Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 6, 2023 -- NINE
Morrow County supports
Umatilla County in appeal
Taxing districts get $2 million
-Continued from PAGE ONE
-Continued from PAGE ONE sioners also approved an any new drugs coming in
Kearns. “This is wind tur-
bines, but EFSC sites solar
projects and other sorts of
projects.
“You’ve seen in the
past when the legislature
wants to super-site some-
thing,” he added. “This has
kind of been interpreted
to be a super-siting statute
even though that’s not how
it’s worded.”
Kearns said the statute
appeared to be worded to
accommodate local land-
use requirements but that
it would “totally cut local
governments out of the pro-
cess” if the EFSC ruling on
the Umatilla County code
stands.
Umatilla County in-
tends to file its appeal on
Oct. 24. Umatilla County’s
brief would be due Nov.
7. Morrow County’s mo-
tion to intervene would be
due soon after Umatilla
County’s filing, with the
same Nov. 7 deadline for
any supporting brief from
Morrow County.
“Nov. 7, it’s kind of all
over,” said Kearns.
As far as the cost to
the county, Kearns said it
was difficult to estimate the
cost at this point, but that it
would be a pretty narrow
brief. He estimated the cost
would be much less than
$10,000.
“There’s no oral argu-
ment in this. It’s just draft-
ing the brief,” he said.
The board of commis-
sioners voted unanimously
to direct Kearns to write the
amicus brief and to budget
up to $10,000 for the cost.
Other Business
Morrow County Pub-
lic Health Director Robin
Canaday reported that the
county health department
continues to work with the
Oregon Health Authority
(OHA), the Dept. of Human
Services (DHS), Umatilla
County and Morrow Coun-
ty Planning Dept. on getting
Morrow County domestic
wells in the Lower Uma-
tilla Basin Groundwater
Management Area (LUB-
GWMA) tested for nitrates.
The agencies continue
to provide clean drinking
water via deliveries or treat-
ment systems, depending
on the nitrate level. Morrow
County also participated in
two community forums in
August, Canaday said, with
“really good turnout.”
Canaday said the gov-
ernor’s office sent out teams
to help canvass neighbor-
hoods in the LUBGWMA
with the goal being to reach
all well owners and offer
testing by Sept. 30. She said
they are finished and now
compiling all of the data.
Citizens are still able to
get their wells tested by ap-
pointment. They can either
call 211 or go to testmywell.
oregon.gov.
According to OHA,
499 well-testing vouchers
have been given in Mor-
row County, with 360 tests
completed, 247 residents
receiving water deliveries,
and 28 water treatment
systems installed.
The board of commis-
amendment to the county’s
Paid Leave Oregon (PLO)
policy. The board had ap-
proved the policy for the
state-run program at its
Aug. 16 meeting with an
effective date of Sept 3.
Morrow County Human
Resources Director Lindsay
Grogan told the commis-
sioners that the state statute
had been revised since then,
so the county’s policy was
updated to reflect those
changes.
Specifically, employees
who wish to supplement
their PLO benefits with
other available paid leave
are no longer capped at 100
percent of their gross wage.
Grogan also said that
the county had about six
employees take advantage
of the program so far, even
though it had only been in
effect for a short time.
“It’s a very popular
program,” she said.
In her quarterly report,
Grogan reported that the
county has 12 active posi-
tions open but had 15 new
hires for the quarter. There
were also six transfers or
promotions, one retire-
ment, and 13 resignations
or terminations. She said
the county’s employment
numbers are holding pretty
steady.
“It seems like we hire
someone, and somebody
resigns,” she said. “I don’t
know if that’s the new nor-
mal or not, but it seems like
it’s been pretty consistent
over the last year or two.”
The county currently
has around 150 employees.
Canaday said public
health has been providing
school-based public health
services one day a week
in Ione, and she said they
have been attending vari-
ous community events and
offering flu vaccines. She
said they had ordered the
Covid-19 vaccine but had
not yet received it.
“We’re kind of down
the priority list to get it, I
guess, out here to us,” she
said, adding that it has been
backordered. People want-
ing the vaccine have been
put on a waiting list.
Morrow County Un-
dersheriff Brian Snyder
reported that the sheriff’s
office would be working
with Consumer Drug Take-
back Solutions to conduct a
drug takeback day on Oct.
