EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 19, 2023
Heppner council discusses homeless ordinance Ione council meeting
Sidewalk tent camps in Northeast Portland. -Contributed
photo
By Andrea Di Salvo
Heppner City Council
discussions ranged from
homeless camping to side-
walk repairs at the council’s
regular meeting in Heppner
last week.
Homelessness and
Code Enforcement
High on the agenda July
10 was the city’s response
to Oregon House Bill 3115.
The bill, which went into
effect July 1, requires every
city to enact an “objectively
reasonable” resolution to
regulate homeless camping
on public property.
The City of Heppner
took as a guide a recent
ordinance adopted by the
City of Boardman. The
ordinance prohibits camp-
ing overnight on public
properties such as parks,
sidewalks, rights of way or
other city facilities.
At the same time, the
city must have an alterna-
tive available in the form of
shelters or alternate camp-
ing sites for those experi-
encing homelessness. At
last week’s meeting, Hep-
pner Interim City Manager
Tom Wolff implied the city
would pursue a partnership
with an organization such
as Stepping Stones Alliance
in Hermiston to accomplish
that.
The city conducted the
first reading of the ordi-
nance at last week’s meet-
ing, with a second reading
and adoption planned for
the council’s August meet-
ing.
Heppner residents
Doug and Kelly Holland
were at the meeting with
their own concerns about
illegal camping within Hep-
pner. They said an individu-
al living in an RV on a near-
by property was violating
an existing ordinance, but
nothing had yet been done
about it.
Heppner mayor Co-
rey Sweeney told them
that was both a code and
civil case. The individual
had been issued a 30-day
warning, which expired on
July 9, and could now be
trespassed from the prop-
erty. That requires action
by the property owner, but
there are also penalties
in place for the property
owner if they don’t com-
ply with city requirements,
Sweeney said. Once he has
been trespassed, law en-
forcement can be called if
the individual goes on the
property again.
“The time is up now,
and they have to abide
by the code enforcement
that was set in place,” said
Sweeney.
Kelly Holland ex-
pressed concern about
whether that would actually
happen.
“It just sounds like it’s
a paper tiger,” said Holland,
adding that city ordinances
do no good if there are no
repercussions. “It’s some-
thing that has no teeth any-
more, just like the policies
won’t have any teeth. I
think that’s why he’s still
here.”
Sweeney responded
that the city had worked to
make sure the ordinance
did have teeth and codes
could be enforced. Heppner
City Councilor Cody High
added that it seemed like
there was no enforcement
because nothing had been
done to that point, but steps
were now being taken to
correct the problem.
“There should be field
action before the next coun-
cil meeting,” said High.
“There will be action.”
“You’re not the only
neighbors. There’ve been
numerous neighbors that
have complained,” added
Sweeney. “So we are trying
and committed to take care
of this problem for the city.”
Sidewalk Subsidies
Also at the meeting, the
city council voted not to
help property owner Tom
Logan fund a sidewalk proj-
ect in front of his building.
Wolff said that he had
received a call from Tom
Logan, who owns the old
forest service building in
Heppner. Logan says he
received a verbal promise
from Kraig Cutsforth that
the city would help pay for
sidewalk repairs in front
of the building to the tune
of around $4,900, and he
had contracted to have the
work done with that under-
standing.
Per city ordinance,
sidewalks are the respon-
sibility of the adjoining
property owner.
The council had previ-
ously referred the issue to
the utilities commission,
which recommended not
to subsidize the sidewalk
repair, Wolff said.
Wolff said Logan had
taken the news well but
requested the council re-
consider since he had been
acting on good faith when
he contracted for the work.
“The discussion was,
it would set a precedent for
other people in town want-
ing to do their sidewalk,”
Sweeney said of the utility
commission’s decision.
“And it’s a rental, so he’s
getting money off that prop-
erty, and he could afford to
take care of that sidewalk.”
“That was the reason-
ing for the utilities commit-
tee,” he added, “but Tom
did his due diligence and
brought it up as the land-
owner asked. So now it is
on your plate once again.”
Wolff said there had
been some question wheth-
er the sidewalk broke be-
cause of city-installed lines
that weren’t properly back-
filled, but it was more like-
ly that the ground hadn’t
been properly compacted
after the removal of gas
tanks that used to be on that
property.
However, he also said
he defended Cutsforth’s al-
leged promise for the funds.
He said the city had been on
Cutsforth for several years
to close out the remaining
money in the street fund,
and this year Cutsforth had
found a home for it.
“We’ve now discov-
ered what that potential
home was going to be,”
said Wolff.
“I cannot recommend,
though, that the city subsi-
dize that sidewalk improve-
ment,” he added. “It would
undermine our policy and
our ordinance that side-
walks are the responsibility
of the landowner.”
