Clean-up effort
Volunteer program to use state’s anniversary as impetus for local project

By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 10:20 AM PST

The area known as Airport Corner near the entrance to Ontario on Oregon Highway 201, as seen above Monday afternoon. City officials and volunteers plan to work together in May to clean up the area to make it more inviting to visitors and residents alike.

Ontario — As Oregon nears its 150th anniversary,  some city officials and residents plan to celebrate the event in an unusual way.

Officials hope a collaborative venture between residents and volunteers will help in an effort to clean up the town as part of the Take Care of Oregon Days campaign.

The Take Care of Oregon Days crusade is a collaborative venture between Oregon Volunteers, Rural Development Initiatives and Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism (SOLV) programs.

 Ontario Mayor Joe Dominick said he first heard about Take Care of Oregon Days at the Oregon Mayors Conference in August.

Dominick said an SOLV representative then came to Ontario’s Four River Cultural Center Oct. 22 with information about recruiting and retaining volunteers for the project, according to the Ontario School District’s Public Relations/Volunteer Coordinator Sidni Mordhorst. Mordhorst said Dominick asked her to get involved because of her work as a volunteer.

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At the end of the meeting, a group of eight people developed a goal: To clean-up “Airport Corner,” one of the entryways into Ontario.

The area, near the intersection to the Ontario airport, is currently scattered with weeds and garbage, a fact the group hopes to rectify as well as erect a sign in the area leading to the city. However, that plan is currently in the idea stage as the group works to find out who owns the property in order to get permission to clean it up and erect the sign.

Monday, Ontario City Manager Henry Lawrence said he had been out “of the loop” regarding the property discussion. He said he did not currently know who owns the property but would work to find out through property tax records. However, Dominick said the cleanup would not happen until May 16, leaving the group plenty of time to “get their ducks in a row.”

Dominick also said the group, which includes Ontario Parks and Recreation Director Kathy Daly, as well as representatives from Origins Christian Fellowship, Sunrise Church and Church of the Nazarene, may also work on cleaning up the areas on all four corners of the intersection.

“We don’t want to just clean up one and have three eyesores,” he said.

The group also requested a $100 grant from SOLV, which Dominick said could be used for help with disposal from the area. SOLV also offers clean up kits, which include garbage bags and 10 individual gloves. However, the most pricey part of the plan could come on wheels, since Councilman-elect Norm Crume requested and received the use of the Malheur County Juvenile Department’s graffiti-removing machine for that weekend.

This use, Crume said at the city’s last work session Nov. 26, comes with the stipulation the group would replace all chemicals used in the foray.  In June, Malheur County Juvenile Department Community Service Coordinator Drew Cleaver said one gallon of Taginator costs $59. At the work session, Crume said he would be at the helm of the machine, which was purchased with part of a $23,100 grant from the Oregon Youth Authority, the state juvenile corrections agency.  Crume also said Malheur County Juvenile Department Director Linda Cummings approved the idea.

“Now we know that all we have to do is ask and replace chemicals,” Dominick said. However, Ontario is not the only city planning on sprucing up their entrances. Nyssa and Vale volunteers will also be getting into the action, clearing weeds and picking up  garbage around their cities’ entrance signs. Vale City Manager Brent Barton said the Vale Chamber of Commerce came up with the idea at the Nov. 25 meeting. Though he did not attend the meeting, Barton said the message was forwarded on to him.

“Works for me,” he said.

Barton cited “community pride” and “creating a welcoming environment” as two reasons a clean-up is important.  Dominick said a cleaner town might attract new customers and businesses to Ontario. In a phone interview Monday, Origins Faith Community Pastor James Vogt, who spoke to the council about previous clean-ups organized by the church, said he hoped the event would become a yearly one.

“I would hope it would become something like the Winter Wonderland parade,” he said. “Where everyone knows its coming and is excited about it.”  At the Ontario City Council meeting Monday night, Dominick said another SOLV meeting was set for today at 10 a.m. at the Four Rivers Cultural Center.