Prineville, Ore. – The Ochoco West Water & Sanitary Authority (OWWSA) board is expected to consider a matter involving the Ochoco West Horse Co-op at its meeting tonight, a development that again places attention on unresolved legal and governance questions surrounding the public body.
The agenda item appears to involve a contract or formal action tied to the Horse Co-op, an illegal, unregistered entity operating within the Ochoco West community that has previously drawn scrutiny over its legal status and relationship with the district.
State business registry records continue to show no active registration for the Ochoco West Horse Co-op with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Corporation Division. That absence has been a recurring point of concern because Oregon law requires entities operating as cooperative corporations or businesses to comply with statutory formation and registration requirements.
Prior inquiries with the Secretary of State’s office confirmed that searches for the Horse Co-op’s name and known variations did not return an active registration, with state officials noting that compliance with registration statutes is mandatory for entities representing themselves as ongoing organizations.
State officials also confirmed that in addition to the registration, the entity would have to complete several steps in order to operate as a cooperative.
ORS 62.025 governs the formation of cooperative corporations in Oregon and outlines the legal prerequisites for recognition as a cooperative entity. Organizations that do not complete required filings may face limitations on their ability to conduct business or enter into enforceable contracts.
In the case of the Ochoco West Horse Co-op, it is also not registered as any type of legal entity, let alone a cooperative.
Additionally, it is illegal under Oregon law (ORS 62.850) for any entity to operate with the name cooperative or a variation of the term if it is not both incorporated and properly designated as a cooperative under Oregon Law.
“[A] person other than a cooperative incorporated under this chapter or under a previous Act of this state or organized under the laws of another jurisdiction may not use the term “cooperative,” or any variation of the term, as part of the person’s corporate or other business name or title.” – ORS 62.850
Despite the findings, the board voted during an improperly noticed meeting in July of 2025 to allow the Horse Co-op to operate under a contract that had been previously terminated by a different board. That original 2022 contract was also found to have been signed by Lisa Logan, who purported to be the unregistered entity’s president.
OWWSA Board Chair Dan Parks was also a member and board chair at the time the contract was executed in 2022.
Additionally, there was no information regarding any declaration of a potential or actual conflict of interest by Parks, as Logan reportedly worked for Parks as the secretary for a church Park’s was the pastor of. In Oregon, public officials are required to declare and disclose potential or actual conflicts of interest in accordance with Oregon ethics laws under ORS Chapter 244.
Park’s is also the undersigned on behalf of the OWWSA for the Lease Agreement for the Horse Co-op dated August 16th, 2022.
The most shocking discovery? The lease for all of the horse facilities held by the OWWSA was for a sum of $1 for the 5-year lease, raising serious ethics questions for the parties involved. According to one source, the facilities provided would at least have had a value of around $100,000 during the five-year term, or about $20,000 anually.
It is also unclear how the Horse Co-op could even obtain insurance or maintain bank accounts to conduct its affairs due to state and federal laws that require legal registration.
The decision last July to allow the Horse Co-op to again operate under the past contract did not include any declarations of even a potential conflict of interest by Parks or current board member Mitch Logan, who is Logan’s husband. Due to the organization’s failure to be legally registered with the State of Oregon, no additional information about the entity could be confirmed, including whether Lisa Logan was still the President or involved with the operation.
August 2022 meeting minutes also confirm the discussion about the lease with the Horse Co-op. “Lisa [Logan] isstill working on getting an update on Horse Co-op insurance. Lisa stated we have 6 stalls at the big barn and 5 stalls at the small barn. Looking for someone to help clear mm1ure piles and mow the tall weeds in the pasture across from the big horse barn.”
However, the minutes do not record any vote or decision, which fails to comply with laws surrounding public meetings law.
Recent meeting minutes appear to confirm that Rikki Johnson is handling most of the Horse Co-op’s affairs with the OWWSA, including a recent monthly report, which started to be part of the OWWSA’s regular agenda in recent months. However, other sources claimed that Johnson had only operated as a manager and that Logan was still, in fact, the de facto board President of the illegal cooperative.
It was also discovered from long-awaited public records requests that the Horse Co-op obtained the required insurance coverage in August of 2022, but did not appear to renew it after the first year. It did not obtain insurance again until the decision last year to allow the Horse Co-op to operate under the previously terminated contract.
Beyond registration issues, additional records raise questions about the operational separation between the Horse Coop and OWWSA.
Documents previously reviewed by the Prineville Review show the Horse Co-op using OWWSA’s official address in formal communications. More recent records further indicate that the entity’s insurance documents list its operating location as the same building used by OWWSA.
Special districts such as OWWSA have limited powers expressly granted under Oregon law, limiting the district to providing only water and sanitary services. Any arrangement that could be interpreted as housing, operating, or supporting an unregistered private entity related to horse boarding services within district facilities would likely be outside of that scope.
Last year, the OWWSA was working with its former attorney after being advised by its insurance underwriter, affiliated with the Special District’s Association of Oregon, that coverages for several aspects of its services related to local POA amenities, as well as the Horse Co-op, presented a major issue.
In 2025, the OWWSA faced criticism for holding a special meeting with only hours’ notice despite warnings from legal counsel. That meeting later became the subject of a public meeting grievance, and the district’s attorney resigned shortly beforehand. The Oregon Government Ethics Commission voted late last year, following a 60-day preliminary review investigation, to formally investigate current and former OWWSA Board members for numerous violations of Oregon public meetings law.
Amid that investigation, the OWWSA was caught again last month holding illegal meetings and executive sessions, which were noticed by the public or the Prineville Review, meetings that facilitated a questionable public employee hiring process. Parks and other officials also claimed they had adopted “hiring procedures”, but those claims have come under question after the OWWSA then made moves earlier this month to formally adopt a set of hiring procedures, a prerequisite in order to hold executive sessions in the first place.
The district admitted to most of those violations in its formal response to a public meeting grievance submitted by this publication.
Separate public records disputes resulted in a Crook County Circuit Court judgment ordering OWWSA to release records and pay legal fees to the Prineville Review after failing to respond to litigation. The OWWSA has yet to comply with the court orders to provide communications between board members. The lawsuit, filed by attorneys for the Prineville Review, came following the OWWSA’s failure to comply with an August 2025 order by Crook County District Attorney Kari Hathorn.
The agenda for tonight’s 6 p.m. meeting do not specify whether the board will address the Horse Co-op’s registration status or any legal implications for its contracting with the unregistered entity.
The OWWSA is also expected to discuss rate increases for water service for rate payers in Ochoco West. Tonight’s meeting does provide for public comment.
Mr. Alderman is an investigative journalist specializing in government transparency, non-profit accountability, consumer protection, and is a subject matter expert on Oregon’s public records and meetings laws. As a former U.S. Army Military Police Officer, he brings a disciplined investigative approach to his reporting that has frequently exposed ethics violations, financial mismanagement, and transparency failures by public officials and agencies.
 board is expected to consider a matter involving the Ochoco West Horse Coop at its meeting tonight, a development that again places attention on unresolved legal and governance questions surrounding the public body.){kind=link}