SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Heppner council meeting March 10
-Continued from PAGE ONE
about,” he said, admitting,
“If we reach the point where
we create too much havoc at
the park area, then that’s not
going to work.”
Street showed a “bare
bones” footprint of the
building and pointed out
that off-street parking took
up a chunk of space that
would be freed up if the
parking weren’t required.
Kuhn said the city park
is attractive because the
library provides wi-fi to the
park area, and they would
like to build a stage or per-
formance area as part of the
new building.
“But it does take up
park space, and ultimately
that’s going to be a coun-
cil decision,” said Kuhn.
“We’re just in concept right
now, but we need to know
what the city thinks.”
Barring that, he sug-
gested the city’s lot at Chase
and May streets. That lot is
in the flood plain, unlike
the park, and would require
about 11 spaces of off-street
parking.
“Those are probably
the most buildable areas to
keep the library downtown,
to keep it accessible to the
public,” said Kuhn.
Heppner City Coun-
cilor Ian Murray said his
biggest concern is the trees.
“I think they are the
oldest trees in town,” he
said.
“And two of them are
right in the center of where
the building would be,”
added Heppner City Man-
ager John Doherty. “It’s
hard to replace the trees.”
Heppner Mayor Corey
Sweeney said he thought it
would be a good topic for
the next economic develop-
ment meeting, where they
could “hash out” details and
bring something back to the
council.
Also at the March 10
meeting, the council vot-
ed unanimously to move
forward with a contract
with Granite Construction
for chip sealing and center
striping city streets, pend-
ing the end of the award
protest period.
On Feb. 28, the Hep-
pner City Council held a
special meeting to open
sealed bids for a chip-seal
project covering 35,000
square yards of city streets,
excluding center line strip-
ing. Six bids were received:
High Desert Aggregate and
Paving, $204,500; CR Con-
tracting, $383,750; Granite
Construction, $181,749; Si-
erra Sante Fe Corporation,
$199,977.77; Harney Rock
and Paving, $196,150; and
Doolittle Construction,
$216,650.
The council voted
unanimously to issue a
notice of intent to award
to Granite Construction
for $193,999, including
center line striping. John
Doherty told the council at
the March 10 meeting that
the protest period for the
award was still open but
that he didn’t expect any
issues.
The council also ap-
proved up to $20,000 for
chip rock purchase for the
work, since that would be
cheaper than purchasing
rock through the contractor.
Doherty said he was still
waiting on a bid from one
supplier.
He also said the com-
bined costs of contract and
rock are still below budget
on the project.
The council also ap-
proved additions to the
city’s Water System Master
Plan (WSMP) high prior-
ity list, bumping the es-
timate for high priority
items from $10,233,000 to
$10,906,000.
“Just because it’s on
the high priority list doesn’t
mean we have to spend it,”
County authorizes recycling
haulers for new program
State law aims to make recycling easier, more
accessible
A possible footprint of a new library building on the city’s
lot at Chase and May. -Contributed
A possible footprint of a new library building at Heppner
City Park. -Contributed
OTLD Director Kathy Street.
-Contributed
said Doherty, “but it does
increase (the estimate) by
$673,000.”
The projected estimates
are in 2027 dollars adjusted
for inflation.
During a special Hep-
pner City Council meeting
Feb. 28, the council au-
thorized Dane Maben of
engineering firm Anderson
Perry and Associates to
submit the city’s WSMP to
Oregon Health Authority
Drinking Water Services
for review pending minor
corrections.
The council also gave
approval for Maben, Hep-
pner Public Works Director
Chad Doherty and John
Doherty to schedule a one-
stop meeting through Busi-
ness Oregon to explore
funding sources. Maben
will produce a PowerPoint
summary of the master
plan, after which funding
agencies will present their
options.
In other business, the
council approved the pur-
chase of a new Kohler
mower from Inland Turf of
La Grande for $18,250.
Also at the special
meeting on Feb. 28, the
Heppner City Council
discussed the distribution
of Columbia River Enter-
prise Zone (CREZ) funds
amounting to $539,484.
The council approved the
following distributions:
$50,000 to the city park
project, $50,000 to the fire
reserve, $100,000 to the
sewer reserve, $100,000 to
the street reserve, $200,000
to the water reserve, and
$39,484 to the fleet reserve.
