SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Haguewoods recognized for July’s ‘Yard of the
Month’ in Heppner
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
nurses and techs unionize
-Continued from PAGE ONE
The Haguewoods yard decorated with an antique items,
garden decore, and plants.
-Photo by Kay Proctor
Tony and Whitney
Haguewood, the July ‘Yard
of the Month’ winners.
-Photo by Kay Proctor
By Kay Proctor
The home at 135 Rock
Street was built in 1974
and Tony and Whitney
purchased it in 2015. The
yard had good basics, and
the couple have worked
hard ever since adding and
improving upon that. Mul-
tiple pine trees have been
thinned, but a large maple
in the front yard remains
providing thick shade. A
Littleleaf Linden tree was
planted a few years ago as
a skinny stick and is now
thriving in the backyard.
The Haguewoods also
planted Aspen trees yet
there are still great views to
the hills around them.
Basalt rock is close to
the surface in the yard and
drilling for fiber internet
was not possible because
of it. Previous owners had
landscaped with river rock
which Tony has moved so
that more lawn could be
planted. Digging around
their place resulted in find-
ing an old spoon and mason
jars, some still with their
original contents.
Their deep family roots
in the area are reflected
with collectibles and rustics
from their families’ farms
and ranches displayed
throughout their property.
Whitney’s artistic eye turns
salvaged items into yard
art or re-purposed. An old
metal gate she rescued from
a fence being torn out is
now a gate to their fenced-
in garden. Tony states that
she is the ‘brainchild’ for
projects and ideas and he
helps by building to make
them happen.
That enclosed garden
takes up an entire side yard
and its’ raised beds are filled
with flowers, herbs, vegeta-
bles, and yard art. Arched
wire panels with vining
vegetables also have a tra-
peze swing for daughter
Piper who is very proud of
her pumpkins “growing ev-
erywhere.” Favorite plants
are tomatoes and lettuce for
Tony while Whitney’s are
cucumbers.
The large backyard
holds a firepit, play equip-
ment for Piper who is very
quick on the slide, and
family dogs, Tripp and Jet.
Future plans are to install
underground sprinklers.
Tony’s favorite place
in the yard is the shop and
his barbecue. Whitney’s
favorite is the backyard
where she can sit to enjoy
her morning coffee and then
again relax there at the end
of the day. Quail and deer
are visitors.
Next-door neighbors
-Photos by Kay Proctor
are Whitney’s parents, so
a gate was installed in the
side yard for easier vis-
its. Whitney laughs about
trying to keep up with her
folks’ yard, previous Yard
of the Month winners, and
mentions that is probably
where she got her love of
gardening from.
Yard of the Month rec-
ognition is presented by the
Heppner Volunteers with
sponsorship by MCGG
Green Feed & Seed, and the
City of Heppner. Heppner
Volunteers is a combination
of the past organizations of
Heppner Garden Club and
the Blue Mountain Master
Gardeners. Yard of the
Month has been awarded
since May 1998 to 120
different homes in Heppner.
MC BOC wants to create a clean water consortium
By Andrea Di Salvo
The Morrow County
Board of Commissioners
voted on Aug. 7 to move
forward with forming a
clean water consortium be-
tween Morrow County and
the Port of Morrow.
The POM has yet to
make a decision on the
proposal.
Morrow County BOC
Chair David Sykes brought
forward the proposal. He
said forming the consor-
tium would create a vehi-
cle for Morrow County to
move forward with multiple
future water infrastructure
projects currently being
identified by engineering
firm GSI Water Solutions.
The issue of clean wa-
ter was brought to the fore-
front by high water nitrate
levels in the north end of
the county, specifically in
the West Glen area.
“West Glen’s the first
one, because that seems
to be consensus with ev-
erybody,” Sykes said. “It
needs it.”
However, Sykes said
he wants to focus on West
Glen and beyond.
“As we discuss a pos-
sible water infrastructure
project at West Glen, our
thinking and planning
should include where our
future efforts are headed,”
Sykes wrote in his proposal.
“To have success in build-
ing future infrastructure
for clean water we need
a sustainable, long-term
structured process to com-
plete not just West Glen, but
also the next project, and
then the next, until all our
citizens have been provided
access to clean water.”
He said the consortium
would develop and carry
out methods and plans to
finance and construct water
infrastructure projects, as
well as handle legal and
intergovernmental mat-
ters needed to complete
the diverse infrastructure
projects.
Sykes compared the
concept somewhat to the
Morrow County Broadband
Consortium. He said that
group, after two years of
planning, had put in for
a grant and had a project
ready to go if it comes
through.
“I think that’s the piece
we’re missing right now,”
he said. “We have studies.
We have GSI doing a great
job out there, but what hap-
pens to GSI’s work?
“That hasn’t been de-
fined to me in the way it
should.”
“We’re paying GSI to
do something, and we don’t
have an end game for that,”
agreed Morrow County
Commissioner Roy Drago
Jr.
Sykes’s proposal was
focused on the Morrow
County portion of the Low-
er Umatilla Basin Ground
Water Management Area
(LUBGWMA). Morrow
County Administrator Mat-
thew Jensen said the county
has “specific resources that
are specifically looking at
solutions here in Morrow
County.”
H o w e v e r, M o r r o w
County Commissioner Roy
Drago Jr. pointed out that
the county has water issues
other than nitrates.
