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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