+HSSQHU*D]HWWH7LPHV+HSSQHU2UHJRQ Wednesday,June 19, 2024 7+5((
The best family-friendly
Fourth of July is in Ione
~ Letters to the Editor ~
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Escape the city lights earth county. The Frog
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I am writing this letter
to address the complaints
listed against the Morrow
County Board of Commis-
sioners (BOC) as the rea-
sons for the recall. Many
of the issues listed are items
that we as the current BOC
inherited when we took
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to say that we have tackled
these often-contentious
issues head-on and we are
addressing them following
State laws and regulations
and not bowing to political/
peer pressure. We have
been committed to follow-
ing the law and legal pro-
cesses and being prudent
with taxpayer dollars.
Regarding the Am-
bulance Service Area Plan
(ASA), under Oregon state
law, the county has ultimate
responsibility for ambu-
lance service in the county.
The law also states that
the ASA is to be updated
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reason or another, the ASA
had not been updated since
1998. In 2021 the previous
BOC sent a draft ASA to
the Oregon Health Author-
ity (OHA) for approval.
The OHA then sent back
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ASA that the County had
submitted. At no time did
the County through the
Board of Commissioners
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of the ASA and implement
it with a new ordinance. So,
when we, the current Board
of Commissioners, took
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new ASA, at the advice of
our legal counsel, that met
state laws and adopt and
implement this new ASA.
At no time did we tell the
Morrow County Health
District (Health District)
that they could not pro-
vide ambulance services
for Morrow County. The
Health District is the entity
that decided that they were
not going to provide ambu-
lance services for Morrow
County after March 12,
2024. The BOC met mul-
tiple times with the Health
District to come up with a
plan for the Health District
to provide ambulance ser-
vices past March 12, but
we were unable to come to
agreement on a mutually
agreed upon plan. So that is
how we got to where we are
today with the Boardman
Fire Rescue District pro-
viding ambulance services
on an interim basis until
the new ASA is fully im-
plemented and contracts are
signed with the ambulance
provider or providers. The
allegations that the BOC
has not been transparent or
taking input on this issue
are just false. Every time we
have discussed this it has
been on the agenda, and we
have taken public comment.
Last year we held multiple
public listening sessions
on this very topic. From
the beginning, we have
said we were going to draft
a new ASA, (again at the
advice of our lawyer), and
follow the state laws and
regulations for adopting
and implementing an ASA.
Throughout the process, the
Health District has been
involved and consulted on
the formulation of the new
ASA. Granted, this has
been a much longer process
than any of us would have
wanted but we wanted to be
sure we were doing this in a
legal manner.
The next com-
plaint listed against us
concerns the location of
the Circuit Court building.
Again, this is an issue that
predates the current BOC.
The previous BOC in con-
sultation with the Oregon
State Court system had
done a review of the current
facilities for the Circuit
Court and they concluded
that the current facilities did
not meet the State standards
for a Circuit Court facility.
The study determined that
a new building was needed
for the Circuit Court. The
previous BOC started the
process and submitted ap-
plications for state funding
to construct a new Circuit
Court building. After we
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Sykes, District Attorney
Justin Nelson and others
went to Salem to give tes-
timony to secure funding
from the State for the new
Circuit Court building.
Even before the funding
was secured, there was a
building site committee
with County employees
and Chair Sykes that met
and worked with the City of
Heppner to identify sites in
Heppner to locate this new
building. The city came
back with a list that was
then narrowed down to four
sites, by the building site
committee, for the BOC to
consider. When looking
to see where to locate the
new Circuit Court building,
the BOC was following
Oregon Revised Statute
3.016 which says that the
Circuit Court will be held
in Heppner. Of the four
sites presented to the BOC
for consideration, only one
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that the lot had to be in the
city of Heppner, was large
enough to site the size of
the building needed, have
enough parking space, and
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site next to the fairgrounds
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ments and the County al-
ready owns the property.