In other business:
Heppner Fire Chief
Steve Rhea reported he
plans to step down as fire
chief at the end of this year.
He said he would like to
retain a spot, possibly as
fire marshal, to continue
his smoke detector project,
grant writing and other
miscellaneous work for the
department.
Rhea reported that Feb-
ruary started slowly, with
only eight calls for the
month—two lift assists,
one secure landing zone,
one controlled burn inside
city limits, one non-injury
motor vehicle accident, two
flood assessments on upper
Hinton Creek and one flood
abatement on Fairview
Way. There have been 28
calls so far in 2025, along
with 28 fire chief calls.
Rhea also reported that
he submitted the response
packet to the Oregon State
Fire Marshal for the de-
partment’s California de-
ployment. Heppner Fire
Department also hosted a
two-day Firefighter 1 acad-
emy for four departments.
Morrow County Sher-
iff’s Office Lt. Nathan Braun
reported that the Heppner
deputy on day shift served
140 hours, while weekend/
night shift served 139. Oth-
er miscellaneous deputies
served 113 hours, for a total
of 393 hours.
There were 12 dog
complaints, 49 traffic stops
with 28 warnings and one
citation in February. Total
number of incidents for the
month was 133.
Braun also said the de-
partment has hired a new
deputy, who started training
this week.
Chad Doherty reported
that, among other duties,
the public works depart-
ment responded to a hit
fire hydrant on Sperry St.,
responded to several frozen
meters, and completed the
Oregon Water Resources
75 percent grant for new
meters at wells two and
three. The grant was ap-
proved and sent to Salem
for processing.
Public works also paint-
ed the shamrock, responded
to snow on multiple days,
cleaned streets, started re-
pairing and painting the
Heppner sign at Heritage
Plaza and responded to
flooding on Fairview Way.
In his city manager’s
report, John Doherty report-
ed a busy month including
communication with busi-
nesses, government entities
and residents regarding the
new courthouse. He also
researched the feasibility
of a future new library at
Heppner City Park, worked
on the chip seal project,
communicated with legisla-
tors on pertinent legislation,
received ongoing feral cat
complaints, conducted pre-
liminary work on the fiscal
year 2026 budget and at-
tended numerous meetings
among other duties.
The next regular meet-
ing of the Heppner City
Council is scheduled for
April 14 at 7 p.m.
By Andrea Di Salvo
The Morrow County
Board of Commissioners
approved two local recy-
cling haulers as authorized
service providers March 5
as part of a statewide effort
to modernize recycling
in Oregon. Commission-
ers voted 2-0 to authorize
Miller and Sons in South
Morrow and Waste Man-
agement/Sanitary Disposal
in North Morrow.
The move was in re-
sponse to the Plastic Pol-
lution and Recycling Mod-
ernization Act, which aims
to update Oregon’s recy-
cling system.
“The state is basically
going to get ahold of all our
producers of plastic,” said
Sandra Pointer, formerly
the Morrow County Public
Works Administrative Man-
ager and now the county’s
risk and procurement man-
ager. “There’s going to be
some funds available for
counties and entities to re-
ceive funding for receiving
this recyclable material.”
The law (Senate Bill
582) was passed during
the Oregon Legislature’s
2021 session. The new law
became effective Jan. 1,
2022, and recycling pro-
gram changes will start in
July of this year.
The goal is to make
recycling easier for the
public to use, expand ac-
cess to recycling services,
upgrade the facilities that
sort recyclables, and create
environmental benefits.
Some higher-population
areas like Boardman and
Hermiston will receive
curbside recycling service.
More rural areas will still
see an upgrade in recycling
availability.
The bill also requires
manufacturers of paper and
plastic packaging products
to help pay for recycling
programs.
Pointer said the down-
side will likely be a higher
cost of goods as producers
pass on the cost. However,
she said she felt the change
was basically positive.
“Right now, we don’t
have the funds to haul it,”
she said. “We do want to
collect it and get it disposed
of properly.”
“I know we’re rural. I
know it’s hard to get this
stuff out, but I like to see
this coming in,” added
Pointer.