“Is this going to be
strictly about nitrates or
about water?” he asked,
saying he merely wanted
clarification on the consor-
tium’s structure and pur-
pose.
For example, Jensen
said he and Drago had re-
cently attended a meet-
ing regarding an aquifer
recharge for the Willow
Creek Valley.
“They’re ready to move
forward with that,” said
Jensen, “So it would be
important to discern that
document.”
Drago said he could see
projects like the aquifer re-
charge happening through a
consortium subcommittee.
Sykes said he didn’t
object to reaching outside
the Morrow County LUB-
GWMA, but he wanted to
make sure the group didn’t
lose focus.
“Sometimes people
lose focus when it comes
time to actually do the proj-
ect,” Sykes said.
He said he would like
to see an Intergovernmental
Agreement (IGA) writ-
ten for the consortium so
the group focused on con-
struction, or “pipes in the
ground.”
Sykes said an engineer-
ing firm such as GSI Water
Solutions had a scope of
work that would bring on
many individual projects
because there are differ-
ent solutions around the
county.
“Over here, dig a well,”
he said. “Over here, public
water systems.”
“Morrow County can
take care of its problems,”
said Sykes. “Give us the
money, and we’ll take care
of it.”
As for finances, Sykes
said he didn’t think it
should be Morrow Coun-
ty’s total pull, with all of
the money coming from
Morrow County’s capital
improvement funds.
“I think there’s enough
interest out there at the state
and local level that it should
be taken care of,” he said.
Once the projects have
a price estimate and general
engineering outline, Sykes
said, then it would be time
to go after grants.
“When this group
gets it, it’s going to be a
GSI-vetted, laid out, esti-
mated project,” he said.
“We want to put a lot
of smart people in Morrow
County on this,” he said.
“It puts a structure in place,
gives us some direction.”
Sykes said he wants
to partner with the Port of
Morrow for its vast expe-
rience with infrastructure
projects and grant writing.
Morrow County would also
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bring grant writing experi-
ence to the table, as well as
administration and finance
experience.
“We’re contributing
what we do best,” he said.
“And the Port will be there
contributing what they do
best.”
“Port of Morrow has
umpteen years’ infrastruc-
ture experience,” he added.
Sykes also said he
wants to keep the consor-
tium slim so it can operate
quickly. He said his vision
would be an elected official
and staff member from both
Morrow County and the
Port of Morrow, for a total
of four members.
Jensen said that, in ini-
tial discussions, the Port
had mentioned having rep-
resentatives from Board-
man and Heppner, as well.
The next step in form-
ing the consortium will be
for Sykes and Jensen to
meet with the Port of Mor-
row at the Port’s Aug. 14
meeting.
“If they don’t approve
on the fourteenth, then end
of story,” said Sykes.
If the Port is on board,
Sykes, Jensen and Morrow
County Counsel Gregory
Goebel will work on an IGA
for presentation at the BOC
meeting Aug. 21 or Sept. 4.
Jensen said that he ap-
preciated the board’s will-
ingness “explore a vehicle
for action.”
“The county is the key
principal to enact change,”
said Jensen. “So far we
haven’t seen the state or the
federal or any other entity
step up.”
ONA on July 12th, 2024.
“Nurses and techs de-
cided to form a union so our
voices would be heard,”
said Kathleen Greenup,
RN at Pioneer Memorial
Hospital. “It’s been difficult
to work at the hospital these
last few years because of
the high turnover of staff
and management’s unwill-
ingness to make necessary
improvements to encourage
staff to stay.”
Pioneer Memorial
Hospital opened in 1950
and serves the small town of
Heppner and surrounding
areas. As a community
access hospital, the public
facility is vital to the farming
and ranching communities.
This is the second group
of public employees to
organize with ONA in 2024.
Nurse practitioners and
physician associates from
across the OHSU system
formed a union in January.
“We try very hard to
maintain a high standard
to provide the best patient
care we can. This is our
community, and everyone
knows everyone else,” said
Greenup. “But we need
hospital administration to
listen to our expertise and
experiences. We have many
medical professionals who
live in the community, but
they would rather work in
a hospital an hour away
where they are respected
and have the support of
administration.”
Morrow County
Health District Press
Release
On July 12, 2024, the
Oregon Employment Rela-
tions Board (ERB) certified
the Oregon Nurses Associa-
tion (ONA) as the exclusive
representative of the fol-
lowing positions at Pioneer
Memorial Hospital:
All registered nurses
and technical employees
(including Registered Ra-
diology Techs, Radiology
Lead Techs, and Medical
Laboratory Technologists
and excluding Medical As-
sistants) excluding super-
visory, confidential, and
“casual” employees.
Pioneer Memorial
Hospital looks forward to
negotiating a first collective
bargaining agreement with
the ONA. Morrow County
Health District has main-
tained a positive working
relationship with the Amer-
ican Federation of State,
County, and Municipal Em-
ployees (AFSCME, ALF-
CIO) for the past 30 years.
AFSCME represents many
of the district’s administra-
tive, laboratory, emergency
and medical services staff.
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
expects to have a similar
positive working relation-
ship with the ONA.
The Oregon Nurses
Association (ONA) rep-
resents 20,000 nurses and
healthcare professionals
throughout Oregon.
WWW.HEPPNER.NET
177 N Main St.
Heppner, Or 97836
O: 541-676-9228
E:sykeschris@hotmail.com
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