EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Lexington takes next steps toward joint Mustang JV cuts out Loggers in 59-17 win
Wilson led the team 30 at 1:30 p.m., when the
The Heppner Mustang
transportation plans
junior varsity boys’ basket- in scoring with 20 points. Mustangs host the Dufur
-Continued from PAGE ONE
extra funds to it so that
Lexington can participate
with the consultant that’s
hired for their TSP update
and we can, at the same
time, get our TSP updated
to include our downtown
improvement plans,” said
Imes. “Which is what we
originally had applied for.”
She said it was not what
the town had asked for fully
in its application.
“We had asked for a lot
more one-on-one consultant
work,” she said. “But it is
still a good opportunity in
my opinion.”
The town’s original
plan ran from A to H street,
but TGM is suggesting
shortening the improve-
ment zone to F to E street.
She said it makes sense be-
cause there was less money
than originally hoped.
“So it has to be short-
ened up, and I stressed that
this area for Lexington is
the main issue for safety,”
said Imes.
Former Morrow Coun-
ty Principal Planner Daisy
Goebel, who has since re-
signed, participated in the
meeting via Zoom. She said
it also surprised the county
planning department when
they received the award and
found out they had included
a little extra scope for the
town of Lexington.
“We definitely support
if Lexington wants to move
forward with the consoli-
dated process through the
TGM with Morrow Coun-
ty,” Goebel said, adding
that they wanted to make
sure everyone had accu-
rate expectations from the
get-go.
“At the end of the day,
the town had requested
substantially more funding
than what was awarded
in addition to our award,”
she said. “That little pot
of money that would be
dedicated to the down-
town improvement plan for
Lexington is like a quarter
of what was originally re-
quested, and so I think we
just need to be really smart
and communicative about
what that could best be uti-
lized for, getting the most
bang for your buck.”
Imes said she under-
stood Goebel’s point but
that she still considered
even a reduced process a
step in the right direction.
Lexington Town Councilor
Will Lemmon agreed, add-
ing that it would also help
with future grant funding.
“We’ve been applying
for that grant for three years
and have come up short, so
for us to walk away from
this, I feel like…well, no,”
said Imes. “I think it is an
opportunity even though it
isn’t the full vision of what
we had originally asked
for.”
“It’s a great start,” add-
ed Lemmon.
Goebel said she agreed
but wanted to set the
groundwork of good ex-
pectations.
“When I think about
a downtown improvement
plan, it usually has a pret-
ty substantial economic
Daisy Goebel
element,” she said. “It’s
not essentially just trans-
portation related, and this
scope would be just about
transportation.”
The project scope
would still include side-
walks and pedestrian safety.
It also doesn’t preclude the
town from going after fur-
ther TGM grants.
“It’s a good stepping
stone to go for another grant
cycle,” said Imes.
The council voted 3-0
to move forward with the
TGM joint grant.
“It’s going to be a big
lift, but I know you guys
are able to handle it,” said
Goebel.
The next step will be for
a committee to be formed
for the county’s grant. The
town will have seats on that
committee to address Lex-
ington’s downtown area.
They would also conduct
one outreach meeting in
Lexington rather than the
three the town had included
in its original proposal.
“Because the pub-
lic needs to be involved,
right? The businesses and
the people that live in the
downtown area need to be
informed and we need their
input,” said Imes.
Morrow County Emer-
gency Manager Steve
Freeland also spoke at the
meeting and said he was
working on flood alarms
and evacuation training. He
is beginning with Heppner
but plans to work through
the rst of the South Morrow
communities.
“Right now I’m negoti-
ating with the state to kind
of elevate our awareness on
an alarm for any potential
events, because by the time
I get a notification, we have
about 20 minutes at least in
Heppner for a catastroph-
ic event. We’re working
through some of those right
now but absolutely coming
down.”
Meanwhile, he said the
county emergency manage-
ment department will do
everything it can to support
Lexington.
“Start getting a taste of
what’s going on down here
and who the stakeholders
are and how I can help,” he
said. “That’s really what
I’m here for, is to help sup-
port what you guys have
going on.”
Lexington Assistant
Fire Chief Josie Miles re-
ported that the fire depart-
ment had one fire and three
EMS calls for the month.
The fire department is still
waiting on quotes for the
flatbed truck in the shop and
will be applying for grants
to help with that cost.
So far the town has
only received one quote
for the work, for about
$15,500.
Miles also reported that
two potential new volun-
teers may join the fire de-
partment after the first of
the year.
Town maintenance di-
rector Larry Hess told the
council that the parks are
winterized. He said the A
Street reroute project needs
surveying, and he is send-
ing out for quotes for that.
Hess also said he had
been thinking of having
a space where residents
could bring yard debris
once a month, possibly
April through November,
and he could burn it during
the winter months.
Imes said she liked the
idea of a community space.
“I think it’s really good
to have a place in the com-
munity for people to take
their yard debris and what-
not,” Imes said, adding that
she would be one of them.
Lemmon also support-
ed the idea.
“We’ll just have to ad-
vertise that in the paper,
flyers, social media and all
that,” Lemmon said.
Lexington resident and
mayor-elect Sheila Miller
also suggested having the
service after major wind-
storms.
“We end up with limbs
down, and it would be nice
to have someplace to get
rid of them right away,”
she said.
The council directed
Hess to move forward with
the idea.
