Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, June 4, 2025 -- NINE
Circuit court plans Morrow County receives clean audit last fiscal year
move forward
-Continued from PAGE ONE public safety, which togeth- place Wednesday, June
-Continued from PAGE ONE
The additional meet-
ings will push back the
schedule a little, but the
final report should still be
ready for review and adop-
tion by the BOC by the end
of August or beginning of
September.
“I think that’s a good
call,” said Morrow County
Commissioner Gus Pe-
terson. “Definitely push it
back and get more feed-
back.”
The county has also
been sending out surveys to
residents to gather opinions.
Jensen said that, while
he hadn’t attended any of
the meetings fully, the re-
sults he heard were a little
surprising.
“The general consen-
sus was, we need a lot of
healing. We need a lot of
emphasis on unity,” he said.
“And a lot of feedback that
they appreciated the county
for taking these steps.”
“Overall, the feedback
was that is was great that we
were getting together and
talking about these things,”
he added.
“I’ve heard positive
things about this,” agreed
BOC Chair David Sykes.
I’m glad you’re doing this.”
In other business at
the meeting, the board ap-
proved the appointment of
Teiko Villegas of Boardman
to the Transit Advisory
Committee. Villegas is not
replacing an existing mem-
ber but is filling one of
several empty seats on the
committee.
The BOC also denied a
travel request for Morrow
County Planning Director
Tamra Mabbott to attend a
wastewater symbiosis study
tour in Denmark.
Mabbot received an
unsolicited invitation to
attend the event later this
month and proposed that
it was justified because
of the county’s regulatory
role for industrial waste-
water treatment and the
current impacts of nitrates
in northern Morrow County
groundwater.
“This is a very impact-
ful training that several
members of the Port staff
as well as several of the
industries up there have par-
taken of,” said Jensen when
presenting the request. “It
directly ties into the impact
of nitrates in our ground-
water in northern Morrow
County.”
The hosting organiza-
tion offered a scholarship
to help cover half the cost
of the training, but the re-
maining cost would still
have been about $5,000.
Jensen said he didn’t
see the training as setting
a precedent for future trips
but did feel it was important
for the county.
“We are a regulator. We
need to have an understand-
ing of what’s going on and
the changes in this,” said
Jensen. “Having the county
staff have an understanding
of what’s going on is an im-
portant factor to consider.”
Peterson said he had
heard multiple people speak
of the event and knew the
Port was looking at it for
models and ideas.
“If we have somebody
who’s also familiar with that
at a county level, I think
that would be of immense
value,” he said.
Peterson moved to ap-
prove the trip, but the mo-
tion died without a second
or further discussion.
Strategic plan
workshop next week
YOUR AD
COULD
BE
HERE!
The meetings are a
chance for the public to
engage in the creation of
the county’s new strategic
plan. Call or text questions
to 801-388-4667.
Sup
er
ch
The Morrow County
Commissioners will hold
a public workshop in Hep-
pner next Wednesday, June
11, to receive public input
regarding the county’s stra-
tegic plan. The workshop
will take place at 5:30 p.m.
at the Willow Street Innova-
tion Hub, 188 West Willow
St., Heppner.
A North Morrow work-
shop will take place June 10
at 5:30 p.m. at the Port of
Morrow Riverfront Center,
2 Marine Drive, Boardman.
“I consider these small,
very technical errors, noth-
ing that indicates any kind
of a weakness or a break-
down in your systems,” he
said.
Bingenheimer also re-
ported no deficiencies in the
county’s internal controls.
Senior manager Kathy
Wilson, also from Singer-
Lewak, provided additional
insight into the county’s
financial standing. “The
county is in a pretty good
position,” she said.
Morrow County’s unre-
stricted net position stood at
$22 million, and the county
held $76 million in net
capital assets, reflecting an
increase of about $7 mil-
lion. The increase includes
investments in road and
airport construction and
large equipment purchases.
Wilson noted that long-
term liabilities such as net
pension liability rose by
about $1 million, but as-
sured the board it was not
alarming.
“This measures as if the
county is going to pay all of
this today. It’s a really big
number but it’s nothing to
be ultra concerned about,”
she said.
The county’s total
net position increased by
$15,552,917, or 15.41 per-
cent, largely due to govern-
mental operations. As of
June 30, 2024, the net po-
sition totaled $116,449,236.
Most of this is tied up in
capital assets, which are
used to provide services to
citizens and are not avail-
able for future spending.
Governmental fund
balances also saw signif-
icant growth. The gen-
eral fund increased by
$1,658,083, the road fund
by $1,726,290, the capi-
tal improvement fund by
$9,758,902, and nonmajor
governmental funds com-
bined for an increase of
$3,864,575.
