Cavan-Harris becomes first
girls’ district champion
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VOL. 145
NO.8 8 Pages
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Morrow County Clean Water Consortium holds
first two meetings, prepares for challenges ahead
MORROW COUN-
TY, OR — Morrow Coun-
ty has taken a significant
step toward securing ac-
cess to clean drinking wa-
ter through the launch of
the Morrow County Clean
Water Consortium (MC-
CWC). The first official
meeting of the consortium
was held on February 4,
2025, marking the begin-
ning of a countywide effort
to address high nitrate con-
tamination in drinking wa-
ter, particularly in the West
Glen area.
The initiative, led by
Morrow County Board of
Commissioners
(BOC)
Chair David Sykes, is a
partnership between Mor-
row County and the Port of
Morrow. The consortium
was established to devel-
op, fund, and build wa-
ter infrastructure projects
aimed at providing safe
drinking water to unincor-
porated areas affected by
contamination.
The MCCWC is over-
seen by a four-member
Board of Directors, in-
cluding Port of Morrow
CEO Lisa Mittelsdorf,
Port Commissioner Kelly
Doherty, BOC Chair David
Sykes, and Morrow Coun-
ty Planning Director Tamra
Mabbott. Morrow County
Administrator
Matthew
Jensen was appointed as
the managing director, re-
sponsible for overseeing
daily operations and proj-
ect implementation.
Establishing Priori-
ties and Governance
At its first meeting,
the consortium’s board
focused on foundational
issues, including elect-
ing leadership positions.
David Sykes was named
Contributed image
Chair, Kelly Doherty was
selected as Vice Chair, and
Tamra Mabbott was ap-
pointed Secretary.
While the long-term
goal of the consortium is
to build sustainable water
infrastructure, Sykes and
Jensen emphasized the im-
portance of first securing
funding before initiating
construction. Jensen not-
ed that grant writing and
planning would be the con-
sortium’s immediate prior-
ities, stating, “We’re not
looking to pull the trigger
on projects yet, but grant
writers, some other things
like that.”
Debate Over Adviso-
ry Board Representation
A key point of discus-
sion during the first meet-
ing was the selection of
advisory board members.
These non-voting mem-
bers will provide strategic
guidance to the board.
Jensen proposed in-
cluding
representatives
from the cities of Board-
man and Irrigon, since
some water projects—such
as the West Glen initia-
tive—might require mu-
nicipal water system con-
nections. While the board
was open to the idea, Kelly
Doherty stressed that rural
residents in unincorpo-
rated areas must also be
represented. She pointed
out that the consortium’s
primary focus is delivering
clean water to rural com-
munities, not just urban
areas, stating, “We’re not
delivering clean water to
the city. We’re delivering
clean water to the unincor-
porated areas, and those
people need to be repre-
sented.”
Sykes ultimately de-
cided not to allocate advi-
sory positions to specific
groups but instead asked
board members to bring
recommendations for po-
tential advisory members
to the next meeting. The
board did agree, however,
to appoint Justin B. Green,
Executive Director of Wa-
ter for Eastern Oregon
(H2OEO), as an advisory
member.
Funding
Strategy
and Financial Consider-
ations
The board recognized
that the primary source of
funding for clean water
projects would be grants.
Concerns were raised
about potential federal
budget cuts, but Morrow
County grant writer Nick
Ducote reassured the board
that infrastructure funding
remains a priority and is
unlikely to be affected.
To fund initial opera-
tions, the board approved a
$25,000 spending limit for
the managing director to
begin hiring grant writers
and consultants. Morrow
County will serve as the
fiscal agent for the con-
sortium, ensuring financial
oversight.
Planning and Feasi-
bility Studies Begin
The consortium has
already begun identifying
priority projects with the
help of GSI Water Solu-
tions, a consulting firm
specializing in water infra-
structure. GSI Chief Oper-
ating Officer Ronan Iglo-
ria joined the meeting via
Zoom to discuss the firm’s
preliminary feasibility as-
sessments.
Jensen underscored the
consortium’s commitment
to action, explaining that
previous reports on water
contamination would final-
ly lead to real-world solu-
tions. “We are boots on the
ground. That’s our prior-
ity. We’re finally going to
bring all these reports off
the shelf and actually start
making it available to our
residents.”
