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VOL. 144
NO. 15
8 Pages
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Jensen addresses ambulance concerns in
Heppner City Council meeting
By Annalynn Black
The April 8 th Heppner
City Council meeting began
with the council grant-
ing Latosha Headman per-
mission to keep chickens
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then went to resident Marie
Johnson, a representative
from Cat Utopia Cat Rescue
in Pendleton, expressed
concerns about the cat or-
dinance in Heppner. She
stated that even if cats are
not fed, the cat problem
will worsen. However, she
mentioned that she is cur-
rently fostering more than
the allowed limit of 6 cats
in her home and is worried
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son proposed an amend-
ment to the ordinance for
people like her who foster
cats and help address the
issue stating ““I just want
to make sure people like
myself who are helping the
problem aren’t gonna be
hurt by this ordinance.” She
provided examples of sim-
ilar ordinances from Pilot
Rock and Ontario, Oregon.
City manager John Doherty
explained that the Heppner
ordinance was implemented
due to the excessive cost of
transporting cats to Hermis-
ton for spaying/neutering.
Johnson offered to assist
the town of Heppner with
trap-neuter-release (TNR)
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she had other individu-
als present at the meeting
who are also involved in
TNR. An unnamed resi-
dent shared her experience
with the Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office (MCSO)
regarding a lost dog and
suggested that there are
people in the community
willing to volunteer, which
would allow the sheriffs
office to focus on more
important matters. Another
unnamed citizen voiced
support for Ms. Johnson’s
work in Heppner and ex-
pressed concern about her
potentially being fined.
Council member Adam
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intent of the cat ordinance
was not to penalize those
actively working to solve
the problem. It aimed to tar-
get irresponsible pet owners
who do not spay/neuter
their animals, which led to
banning feeding stations
and setting a limit on pet
cats. Johnson emphasized
her desire to take a leader-
ship role in resolving the cat
problem. Council member
Adam Doherty suggested
she start a Facebook page
so residents would know
to contact her instead of the
MCSO.
Kim Cutsforth with the
Howard and Beth Bryant
foundation is partnering
with the Willow Creek Park
District and is requesting
the council to grant a mini
golf course where the old
pool was in Heppner. The
course would be located
where the old pool used to
be and would be managed
by the Willow Creek Park
District. The course would
have 18 holes with a local
theme, featuring obstacles
created by the TSA at Hep-
pner High School based on
local landmarks like the ro-
deo and the dam. Cutsforth
requested a commitment
from the council to move
forward with the project.
The council members had
no objections and granted
the property to the Willow
Creek Park District. Cuts-
forth assured them that the
water tasting area would
be preserved and that the
park district would grant a
permanent easement to the
city. The maintenance of the
mini golf course would be
low, using astroturf, con-
crete, rocks, and preserving
existing trees. The course
would be fenced with code
access for members or day
pass holders. The council
motioned to approve the
agreement with the park
district.
County Administrator
Matt Jensen took to the
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made at a previous BOC
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hour response time” for
a mutual aid call for an
ambulance stuck in snow
on a call. Jensen said “I
wanted just to address that
since this is in the area
that you all are impacted
by. Looking back in the
records response time is an
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made it sound like they
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looking at the information
response time was actually
30 mins, it was up past
Cutsforth park so a little bit
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the full completion of the
call was 4 and a half hours
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of the situation, they got
there within 30 minutes,
they had to hike a quarter
mile up a snow impacted
road and then help facilitate
a transfer with the help of
neighbors and such and get-
ting it down a snowy area.”
He also wanted to make it
clear on record that “we are
not seeing any calls taking
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medics and EMTS on site
within acceptable standards
and that is their standard.
Jensen assures that they are
forming a committee “one
{person} from each city and
an EMS advisor from and
adjoining county” to aid
in getting their ASA plan
adopted and get permanent
advisors on as well. Jensen
was then asked by council
member Adam Doherty if
there is a backup plan for
coverage in the town when
an ambulance is out in a
rural area, Jensen assured
that an ambulance moves
into position as soon as
one leaves he says “ Quite
frankly as soon as the call
went to Cutsforth another
ambulance is moving down
to be in place, so Heppner
was probably without cov-
erage for about 20 minutes.’
Jensen also states that
they are working on an
“intergovernmental agree-
ment” to get response teams
if the ambulances are not
able to make it, of course
that is worst case scenario.
Heppner Fire Chief Steve
Rhea took a moment to also
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time” saying “the call was
out of District- We do not
have equipment for Hep-
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of snow on the way to the
patience residents, nor do
we have any way to tow an
ambulance stuck in a ditch
in a foot of snow.” He also
states a few concerns, the
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ambulance doesn’t have
a vehicle with four-wheel
drive. Secondly, he won-
ders why the QRT team
wasn’t dispatched with a
four wheel drive he states
“that’s a concern. I cannot
responsibly dispatch any of
my crews out of district for
that length of time and leave
the tax paying public that I
protect and the district and
the city without adequate
coverage, and that was the
decision on refusal. I am
not boycotting Boardman
ambulance in any way,
and I never will.” He also
states that he would like to
see an MOU, where they
can respond to boardman
ambulance despite being
out of district.
