+HSSQHU*D]HWWH7LPHV+HSSQHU2UHJRQWednesday, May 22, 2024 -- NINE
Continued Morrow County Board of Commissioner
-Continued from PAGE THREE
site) is the “only” indus-
trial land here and there
is no way they can put the
fairgrounds at the Mill site.
He then asked the room to
raise their hand if they were
in favor of the courthouse
being at the fairgrounds,
then again if they wanted
it at the Mill site. They
room was in favor of the
Mill site. He then tells the
commissioners to not push
this any longer saying “time
is money”. He then says the
county has lots of money
and its an issue of the best
site, and that this could turn
the south end around.
Heppner resident and
Mayor Corey Sweeney
asked if the county is will-
ing to go 3 million over
budget for the Mill site.
Sykes replies saying “I
want you people to know
It’s a county wide project,
people in Irrigon, Board-
man, Lexington, Ione, this
is their money too they need
to know what it’s going to
cost to do each site. Un-
knowns worry me I don’t
think you want us coming
back going it’s gonna be
another 2-3 million. That’s
why I asked them to put
unknowns in there, so you
know just like us that we
got a base price of 3.6 plus
unknowns.”
Sweeney asks address-
ing the room, if it is worth
to the rodeo committee and
the fair board to go over the
4.5 mill to get it to stay in
Heppner, saying “is it worth
it to you?”
An unnamed resident
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question to ask what the
boards opinion is versus
the peoples opinion is” an-
other resident says “I don’t
think money is our biggest
concern.”
Sykes then says, “In
this room money isn’t a
thing.” Sweeney then says
“it be nice if somebody
come out and said it, yeah
well either spend the mon-
ey to get it done here or
say we can’t really see it
getting put here because of
the extra cost-” Sykes then
suggest a city, county, and
Port alliance to pay for the
bill. Sweeney replies saying
he thinks that’s a great idea.
Resident Jodi Ferguson
says, “we don’t care who
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by Sykes saying “A lot of
people care who pays for
it-“ then he is cut off by
Ferguson saying “we’re the
tax payers.”
Drago says “at this
point it is solely a county
issue there is no indication
from the city that they have
money and are willing to
pay, no indication from the
port, and we’ve met with
them numerous times, that
they are willing to pay for
any infrastructure. So, as
we’ve chased this down
we’ve looked at it solely as
a county issue to decide.”
Resident Rick Drake
then asks what the cost is
for just the 24,000 square
foot building saying, “take
the infrastructure out, if
you’ve got the perfect site
what’s the build cost of
that?” Kelly Stewart replies
saying, “we’re working
with a budget given to us
so the 24 million.” Drake
replies saying, “so you’re
saying without any infra-
structure this building is
costing $24 Million, regard-
less of where it goes?”
Jensen replies by say-
ing there’s a certain con-
sideration built into that
budget, but running sewer
and water a mile and a half
is not part of that, hence it
being an unknown.
Drake then asks what
the state would think if they
cut the square footage to
20,000? Drago replies say-
ing its not about the footage
its about meeting the state
requirements.
Resident Mollie Rhea
then asks about the budget
saying “ she just said we’re
working within the budget
given, so are we attempting
to cap out at that 24 mil-
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P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
Chris@sykesrealestate.net
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Chris Sykes
541-215-2274
The city of Boardman site.
lion? Or are we budgeting
frugally and building what
we need. Are we trying to
spend that money or are we
trying to spend that money
appropriately?”
Jensen replies saying
“No, I’ve had to make cuts,
so we’re already knowing,
we are not shooting to say
hey we’ve got 24 let’s throw
a big party. There are certain
standards to be built when
talking about a circuit court,
there are certain depart-
ments that are conceivably
best advantageously posi-
tioned right by, District at-
torney, Juvenile those kinds
of things that have to be in
there. There is some that
you get some return on like
having the justice court over
there, a single point for se-
curity but then you have two
separate court rooms.” He
goes on to say they could
have “bare bones it” and
have just a court room and
get that down to 20 mill or
even lower. But it would not
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bit more money and putting
these other entities nearby.
He says they were going to
move the whole juvenile
department over there, but
at 1200 square feet at 600
dollars a square foot that’s
a significant amount of
money, so instead of that
they’ll have a nice room to
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a Taj Mahal there.”
An unnamed resident
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dress attendee John Murray
saying “If you really want it
at the Mill site John, I want
a commitment from the Port
to partner with this because
if it really could support the
infrastructure of putting
something their then let’s
do that. Because I’m sorry
but the Port has been giving
the Mill site lip service for
30 years. I ask you to ask
them to partner.” She then
expresses her opinion on
the fairgrounds saying “I
support it at the fairgrounds,
I’ve worked in the court
system. I see we do not
change our way of life when
court is held, nobody makes
sure their children don’t
walk past the courthouse
when theirs court that day,
I bet you guys don’t even
know what day courts held.
