Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 2, 2023 -- SEVEN
Nitrate bill passes out of committee
-Continued from PAGE ONE
says he wrote the Interior
bill to include key priorities
for Oregon. The Morrow
County project would be
among 22 community-ini-
tiated projects for Oregon
supported through the bill,
which tops out at more than
$35 million in spending for
the state. Key areas targeted
by the bill include wildfire
management and smoke
preparedness, drought re-
siliency and conservation,
and the water crisis in the
Klamath Basin.
Other area projects sup-
ported by the bill would
include $3 million for the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion to install a wastewater
treatment plant that will
produce recycled water for
non-potable uses such as
irrigation; $1.33 million for
the Oregon Trails Coalition
for recreational trail work
at the U.S. Forest Service,
including Umatilla National
Forest; and $610,000 for
the University of Oregon to
expand its ALERTWildfire
camera system, which uses
cameras throughout Ore-
gon to provide firefighters
and first responders with
real-time footage to spot
and track wildfires.
The bill passed through
committee last week, set-
ting it up for full Senate
action in the fall.
The federal funding
comes through the FY24
Senate Interior, Environ-
ment and Related Agencies
Appropriations bill, which
encompasses funding for
the Department of the In-
terior (DOI), U.S. For-
est Service (USFS), and
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
The bill also fully
funds payments to coun-
ties through the Payment
in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT)
program, which are estimat-
ed at a total of $515 million
nationwide.
“At my town halls
in each of Oregon’s 36
counties this year, I heard
firsthand from folks about
what matters most to them,
including the need to take
on wildfire, smoke, and heat
threats, modernize our wa-
ter infrastructure to stand up
to prolonged drought, and
County commission hears update
protect our state’s iconic
public lands and waters,”
Merkley said. “As chair of
the Senate Interior Appro-
priations Subcommittee, I
am in the driver’s seat to
deliver on these priorities
for Oregon, and the bill
I wrote includes critical
funding for environmental
programs, community-ini-
tiated projects, and Tribal
communities that will ben-
efit Oregonians in every
corner of the state for years
to come.”
Merkley is the only Or-
egon member of Congress
from either chamber since
Senator Mark Hatfield to
serve on the Appropriations
Committee, which is one
of the most powerful on
Capitol Hill.
Now that the Interior
bill has cleared the Ap-
propriations Committee,
it next heads to the Senate
floor for a full vote before it
can be conferenced with its
counterpart bill in the U.S.
House of Representatives.
The final, merged legisla-
tion must then be passed
by both chambers before it
is signed into law.
County chip seals portion of
Blue Mountain Scenic Byway
Photo of completed chip seal on the Blue Mountain Scenic Byway. -Contributed photo
Morrow County Road
Department has completed
the chip seal resurfacing
on 22 miles of the Blue
Mountain Scenic Byway.
The portion of the road
that was chip sealed travels
through both the Heppner
and North Fork John Day
Ranger Districts and was
funded through the Great
American Outdoors Act.
While the chip seal is
complete, Morrow Coun-
ty Road Department will
be back onsite in August
to apply road striping to
the newly resurfaced road.
During that time, the public
can expect periodic delays
and traffic will be managed
by flaggers and pilot cars.
Signs will be posted at
each end of the project and
as needed in work zones.
Additional information re-
garding the timeline for this
work will be posted on the
Umatilla National Forest
website and social media
pages when available.
The Blue Mountain
Scenic Byway is a pop-
ular 145-mile route that
travels from near Arling-
ton to Granite. This road
is also a major portal to
both the Umatilla and Wal-
lowa-Whitman National
Forests, offering numer-
ous opportunities for sce-
nic views and recreation.
In 2022, contractors chip
sealed the portion of road
that crosses the North Fork
John Day Ranger District
(33.6 miles). These chip
seal projects reduce risk to
public safety, protect the
roadway, and extend the
life of this scenic route for
10-20 years.
The funding for the
Blue Mountain Scenic By-
way chip seal project is part
of a $285 million invest-
ment on National Forests
that is made possible by
the recently created Nation-
al Parks and Public Land
Legacy Restoration Fund,
established in 2020 by the
Great American Outdoors
Act. Nationally, the funds
will allow the Forest Ser-
vice to implement more
than 500 infrastructure im-
provement projects essen-
tial to the continued use
and enjoyment of national
forests lands this year.
In addition to the Blue
Mountain Scenic Byway
chip seal project, the Uma-
tilla National Forest re-
ceived funding to replace
the Crooked Creek Trail
Bridge on the Pomeroy
Ranger District, which is
anticipated to be installed
later this year. The Forest
will continue to share up-
dates on these GAOA proj-
ects as construction begins.
Additional projects
may be implemented on
the Umatilla National For-
est and will be announced
as funding is allocated.
For more information on
these projects in the Pacific
Northwest Region, visit the
regional GAOA website.
Additional information
about the Umatilla National
Forest is available at https://
www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla.
-Continued from PAGE ONE is taxing for law enforce- model to be done in the next
Lindsay said Mor-
row County’s payments
this year will total about
$23,000.
“Basically, it’s pre-
vention and treatment for
people who have opioid
use disorders,” she said,
asking if the commissioners
had had any conversations
about how the county is
going to use those funds
and, if not, whether CCS
could participate in those
conversations.
