EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 26, 2025
March Lexington City Council meeting
-Continued from PAGE ONE Associates, Imes and Mill- Street to accommodate in- are already starting to grow.
er.
A process was put in
place to evaluate each ap-
plication and consider the
balance of skills and expe-
rience for the Board. Imes
said that, when Lexington
council applications were
considered, they left the
room so the other three
panelists could review their
applications.
The only apparent un-
known to the board was
Guerro. Peterson, who was
at the council meeting, said
he thought Guerro would be
a good addition, bringing an
outside perspective.
Imes added that his
application showed a lot
of experience with various
nonprofits. She also agreed
that an outside perspective
would be good.
“Because we get in our
little bubble sometimes,”
she said.
The panel recommend-
ed the six board members,
who were approved unani-
mously at the March coun-
cil meeting.
The next step for the
LCDG will be its inaugural
meeting and board training,
which will take place April
4 at 10 a.m. at Lexington
Town Hall. The meeting is
open to the public, but Imes
said it will be a long day.
“It’s our big meeting,”
she said. “It’s that big,
heavy lift, and after that
there will be a monthly
meeting that won’t be as
long.”
In other business at the
March 11 meeting, Crump-
ton provided the mayor’s
update that the easement for
the A Street property was
approved. She also noted
that the town received a
survey packet with the list
of income survey non-re-
spondents and hopes to
have a door-to-door survey
done by April 1.
Lexington Mainte-
nance Director Larry Hess
reported that a fire hydrant
was struck by a tire in Jan-
uary, causing it to rotate on
the pipe, though no internal
damage was reported. Hess
is also currently exploring
options for widening Tom
Sup
er
ch
community,” she added.
“There’s no way in the
world we’d be able to
please everybody.”
Community member
Eric Schonbachler asked
how the council will en-
force those who are out of
compliance.
“What do you have at
your disposal to enforce?”
he asked.
The council replied
that, if all other recourse
failed, a dispute would ul-
timately go to court.
Another community
member, Dorthy Edwards,
appeared more concerned
with things not covered by
ordinance.
“What’s worse, to have
an RV on your property or
having six cows, four hors-
es, three pigs in a little old
square?” asked Edwards.
The council conducted
a reading of the ordinance
and passed it 3-0. The or-
dinance takes effect imme-
diately.
Also at the March 11
council meeting, the town
council approved appoint-
ments to the newly formed
Lexington Community De-
velopment Group (LCDG).
“I’m just excited that
we have some positive
community source outside
of town council to bring
some community spirit and
vitality there,” said Imes.
The initial members
of the LCDG are business
owner Carol Dougherty,
Morrow County Commis-
sioner Gus Peterson, Hep-
pner High School Student
Lita Nelson, Morrow Coun-
ty Assistant Administrator
Vince Guerrero, commu-
nity member Sam Bellamy
and Imes.
The term for Board
members is three years,
with the possibility of
re-election for a second
term. Two positions remain
open on the eight-member
board.
The LCDG aims to
promote the growth and
sustainability of Lexing-
ton and surrounding areas.
The private nonprofit will
provide grants to support
community projects and
development initiatives.
Initial funding for the
group comes from the Co-
lumbia River Enterprise
Zone (CREZ). The town re-
cently received a disburse-
ment of $102,566, which is
already in the bank.
“So the group will be
starting with a good amount
of funds to start awarding
projects around Lexing-
ton,” said Imes. “It’s pretty
exciting.”
Imes said she hopes
to have the grant frame-
work in place by June so
applications could open by
summer. The LCDG board,
not the Lexington council,
will decide on those grant
awards. However, Imes said
the council would be kept
updated by its representa-
tive on the board.
Key responsibilities
of the new board include
setting long-term strategic
goals, ensuring effective
community programs, sup-
porting the organization’s
financial health and main-
taining the board’s effi-
ciency.
The board’s time com-
mitment will range from 30
to 40 hours annually, with
additional hours for specific
leadership roles.
An evaluation panel
was formed to select the
first board members. Mem-
bers of the panel were Su-
san Christensen, Executive
Director of Greater Eastern
Oregon Development Cor-
poration, K’Lynn Lane,
Field Coordinator for the
Ford Family Foundation,
Alison Hart, Founder and
Chief Strategist for A. Hart
creased semi-truck traffic.
Hess was contacted by
Verkada, a security compa-
ny that serves much of the
area, regarding a potential
camera system for the town.
While not an immediate
priority, Hess is considering
the option for the reservoir.
“It may be an avenue
we have to explore later
on,” he said.
Verkada will provide a
demo camera for the town
to test for 30 days, includ-
ing internal and cloud stor-
age, though the latter would
require internet at the site.
Additionally, Hess was
approached by a compa-
ny offering data storage
solutions for organizing
planning documents. He
expects a demo video to
be sent, which he plans to
share with the council.
Imes agreed it might be
something to look into.
“It seems to be a re-
curring issue for the Town
of Lexington, is having all
that documentation in one
place,” said Imes.
Hess hadn’t received
a cost estimate, but said
it probably wouldn’t be
cheap.
“Since we’re so small,
it would be a basic pro-
gram,” said Hess. “You can
expand it out.”
In terms of weed con-
trol, Imes noted that weeds
Hess said spraying is sched-
uled to begin the week of
March 17. While the coun-
cil had previously discussed
hiring additional help for
this task, Hess is reviewing
the budget before proceed-
ing. He is also continuing
to work on his applicator
certifications.
In her report, Crumpton
told the council that the first
budget committee meeting
will be May 5. Right now,
the budget committee con-
sists of Miller, Beard, Bobbi
Gordon, Schonbachler and
Crumpton. There is one
community member and
one alternate that needs to
be contacted.
The OGEC website
has been updated with the
current council positions.
Crumpton is currently
working on the local tax op-
tion, which will appear on
the November ballot. She
is also continuing her col-
laboration with the CPA to
complete the 2024 financial
report, with the deadline set
for the end of March.
Regarding the May Day
event, donor letters have
been sent, and contributions
have already begun to come
in. Pinegate Renewables
has generously funded the
May Day “swag,” including
hoodies and t-shirts.
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