21 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at
the North Morrow Transfer
Station. Consumer Drug
Takeback Solutions is a
state program and will fully
fund the event.
“No questions asked.
You don’t even have to get
out of your car,” said Sny-
der. “It’s targeted for pre-
scription drugs, but they’ll
take any drug. You turn it in
and you drive away.”
He said the organiza-
tion had been conducting
drug takebacks around the
state but it was the first time
for Morrow County.
“We’ll see what kind of
response we get,” he added.
Sykes asked about the
drug situation in the coun-
ty and if Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office had seen
WWW.HEPPNER.NET
Submit News, Advertising
& Announcements
Letters To The Editor
Send Us Photos
Start A New Subscription
that were alarming to law
enforcement. Snyder re-
sponded that fentanyl is still
a problem.
“It’s not a new drug,
but it’s on the rise,” he
said, adding that a couple of
recent drug overdoses had
been tied back to fentanyl.
He said many overdoses are
from drug users not realiz-
ing the drug they’re using is
laced with fentanyl.
“You’ve got your fen-
tanyl users, they know how
strong it is and they’ve
got it down to, for lack of
a better word, a science.
They know what they can
take and still survive,” said
Snyder. “The ones that are
doing the other kinds of
illegal drugs like cocaine or
methamphetamine, they’re
taking their normal hit…
but now there’s fentanyl
laced in it, and they don’t
know it.”
Snyder said fentanyl is
extremely scary because it
doesn’t take much at all for
a person to overdose on it.
Morrow County Road
Manager Mike Haugen
reported that, with the re-
cent rains, every grader
available has been out and
running to get roads bladed.
The county received
its new paint truck in Sep-
tember. Since then, Haugen
said, they have been busy
painting any roads that
need it.
“It’s pretty high-tech.
It’s pretty cool,” he said.
Haugen also reported
that Social Ridge Road was
scheduled for repaving this
year, and the county road
crew spent two weeks pav-
ing it from Clark’s Canyon
to Rhea Creek. He said the
intersections at either end
were not yet paved due to
rebuilding needed on both
of them.
Morrow County took
three crew members to a
skills demo in Roseburg,
OR. Adam Richmond took
third in the backhoe, and
Justin Hoeft took fourth
overall in the top gun. Hau-
gen said there were between
90 and 120 participants
from around the state.
The road department
also responded to an oil
slick caused by 15 two-gal-
lon jugs of oil spilled at
Olson and Wilson in Board-
man.
The next regular meet-
ing of the Morrow County
Board of Commissioners is
scheduled for Oct. 18 at 9
a.m. in Irrigon.
row County’s alternate on
the CREZ III board. “Just
so there’s no confusion
and no discrepancy into the
future.”
Gorman also said there
seemed to be some dis-
crepancies in thought as to
whether the money goes
directly to the school dis-
trict or whether it goes to
the state and gets disbursed
from there.
“I don’t know that it re-
ally matters how the money
gets disbursed back to the
schools,” he added. “It’s
just the process of getting
that calculation done and
making sure that it does
happen.”
Stokoe suggested that,
with the legislation in its
infancy, the CREZ board
might want to seek legal
counsel so it knows what
its obligations are.
Sweek replied that, in
his opinion, the burden is
on the school.
“But we do have out
there, potentially, a com-
pany that may be coming to
us wanting to negotiate an
agreement,” added Sweek.
“That company is going to
want to know what that cost
is going to be to them.”
Morrow County Com-
mission Chair David Sykes
asked if the school’s deci-
sion would have any effect
on the CREZ’s negotiations
with a company, and Sweek
YOUR AD
COULD
BE
HERE!
replied that he thought it
would.
“The business is going
to look at the whole pack-
age of what they’re going
to have to pay,” Sweek said.
“How it gets disbursed, I
think they’re less concerned
about. But now there is this
mandatory fee that they
have to pay.”
Sykes responded that it
would then make sense for
the enterprise zone to talk
to the school district about
the best percentage, since
having a new company in
the county would benefit all
the districts in the long run.
“We’re in a better nego-
tiating position with a lower
percentage,” Sykes said.
The school support fee
is only for years four and
five in a standard enterprise
zone agreement, and years
seven to 15 in a long-term
rural agreement.
