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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2024)
50¢ VOL. 144 NO. 30 8 Pages Wednesday, July 31, 2024 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Morrow County Fair embraces art & culture Heppner City Council talks noise ordinance, MCHD IGA, Featuring collaborative fiber mural and leather crafting and moratoriums in July 27th work session By Annalynn Black The Heppner City Council work sessions meeting on Friday July 27 th covered a range of topics, including a permit discussion for an upcoming event at Bucknums. The event, called Ruckus in the Boonies, is scheduled to take place on the 27th and 28th and has requested music to be played from 4pm to 1am. The motion to approve the permit was passed, but Councilman Cody High refrained from voting due to being the one filing for the permit. How- ever, he expressed frustra- tions with the process and raised some concerns. Cody stated, “I would like to say I’ve been very disappointed in the process though, knowing last min- ute whether or not I could hold this event.” He also mentioned that there were some issues with the new permit process, which could potentially cause problems for the city. One of these issues is the new fee of $25 for the noise permit applica- tion, which Cody believes could also pose challenges for the city. Cody further explained that the current noise per- mit regulations are open to interpretation, with no set time period or decimal level. This means that any activity that disturbs others in a loud manner, such as a noise parade or music in the park, would require an approved noise permit. He expressed the hope that the city would apply the same standards and fees to everyone. City Manager John Doherty expressed his frus- tration with the lack of communication regarding the event at Bucknums. He claimed that the city was not informed, despite the sheriff’s office and fire department being informed. He also mentioned that the last time Bucknums held an event in the parking lot, they had applied for a noise permit at the council meeting. Cody took respon- sibility for not knowing about this, stating, “I’ll take some fault cause we did not know.” However, he urged the council to apply the same standards and fees to all events, not just those held at bars. Doherty and Mayor Corey Sweeny ex- pressed concerns about the late hours of the event, with music playing until 1 am. High compared this to construction work, sug- gesting that now anyone wanting to start construc- tion early or go late would also need to apply for a permit. Sweeny agreed with this statement, but another council member pointed out that when the Bartholomew building was constructed, the construction company obtained a noise permit to start early. Cody asked if they had paid the $25 fee, but the council member stated that it was before the fee was implemented. High emphasized the need for a structured permit process and urged the coun- cil to apply it consistently. He pointed out that even his church would need to apply for a noise permit when doing music in the park. Doherty mentioned that the church had not applied for a park permit either saying “if we want to get technical about that.” High also highlighted an interesting aspect of the noise ordinance: using a horn in town for any purpose other than to alert for danger is considered a violation. Saying this means that even honking to get someone’s attention would be a violation of the Heppner code. Sweeny re- sponded by saying that it’s unlikely anyone would call the sheriff’s office for that. Doherty circled back to High’s initial complaint about the lateness of the music event at Bucknums. He expressed concern about the seniors’ apartments nearby and the event be- ing open until 1 am. High acknowledged that the or- dinance needed revision and fine-tuning and men- tioned that an ordinance revision discussion was already scheduled for a future agenda. As the discussion on that topic concluded, Cody lightened the atmosphere by asking, “Hey guys, what did I miss?” jokingly as he walked to his council seat. Regarding the Engi- neer of Record. Doherty stated that they are current- ly working on the details and have been collaborat- ing with Anderson Perry. Doherty emphasized the importance of hiring an Engineer of Record, as it would be beneficial when applying for grants. John added that Anderson Perry has prior experience work- ing with the city and county municipalities. Ultimately, they decided to bring it to council. The discussion then shifted to the proposed Morrow County Health District Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). Swee- ny and Doherty expressed concerns raised by their attorney, advising them not to sign it. Furthermore, they highlighted that two other cities had also decided not to sign the agreement. Doherty shared a statement from the League of Cities’ legal counsel, questioning the necessity of the IGA and suggesting that a sim- ple resolution of support of the health district would suffice. Cody voiced his con- cerns, stating that the IGA served no purpose for the city and found the 180-day timeline for termination to be unreasonable. However, he clarified his support for the Morrow County Health District itself. Sweeney echoed Cody’s sentiments, expressing a desire to move forward with the county’s agreement but not the IGA. As a possible solution, Sweeney proposed drafting a