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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 2020)
NEWS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2020 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 Hermiston council prepares for leadership turnover Manuel Gutierrez recognized for 15 years of service to the city By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR Durón The Hermiston City Council said goodbye to two members and saw three new ones sworn in during their Monday, Dec. 14 meeting. It was the last meeting for Manuel Gutierrez, who did not run for another term in preparation for a move out- side city limits, and David McCarthy, who lost his bid for reelection. Mayor David Drotzmann presented Gutierrez with a parting award, recogniz- ing him for 15 years of ser- vice to the city, including his recent eight-year stint on the council, a previous four- year term on the council and years on the city’s bud- get committee and Hispanic Advisory Committee. “I’ve looked up to you and your relationships with our Latino community,” Drotzmann told Gutierrez. “You’ve been a strong advo- cate for our community, not just for Latino residents but for all residents, always advocating to make sure we’re looking out, espe- cially, for the ‘little guy.’” Councilor Roy Barron thanked Gutierrez for his Nate Rivera/city of Hermiston Hermiston city councilor Manuel Gutierrez hands a watermelon to a Portland resident in Pioneer Square in 2018. Gutierrez was recognized for his service to the city during his fi nal city council meeting on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. example, noting it would be intimidating to be the only Latino member of the city council. He said if it weren’t for Gutierrez, he might not have run for offi ce when he did. “You paved the way for other Latinos and people of color on this council,” he said. Newcomers Maria Duron, Nancy Peterson and Philip Spicerkuhn were sworn in at the end of the Dec. 14 meeting in prepara- tion to take their seat at the beginning of the council’s fi rst meeting of 2021. Coun- cilors Doug Primmer and Rod Hardin, Mayor David Drotzmann and Municipal Judge Thomas Creasing also took the oath of offi ce after being elected to another term. During the meeting, the city council awarded Sineco Construction of Hermiston a bid for a $357,000 water line replacement project during their Dec. 14 meeting. “We did get fi ve bidders on the project, which was a good turnout from the bid- ding community,” Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan told the council. The project will replace 1920s-era pipes along Northwest Sixth Street, Northwest Seventh Street and West Ridgeway Avenue near Rocky Heights Ele- mentary School. The council also adopted a new fee schedule, com- bined into a single master document instead of hav- ing them spread out over various documents in each Peterson department. City Man- ager Byron Smith said the change should make it easier for both staff and the public to fi nd what they’re looking for. The public should also have an easier time fi nding other information and docu- ments after a new version of the city’s website planned to go live this week. In a pre- sentation of the new layout, City Recorder Lilly Alar- con-Strong said the new website was designed to be much easier to navigate on a mobile phone, and more user-friendly for the public. “A lot of questions I got (about the old website) were where do I fi nd this, or where do I fi nd that, and sometimes I had trouble fi nding things, and it would be things that I put on the website, so I can only understand what it was like for our constituents to fi nd things,” she said. The new website fea- tures a mobile-friendly “scroll-free” design, a prom- inent search bar, a button to translate the site into var- ious languages and direct Spicerkuhn online submission forms to replace the PDFs that pre- viously needed fi lled out and emailed or mailed in. It also organizes information, such as staff contact infor- mation and public records, into a single searchable page instead of farmed out by department. Alarcon-Strong said the city had to change website providers after the Inter- Mountain Education Ser- vice District gave notice to cities that it would no longer be offering web services to municipalities. After putting out a request for proposals, the city chose Municode to design its new site. After a discussion at the last city council meeting about the city dipping below the minimum reserve lev- els set by statute in Septem- ber and October, Hermis- ton Finance Director Mark Krawczyk shared that in November the city’s gen- eral fund was just shy of $4 million over the mini- mum reserve level, thanks to property taxes beginning to come in. Umatilla Chemical Depot gets mention in federal defense bill By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR An amendment regarding the former Umatilla Chemi- cal Depot was included in the fi nal National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress on Friday, Dec. 11. The Columbia Develop- ment Authority — a part- nership between Umatilla County, Morrow County, Port of Morrow, Port of Umatilla and the Confeder- ated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation — has been working with the U.S. Army to turn most of the depot over to local control now that the land no longer functions as an active army depot. A portion of the prop- erty has already been turned over the the Ore- gon Military Department for a National Guard train- ing facility known as Camp Umatilla, but the CDA intends to use the rest for a wildlife preserve and indus- trial development. Greg Smith, CDA direc- tor, said while the Environ- mental Protection Agency signed off on the depot as clean, when the Army did a follow-up review out of “an abundance of caution” it determined that about 60 acres of property along the western side of the depot needed additional cleanup. Smith said the CDA is working with the Army to continue with the transfer of the rest of the depot, how- ever, with the understanding that the Army would turn over the 60 acres later after any environmental hazards are cleaned up. “If it’s not clean, we’re not taking it,” he said. The $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act includes a line directing the Secretary of the Army to submit to Congress a plan to fi nish remediation activities on the depot within the next three years. The Army is directed to submit the plan within 90 days of enactment of the NDAA. Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Con- gressman Greg Walden have provided support for the CDA’s efforts to get the Army to provide the depot land to the CDA while meet- ing the CDA’s three criteria: that the land be free, clean and have adequate water for development. In May, they sent a letter to Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy urging the Army to com- plete the remaining cleanup. Last week, Wyden said in a statement he was pleased to see the addition about the depot in the final defense bill. “This development marks a major step forward for Umatilla and Morrow counties, which have been working in good faith with the Oregon National Guard to transfer the historic Chemical Depot lands and property for multiple uses in Eastern Oregon,” Wyden said. “I’m proud to have worked with Senator Merk- ley on legislation to hold the government accountable and complete the cleanup work so National Guard members can train, and neighboring properties are protected for cultural and economic uses.” Smith said the CDA con- tinues to make progress on clearing the fi nal hurdles for transfer, which include sign- offs from a long list of fed- eral government offi ces that have sometimes been slow to respond. Smith said in the past the Army’s Base Realignment and Closure department had handled interfacing with the vari- ous agencies, but lately he has found great success by reaching out to people in those agencies directly. “It’s really broken the log jam ... I just call them up, and they don’t know who I am, but I introduce myself and say, ‘Do you know you’ve been sitting on this document for six months?’” he said. 32 nd Annual ‘Light Up a 32 nd Annual ‘Light Up a Life’ Fundraiser Vange John Memorial Hospice invites the community to support your local hospice through this fundraiser which Takes place December through January 10, 2021 32 nd Annual ‘Light Up a Life’ Fundraiser Your contribution to Vange John Memorial Hospice will illuminate a symbolic light and ornament in a window display area provided by Victory Baptist Church on Main Street. You may dedicate your light and ornament in honor of someone you admire or in memory of someone you miss. All memorials and honoree names received during the campaign will be read January 17, 2021 at 6 PM on our local radio station, KOHU. An MP3 recording is available upon request. A meaningful gift, your contribution will help you celebrate the life of loved ones during the holiday season and help us meet the needs of our hospice patients and their families all year long. T Light Up A Life December through Memorial/Honoree Reading of the Names January 17 January 10, 2021 Join us for the Wishing You A Merry Christmas 21 broadcast on KOHU 1360AM January 17, 2021 at 6 p.m. & Happy New Year Community Wide Memorial Service Postponed - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - cut here - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - cut here - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - January 17 LIGHT UP A LIFE 21 Enclosed is my tax-deductible contribution of $ ___________ 1. From: 1. Name _____________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ 2. City/State/Zip ______________________________________ Telephone Number __________________________________ 2. 3. * Suggested donation for each memorial/honoree: $15 January 17 Designed by Ella Kessinger of Lewiston, ID. She was the winner of our annual Holiday Design Contest. Donate by Drive-Up This Holiday Season in Our Annual Please mail check payable to: John Memorial Hospice 21 . Vange . 645 W. Orchard Ave., Suite 500 Hermiston, OR 97838 (541) 667-3543 Postponed Your canceled check will be your receipt. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - cut here - - - - of - - Good - - - Shepherd - - - - - - Health - - - - Care - - - System) - - - - - - - - - - (A Division Charity Drive Funds Donated in Pendleton Support: Funds Donated in Hermiston Support: Feed The Child Program Community Bank will match your donations DOLLAR for DOLLAR up to a max match of $1,000 per branch through Dec. 18th! Pendleton 157 S Main St | Hermiston 50 E Theater Ln 800-472-4292 www.communitybanknet.com Member FDIC Please place a light and ornament in the window display to celebrate the life of: 1. ________________________________________________ Send acknowledgement of this gift to: Name ______________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________ City/State/Zip _______________________________________ 2. ________________________________________________ Send acknowledgement of this gift to: Name ______________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________ City/State/Zip _______________________________________ 3. ________________________________________________ Send acknowledgement of this gift to: Name ______________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________ City/State/Zip _______________________________________ 3.
