Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2024)
50¢ Mustangs host CREZ II settles remaining disbursement Basketball camp amid continuing tensions VOL. 144 NO. 24 8 Pages By Andrea Di Salvo After more than one contentious meeting, the Columbia River Enterprise Zone (CREZ) II Board has finally agreed on a disbursement plan for the remaining $900,000 from its 2023 funds. The June 3 meeting was the third at which the board tackled the disbursement of the funds, which had been earmarked to fund public safety. The CREZ II funds will be distributed with $300,000 going to Board- man Police Department, $300,000 to Boardman Fire Rescue District, $100,000 to Morrow County Health District, $100,000 to the 0RUURZ &RXQW\ 6KHUL൵¶V 2൶FHDQGWR,U- rigon Rural Fire Protection District. The CREZ II board is made up of two members each from three sponsoring entities—the Port of Mor- row, City of Boardman, and Morrow County. At least Wednesday, June 19, 2024 one board member from each sponsor must vote yes for a motion to pass. When it came to the $900,000, the continuing tension between City of Boardman representatives Paul Keefer and Karen Pettigrew and Port of Mor- row commissioners John Murray and Kelly Doherty was again obvious. The main source of contention seemed to be whether the bulk of the funds should go to the Boardman area, which the Boardman city councilors stated was more impacted by CREZ II growth, or whether it should be dis- tributed more evenly across the county, which the Port commissioners preferred. Two motions in the June 3 meeting failed with four yes votes but two no votes from either Board- man or the Port. A third DWWHPSW¿QDOO\SDVVHGZKHQ Doherty hesitantly agreed to the proposal by Pet- tigrew. Murray was the Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon VROH GLVVHQWHU LQ WKH ¿QDO decision. A Difference in Phi- losophy After the vote, CREZ II Board Chair Keefer said he felt the board needed to take a serious look at how it will distribute funds in the future. If the board disburs- es the 2024 funds at the end of the year, which has been the usual practice, the same six board members will be sitting at the table. Even in the discussion of a guiding philosophy, though, the tensions were obvious. “With the board that we have right now, we have some serious disagreements on how the pots of money should be spent,” Keefer said. “Would you have an overall philosophy on how the money should be spent to frame the discussion?” asked Morrow County Board of Commissioners Chair David Sykes. Keefer replied that there is no language in the CREZ II agreement that restricts how the board distributes the money and suggested that the best way might be a three-way split among the city, county, and Port. From there, he said, the entities could distribute WKHIXQGVDVWKH\VHH¿W “And guess what? We GRQ¶WKDYHWKHELFNHULQJDQG the struggles we have right now,” he added. “If we nickel and dime this pot of money to every- ERG\ WKHUH¶V QRW HQRXJK money to even get anything done,” added Keefer. “The three entities here need the money. We are the ones be- ing impacted by not having the money.” Doherty said that, if each of the entities were looking out for their own interests, the Port would be asking for the largest share. However, she said WKDW ZDVQ¶W WKH FDVH DV they looked around and saw -Continued to PAGE SIX Heppner council approves $9.36 million budget Heppner will contribute to courthouse infrastructure if mill site is chosen By Andrea Di Salvo The Heppner City Council unanimously ap- proved a budget of more than nine million dollars IRUWKH¿VFDO\HDU at its meeting June 10 in Heppner. The council also voted to put skin in the game to the tune of a mil- lion dollars if the county selects the mill site west of town as the site for the new Morrow County Circuit Court building. The $9,363,466 budget had already been approved and passed on by the Hep- pner budget committee at its May 14 meeting. The unusually high budget is due to several million GROODUV¶ ZRUWK RI FDSLWDO projects. The council held a pub- lic hearing prior to adopt- ing the budget but received no public input. The city also imposed the permanent tax rate of $10.6209 per $1,000. Both actions were adopted through Resolution 1075- 24. Also at the meeting, the city council voted to contribute one million dol- lars to the Morrow County Circuit Court project if the county selects the site at the old Kinzua mill. Heppner City Manag- er John Doherty said city representatives had met with the county and Port of Morrow (POM) in May, and those entities had asked whether the city would contribute funds toward the infrastructure costs at the mill site if it were chosen for the circuit court building. The city had agreed by consensus to contribute but KDGQRWQDPHGD¿JXUHRU put it to a vote. Meanwhile, the Mor- row County Board of Com- missioners has narrowed its choices to either the fairgrounds site or mill site in Heppner and has decid- ed to move forward with a geotechnical survey of the mill site. “They roughly know ZKDWWKH\¶UHORRNLQJDWIRU some infrastructure costs,” Doherty said. “The geo- tech is going to tell them if WKHUH¶VDQ\LVVXHVZLWKVRLO depth and also soil quality.” The county will make LWV ¿QDO VLWH GHFLVLRQ DIWHU receiving the geotech re- sults. The POM has gone on record saying it will donate land and contribute $500,000 in-kind on con- struction. Heppner