Jensen concludes by-
mentioning that Heppner
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ed assistance to that loca-
tion months before. He then
reiterating that there are no
five-hour response times
with the interim ambulance
service stating “-we are
committed to maintaining
and we appreciate the pa-
tience and cooperation that
we have. And we can work
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the ambulance service plan
and hopefully get a final
-Continued to PAGE SEVEN
Lexington Council discusses May-Day
parade and RCV
By Annalynn Black
The April 9th Lexing-
ton Council meeting began
with condolences to Mayor
Julie Kennedy for a family
loss and recognition of
new town recorder Autumn
Crumpton. The head of
Maintenance, Larry Hess,
reported on the engineer-
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door and mentioned that six
contractors are lined up for
the bidding process. He also
requested an income survey
to determine eligibility for
the CBG grant for the wa-
ter improvement project.
During public comments,
local Barb Orwick noti-
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upcoming MS walk on the
20th of this month. Carol
Dougherty, Co-Owner of
the Broken Spoke, dis-
cussed the need for volun-
teers for the May-Day cele-
brations and mentioned that
they had a meeting on the
15th. She expressed con-
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the event this year. Council
Member Katy Ines inquired
about the May-Day hood-
asked about Representative
Smith’s opinion on RCV,
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had discussed it with him.
A citizen spoke up, stating
that Smith seemed unin-
formed and lacked time
to delve into the details
when asked about it at the
Senior Meals event. Lastly,
Council Member Ines men-
tioned that they are current-
ly working on distributing
Bus Route Brochures to the
public.
Heppner Youth Baseball
hits a home run on
opening day
Heppner Youth Base-
ball had its opening day
ceremony on Saturday,
April 13th. The weather
was perfect, with sunny
skies and temperatures in
the 70s. The atmosphere
was fun as all the kids ea-
gerly awaited the opening
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divisions are coach pitch,
t-ball, majors, minors
baseball and softball. They
even provided free dough-
nuts and hot chocolate for
everyone. The smell of
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the air, adding to the ex-
citement. The kids had a
great time as they ran onto
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names being announced
by Jason Hanna, the an-
nouncer. Dale Bates was
in charge of setting up the
music and microphone
system so the kids could
hear their names being an-
nounced and run out onto
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ing ceremonies, the teams
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in Heppner to start their
games. All the volunteers
played a huge role in mak-
ing the day special for the
kids. More pictures from
opening day
-Continued to PAGE EIGHT
MS walk April 20 th
The Heppner MS Walk
is this weekend! This is an
opportunity for you to get
out and show your support
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this disease every day,
every step. We want to be
‘normal’ but that is not
quite what happens. We
have holes in our brains
from them shorting out.
We are a stubborn
bunch. I can do this by
myself...until I can’t,
sometimes we sound like
toddlers, sometimes there
is no warning. I just can’t,
or I choke or fall, or I can’t
remember your name. We
try to appear ‘normal’ but
sometimes it doesn’t work.
Statistically, there are
about 1 in 1000 people
with MS. The population
of south Morrow County
is around 3,000. So, there
should be about 3 to 4 MS
Warriors. There are 12 that
I know of. Unless it helps
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disease, we just want to
make life easier. MSFocus
helps. This organization
has Zoom exercise classes
for MS Warriors: Taichi,
Chair
Yoga,
general
exercise,
and
even
dance. These classes are
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for MS patients (I tried
chair Yoga and could do
everything but one move).
MSFocus
provides
lectures from famous
doctors, caregivers, and
even support groups.
These lectures provide
information on diet and
movement. This group
can provide help in
obtaining respite care,
housekeeping, and home
accessories like portable
ramps and bathtub chairs.
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MS Warriors.
Please join us for the
Heppner MS Walk on
April 20 th , 2024, at Hager
Park at 10 a.m. This is a fun
way to give moral support
(as well as monetary) to
your MS neighbors. You
may join the Walk along
the way. Come join us on
the short route and meet
at Bucknam’s Tavern for
a no-host brunch at about
11:20.
Illistration of a Maypole - Photo Contributed
ies, and Mrs. Dougherty
assured her that they have
been ordered and will dou-
ble-check the arrival date.
Mrs. Dougherty also em-
phasized the importance
of the neighborhood watch
group and urged people to
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for proof of any incidents.
In new business, council
position number four re-
mains vacant, and only one
application has been re-
ceived, but discussion will
be postponed until the May
meeting. Council Member
Ines informed the council
that she was approached by
a representative for H2O for
Eastern Oregon, a non-prof-
it coalition aiming to pro-
vide safe drinking water,
and they will decide on sup-
porting the cause at the May
meeting. Morrow County
Republicans chairman Clint
Carlson gave a presentation
on “Rank Choice Voting”
and expressed opposition to
it. He advised everyone to
research the topic as it will
be on the ballot in the up-
coming fall election. When
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information