Pointer told the com-
missioners that there is a
certain amount of funding
each county or region can
receive. In addition, local
haulers can receive their
own producer responsi-
bility organization (PRO)
funding.
Local governments can
choose to receive PRO
compensation directly and
distribute it to service pro-
viders or other eligible en-
tities, or they can authorize
these entities to receive
funding directly from the
PRO.
Morrow County opted
to authorize Miller and
Sons and Waste Manage-
ment to receive the PRO
funds directly. This could
help haulers a lot as costs
rise; Pointer said recycling
containers, for instance, are
now around $15,000 each
“This gives authori-
zation for them to get ac-
cess to funding for them to
get recycling bins, maybe
trucks, maybe extra peo-
ple,” she said.
The county also re-
mains eligible for its own
funding to upgrade recy-
cling systems.
The two commission-
ers present also revisited
Morrow County’s stance on
artificial intelligence (AI)
when they discussed a draft
policy regarding the use of
AI in county government.
Morrow County BOC
Chair David Sykes said he
wasn’t looking for approval
of a policy at the March 5
meeting, but he wanted the
board and staff to discuss
what AI is going to be used
for in the county. He said he
personally has been using
AI like ChatGPT for two
years.
“I find it really useful in
business,” he said.
Sykes said he thought
it could make the county
workforce more efficient,
and that he suspected there
might already be employees
using it. He said he wanted
to discuss what AI applica-
tions are out there and what
other counties are doing
with AI.
“It’s not going away,”
Sykes added. “There will
be more and more.”
He said his hope was
that commissioners could
sit down with staff and dis-
cuss how AI could be used
and then write a policy to
reflect that.
“We don’t want to break
any laws or go against any
HR rules,” Sykes added.
Morrow County Hu-
man Resources Director
Lindsay Grogan said she
also wasn’t ready for the
policy to be approved and
thought a team would be
beneficial.
“More people are going
to be using it,” agreed Gro-
gan. “I think our role is just
making sure we’re using
it responsibly, legally and
ethically for the county.”
Grogan had presented a
draft policy at the meeting,
and Morrow County Com-
missioner Gus Peterson
said he thought the draft
was a good way to start.
“It seems like we’re in
a good spot to start with,”
he said.
By consensus, the
board agreed that Sykes,
Grogan and Morrow Coun-
ty Administrator Matt Jen-
sen should form the team to
work on the policy.
Also at the meeting,
the BOC approved several
full-time equivalent and
reclassification requests
for the coming fiscal year.
Grogan said the personnel
review committee had re-
ceived nine requests and
narrowed them down to
four recommendations.
The approved requests
included a weed control
applicator, janitor, human
resource assistant and dis-
trict attorney legal assis-
tant.
The total cost for the
county is $504,885, which
includes a previous out-of-
cycle approval of $138,385
for the risk & procurement
manager.
The BOC also ratified
the 2024-2028 collective
bargaining agreement with
Morrow County general
employees, Local 2479-
002.
“This process did take
nearly 10 months, and it
had extensive discussions,”
said Grogan, “but I think in
the end we aligned priori-
ties and were able to come
to a mutual agreement.”
Morrow County Public
Works Director Eric Imes
reported the road crew ded-
icated numerous days to
plowing and sanding roads
in February. Additional
tasks included removing
and burning weeds along
shoulders and ditches, pot-
hole patching, replacing
road signs, and repairing
culverts and cattle guards.
The blade operators
also began blading grav-
el roads to improve road
conditions. Meanwhile,
staff approved several per-
mits for work in the right-
of-way, approaches and
utilities, including for the
Boardman-to-Heminway
(B2H) transmission line
project.
During public com-
ment at the meeting,
North Morrow resident
Sue Oliver said she was
concerned about the local
government’s failure to
do its “most basic func-
tions.” Specifically, she
said she was concerned
about recent events at the
Columbia Development
Authority.
“I am horrified by
what’s happening on that
board,” she said, adding
that she only saw one out
of five board members
advocating for the public
at the last meeting. “My
representative, the Morrow
County Representative, sat
there in utter silence the
whole meeting.”
“We elect you to repre-
sent us,” she added.
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