:KHQ ZH KDYH D SULVRQHU
come into the court they are
chained down to a wooden
bench, how secure is that.
Our courthouse is also built
in a residential area, we
have people that live right
next door to our courthouse,
they don’t get robbed and
broken into on a regular ba-
sis. I don’t have fear of the
courthouse being right next
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the elementary school, next
to residential. I do have
concern with the fact that
we’ve already made cuts -.”
An unnamed resident
then asked the commis-
sion how many people, at
the meeting that was held
earlier that day for Irrigon,
wanted the courthouse at
the fairgrounds?
The commissioner re-
plied saying it was mixed
feedback, some for Board-
man, some for the Mill site
and some just concerned
about cost.
Another unnamed res-
ident mentioned that at the
Mill site there is “unlimit-
ed” space to expand.
Resident Kirsten Es-
pinola asked the commis-
sion what will happen with
the school since they do
pickup from the back of
the school? Commissioners
say that’s a question for the
school, and Jensen says the
school has a bad design and
they use county land for the
pickup “It’s something that
we’d have to work towards
to make sure there is a safe
space.”
Then Kirsten says
she believes that the con-
versation about the fair-
grounds and rodeo was
more detailed during the
Irrigon meeting than in their
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on what was discussed in
depth, Kirsten was not able
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but says that other people
agreed that the courthouse
should be located at the
Mill site.
Both Jensen and Sykes
say there could be meetings
with the city, the port, and
the POM to see what it will
look like to use the Mill site.
Resident Stuart Dick and
Kirsten Espinola both say
that that would be a great
idea with Stuartt saying it’s
the best idea that’s come out
of this meeting.
John Doherty, the City
manager, acknowledges
that sending water is not the
main issue, but rather re-
ceiving the waste. He says
the city has reached out to
the Department of Environ-
mental Quality (DEQ) for
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received a response. There
is, however, preliminary
discussion between the
city and the county regard-
ing a potential boundary
extension called a “cherry
stem urban grown boundary
extension.” This extension
would run along Highway
74 to the port property.
Doherty says before in-
volving the port in the con-
versation, more information
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of this boundary extension
and its implications. There
are exceptions under goal 9
that need to be addressed,
as well as various goals set
by the Department of Land
Conservation and Develop-
ment (DLCD).
Doherty highlights that
finding a solution is not
as simple as everyone in
the room coming to an
agreement in one meeting.
It requires addressing the
needs and considerations
of the city services, county
business, and the port prop-
erty separately.
Resident Rick Drake
then asks how much capac-
ity the Heppner wastewater
system has? John Doherty
replies saying that in peak
season, like July, its about
60 percent capacity and in
the winter 40 percent.
Then resident Mollie
Rhea chimes in, saying,
“I just want to get on the
record, cause I’ve heard
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it tonight, that it was out of
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the Kinzua site two months
ago. The Kinzua site was
brought up and requested
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meeting. It has not been
two months; it’s been quite
a while now.”
Sykes replies, saying,
“There was an ORS that I
read multiple times, sent to
me by our county council
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says it shall be built within
the City of Heppner.”
Mollie Rhea says she
understands that, but the
community had requested
it to be looked at further.
Sykes replies, saying, “You
cannot look at something
that isn’t legal.”
Kirsten remarks, “I like
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just like you did to me at
One a clock, when I brought
up-”
Sykes interjects, re-
minding Kirsten to refrain
from discussing personal
matters. Kirsten retorts,
insisting that this is not a
personal issue, as she had
asked him the same ques-
tion. She contends that
they should have taken the
initiative to inquire about
the ideal location for the
courthouse and conducted
thorough research.
Sykes counters by stat-
ing that they did conduct
research, namely by con-
sulting with the county
council. He emphasizes
that their efforts resulted
in a clear answer - they are
not allowed to construct the
courthouse beyond the city
limits. That concluded the
public comment section.
The commission re-
quests that Matt Jensen
arrange a meeting the Port
of Morrow, the City of
Heppner, and the Morrow
County Council to discuss a
site for the new build.
Drago inquires with
John Murray about wheth-
er DLR group handles the
Geotech testing at the Mill
site. Drago also raises the
question of what actions
the Port would take if an
issue arose from the testing,
considering their ownership
of the Mill site.
Doug from Alliance
adds that he is uncertain
about the legal obligations
for addressing any issues
that may arise from the
testing.
A resident named Bob
passionately expresses his
belief that the Mill site is
the ideal choice. He ac-
knowledges the complexity
of the situation but remains
optimistic about finding
solutions.
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is adjourned.
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