Councilor Cody High said he thought the mill site was a great location and that losing the courthouse in South Morrow would be a huge blow to the community. He moved that the City of Heppner contribute up to one million dollars toward the project in the 2024-25 budget. “I believe in this proj- ect,” he said. Other councilors said WKH\ GLGQ¶W PLQG FRQWULE- uting that much but were unsure where the money would come from. Sug- gestions included using the FLW\¶VDQWLFLSDWHG in CREZ funds, taking the PRQH\ IURP WKH FLW\¶V LQ- vestments or even taking out a loan. John Doherty ques- tioned whether the city could get a loan when there was no return on invest- ment, but High disagreed. “Having the courthouse in Heppner has a huge re- turn for this community,” KHVDLG³:HVKRXOGQ¶WORRN at how many dollars we can bring in. We should look at what we can do for the people of this community.” Heppner Councilor Ralph Klock agreed, say- ing there would also be a return in the form of future development. -RKQ 'RKHUW\ GLGQ¶W disagree but reiterated that LWZRXOGEHGL൶FXOWIRUWKH FLW\WR¿QGJUDQWVRURWKHU funding for a project out- side the city limits. ³:H¶UH ORRNLQJ DW D well up here for city redun- dancy,” said Doherty. “We FDQ¶WXVHKRXVLQJJURZWKDV a reason for that to qualify for grants, to qualify for loans. We have to use it as water security, water redun- dancy.” Doherty also pointed out that the city has upcom- ing capital improvement projects totaling around $26 million, including water and sewer projects, which the city will have to take on debt to accomplish. “I was concerned with trying to contribute a high- er amount than what our possible credit funds would be,” he explained. ³, WKLQN ZH¶UH WDSSHG out,” added Heppner Councilor Sharon Inskeep. ³:H¶YHJRWVRPHKXJHELOOV FRPLQJ,MXVWGRQ¶WVHHKRZ ZHFRXOGD൵RUGDQ\PRUH´ High said he just want- ed to let the county know that Heppner has “skin in the game.” “My hope is really that WKH\¶UHJRLQJWRVD\µ:K\ are we trying to bankrupt this small city of Heppner ZKLOH WKH\¶UH WU\LQJ WR GR all these other things when we have a huge reserve of FDVK¶´KHVDLG Heppner Councilor Adam Doherty agreed that the city had to commit but questioned the “up to” ZRUGLQJLQ+LJK¶VPRWLRQ The council eventually voted 6-1 to commit one million dollars toward the courthouse infrastructure if the county selects the mill site. Inskeep was the sole no vote. Also at the meeting, the council reviewed bids for the Chase St. property. The 1400 and 1500 lots on Chase St. had been listed for sale together. The min- imum bid was $24,000, and the city requested a development plan for the property for the next year. The city council re- ceived only one bid. The bid from Willow Creek Economic Development Group was for $25,000. The council accepted the bid unanimously. Other Business In other business, Hep- pner Public Works Director Chad Doherty reported extensive work on water, sewer, streets, parks and other areas during May. He also reported that he spent several days working on the Oregon Lead and Copper Rule Revisions. The survey of lead and copper is required by the state to identify all lead and copper lines on drinking water systems. Doherty said he was FRQ¿GHQWWKHUHDUHQROHDG OLQHVRQWKHFLW\¶VZDWHUV\V- The coaches with the 2nd through 8th graders with their shirts and balls. – Contributed Photo The Heppner Mustang Basketball teams hosted a basketball skills camp for local future Mustangs. The camp was held on three days last week and over 70 area youth attended. The camp was divided into three sections, 2nd through 5th grade, 6th grade through 8th, and a high school divi- sion. The camp was led by WKHKHDGRI+HSSQHU%R\V¶ Basketball Jeremy Rosen- balm. He ran the campers through drills and showed them skills that they could work on to become better basketball players. Oth- er coaches who assisted were Rob Wilson, Kacee Lathrop, Stephanie Swee- ney, Jeromy Wilson, and Ken Grieb. Several Mus- tang team players also helped with the youth part of the camp. Each of the campers received a Mus- tang Basketball T-shirt and basketball after the camp. The Heppner Booster Club assisted in putting this fabu- lous learning event on. Commissioners approves new water management system for Heppner By Annalynn Black In continuing the Morrow County Board of &RPPLVVLRQHUV¶ -XQH WK meeting next on the agen- da was a discussion led by Lindsey Grogan, the Hu- man Resource Manager for Morrow County, regarding the implementation of a non-discrimination poli- cy that includes services for non-English speaking individuals. Grogan em- phasized the importance of formalizing such a policy to ensure grant compliance and promote inclusivity within Morrow County. The motion to adopt a non-dis- crimination policy proce- dure was passed unani- mously. Next, Tamra Mabott, the MC Planning Director, raised concerns about traf- ¿FLPSDFWDQDO\VLVDQGWKH QHHG IRU D WUD൶F HQJLQHHU -Continued to PAGE FIVE Doherty graduates from BMCC Chad Doherty with Mom Cindi Doherty (left) and his wife Alicia Woodbury Doherty (right). -Photo by Cindi Doherty Chad Doherty, the Hep- pner Public Works Director, graduated from Blue Moun- tain Community College on -Continued from PAGE SIX Friday the 14 th in Pendle- ton, Oregon. He graduated with an associate Business Degree and plans to attend Eastern Oregon University WR REWDLQ KLV EDFKHORU¶V degree. CALL 541-989-8221 ext 204 for more information
