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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2023)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 16, 2023 -- SEVEN Lexington city council Ione school bond project -Continued from PAGE SIX The crosswalk is at the intersection of Hwy. 74 and Hwy. 207. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo ties. Lexington personnel in 2019 had apparently agreed to take care of the crosswalk, but that never happened. Ferguson said she let Stanton know that the town wants to keep that cross- walk and add more in the future. “He was really happy to hear about all that, he’s glad that we’re going to be responsive now and we’re going to fix these things,” said Ferguson. Beard mentioned that C Street would be a good lo- cation for one of the cross- walks due to pedestrians crossing there to go to the Broken Spoke. Councilor Will Lemmon mentioned the possible need for ad- vance signage for the cross- walk at 207 and 74. “Trucks coming from the Ione way come bar- reling around the corner sometimes,” said Lemmon. Ferguson also report- ed that there had been a request made for Upper A Street to get re-graveled, because there is a lot of dust on that hill and it creates a “powdered mess” when driven on. Councilor Katie Imes said that brought up a ques- tion regarding the develop- ment code. The town had already footed the bill for a water line and hydrant for the new development. The property owner had apparently paid for the original graveling. “I was witness to when it was first graveled and how it is now,” said Fer- guson. “It does need to be re-graveled.” Lemmon added that the town had once had the option to abandon the street or to keep it and maintain it up to the town’s services. “We decided to keep it and maintain it,” he said. “Up to where our services end.” Ferguson added that the town had applied for a small city allotment be- cause that portion of A Street is one of the town’s only gravel roads and they wanted to pave it. Imes contested that the road was never built prop- erly to begin with. “It was a dirt road go- ing up a pasture,” she said. The council decided the road needed to be as- sessed before taking action, and asked Lexington man Eric Imes to take a look at it; Imes is also the county public works director. Regarding the town hall parking lot, Ferguson said she had reached out to American Rock, Granite Construction and Nelson’s Construction for estimates. She said she had a meet- ing Aug. 2 with Ty Burns, the lead contractor with Nelson’s, who is already in South Morrow working on the Oregon Dept. of Transportation curb proj- ect. Going with Nelson’s was attractive because the company is already here with equipment, so could get the job done sooner. “They could probably get the job done in the next couple of weeks,” said Fer- guson. She said the bid is valid for 25 days and was a “lit- tle pricy” at $32,000, but there were some things that hadn’t been accounted for. “Originally, when Mor- row County Public Works quoted it, we decided that where the fire hall is going to have a drive-through door, it would probably be smarter to go down further and make the pavement thicker there,” Ferguson said. Based on that, Nelson’s had quoted a price for six inches of asphalt at that spot, with the rest at three inches. “Because of the heavy equipment that’s going to be driving over it,” Fergu- son added. “Just the weight itself could deteriorate the pavement if it were just a three-inch.” Council members ap- peared to have mixed feel- ings over the Nelson’s bid. Some thought six inches was excessive, while coun- cilor Will Lemmon said he thought it would be best to get it done now, “instead of going cheaper and having to redo it later.” Ferguson noted that American Rock’s estimate had been much less, but they were only quoting for two-and-a-half-inch asphalt. She had not heard back from Granite. “I just feel like it’s a bit on the expensive side,” Ferguson said of Nelson’s quote. “There’s probably some adjustments that we could do.” The project will be completed partly with a $10,000 matching grant from Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group (WCVEDG). Fer- guson said Morrow County Public Works quoted it at around $24,000, which didn’t include ADA-acces- sible changes. The town has until July 2024 to complete the project. In other business at the meeting, Ferguson reported that she had reached out to Boardman Chamber of Commerce Director Tor- rie Griggs regarding the brochures the town wants to create. Griggs gave Fer- guson the names of two companies, Bohn’s Printing and Master Printers. Ferguson said Griggs had also pointed out the benefit of selling space in a brochure business direc- tory. That could pay for the brochure without need of grant money. “If we decide to sell advertisements in our bro- chure, then the tourism grant can go toward some- thing else for Lexington,” said Ferguson. “Most of the time, cities and agencies like this will actually not purchase their own bro- chures. They will pay for it with the advertisements.” The town expects to receive $2,000 in tourism grants this year. Ferguson also reported that AED installation would be happening soon. Lexing- ton will receive three AED units from Morrow County Health District, and Fergu- son will coordinate with Joey Munkers to install them. Ferguson said one will be at town hall, one at the Sinclair station and one for the fire department to carry in its trucks. MCHD paramedic Paul Martin will contact the town to schedule AED training. Ferguson said she had reached out to PDX Cat Trapper out of Portland, who recommended she contact Cat Utopia in Pend- leton. “They don’t do the eu- thanization. They trap and then spay and then re-home or release,” said Ferguson. She said she would keep working with the two agencies and keep the coun- cil updated on any progress. The council also ap- proved the purchase of a replacement solar panel and light assembly for the Welcome to Lexington sign by the airport. Ferguson reported that she and Scott Lamb had noticed they were missing when Lamb was helping with water meter readings. Ferguson said she re- ported the theft to Morrow County Sheriff’s Office. Meanwhile, the same setup was on sale for $73.99. The town purchased the original for $105.99 in January of 2022. -Continued from PAGE ONE Though the public can’t One area of concern as the costs. “Obviously you’re not going to build a big bleach- ers and concession stand if you can’t afford it,” she says. The school district con- ducted an optional pre-bid walkthrough with interested contractors on Aug. 9. They plan to open the project for bids Aug. 22. Depending on how that process goes, Johnson says ISD is opti- mistically hoping for an Oc- tober start to construction. In other school district news, Johnson says the school’s weight room is still popular with the commu- nity. Community members can apply for membership, and Johnson says they cur- rently have 30-40 members. school enters the fall sports season is the lack of a Car- dinal football team. Athletic director Ryan Ru- dolph reached out to fam- ilies to gauge interest in football, but it looks like the Cardinals won’t have enough players to field a team this season. The school usually co-ops with Arlington, but that won’t happen this year due to an even smaller number of Arlington players. Instead, Ione plans to co-op with Riverside High School in the Pirates’ football pro- gram. It’s not ideal, but Johnson says it’s the best the school can do. “We will do what we need to, to give these boys a chance to play,” she says. A high-level look at the additions and changes the school intends to make. -Contributed The vacant area next to the Ione Community Clinic will become a new field play area with a garden. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo The Ione Community School weight room offers an impressive array of weights, as well as cardio options, for both students and community members. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. 177 N. Main P.O. Box 337 Heppner, OR 97836 Chris@sykesrealestate.net PENDING! use it during school hours, it still sees a lot of use, she says. “It’s great. People use it a lot,” says Johnson. 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