resolution to support the health district IGA and bringing it to the August council meeting for further discussion. John agreed and said he would draft the resolution. Additionally, he planned to send a letter to the MCHD, notifying them that the final decision would be made at the next council meeting. Though Cody initially expressed -Continued to PAGE SIX Cooler weather brings much-needed relief, but temperatures set to rise again tions return. As of Tuesday Morning, over 200 miles of fire line entered the mop- up phase of suppressing the fire. For Oregon State Fire Marshal (OSFM) resources assigned to Zone I, fire- fighters will lead mop-up operations around struc- tures that were threatened by fire activity and ensure a safe perimeter around homes has been established. Overnight in Zone II, nightshift crews expand- ed mop up, even pushing into 125 feet along For- est Service Road 020 and portions of the northern -Continued to PAGE SEVEN Image taken from Fire Infroramtion for Research Managment System, NASA at 2pm on Tuesday the 30th. Battle Mountain Morn- ing Update for July 30, 2024: Milder weather al- lows for gains, and much work left across Battle Mountain Complex After battling days of critical weather conditions and historically dry fuels, rain, and increased humid- ity was a welcome sight for firefighters at the Battle Mountain Complex. On Zone I, an estimated quar- ter inch of rain fell on the northern end of the fire near Turner Mountain and Tup- per Butte. The southwestern end of the fire near Cupper Canyon, an area of repeat- edly high fire activity, saw less rain but still received precipitation and recorded high humidities. This combination of humidity and moisture served as an opportunity for firefighters to capitalize on after completing what was already a successful opera- tional period the day before. The reduced fire behavior allowed firefighters to ex- tend control lines farther, fight the fire more aggres- sively and finish mopping up areas that could have the potential to reignite once hotter, drier condi- workshops Brandy Linville with some of her leather works -Photo contributed. Art and culture help to make up communities. The Morrow County Art Coalition granted the Mor- row County Fair funds to bring in Artist to our fair this year. We have two tal- ented individuals coming to present and help the public create and enjoy some art. Thursday will be a free art activity that involves weaving to create a mural on the Fairgrounds. Friday, we will have a project you can take home made from leather! You will want to look for Jamie Mullins on Thurs- day Aug. 15 th at the fair. She will have classes from 10:30am -12pm and again from 3:30-5:30 the same day. Jamie has an Art De- gree. She taught art for five years before moving to Oregon. Now she enjoys staying at home doing art with her kids and helping in the schools. She will be teaching a collaborative art project called “community art” using fiber. Partici- pants (young and old) will be using flagging tape and yarn on a chain-link fence to create a beautiful mu- ral for our community to -Continued to PAGE THREE Rising to the Challenge Community Response to the Needs of SMC Seniors South Morrow County Seniors Matter has been in- credibly supported by this community in its efforts to improve the livability for older adults in South Mor- row County. Since hosting its first meal on July 11th, 2013, our senior meal pro- gram has provided over 3,500 lunches to an aver- age of 70 older adults each week. Over 40 different speakers have addressed matters of relevance and importance to our group. Over 100 volunteers from all the churches in Hep- pner and Heppner High School have helped to serve. Numerous partners have generously provided over $150,000 in grants to fund both the senior meal program and the YOLO se- nior center. It's been amaz- ing to witness and be a part of this project! On July 2nd, we dis- covered that the AC for our meeting room at the St. Patrick's Apartments was not working. The Heppner Housing Authority imme- diately called a repairman to investigate the problem. He reported that the HVAC unit was beyond repair and would need to be re- placed—a challenging fix given that the HVAC unit sits on the roof of the sec- ond floor. Initial estimates showed the replacement would exceed $30,000. We canceled lunch for the first time in a year be- cause we didn't have time to arrange for a change in location for the July 9th meal, and it was forecast- ed to be over 100 degrees. Shelley Wight from the Oregon Department of Human Services, Office of Resilience and Emergen- cy Management, noticed a social media post about our situation and offered to provide, from the state, a portable AC unit. Working with Sheriff John Bowles, Steve Freeland (Morrow County Emergency Man- ager), and Beth Leslie (ODHS), they brought the unit from Warm Springs to Heppner as quickly as pos- sible. Despite the wildfire situation causing a delay of a couple of weeks, they managed to connect the unit on July 26th. Meanwhile, I reached out to the Heppner Elks Lodge and requested per- mission to use their facility for our senior meals un- til AC could be restored. Within an hour, all the board members unani- mously agreed to open their doors to us without charge and for as long as we needed it. Thank you, Heppner Elks Lodge, for your generous hospitality. -Continued to PAGE THREE CALL 541-989-8221 ext 204 for more information
