7HQ+HSSQHU*D]HWWH7LPHV+HSSQHU2UHJRQWednesday, May 22, 2024
WRANGLERS 5/19/24 County holds town hall meetings about circuit court site
Di Salvo
to the project cost.
tion rather than practicality. Doherty added that, while
PLAYDAY RESULTS By Andrea
The Morrow County
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“I also want a Cor- WKH\KDGGLVFXVVHG¿QDQFHV
Board of Commissioners
held two town hall meetings
regarding the planned new
circuit court building last
week. The public meetings
in Heppner and Irrigon on
May 15 were a step toward
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ise the BOC had made to
engage Morrow County
citizens more in the project.
The site selected
last year, near the Mor-
row County Fairgrounds
and Heppner Elementary
School, has proven con-
troversial. However, the
county has stood by the site
selection, saying it inter-
preted the Oregon Revised
Statute to require that the
court building be inside
the Heppner City Limits.
The fairgrounds site, com-
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was the best site within that
limitation.
However, public out-
reach resulted in a letter
from Judicial District 6
Presiding Judge Daniel Hill
several weeks ago, which
allowed the county to look
outside the city limits for
a suitable courthouse site.
Following that letter,
the board of commissioners
again expanded its search,
which has since narrowed
to three sites—the fair-
grounds site, the old Kinzua
Mill site outside of Hep-
pner, on land owned by
the Port of Morrow, and a
2.85-acre site at Columbia
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Boardman.
Morrow County Ad-
ministrator Matthew Jen-
sen told the gathered cit-
izens that the search for
the courthouse needed to
meet several criteria. First
and foremost, it needs to
meet the Oregon Judicial
Department’s standards for
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177 N. Main
Broker
court facilities.
P.O. Box 337
The site also needs to
Chris
Sykes
Heppner, OR 97836
avoid potential hazards
Chris@sykesrealestate.net 541-215-2274
such as flood zones, be
accessible to the public,
connect to city-provided
utilities, and be a minimum
of two acres of buildable
land for a 24,000-square-
foot building and 123 park-
ing stalls.
Two of those sites seem
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Mill site, though, raises
some concerns about water,
sewer, and related costs.
Jensen said the Port of Mor-
A beautifully remodeled 2-story home in Heppner.
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This spacious residence boasts approx 2,400 square
the acres and has talked
feet of space, featuring 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. about doing some of the
This house has undergone extensive renovations, with groundwork to get the site
almost everything being brand new. New dry wall,
ready.
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Neither the Port nor
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contribution toward infra-
structure.
“But there’s expenses,”
said Jensen. “If we were to
go to that site, there’s really
got to be some conversa-
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take this and move it for-
ward and be a key compo-
nent on getting everything
taken care of.’”
The biggest expense
seems to be water—or the
Secluded mountain property! Don’t miss out
lack of it.
Both the fairgrounds
on this incredible opportunity to own your own
and Boardman sites have
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for a hunting retreat or a permanent residence, city utilities, so the cost
of water and sewer would
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9.09 acres of land and a private pond you can fit within the project’s
budget. The mill site
embrace the beauty of nature and create a life base
has no water or sewer, so
of serenity in the mountains you’ve always
would add an additional
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$1,945,000 to $2,910,000
STICK-HORSE RACE
Price Hines 58.701
3 & Under
Pierce Miller 60.878
Sheldon Milligan
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Sawyer Ham
olds
Maverick Rhea
Karter Jo Hines 26.993
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EllieGene Fenner 27.037
4 & 5 Yr. Olds
Pearl Miller 36.349
Rune Armstrong
Lydia Knowles 38.149
Oakley Bergstrom
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Iris Armstrong
12–15-Year-olds
Blaney Jo Milligan
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6- & 7-Year-olds
Brooklyn Hendricks
Lotus Armstrong
27.395
Barrels
Catherine Lindsay 28.931
Lead-line
Ashlee Knutz 34.657
Trell Knowles 39.311 6HQLRU:UDQJOHUV
Maverick Rhea 43.198
Saige Jensen 27.174
Rune Armstrong 50.419
Scurry Race
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Lead-Line
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Blaney Jo Milligan
Pierce Miller 57.357 34.594
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Olds
Maverick Rhea 38.255
Lydia Knowles 22.312 Iris Armstrong 39.195
Karter Jo Hines 23.297
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EllieGene Fennern 24.842 Price Hines 27.483
Morgan Milligan 26.771
Pierce Miller 35.128
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15-Year-olds
olds
KC Anderson 20.073
Morgan Milligan
B r o o k l y n H e n d r i c k s 18.188
22.789
Karter Jo Hines 18.534
Ashlee Knutz 23.204
EllieGene Fennern 29.284
Catherine Lindsay 23.467 Pearl Miller 29.646
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Saige Jensen 21.050 12–15-year-olds
Poles
Brooklyn Hendricks
Lead-line
16.420
Trell Knowles 52.413 Catherine Lindsay 19.653
Maverick Rhea 60.592
KC Anderson 20.401
Rune Armstrong 66.047
Ashlee Knutz 24.194
Lotus Armstrong 71.397
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Peewee
Saige Jensen 42.435
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$239,000
Reduced price
er and water system for the
courthouse is an option,
Jensen said he didn’t think
it was the best option, since
it did nothing to promote
further development at the
mill site.