So, trying to be prudent
and good stewards of tax-
payer dollars we selected
the property next to the
fairgrounds. The other sites
considered were either too
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buildings on them already
or a combination of those
factors. It was not until
after we received pushback
on our site selection that the
Oregon Chief Justice issued
an opinion that the Circuit
Court building did not have
to be in the city of Heppner.
It only needs to be in Mor-
row County. Upon learning
this we have since looked
at other sites for the new
Circuit Court building. Up
to the point of us receiving
the opinion that the building
does not have to be in the
city of Heppner, we were
following what the Oregon
Revised Statute says and
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sible. Again, to accuse of
not taking input on this
topic is false. The list of
sites for consideration was
compiled with the help of
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of Heppner, there have been
town halls held on this sub-
ject, and our Administrator,
Matt, has met with those
groups and individuals that
have expressed concerns
about the location next to
the fairgrounds,
The next complaint
that we are lowering our
workload by only meeting
twice a month is another
one that is not true. While
it is true that we are only
meeting twice a month
for normal Board meet-
ings, those meetings are
lasting longer than they
used to when the BOC met
four times per month. The
number of hours spent at
BOC meetings is compa-
rable to the time spent by
the prior BOC when they
met four times per month.
We still have our normal
committee assignments and
other meetings to attend.
Meeting twice a month is
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such as half the meeting
notices, meeting agendas,
meeting packets, minutes,
and meeting setup are re-
quired of the Executive
Assistant, half the legal no-
tices of meetings to be held
have to be published in the
newspaper and savings of
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to meetings.
Next, the nitrate
issue of the Lower Uma-
tilla Basin Groundwater
Management Area (LUB-
GWMA). This is an issue
that has been known about
since 1990 when the LUB-
GWMA was designated.
This is an issue that did not
occur overnight and will
not be solved overnight.
To say that we have not
done anything to address
this issue is also not true.
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we have made sure that
those with high nitrate lev-
els have access to clean
drinking water. We have
also secured $1.7 million in
Federal money for Phase 1
that is to be used in Morrow
and Umatilla County to test
wells and gather data on
those wells to help identify
possible solutions to ad-
dress those wells that test
high for nitrates. We have
also been granted $1.32
million in Federal money
for Phase 2 in Morrow
County to do some engi-
neering work on those pos-
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Phase 1. As stated earlier,
this is not something that
will be solved overnight.
We are working on this and
following the steps needed
and dictated by the funding
that we receive. We also
want to be sure that any
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right choice.
The last complaint
listed against the BOC has
to do with the tax abate-
ment programs for Amazon.
First of all, Amazon is not
the only company that has
gotten an Enterprise Zone
agreement. Morrow Coun-
ty Grain Growers, Lamb
Weston, Tillamook, and
RDO Farms have all been
recipients of tax abate-
ment through the Enterprise
Zone. To say that tax abate-
ment programs are unnec-
essary is not accepting the
reality of the business envi-
ronment in which we live.
Businesses have options of
where they choose to locate
and make investments. To
single out Amazon is unfair,
without those programs,
Amazon most likely would
not be in Morrow County so
Morrow County would not
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million that Amazon paid
in property taxes in 2023.
That amount is more than
the other 19 of the top 20
taxpayers in Morrow Coun-
ty combined. The $21.3
million is property taxes
only and does not include
the about $12 million they
paid in Enterprise Zone
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puzzling that this BOC is
criticized for “bad deals”
when only two of the seven
data center sites that are
under construction/operat-
ing were approved by this
BOC and these two sites
will be having to pay for
any bonds that are passed
for education or public
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sites are exempt from any
bonds. This seems like this
BOC did a better job of ne-
gotiating than the previous
Boards did.
So, in summary,
I would say this Board of
Commissioners has taken
on several hard/conten-
tious issues that were there
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constantly worked to solve
these issues in a legal, open,
and fiscally responsible
matter. If you ever have any
questions, please feel free
to contact any of us. Our
contact details can be found
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co.morrow.or.us.