The council also dis-
cussed the upcoming in-
come survey needed to pur-
sue a grant for the town’s
water project. So far, the
town had not met the return
threshold needed to qualify
for the grant, but were hop-
ing the door-to-door survey
Dec. 21 would help.
Morrow County Com-
missioner-elect Gus Peter-
son was also at the meeting
to introduce himself. He
said he would not be able
to be at every meeting, but
he did intend to be a regular.
“I want to be continu-
ally present and be actively
involved and have people
know where and how to
find me if they want to talk
to me,” he said.
Peterson said he could
be a resource for county
issues, and Miller suggest-
ed making that a two-way
street with the town giving
input to the county.
“We would also like
to know when and if the
opportunity comes up that
the city could come to be
involved in the county stuff,
as well, in order to keep our
foot in the door,” said Mill-
er. “Because sometimes—
most of the time—Lexing-
ton is overlooked. We’re
the last ones on the list,
and we do have some major
projects that we would like
to keep going.”
In other business, the
council approved Bobbi
Gordon to use Lexington
Town Hall for an AARP
tax clinic. AARP volunteers
would most likely use the
town hall four or five Fri-
days in February through
April.
ball team won its game last
week against the Vernonia
Loggers by the score of
59-17.
The JV Mustangs start-
ed the game out scoring
early and often as they
raced to a 15-5 lead at the
end of the first quarter. Jace
Wilson scored seven in the
quarter, Alakae Rodriguez
had six and Tripp Stewart
two.
The second quarter is
where the real damage
was done to the Loggers’
hopes of winning the game.
Heppner was able to consis-
tently pass the ball inside
to Gage Heideman, who
was then able to score 17
points in the quarter for
the team. Jace Wilson also
contributed six points and
the Mustangs tallied 23 in
total for the quarter to lead
38-8 at halftime.
Mason Seitz led the
team in scoring in the third
quarter with five, Mason
Haugen recorded three and
Wilson two as the Mus-
tangs stretched their lead
to 48-17.
The fourth quarter was
played with a running clock
because the Mustangs led
by more than 30 points at
the end of the third quarter.
Heppner held Vernonia
scoreless in the quarter
and put up 11 points of
their own. Wilson led in
the quarter with five, Hau-
gen had three more, Darby
Spivey scored two and
Seitz made a free throw.
The final score of the game
ended up 59-17 in favor of
the Mustangs.
Heideman finished with
17 in his one quarter of
play. With six points each
were Seitz, Rodriguez and
Haugen. Finishing the game
with two points each were
Stewart and Spivey.
The next game for the
JV boys’ team is on Dec.
177 N Main St.
Heppner, Or 97836
O: 541-676-9228
E:sykeschris@hotmail.com
Rangers at Heppner High
School.
They then finish up
their pre-season schedule
on Jan. 4 when all the Mus-
tang teams travel to play the
Riverside Pirates. Those
games in Boardman will
start at noon.
Broker
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541-215-2274
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$170,000
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Dispose of waste and nuisance items
for FREE!
The Morrow County Board of Commissioners along with Morrow County
Public Works Department and the Morrow County Compliance Planner are
Non City
excited to announce an FREE
opportunity to dispose
of waste and nuisance items for
FREE!
The County is offering one FREE voucher for every Non City Morrow County
resident household. This voucher will be good for one free 4ft X 6ft X 2ft ($15.00
value) load of waste at one of the two Morrow County transfer stations. Note: that
the disposing of large items; mattress, couch, refrigerators, freezers, and other
large appliances can be disposed of for free at any time; paint, Oil or latex based,
and electronics included.
These vouchers will be offered at a first come first serve basis, be sure to check
in and pick up your voucher at The Planning office located at 215 NE Main Ave.
Irrigon, OR 97844, hours of operation are Mon - Fri 8AM-5PM - Or the Public
Only requirement is to present
Works office, 365 West Highway 74, Lexington, OR 97839.
hours of operation are
proof of County residence at the time of voucher pickup.
Mon.-Thurs. 6:30AM-5PM
The Voucher is good for one FREE 4ft X 6ft X 2 FT ($15.00 value) and will
begin January 4, 2025, to June 29, 2025. So don’t stress over times, don’t stress
over days, tackle these pesky to-dos on your time. Voucher expires June 29, 2025.
Only requirement is to present proof of County residence at the time of voucher
pickup.
For information regarding 2025 City clean up initiatives or other projects be
sure to contact your local City Hall.
Iron Order MC Donates to Heppner
Neighborhood Center
According to their
website, the IOMC is an
independent and neutral
men’s three-piece patch
motorcycle club. They are
not affiliated with any other
motorcycle clubs, associa-
tions, or alliances. The club
is not classified as one-per-
centers, law enforcement, a
veterans’ motorcycle club
or a riding club.
The Neighborhood Center’s Kelly Fritz (far left) with Iron
Founded in 2004, the
Order members “Hangfire,” “Stateside,” “Gestapo” and
IOMC enjoys giving back
“Ten K” with “maidens” Calypso and Nexxtime.
to the community, especial-
-Photo by Kamille Holtz
ly during the holiday sea-
The Iron Order Motor- helmets, backpacks, hats, son. They extended warm
cycle Club (IOMC) East gloves and toothbrushes, to wishes, saying, “Merry
Desert Crew recently donat- the Neighborhood Center in Christmas!”
ed 31 bicycles, along with Heppner.
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