Morrow County Com-
missioner Roy Drago Jr.
said this was the first he had
heard of it.
“As you’re talking, I
was thinking that, yes, you
are the people we should
be talking to,” said Drago.
Morrow County Coun-
sel Justin Nelson and Mor-
row County Finance Di-
rector Kevin Ince said the
county had already received
several small payments but
had not yet allocated those
funds, which might require
a supplemental budget.
Morrow County Board
of Commissioners Chair
David Sykes said CCS
would definitely be in-
volved in determining how
the funds were spent.
“You have a host of
options, but the two key
words are prevention and
treatment,” said Lindsay.
She suggested asking
the county’s mental health
and addiction advisory
board to identify options
on how the funds could best
be spent.
“That doesn’t mean that
CCS has to receive them.
Maybe you want to do
something in the schools,”
she said. “Maybe you want
to buy Narcan.
“I’ve got a lot of ideas,”
she added. “I’d like to do
some work with Judge Die-
hl around the increase in
property crimes and the
people that are coming in
that are no longer going
into the system because of
Measure 110.”
“We’d love to hear your
suggestions,” said Drago.
“You’re dealing with it ev-
ery day and know where we
can probably get the most
bang for the buck.”
Lindsay also reminded
the commissioners that pay-
ments from the various set-
tlements would be coming
in over the next 20 years.
“So it’s not a one-time
program. You can change
the program if you don’t
like what the results are,”
she said, “but you are re-
ceiving a set amount of
funds for 20-plus years.”
Lindsay also addressed
the topic of psychiatric
acute care. There has been
no acute care available in
Eastern Oregon for about
two years. Currently, when
someone needs psychiatric
acute care, they have to be
transported to the west side
of the state. She said that
177 N. Main
P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
Chris@sykesrealestate.net
PENDING!
ment, as well as difficult
for the individual being
transported.
“We have been on a
mission to bring acute care
back to the east side,” she
said.
To that end, CCS ac-
quired Aspen Springs in
Hermiston, which is now in
the process of being remod-
eled. The Aspen Springs
Psychiatric Hospital was a
16-bed facility that opened
in Sept. 2020 in Hermiston
but closed after just seven
months due to staffing is-
sues. CCS purchased the
building last fall for $4.6
million.
The hope now is to
have the remodel complet-
ed and to have staff hired
and trained to start taking
in clients around the first
of November. CCS will
need about 35 staff for the
building.
The plan for the facility
is to have four seclusion
and restraint beds, six acute
care beds and six long-
term beds. The facility will
be licensed as class one,
which includes the ability
for seclusion and restraint,
as well as involuntary med-
ication.
“That seems so much
better,” said Sykes. “When
somebody’s in crisis, taking
a long drive probably isn’t
the best thing for them or
the driver.”
In addition, Lindsay
and Savannah Marker, the
new administrator of Aspen
Springs, said it’s difficult
to get acute care patients
into beds quickly far from
home. Often, patients have
to wait up to two weeks to
be placed, since west-side
facilities prioritize patients
from their own emergency
rooms.
“You’re never going
to get somebody in a day,”
said Lindsay. “If you do,
you need to go buy a lottery
ticket.”
She also gave an update
on Columbia River Ranch
in Boardman. She said a
two-bedroom home on the
property, known as The
Bunkhouse, is currently be-
ing remodeled so it can be
put back into use. It hadn’t
been used for a couple of
years. She expects the re-
month or so, and CCS will
then rent The Bunkhouse
out to individuals who have
mental health issues.
“Two beds, so that will
be nice,” added Lindsay.
“It is difficult for our pop-
ulation to find rental units
sometimes.”
She said many of CCS’s
open positions in Morrow
County have been filled,
but two key positions, one
in Heppner and one in the
north end, remain open.
Waitlist times in the county
are decreasing. They were
out five or six weeks for
appointments in Boardman,
but that’s now down to
about three weeks.
“When we get that va-
cant position filled, then it
should drop down to under
two weeks,” she said.
She added that under
two weeks is the expected
standard, but that it has not
been the national average
over the past few years with
the exodus from the behav-
ioral health workforce.
“Along those lines, we
have to see the folks in
person,” Lindsay said. “We
provide crisis services. We
work in the schools. A lot of
the exodus was due to tele-
health, which is great, but
we’re not able to provide
telehealth services.
“I don’t think the sher-
iff’s office wants to call a
clinician by video at 2 a.m.
and do an assessment by
video at 2 a.m.” she added.
Lindsay also reminded
the board of commissioners
that Morrow County adopt-
ed the Zero Suicide Initia-
tive a couple of years ago.
“We realize that it’s
probably not possible that
we will end all suicides in
Morrow County, but that is
to say that not one is accept-
able,” said Lindsay.
CCS has incorporated
elements of the nation-
al Zero Suicide Initiative
across the entire organiza-
tion, making sure even the
board of directors, as well
as the staff, has training on
Zero Suicide.
“We have made a lot of
improvement from where
we started at our baseline
to where we are today,” said
Lindsay.
Heppner Housing
Authority to meet
The next meeting of the Senior Center dining room.
For more information,
Heppner Housing Authority
for Heppner Senior Center contact KayRene Qualls at
will be Tuesday, Aug. 8, at 541-980-2836.
4 p.m. in the St. Patrick’s
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