Revenues came primar-
ily from property taxes (29
percent), strategic invest-
ment program payments
(22 percent), operating
grants and contributions
(20 percent), and charges
for services (15 percent).
Major expenses were for
general government and
er accounted for 62 percent
of total expenses.
The full audit report is
available on the Morrow
County website.
Also at the meeting,
BOC set a public hearing
date for the possible annex-
ation of land into the Board-
man Fire Rescue District.
On May 15, the Colum-
bia Development Authority
(CDA) submitted a request
to have parts of its Morrow
County property added to
the Boardman Fire Rescue
District (BFRD). The fire
district has already agreed
to the request and continues
to support the move.
Now that the petition
has been officially received,
Morrow County is required
by state law to hold a public
hearing on the proposal.
If approved, the land
will be officially added to
the fire district, meaning
it will receive emergency
services from BFRD.
While the request might
seem straightforward, on-
going disputes between
BRFD and Irrigon Rural
Fire Protection District
(IRFPD) have resulted in
the Irrigon fire district filing
a court injunction to halt the
annexation. Defendants in
the injunction are Morrow
County, Port of Morrow,
BFRD and the CDA.
IRFPD is disputing the
annexation of the proper-
ty into the BFRD on the
grounds that the property
should be annexed into its
own district under a sepa-
rate ORS.
H o w e v e r, M o r r o w
County Administrator
Matthew Jensen said the
county had received what
appeared to be a fully legal
annexation request and that
Oregon Revised Statutes
requires a public hearing
for such a request.
“Acknowledging the
fact that there might be a
legal challenge based on a
separate ORS,” he said, “I
believe that we are required
legally to set that public
hearing.”
The purpose of the
hearing will be for public
comment. The BOC will
not make a determination
at the hearing.
The hearing will take
11, at 9 a.m. at the Irrigon
Government Center, 215
NE Main Ave, Irrigon.
The board of commis-
sioners also rescinded a
previous decision regard-
ing funding for the Lower
Willow Creek Ground-
water Recharge Project
(LWCGRP) and agreed to
funding in the amount of
$20,000. The funding is
for a feasibility study on
the groundwater recharge
project.
On September 4, 2024,
the Morrow County Board
of Commissioners ap-
proved $20,000 in funding
for the (LWCGRP), with
the condition that affected
landowners contribute an
additional $19,000.
However, when the
invoice was submitted, it
showed that the Port of
Morrow—not local land-
owners—had provided
the remaining funds. As
a result, the payment was
denied for not meeting the
original condition.
LWCGRP returned to
the board last month and
asked the commissioners
to reconsider that require-
ment. They argue that cur-
rent market challenges have
placed smaller farmers—
the intended landowner
contributors—at a disad-
vantage.
To stay on track with
other funding deadlines,
the group requested that the
board rescind the previous
motion and approve the
$20,000 in county funding
without requiring matching
funds from landowners at
this stage.
Morrow County Com-
missioner Jeff Wenholz
balked, saying he saw the
funds as benefiting individ-
ual businesses and that he
thought landowners should
have some “skin in the
game” in order to receive
the funding.
“I have a hard time
justifying to the other citi-
zens of the county why they
are subsidizing someone’s
business,” said Wenholz.
Morrow County Com-
missioner Gus Peterson
countered that it was an
opportunity to affect how
farming was done in that
area, which could, in turn,
affect taxes.
“This is a huge poten-
tial in terms of how this
could change what could
be done around Willow
Creek,” he said. “This could
be, if it plays out right, a
big win for everybody in-
volved.”
The board voted 2-1 to
rescind the previous mo-
tion and approve $20,000
in funding, with Wenholz
dissenting.
In other business, the
board heard from Justice of
the Peace Glen Diehl that
the Justice Court continues
to see an increase in traffic
and criminal cases. He said
he thought the increase was
a combination of a greater
law enforcement presence
and an increase in both
population in the county
and people passing through.
He also noted that Mor-
row County Circuit Court,
in particular, is getting bus-
ier, which causes conflicts
with the space shared by the
two courts and the Morrow
County District Attorney.
“I had to cancel court
and had people showing up
who were cited to appear
who could not appear,”
he said, adding a plug to
“hurry up and get our new
building.”
He also reported that
court clerk Robin Jones
will be retiring in Septem-
ber. He hopes to get a new
clerk hired by July so they
can train with Jones before
she leaves.
The BOC also ap-
proved changes to contract
terms with Dr. Emily Jack.
She had previously con-
tracted with the county as
a public health official but
been a contracted employee
who provides family plan-
ning services. To simplify
the arrangement and avoid
IRS, BOLI, and insurance
complications, the county
has placed both positions
under an hourly employee
contract. Under the new
agreement, Dr. Jack would
be paid $150 per hour with
timecards tracking her work
by position, replacing the
current monthly stipend.
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