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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 2023)
Morrow County declares drought emergency 50¢ VOL. 143 NO. 38 8 Pages Wednesday, September 20, 2023 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon First Town Hall Meeting Held for New Morrow County Circuit Court Building By Chris Sykes The issue of the new courthouse in Heppner has sparked a flurry of ques- tions and concerns from the local community. Residents are eager to know the de- tails of the project, particu- larly regarding the timeline and potential impact on the surrounding area. In a bid to address the growing concerns over the “inadequate facilities” of the Morrow County Cir- cuit Court, the first town hall meeting was held to discuss the construction of a new courthouse building. The meeting, held at the Bartholomew building in Heppner, aimed to inform the public about the press- ing need for a modern and functional court facility. The newly-hired coun- ty administrator, Matt Jen- sen, ran the meeting and highlighted the numerous shortcomings of the cur- rent courthouse, citing its outdated design and lack of compliance with mod- ern standards. Structural, electrical, mechanical, and fire protection systems were deemed insufficient, while -Contributed photo ~ Contributed Photo the absence of proper ADA accessibility and seismic considerations raised seri- ous concerns. Additionally, the limited space within the courthouse posed sig- nificant challenges, with cramped office areas, in- adequate jury space, and difficulties in accessing the courtroom. The absence of conference spaces for at- torneys and clients, as well as the lack of sally ports, further compounded the issues faced by the court. To address these press- ing concerns, the county engaged DLR, a archi- tectural firm, to conduct a feasibility study. The study, which commenced on September 14, 2021, was completed on November 30, 2021, and delivered to the county staff. Following a thorough review of the study, the current Board of Commissioners appointed a committee to further evalu- ate the findings. -Continued to PAGE TWO City of Heppner votes to move forward with grievance against ODOT By Andrea Di Salvo The Heppner City Council voted to proceed with a grievance against the Oregon Dept. of Transpor- tation and its contractor for recent curb work in Hep- pner at its meeting Sept. 11. The work to redo the curbs along state highways was part of a statewide project in which the city had little or no say. While the contractor pushed back the deadline for completion several times, city coun- cilors and staff say they are unhappy with the way things were ultimately left. As of last Monday, the city was still waiting on the state to install flashing crosswalk signs at the inter- section of Quaid and Main streets. “Nothing has moved forward,” Interim Hep- pner City Manager Thom- as Wolff said. “I have not signed that contract. I do not intend to sign it, pending the council’s direction to do so and pending legal counsel’s opinion.” “At this point, it’s going to just sit there until the state moves forward,” he added. Wolff said he was con- templating filing claims against the state’s contrac- tor in the name of the city and listed several concerns with the work that had been done. Some areas of dissatisfaction included the replacing the red cement along Thomson Square with gray cement, the fact that the contractor tore out donated bricks and did not replace them, and a mess of red cinder rock in front of The Loop building on May and Chase streets. “I truly feel that 24- inch strip of concrete was colored red for a reason,” said Wolff of the red con- crete by Thomson Square. “It was a psychological ODOT replaced brick with red rock. -Photo by Cindi Doherty barrier to separate those citizens who are in the food court from those citizens on the sidewalk. When it got put back, it’s the same color clear through. There’s no psychological or other barrier whatsoever.” The bricks Wolff re- ferred to were donated bricks that had been inset in the sidewalk with the names of individuals, families and businesses who purchased them. “Many of those have been torn up and discard- ed,” he said. “I feel they should be put back in place somewhere.” As far as the red cinder rock, Wolff said he be- lieved it was a cost-cutting measure on the part of the contractor when they went to replace asphalt they had torn out. “There’s no curbing, there’s no nothing,” he said. “Cinder block just runs halfway out into that senior bus shed, The Loop bus shed, parking lot, and in my opinion it’s just a filler.” “We’ve got red rock scattered all over town,” Heppner Council Member Sharon Inskeep added. “It is just ridiculous.” Heppner Public Works director Chad Doherty said