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TD places sixth at Nike Shootout | A9 ▶ Guess this week’s History Mystery | A2 Weekend $1.00 January 4-5, 2020 The Dalles, Oregon www.thedalleschronicle.com Vol. 229, Issue 2 Christmas Tree Pick-up Wildfire mitigation considered ‘Public Safety Power Shutoff’ plan explained Fitzgerald ■ By The Emily Hood River News The first fire season under Pacific Power’s new Wildfire Mitigation Plan for Hood River and Wasco counties is past, and with the plan remaining in place and next year’s fire season looming, a panel of Hood River elected officials sat down with Pacific Power representatives to discuss the frustrations of the previous fire season and the future of wildfire mitigation. The Hood River City Council and the Hood River County Board of Commissioners met for a joint work session to hear from Pacific Power representatives Allen Berreth, director of transmission and distribution support; Carrie Laird, director of northwest field operations; and Kari Greer, senior community relations manager. Much of the discussion centered on one policy that has worried lo- cal elected officials and emergency management personnel alike since it was announced last May: The Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). The policy lays out a procedure for proactively shutting off the power in certain pre-identified areas in order to reduce the risk of utility-caused catastrophic wildfires. “This isn’t reduction or elimi- nation of all fires. We’re trying to eliminate catastrophic fires like we’ve seen in California. That’s the risk we’re trying to narrow in on, the risk we’re trying to reduce through this program,” said Berreth. Approximately 40-square- miles in Hood River County were identified as high consequence fire areas and included in Pacific Power’s PSPS-zone. A Hood River/Wasco Rural PSPS-zone extends from Hood River and Odell into Wasco County east as far as Rowena and Sevenmile Hill. Portions of Klickitat County are also included in the zone. The bulk of the mitigation plan involves measures intended to re- duce wildfire risks such as system maintenance, system hardening and vegetation management, and power shutdown zones are intend- ed as “the final and last tool in the company’s toolbox, as it relates to (fire) risk mitigation” said Laird. The PSPS would be triggered by certain extreme-risk weather conditions, such as high winds, but “there is not any single condi- tion that drives this termination. Each situation is unique,” said Laird, adding that Pacific Power relies on “situational awareness” to determine a shutoff, and that it is an “incredibly infrequent occurrence.” Based on analysis of local weather data, Pacific Power representatives have previously stated that a PSPS would not have occurred in Hood River County anytime within the last 10 years. In response to a question by Council Member Megan Saunders, Berreth said that system hardening could eliminate the need for the PSPS. “So, there is a point in the future where this is something we would never have to do?” Saunders asked. “I would say that’s the objective,” Berreth said. “It goes against a Residents of The Dalles can easily dispose of their Christmas tree Saturday, Jan. 11, by placing it curbside by 9 a.m. for pick-up by The Dalles Lions Club volunteers and The Dalles Disposal. Volunteers will knock on doors for donations or leave a door hangar. The annual Christmas Tree Pick-up is a fundraiser for Lions Club pro- grams, and all proceeds are used in the community, said organizer Bill Hamilton. The tree pick-up began in 1972, and since 1988 has been supported by The Dalles Disposal, which provides equipment and crews for the fundraiser. Over $75,000 has been raised since the fundraiser began, said Hamilton. Pictured above are, left to right, Hamilton, representing the Lions Club and Ted Palmer and Devin Crye with The Dalles Disposal. Mark B. Gibson photo 2019 See WILDFIRE, page A4 INSIDE a Year in Review Gibson ■ By The Mark Dalles Chronicle W HERE 2018 WENT down in history as a summer of fire following a series of destructive wildfires, 2019 was a cooler and calmer year. The 2019 Neon Cruise went off without a hitch, in contrast to the previous year when bystanders were injured in a crash. But as the festivities wrapped up, a violent thunder storm moved through town, dumping record amounts of rain and flooding the city’s water treatment facility and downtown streets. That storm played a role in the collapse of the roof of a down- town building under restoration when the storm struck, closing one lane of Second Street and result- ing in a partial demolition of the building. In October, Congressman Greg Walden, R-Hood River announced he won’t seek re-election. His announcement continues to have repercussions in the region with the approach of the 2020 general election. Following are highlights from the second half of 2019, July through December. A review of the first half of the year was published Jan. 1 and is available online at www.thedalleschronicle.com. Sierra Jenkins, 18, a resident of Dallesport, watches vintage cars on Second Street during Neon Cruise Aug. 9, 2019. Following the cruise, a thunderstorm flooded the streets, setting off a chain events that resulted in partial shutdown of Second Street for almost three months. Mark B. Gibson photo/file and Kennedy/Jenks designed and built the facility under a single contract, with the city involved throughout. In what a detective said is the largest seizure of methamphet- amine ever in The Dalles, a local man was arrested after a search JULY warrant revealed 3.4 pounds of The city of The Dalles celebrated meth and 22 pounds of marijuana in his home. the completion of the 2 1/2 year, The Dalles Police Department be- $14 million upgrade of the city sewer plant July 30. The project gan looking for an armored vehicle increased capacity of the plant to provide defensive protection for from 7.4 to 13.2 million gallons per officers and citizens alike, as the day with new pumps, screening police chief told officials he felt the systems and sewage processing city was on borrowed time in terms infrastructure. The project also of unacceptable risk to officers. added a “co-generation” capacity Also in July: to the plant, generating electricity • A new mural on the south from the methane gas released wall of The Dalles Chronicle will during treatment. The project feature iconic locations in town, was the first use of a “progressive hand painted in acrylic onto large design/build” process in Oregon, wall panels from a black and white in which Mortenson Construction photo montage created by Portland History Opinion Senior Calendar A2 A4 A6 artist Beth Kerschen. there would be no tolerance for reckless or dangerous behavior at this year’s cruise on Friday, Aug. 9. AUGUST On Aug. 9, a Neon Night deluge that saw .79 inches of rain fall in The first two RVs towed under a new city ordinance were removed, just 20 minutes flooded parts of downtown The Dalles and put the and one of them had a person in city’s sewer treatment plant off line it who walked away with a few be- longings after telling a police officer for five and a half hours. The sidewalk and one travel lane the removal was “a bunch of bull-- --.” The Dalles Traffic Safety Officer in front of the Recreation Building downtown on East Second Street Jeff Kienlen said the man who had to vacate his RV had “spray-painted were blocked off after it was learned several derogatory comments about the front of the building was sagging and possibly at risk of collapse. the city of The Dalles stealing his Project managers suggested the home on the inside and outside of heavy rains the week before played the motorhome.” a role in the partial collapse. The driver who crashed at the Later in the month, The Dalles Neon Cruise in 2018, seriously Urban Renewal Agency learned injuring several people, was sen- that an estimated 11.6 tons of tenced to 45 days in jail, ordered to water weight fell on the Recreation pay over $71,000 in restitution and given a one-year license suspension. Building’s roof during the storm, Following the sentencing The Dalles Police Department announced See 2019, page A3 Obituaries Comics Sports A7 A8 A9