Sykes stressed that
the consortium’s approach
would extend far beyond
West Glen, creating a
structured, long-term plan
for clean water infrastruc-
ture across the county. “To
have success in building
future infrastructure for
clean water, we need a sus-
tainable, long-term struc-
Cleaning up the mud.
-Photo by Steve Freeland
Heppner residents
faced a muddy mess Mon-
day afternoon after a com-
bination of warm tempera-
tures and steady rainfall
led to flooding across the
area. The sudden snowmelt,
combined with heavy rain,
sent water rushing through
neighborhoods, leaving
muddy driveways, carports,
and even some basements
submerged.
Despite the potential
for significant damage,
quick action from local
agencies and community
members helped prevent
the situation from wors-
ening. Responders worked
swiftly to divert water and
mud away from homes, us-
ing trenches and sandbags
to create barriers. Their ef-
forts helped keep Heppner’s
roads and properties from
experiencing even more
severe flooding.
The emergency re-
sponse was a true team
effort, with the Morrow
County Sheriff’s Office,
Emergency Management,
Public Works, Heppner
Fire Department, Colum-
bia Basin Electric crews,
and the City of Heppner all
stepping in to assist. Local
volunteers also played a
crucial role, coming togeth-
er to protect their neighbors
and keep the flooding under
control.
While the cleanup effort
continues, the teamwork
and dedication shown by
Heppner’s first responders
and residents highlight the
strength of the community.
Heppner Girls
Wrestling- Journey Ca-
van-Harris became our
first district champion,
qualifying herself for the
state tournament. Kee-
ley Nairns finished 4th
clenching her ticket to state
as well, both girls being the
first in Heppner’s history to
do so. Emillia Cavan-Harris
also placed 6th. The team
finished 9th out of 29 teams
as Heppner is competing
1A-4A.
Damaged, missing road
signs are headache for
crews, cost for county
Contributed image
Damaged and missing
road signs continue to be
a problem throughout the
county, according to Mor-
row County Public Works
Director Eric Imes.
Imes told the Morrow
County Board of Commis-
sioners at its last regular
meeting that he wanted the
public to be aware of the
problem. More than that,
-Continued to PAGE SIX he also asks members of the
public to speak up if they
see something.
Imes said, for instance,
that road crews had recently
seen indications that people
were attaching chains to the
Heppner community bands together to
tackle flooding and mudslide threat
Pictured (L-R): Dennis Wall, Stacy Lauritsen, Eric Chick, Adam Bergstrom, Babette Wall,
John Doherty, Chad Doherty, Tylor Schlaht, Charlie Ferguson, Doug Johnson, Trevor Rhea
and MCSO Deputy Brandon Royal. -Photo by Steve Freeland
(L-R)Emillia Cavan-Harris, Journey Cavan-Harris, Keeley
Nairns and Coach Tyler Robinson. -Contributed Photo
signposts and using pickups
to pull them down. They
then simply unbolt the signs
and take them.
Not only is the issue of
road signs a nuisance for
road crews, but it also racks
up costs for the county.
Imes said he had just re-
ceived a sign order totaling
about $15,000, and there
would be another order for
about the same coming up.
“And I just want the
public to know how expen-
sive this is and the time that
it takes,” said Imes.
“Are the same signs
being stolen repeatedly? Is
it a geographic area?” asked
Morrow County Commis-
sioner Gus Peterson.
Imes replied that there
are places where the same
signs get stolen repeatedly,
and the county had done
some work to mitigate those
instances.
“I don’t want to say
-Continued to PAGE EIGHT
Morrow County officials
discuss legal accuracy, AI
use for meeting minutes
Artificial intelligence,
or AI, has been all the buzz
lately, and it seems Morrow
County may be dipping a
toe into the waters of this
new technology.
Feb. 5, Morrow County
Board of Commissioners
David Sykes asked the
other commissioners for
their thoughts on using ar-
tificial intelligence (AI) to
take minutes at BOC meet-
ings. The Morrow County
Broadband Consortium
had apparently used an AI
program to type minutes at
a recent meeting.
“Not that Valerie’s not
doing a great job,” Sykes
added, referring to execu-
tive assistant Valerie Bal-
lard. “It’d be a tool that
would help her be more
efficient and free her up.”
Morrow County Ad-
ministrator Matt Jensen
said he had never used AI
to take minutes but knew
-Continued to PAGE THREE
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information