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Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 2, 2023 -- NINE Sheriff’s Report Health district agrees to proposed Amazon SIP distribution By Andrea Di Salvo Morrow County moved one step closer to a coun- ty-wide agreement on SIP disbursements Monday night when Morrow County Health District approved a proposed intergovern- mental agreement with the county regarding Amazon’s new facility on Bombing Range Rd. Morrow County en- tered a Strategic Investment Program (SIP) agreement with Amazon Web Ser- vices earlier this year. In exchange for the 15-year tax abatement, Amazon will make an annual community service fee (CSF) payment to the county equal to 25 percent of the property tax savings, up to a maximum of $2.5 million per year. The Amazon project is ex- pected to max out that pay- ment through most of the life of the contract. The county will then distribute that CSF payment among the special taxing districts impacted by the tax abatement. Morrow County’s initial proposal included itself among the taxing districts receiving the distributions. Morrow County is by far the largest taxing dis- trict involved in the SIP, with a lion’s share of 51.9 percent of tax revenue. By contrast, the second-largest, Boardman Fire, receives just over nine percent, with the health district at 7.5 percent. Conflict arose at a spe- cial meeting with the Mor- row County Board of Com- missioners July 19, when representatives of some special districts, including MCHD, questioned wheth- er the county was getting too big a piece of the pie. The county’s agree- ment with Amazon also included an annual contri- bution payment equal to $850,000 and an up-front community development contribution of $5 million in addition to the annual community service fees. Several people at the spe- cial district meeting felt those sums were enough for the county, and that the county should be excluded from the CSF distributions. “The general consensus of the special districts that attended…was to request that the county step back from the community ser- vice fee,” MCHD CEO Emily Roberts told the board. “However, that was met with resistance, and the group at large has seemed to step away from that re- quest.” The intergovernmen- tal agreement (IGA) the health district approved Monday night represents a compromise between the county and other special districts, in which the coun- ty will receive 20 percent, to a maximum of $500,000, from the yearly CSF pay- ment. The remaining $2 million will be divided on a pro rata basis, meaning each district will receive the same percentage of the CSF as it would have gotten if receiving taxes from the property. With the county excluded, BFRD’s share jumps to 19.4 percent, and the health district’s to 15.7 percent, not including spe- cial district bonds. “Special districts need to make the decision to either sign and go forward with this IGA, or not,” Rob- erts said. Aside from Morrow County, the nine other affected districts include MCHD, Umatilla-Morrow Radio and Data District, Port of Morrow, Morrow County Unified Recreation- al District, Boardman Fire Protection District, Oregon Trial Library District, Vec- tor Control, Boardman Park and Boardman Cemetery. M C H D ’s a p p r o v a l doesn’t necessarily mean the agreement is a done deal. Seventy-five percent of the districts must ap- prove the IGA in order to adopt it. If they don’t, the IGA is forwarded to Business Oregon for a final determination. Roberts said her sense was that most of the special districts planned to approve the IGA. Members of the MCHD board of directors didn’t seem thrilled with the com- promise but approved it anyway, citing uncertainty on whether a Business Or- egon decision would leave special districts with even less of a payout. “Based on the guidance that Business Oregon has put out about distribution of community service fees, I would anticipate that they would do it proportionate to everybody’s taxing percent- age, and I think that they -Continued from PAGE FIVE Miller Rd. would include the coun- ty in that,” Roberts told the MCHD board, “which would give them more than $500,000 of that per year.” The board voted unan- imously to approve the agreement. Also at its July 31 meeting, the MCHD board approved a contract with Dynamic Computer Con- sulting for an upgrade to a Voice over Internet (VoIP) phone system for the dis- trict. Roberts told the board members the current phone system is complicated and “end of life” and would be expensive to replace. She said VoIP would provide greater flexibility, including a remote app so employees can use their office phone on a mobile device. DCC is also attractive because it is already the district’s IT provider and because of its nearby location in Pendleton. “There’s a remarkable amount of overlap between IT and phones, and it causes a lot of problems that we don’t have the same ven- dor,” said Roberts. The upfront cost of $68,253 was higher than the other bids received, but both Roberts and MCHD Chief Financial Officer Nicole Mahoney said the lower annual cost of $24,175.68 would make it the most cost-effective choice in the long run. The health district cur- rently pays $92,500 annu- ally for its phone system. The board also ap- proved a new contract with emergency medicine physi- cian Jeffrey Westin. Westin is currently a lo- cum provider for the district but is contracted through re- cruiting firm CompHealth. The new contract is with Westin directly. MCHD will have to buy out the CompHealth contract at a cost of $16,500, but Roberts and Mahoney said the move is still more beneficial for both the physician and the health district, since they will be cutting out the cost of the recruiting firm. In ex- change, Westin has agreed to work at least 25 shifts over the next three years. MCHD is contracting Westin at $135 per hour for emergency room and hospital call coverage and hours worked. The board also ap- proved medical staff privi- leges for several providers. New appointments includ- ed roster appointments for OHSU telemedicine providers; CORA radiol- ogists Stephen Weldon, Steven Plimpton, Alyssa McNamara and Stephen Carroll; physical therapist Taylor Turner; and licensed dieticians Theresa Fenn and Rachel Tate. Re-appoint- ments were emergency medicine providers Jeffrey Westin and Peter Viavant, and clinic CSWA Jamie Reed. YOUR AD COULD BE HERE! Submit News, Advertising & Announcements Letters To The Editor Send Us Photos Start A New Subscription WWW.HEPPNER.NET Call 541-676-9228 Or Email graphics@rapidserve.net We also offer design and printing services Heppner Gazette-Times Sykes Printing area. One was hit by a vehi- cle west of the Irrigon Shell on Hwy. 730. -MCSO received report of a suspicious white vehicle that sounded like flashes and popping noises were coming from it. Deputy was unable to locate. -A female in Heppner ad- vised she was at the north- western Motel and did not have her house key with her. She thought that a male had a spare house key. She was locked out of her house and requesting assistance. -MCSO arrested Stephanie Burrows for improper use of an emergency communi- cations system. Subject was lodged at Umatilla County Jail with no bail. -A male in Irrigon reported his son as missing. Law en- forcement found the child and dropped him off at a friend’s house with parent approval. -MCSO arrested Deborah R. Cameron a parole and probation detainer. Subject was lodged at UCJ with no bail. -A caller in Boardman stat- ed there was someone on his porch. The caller stated he was unable to get a de- scription, only a silhouette of the individual, who was last seen heading south on -A male in Irrigon stated that his aunt was telling his father that she was going to call the police because he was refusing to leave the house, which was in his name. The caller stated that it was not aggressive or physical, so the caller was available for phone contact. -Pasco PD arrested Todd Michael Wright on a Mor- row County Circuit Court warrant for failure to appear on felon in possession of a firearm; criminal trespass while in possession of a firearm; and taking, an- gling, hunting or trapping in violation of wildlife law X3. The subject was lodged at Franklin County Jail. -Boardman PD took a re- port on an accident that had just occurred on Pheasant Court. A male ran toward Eagle Dr. -A man in Boardman re- ported damage to the driv- er’s side door on his pickup truck. He advised it had happened some time the night before through that day. -An anonymous caller re- ported hearing five shots three to five minutes before in the area of Bella Vista Estates. Boardman PD re- sponded but was unable to locate. Do You Have Something to Share? 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