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:
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P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
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use it during school hours,
it still sees a lot of use, she
says.
“It’s great. People use it
a lot,” says Johnson.
The weight room was
built through contributions
from community members
and various organizations.
The Ione School district
library has also received
a $10,000 grant from the
Oregon Dept. of Education.
The superintendent said the
grant will be used for new
books, librarian training
and more seating.
“That was exciting to
get that grant,” says John-
son.
The school is still look-
ing for a preschool teacher
and educational assistant.
There are also multiple
coaching positions open.
PENDING!
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