High said he didn’t dis-
agree with the policy, but it
sounded as if a promise had
been made.
“If I was a homeowner
prepared to invest lots of
money in front of my prop-
erty with the understanding
that the city was a partner in
that, I would be unhappy,”
he said.
The council voted 4-2
not to provide funds for the
sidewalk, with High and
Heppner City Councilor
Sharon Inskeep dissenting.
Street Project
On the subject of streets
and sidewalks, Wolff told
the council that the city
is “really, really close” to
closing out the street proj-
ect. He said Michelle Owen
came from the La Grande
ODOT office to inspect the
whole road project, and
there was only one small
problem that was keeping
the city from getting the
final ODOT payment.
“The painted crosswalk
in front of Allstott Con-
struction’s building—they
installed it on the wrong
side of the intersection,”
Wolff said.
He said Owen suggest-
ed getting in touch with
Ferguson Engineering and
having them correct it since
they were the inspecting en-
gineering firm. He emailed
the Ferguson surveyor, only
to be told that Ferguson
Engineering had disbanded.
“That tells us, in my
opinion, a lot of things,”
Wolff said after reading
the surveyor’s reply to the
council. “First of all, Fer-
guson Engineering is out
of any future pictures. Sec-
ondly, we’re on our own.”
However, he added that
Heppner Public Works Di-
rector Chad Doherty had
said he thought city crews
could take care of removing
the misplaced crosswalk
and put one down in the
correct location. If they can
get it done and send Owen
photos of it in the next cou-
ple of weeks, he said, the
state will release the rest of
the funds.
“So we’re this close to
being done with Premier,”
Wolff said.
Other Business
The city council also
learned from Wolff that
the city would be imple-
menting the MORE-IGA
system. MORE-IGA is an
acronym for Managing Or-
egon Resources Efficiently
Intergovernmental Agree-
ment. It was designed to
and within the Heppner city
limits, and a baler fire on
Little Butter Creek. They
also responded to four mo-
tor vehicle accidents with
injuries, one of which was
airlifted, as well as a search
and rescue operation.
Chick said the fire de-
partment is still awaiting
the ready to build with op-
tions Type 3 engine for the
rural fire protection district.
“We’ve kind of been
bit by the economy on that
one,” he told the council.
“The chassis is still not yet
available to build the truck
on.”
“So we’re still very
up in the air on that, much
more than we would like to
be,” he added.
He also reported that
Heppner received a com-
munity wildfire risk reduc-
tion (CWRR) grant from
the Oregon State Fire Mar-
shal’s office.
“That can be any myr-
iad of things that makes
our community safer in the
event of a wildfire,” said
Chick.
They are also awaiting
funds for two CWRR grants
for Heppner city protection
and Blake Ranch.
Morrow County Sher-
iff ’s Office Lt. Nathan
Braun reported that dep-
uties Daniel Thomas and
Andrew Martin put in 242
hours in Heppner for June,
with a department total of
349.75 hours. Braun also
said there had been 12 traf-
fic stops with warnings, as
well as one citation from a
driving complaint. There
were two misdemeanor
arrests.
Chad Doherty reported
that, among other public
works duties, the depart-
ment consulted with An-
derson Perry to begin an
inventory of the custom-
er-side water service lines.
He told the council that
the City of Heppner has to
have an inventory of every
Conestoga shelters being prepared by Stepping Stones Alli-
ance. -Contributed photo
promote the cost-effective
and efficient use of public
resources between public
agencies in Oregon.
The MORE-IGA al-
lows public agencies in
Oregon to share resources
including equipment, ma-
terials, and services for
public works, municipal,
transportation, engineering,
construction, operations,
maintenance, emergency
management and related
activities.
Wolff told the coun-
cil that MORE allows the
city to streamline IGAs
for everything from weed
spraying to chip sealing. He
said the system would be in
place soon.
Wolff also reported that
he had received a couple of
complaints about feral cats.
He said one person on Elder
St. was feeding about 30
cats in their yard.
“That’s going to be
code enforcement conver-
sations with the patrol offi-
cer in town,” he said.
He had also received a
report of someone violating
the city’s burn ban.
In other business:
Heppner Assistant Fire
Chief Eric Chick provided
the Heppner Fire Depart-
ment report for June. He
reported several mutual aid
calls for natural vegetation
fires in Lexington, Ione,
Echo and Hat Rock, as well
as vegetation fires in the
rural fire protection district
customer line by October
of 2024.
“Oregon Health Au-
thority won’t take, ‘Oh,
yeah, that’s what the home-
owner said it is,’” Doherty
added. “We either have to
have a picture or physically
see it ourselves.”