the city had put concrete in the bubble-outs on Main Street but the state had told him they legally could not do that. He said many of places with cinder rock were areas that needed barriers so the visually impaired could tell when they were approaching the crosswalk. However, he added that a couple of months ago he had requested raised, stamped concrete instead of cinder rock. He also said he believed the area put into rock was excessive. “And I did ask on all these little, tiny spots where they’ve just put a little bit of cinder rock in…I asked for those to be raised con- crete, and they never even came back and told me no,” Doherty said. Inskeep also raised the issue of a fire hydrant that had been hit. Doherty said he had no proof as to who backed over the hydrant, but that it should have been raised when the contractor replaced it. “It needed to be raised,” he said. “That should be on them.” Doherty also said that, if the city moved forward, there were other issues he had with the project that he would like included with the complaint. Wolff reiterated his opinion that the city should place a claim against the project retainages and see what happens. “If we do nothing, nothing’s going to happen,” he said. The council voted unanimously to move for- ward with the claim against ODOT and the contractor. Regarding the city’s water system update, Wolff said the city had met with By Andrea Di Salvo From wildfires to dusty roads to struggling crops, lack of rainfall this year has been a problem on every- one’s minds. The Morrow County Board of Commis- sioners made the problem official when it declared a drought emergency for Morrow County at its Sept. 6 meeting in Heppner. Morrow County Coun- sel Justin Nelson pointed out that, while much of the county employs irrigation, a lot of farms are dryland operations that rely on rain- fall, and those farms are suffering. Morrow Soil and Wa- ter Conservation District Manager Kevin Payne and Oregon State Universi- ty Extension Agent Larry Lutcher both supported the designation, saying they are seeing the effects of drought on the agricultural commu- nity in Morrow County. Payne said he had been approached by concerned landowners early in the summer. As of Aug. 15, more than 90 percent of Morrow County is cur- rently in D1, or moderate, drought. The rest of the county is either “abnormal- ly dry” or in severe drought. “The writing was on the wall,” Payne said. “Some neighboring counties, sim- ilar situations.” He said Gilliam Coun- ty had its declaration of emergency signed by Ore- gon Governor Tina Kotek Sept. 5. “We’re kind of in that same boat,” he said. He added that Morrow County is currently a little more than two and a half inches under normal rainfall for the year. According to a letter from Lutcher, crop-year precipitation in the county ranges from eight to 12 inches, but the average for the 2022-23 crop year was 6.6 inches. May and June, both critical for win- ter wheat, had only 42 and 11 percent of their overall average respectively. Payne said that a three- month forecast into the fall and early winter showed the drought continuing. With El Nino conditions already in effect, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- tration (NOAA) forecasts a 40-50 percent probability that temperatures will be above normal, with about -Continued to PAGE EIGHT Water for Eastern Oregon (H2OEO) sets sights on clean drinking water today, solutions for the future The coalition of busi- nesses and community or- ganizations that formed in 2022 to provide drinking water resources to residen- tial well users in Morrow and Umatilla counties has formalized into “Water for Eastern Oregon (H2OEO)”, intent on bringing focus to clean water challenges and opportunities in the Basin, according to a news release. “H2OEO is committed to continuing to connect people with clean drinking water resources and infor- mation, supporting and am- plifying the efforts of state and county health agencies through collaboration with local businesses and com- munity organizations, and following the science to -Continued to PAGE SIX find long-term groundwater solutions in the region,” ac- cording to the release. «The aim of H2OEO is first and foremost to make sure people have access to clean drinking water in their homes, today and into the future,» said H2OEO President Michael Graham, who is the senior director of operations, Boardman, for Tillamook County Cream- ery Association. “There are programs and services available in Morrow and Umatilla counties, and our membership of employers and community organiza- tions are well-positioned to be the boots on the ground to share that information. Water quality is a crucial and complex issue, and -Continued to PAGE FIVE CALL 541-989-8221 ext 204 for more information