The other option is to
lay more than a mile of
pipes and connect to Hep-
pner City water. That will
cost about $100 per foot,
or between $895,000 and
$1,165,000. That doesn’t
address the sewer, which
would cost even more with
the need for lift stations or
pressure systems.
According to the coun-
ty’s consultant, that could
be a 12-month project on its
own, and Morrow County
Board of Commissioners
Chair David Sykes remind-
ed those present that “time
is money” for the taxpayers.
“The longer this takes,
the longer it drags out, the
more the cost,” said Sykes.
On top of that, the
county put forth the possi-
bility of “unknown” costs
for each of the sites. Such
costs could result from
environmental surveys and
geotechnical exploration,
among others.
As for the Boardman
site, Jensen said it was still
an option because of the
court caseload in Morrow
County. About 80 percent
of the caseload is located in
the north end of the county,
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er population in the Board-
man and Irrigon areas.
Jensen said that, while
there was great historical
value in having the court-
house tied to Heppner, it
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it came to tasks like putting
together juries.
Morrow County Com-
missioner Roy Drago said
he wants to see the court-
house remain in Heppner,
but also said it was a pref-
erence partly based on emo-
vette,” Drago said. “There’s
a lot more to it than where
I want it to be and what I
want.
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with the Kinzua Mill site.
I think it would be a great
place for it, but I’m scared,”
Drago added. “I don’t want
to have this thing start and
then realize we got our-
selves in way over our
heads.”
Despite the drawbacks,
however, the mill site seems
to be the most popular with
many Morrow County vot-
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at the Irrigon meeting urged
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several who spoke seemed
in favor of pushing forward
with the Heppner industrial
site.
Irrigon resident Stuart
Dick, who is spearheading
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three commissioners, told
the board that the mill site
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tunity.”
“It’s a hundred acres of
the only industrial land on
the south end,” said Dick.
“Either it gets done now, or
it’s never going to get done.
“There’s an opportuni-
ty for it right now, there’s
money for it right now,
there’s an opportunity for
partnership right now,”
Dick added. “This could be
one of the greatest moves
that Morrow County has
ever made, and it has to
happen now.”
Dick also added that
more industrial opportuni-
ty on the south end could
change the 80-20 popula-
tion split Jensen had men-
tioned earlier.
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you guys to be the heroes
and champion this project?”
added Jodi Ferguson of
Lexington.
Port of Morrow Com-
missioner and Board-
man-area resident Kelly
and unknowns, no one had
discussed the economic val-
ue of putting the courthouse
at the mill site.
“There’s got to be a
great economic value to
keeping that courthouse in
Heppner,” Doherty said.
“An economic value to the
Port of Morrow to develop
that site. I think those are
considerations that we need
to look at, as well.”
Sykes asked if Doherty
thought the rest of the coun-
ty would support the added
cost of the mill site.
“Do you think the rest
of the citizens of Morrow
County are willing to spend
county dollars to make that
happen in Heppner at the
mill site?” he asked.
Doherty pointed out
that people currently have
to drive to Heppner for
court, and that taking the
courthouse out of Heppner
would be an economic blow
to the city.
“You’re going to have
a wash. You’re going to
take away from them and
give to another,” she said.
“Consider the economic
gain that the Port of Mor-
row could have.”
An Irrigon resident
seemed to disagree.
“Kelly [Doherty] says
she’s concerned with the
economic wellbeing of
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cerned with the economic
well-being of the whole
county, and I ask that you
guys be concerned the
same,” the man said.
At the same time, an-
other Irrigon man said he
didn’t want the courthouse
in Irrigon, saying the small
town has already grown too
much.
“Heppner sounds like
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site sounds even better,” he
said. “I’m just speaking as
a county member, give it to
the mill site.”
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