J e ff We n h o l z
Morrow County Commis-
sioner
WCCC
Men’s
Club
Sixteen participated in
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May 16 th , at Willow Creek
Country Club. The results
are as follows:
Net 1 st /2 nd tie Delbert Bin-
schus-Tom Shear 61 3 rd
Jerry Gentry 62
Gross
1 st /2 nd tie Aaron Ma-
son-Dennis Peck 67
3 rd Derek Gunderson 69
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will be on June 23 rd . Jer-
ry Gentry, Willy Gentry,
and Rick Johnston will be
hosting.
tion this Fourth of July.
The day starts early with a
Fun Run/Walk at 7am and a
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from 78am-10am. There is
a parade that starts at 1pm
and other events throughout
the day include Bingo, a
classic car show, a fish-
pond, and a talent show at
4:30pm, which is open to
anyone interested.
We are excited to bring
back games from Knocker
ball Tri-Cities. These will
be free for all and will
include laser tag, putt putt
golf, soccer dart board, con-
nect four and axe throwing.
Free face painting and glit-
ter tattoos will be available
in the park by artist Laurie
Ellis.
Food vendors will also
be part of the festivities.
Live music will kick off
at 2pm with upbeat blues
by Luke Basil. At 3:30pm
ZG3- the Zax Grooms trio
will bring some down to
sic acts like Sarah Evans
and Dan+Shay, will take
the stage around 6:30pm.
Heading the 2024 celebra-
tion will be River Divide,
who will bring you high
energy hits of today as well
as classic country, pop and
rock tracks from yesterday.
Thanks to a grant from
Morrow County Unified
Recreation District, the
concert is free; just be sure
to bring a lawn chair or
blankets as seating is not
provided. All this family
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spectacular, shot from the
hill overlooking the small
town. Set up your spot in
the city park and spend the
whole day right there with
a great view of the exciting
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Visitors of all ages are
welcome. Dogs will not be
allowed in the park. For
more details find us on
Facebook at facebook.com/
ione4thofjuly.
HCMD to hold meeting
June 24th
The Heppner Cemetery
Maintenance District will
hold their monthly meeting
on Tuesday, June 24, 2024.
The regular meeting will be
held at 5:15 p.m. Agenda
items include minutes of
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report & Cemetery Oper-
ations. The meeting will
be held at the Ag Service
Building conference room
at 430 W Linden Way.
Meetings of the Heppner
Cemetery Maintenance
District are open to the
public according to ORS
192.640(1). For questions,
contact Janet Greenup at
541-561-6768.
WWW.HEPPNER.NET
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DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
375 W Union Ave, Heppner
$265,000
177 N. Main
P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
Chris@sykesrealestate.net
Broker
Chris Sykes
541-215-2274
This single family home, spanning 1641 square feet,
boasts a spacious dining room and living room along
with a family room 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms and
lots of storage. Situated in a peaceful neighborhood,
it is conveniently located close to the swimming
pool, high school, baseball park, and downtown area.
The property sits on a large lot with street access,
with lots of parking and also features a shop. Large
covered deck, patio and a carport. The total land area
is 0.25 Acres.MLS#: 23224220
New parking signs at
City Hall
The new parking sign in
front of City Hall. -Photo by
Cindi Doherty.
According to City
Manager John Doherty,
new parking signs were
installed outside of Hep-
pner City Hall in May. The
sign reads “Reserved Park-
ing for City Hall Visitors
30-minute wait limit Mon-
day-Friday 8am-5pm. Un-
authorized vehicles towed
away.” Doherty explained
to a reporter from the Ga-
zette that the enforcement
of no parking was necessary
due to people leaving their
cars parked in front all day
while working at nearby
businesses. This caused in-
convenience for individuals
who needed the parking to
carry out tasks such as pay-
ing their water bill at City
Hall, forcing them to park
further down the street. He
also mentions Main Street
has already has a time limit
RIR൵VWUHHWSDUNLQJRIWZR
hours, Doherty stated that
“we got tired of it.”
($562)
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