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�¿Court agrees to zone switch

By Larry Meyer - Argus Observer
Thursday, March 15, 2007 2:41 PM PDT

VALE - The Malheur County Court Wednesday approved a request from a local company to expand Malheur County’s enterprise zone but turned down an appeal by the firm to expand a tax exemption benefit to 5 years.

The applicant, Owyhee Produce LLC., plans to construct an onion packing and storage facility on property just north of the Nyssa city limits.

The County Court decision clears the way for the enterprise zone expansion but Owyhee Produce’s 3-year tax break for new buildings and the installation of new equipment will hinge on a final decision from the Oregon Department of Economic and Community Development.

The company will still pay taxes on the land, Malheur County Economic Development Director Jim Jensen said. The court’s decision arrived a week after a public hearing was conducted on the enterprise zone expansion.

The expansion proposal drew criticism from representatives from several local packing firms who asserted the deal would give Owyhee Produce an unfair competitive advantage.


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“This is one issue we really got lobbied on,” Malheur County Commissioner Louis Wettstein said.

Some of the packers did not know about the benefits of the enterprise zone when they did their building or expansion projects, Robin Froerer, one of the owners of Owyhee Produce, said during Wednesday discussion.

“We’ve had several calls from several other (packers) who are interested,” she said.

Jensen said the court could decided to expand the enterprise zone and the next decision would be whether to grant a tax five-year exemption.

Asked about whether Owyhee Produce could meet the employment requirement linked to the enterprise zone process, Jensen said, “if any time they don’t meet the jobs requirement, they are disqualified from the program.”

Both votes, to expand the enterprise zone and to deny the five-year exemption, were unanimous. City Councils from the three city co-sponsors of the enterprise zones all approved the expansion and give the company the full five-year exemption.

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Comment Blog - Note: All Comments Subject To Approval

mike may wrote on Oct 28, 2009 12:47 AM:

" mike ivester is a childhood freind of mine. he had a great sense of humor and an open mind when i knew him. he also had a knack for getting into mischief in an effort to feel a sense of adventure, maybe to escape his small town fueled depression and identity crisis... juvenile incarceration shaped his prejudice, and now we've created a monster who we all want to deny. congradulations Oregon! now you have to feed and clothe your dirty little secret for at least half a century. love you mike "

bones wrote on May 16, 2009 9:40 PM:

" Until you work in a prison the general public have no basic knowledge of what fuels a prison. Gangs control everything, except other gangs. The prison politics among the gangs are to out of touch for the public to understand, who does what and why. You can believe that %99 of all sex offenders are getting extorted for money or canteen items by these gangs.
The Aryan Soldiers are a very dangerous group, but a VERY small group.
And yes, there are inmates that just want to do there time and move on. They are not affiliated or extorting anyone, just doing there own time and maintaining clear conduct. "

Angela wrote on Sep 29, 2008 9:06 AM:

" Hey Watonga,
Since you sound a little ignorant I will let you in on a little secret, not everyone in there is a murderer or rapist! There are inmates in there who are not violent and just want to do their time quietly and not be affiliated with any "Gangs" while incarcerated. So I suggest you pull your head out of the sand and stop putting everyone who is incarcerated in the "scum bag" category! educate yourself a little bit next time you make a posting, otherwise you just look silly. "

Watonga wrote on May 30, 2008 1:53 PM:

" hehe you know whats funny....These inmates constantly hurt or kill other p[eople for no reason...and people like you feel sorry for them. I hope that you continue to feel sorry for them, especially the one who may rape and or kill your daughter, or any other family member you may have. Just continue to feel sorry for them, afterall they dont know what they are doing. "

CMS wrote on May 3, 2008 7:53 PM:

" Obviously the individual who wrote the first blog (KLL) is in my opinion worse than any homeless person walking the face of this planet. I feel sorry for a person like you. Its clear by your lack of sensitivity for human life that you should step back and take a good look on who really is the scumbag! "

KLL wrote on Apr 13, 2008 5:51 AM:

" No big loss, two less scum bags on this planet. "

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