He said the requirement
is because the OHA is look-
ing for lead lines.
“I would probably say
Heppner doesn’t have any,”
he added, “but I’m not defi-
nite on that.”
Barb Orwick reported
that the Neighborhood Cen-
ter is still open from 9:30
a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and they
had just over 192 volunteer
hours in June.
“We’re still there, we’re
still feeding people, we’re
still taking donations,” said
Orwick.
High recommended to
the council that the city’s
animal permitting process
be streamlined and that the
council take another look
at the city’s dog licensing
procedures to help solve
some of the dog problems
around town.
The next meeting of
the Heppner City Council
is planned for Aug. 14 at
7 p.m.
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
-Continued from PAGE ONE
there was room in the bud-
get for another camera.
Peterson reported that
the cameras purchased from
Verkada have not yet been
installed. The SIM cards
the city ordered turned out
not to be compatible and
had to be sent back. She
said, however, that she
had found compatible SIM
cards through Verizon. The
SIM cards are needed be-
cause not every camera will
have an internet connection
for cloud storage.
The Ione council also
discussed a man who had
been going around town
and getting into unlocked
cars. Peterson told the
council that her car had
almost been taken, along
with several other unlocked
cars that had been accessed.
Ione Public Works Di-
rector Matt Dotson had
approached the man, who
said he “just wants to drive
a car.” Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office arrested
the man, but Peterson said
she was told he would be
back in town by the end
of the week, so residents
are still urged to be on the
lookout and lock their cars
and houses.
Peterson also reported
that there have been nu-
merous complaints about
people speeding on Emert.
Currently, the front side
is posted at 25 miles per
hour, while the back side,
which is gravel, is 15 mph,
but Peterson said people
reported almost being hit
by speeding cars. Several
parents won’t let their chil-
dren walk dogs or ride bikes
unattended, she said.
“That’s the thing about
our little town,” said Ione
Councilor Sabrina Bai-
ley-Cave. “You’re sup-
posed to be able to run
around and ride your bike
down the street.”
The council discussed
whether to lower the 25
mph zone to 15 mph, but
some councilors weren’t
sure it would help.
“I don’t have a problem
posting it at a lower speed,”
said Benson, “but if they’re
speeding at 25, they’re still
going to speed at 15.”
“How about enforc-
ing it instead of changing
it?” added Ione Councilor
Mark Patton. He added
that residents could fight a
change of speed limit if they
wanted, based on state reg-
ulations. “No study done,
no nothing done. We can’t
just say that we want this
street 10 miles an hour. We
don’t have that authority.”
The council also dis-
cussed installing speed
bumps on the road, which
councilors agreed was a
better option. It was also
suggested that the city try
to borrow a radar speed
sign to remind people to
slow down.
“I think we have some
decent options here to look
into,” said Ione Mayor
Mike Skow.
Peterson said she would
check into radar signs and
speed bumps and report
back at the next meeting.
Dane Maben of en-
gineering firm Anderson
Perry and Associates was
on hand at the meeting to
update the council on sewer
project progress. He said
the plans to be submitted
to the Department of En-
vironmental Quality would
be reviewed by Brad Baird
and then submitted.
He also said surveyors
were finishing a draft ease-
ment for Brian Spivey’s
property. The existing rail-
road easement across Hwy.
74 from the lift station to
the top of Johnson Grade
doesn’t look like it follows
the project’s alignment,
Maben said, so they were
looking into drafting a new
easement for that, as well.
The septic survey is
done.
“We’ve been evalu-
ating that. I think it could
be worse but it could be
better,” said Maben. “It’s
kind of a 50-50 coin flip
from house to house wheth-
er or not the existing tank
is on the same side as our
proposed collection system
pipe.”
He said the biggest con-
cern is the houses between
second and third streets.
The alley there is crowded,
so they had decided not
to run a collection system
through the alley.
“Unfortunately, it’s
looking like a lot of the
existing services and sep-
tic tanks are running out
toward the alley,” he said.
“That’s just an obstacle
that we’re going to have
to evaluate and figure out
what we’re going to do to
address it.”
Morrow County right-
of-way and access permits
have been submitted, and
Maben said he will meet
with Morrow County Pub-
lic Works Director Eric
Imes soon to talk about the
proposal. Other permit ap-
plications are in the works.
The council also dis-
cussed allocating $49,000
to have Columbia Basin
Electric install above-
ground power lines for the
sewer project up the hill to
Johnson Grade. That option
would be less expensive
than putting the lines un-
derground.
The next scheduled
meeting of the Ione City
Council is Aug. 8 at 6 p.m.
at Ione City Hall.
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