The CREZ III board
voted unanimously to au-
thorize additional funds for
the CREZ attorney to re-
view the legislation before
moving forward.
Also at the meeting, the
City of Boardman request-
ed bringing additional prop-
erty into the enterprise zone
for hotel and motel sites
within the city. Sweek said
Broker
Chris Sykes
541-215-2274
$380,000
NEW LISTING
Call
541-676-9228
Or Email
graphics@rapidserve.net
We also offer
design and
printing services
there are approximately
1,800 more acres that could
be pulled into the enterprise
zone. He estimated that the
city was asking for about 60
acres to be added.
Hotels are the only
commercial property al-
lowed in an enterprise zone,
and Gorman said he be-
lieved they were limited
to a three-year abatement.
While the CREZ allows
for hotel development, city
zoning would determine
whether a hotel is actually
allowed in a certain area.
Sweek said the pro-
cess, which includes public
hearings, would take a min-
imum of 45 days.
Lisa Mittelsdorf sug-
gested that, if CREZ III
decides to go through the
process, they should con-
sider whether there were
other places they might
want to expand.
“If we’re going through
the process,” she said, “we
want to make sure that if
there’s another piece some-
where that we want in, that
we get it at the same time.”
Sykes also questioned
whether more might want to
be added to benefit Board-
man’s new Urban Renew-
al Area. No decision was
made at the meeting.
9.09 ACRES
Secluded mountain property! Don’t miss out
on this incredible opportunity to own your own
mountain property. Whether you’re looking
for a hunting retreat or a permanent residence,
this property has it all. With approximately
9.09 acres of land and a private pond you can
embrace the beauty of nature and create a life
of serenity in the mountains you’ve always
desired. MLS#:23510132
Heppner Gazette-Times
177 N. Main
P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
Chris@sykesrealestate.net
Sykes Printing
THANK YOU to our donors who contributed to the Heppner
Booster Club Auction!
AgWest
Ed & Tricia Rollins
Karen Smith Griffith
Pine Gate Renewables
Allstott Construction
Elguezabal Family
KayRene & Rosco Qualls
Pioneer Memorial Physical Therapy
Amber Boyer
Elite Performance
Kellie Gray
Port of Morrow
Amelia’s Handcrafts
Elk Creek Excavation
Ken & Carri Grieb
RDO—Hermiston
Angie Hanson
Flood Town Books
Kevin & Petra Payne
Representative Greg Smith
Ann Jones
Gordon’s Electric
Kirsten Espinola
Rick & Shelli Britt
Aymee Wilson, LMT
Graybeal Distributing
Lamb Weston Boardman
SAGE Center
Babette & Dennis Wall
Hair Expressions
LaRae Kindle
Sage Garden Preschool
Bank of Eastern Oregon
Heppner Community Foundation Les Schwab Tire Center
Blondee Salon
Heppner Jr Sr High
Morrow County Grain Growers Schatzi’s Mane Attraction
Brad & Katelyn Adams
Heppner Market Fresh
Medina Family
Serendipity Designs
Breaking Grounds
Hermiston Glass
Merry Chandler
Shelco Electric
Brian & Susie Thompson Jake & Lynn Calvert
Mike & Amy George
Silver Creek Contracting
Browne House Coffee
Jan & Mark Huddleston
Miller & Son’s
Susie & Paul Hisler
Bruce Young Logging
Jannie Allen
Modern Cousins
Sykes Publishing
Bucknum’s
Jason & Tara Proudfoot
Morrow County Health District TM Rustic Designs
Cannon Construction
Jeromy & Jennifer Wilson
Morrow County Parks
Troy & Autumn Morgan
Carolyn Willey
Jim & Becky Kindle
Murray ‘s Drug
Tylynn Cimmiyotti
Corey & Jill Miller
Joanna Lamb
O So Kleen
Umatilla Electric
Cyde Estes
John & Diane Kilkenny
Odd Fellows Lodge
Wight’s Electric
D2 Photography
John & Pat Edmundson
Opal Butte Outfitters
Will Allred, Allred Land Worx
Deacon & Erin Heideman Jon & Janelle Ellis
Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo
Willow Creek Park District
DeSpain Pizza
Kaley Patterson
Papa Murphy’s Pizza
Windwave Communications
Devin Oil
Karen Clough
Pettyjohn’s Builders Supply
Sahara Hyder