial districts
across all three towns, there
are only two parcels, both
in Lexington, with gross
buildable land exceeding
20 acres.
Points Consulting’s
conclusion on land demand
suggests that Ione and Lex-
ington may warrant a slight
increase in commercial land
supply, while Heppner’s
biggest need is large-tract
industrial lands.
The consulting firm
recommended the three
cities develop industrial and
commercial sites to boost
private sector employment.
Bowen said it would prob-
ably require talking with
area landowners, as well as
further discussion regarding
Goal 14, which deals with
urban growth boundaries.
Bowen also suggested
the communities organize
events to attract crowds and
support local businesses.
“The communities al-
ready have a great number
of places to go and hang
out,” said Bowen, mention-
ing the food truck court in
Heppner and Broken Spoke
in Lexington. “Creating
events around these entities
would be great to bring
revenue in to support local
businesses.”
They also suggested
enhancing the valley’s tour-
ism branding through im-
proved marketing, focusing
on tours, maps and eateries.
Finally, future zoning
amendments should consid-
er the demand from public
employers for siting future
facilities, which may lead
to the expansion of urban
growth boundaries to ac-
commodate growing needs.
Bowen said that, to
ensure a thorough under-
standing of the communi-
ties’ needs, the team made
it a point to engage with
town representatives and
community members. Vis-
iting each community and
engaging in conversations
with the locals provided
insights into the unique
challenges and opportuni-
ties present in each area.
“Because, at the end
of the day, what we recom-
mend does impact each and
every one of these areas,”
said Bowen.
“I just want to point
out that this is a land use
9, economic development,
is one of the statewide plan-
ning goals,” said Mabbott.
“The way we can under-
stand employment lands
is, we also have to do some
analysis about population,
where the market might
trend, and that would then
justify things on the city
level, like updating our
code.
“I think the small cities
are in a good position, par-
ticularly with housing and
economic development, to
update their plans,” Mab-
bott added.
Each of the communi-
the final report as part of
their Goal 9 plan.
Dawn Hert, the DLCD
eastern regional represen-
tative, expressed her sat-
isfaction with the progress
of the project, praising the
seamless collaboration be-
tween the three cities and
the project team. Hert also
mentioned that Lexington
is currently working on a
Transportation and Growth
Management grant.
“It’s like this momen-
tum is moving for this part
of Morrow County, and I
like seeing where it’s go-
ing,” said Hert.
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