REGION
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
East Oregonian
Page 3A
HERMISTON
MILTON-FREEWATER
City to create public art plan
City may allow
medical marijuana
dispensaries
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
The Hermiston city
council af¿rmed its support
for public art on Monday
by giving the Community
Enhancement Committee
a green light on creating a
formal public art plan.
The plan would de¿ne
“public art” and use commu-
nity feedback to designate
areas of the city ripe for an
art installation. Assistant
city manager Mark Morgan
said the plan would follow
the model set by Ashland,
Bend and other similar cities
that kept their plan broad.
“They didn’t say ‘In this
area we’re going to put a
picture of a pink cat,’” he
said.
The
Community
Enhancement Committee
plans to apply for a $4,500
Arts Build Communities
grant and provide a 50
percent match to bring on a
consultant to gather public
feedback and create the
plan.
“Myself and the rest of
the staff don’t have the time
or the expertise to develop
a public art plan,” Morgan
said.
Mayor David Drotzmann
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Hermiston could see more public art installations like
this one after the city council approved creation of a
public art plan.
reminded the council that
developing a public art
plan was one of the ¿ve
mandates
the
council
gave the committee when
it was formed. But after
the council shot down a
landscape ordinance — also
originally a mandate from
the council — that the
committee had spent months
developing,
Drotzmann
said the committee wanted
to check with the council
before starting work.
“We don’t want to waste
their time,” Drotzmann said.
Councilor John Kirwan
said the city needed to be
thoughtful in approaching
the issue of public art.
“This has been quite
controversial in other parts
of Umatilla County,” he
said.
Some additional public
art has already been quietly
popping up around Herm-
iston. A stainless steel cattail
sculptures surrounded by
river rocks was recently
added to a section of
benches along Highway 395
just south of Nookies.
Parks and Recreation
director Larry Fetter told the
East Oregonian he wanted
to do something with the
large metal saucer-shaped
object that now holds the
cattail sculptures.
“It had been there a long
time and no one could tell
me how it got there and
what it was for,” he said.
The cattails were created
by Chris Huffman, a local
artist who also created the
horses on the Stan¿eld over-
pass, the decorative bike
racks in Echo and several
other public art installations
around the county.
He said he was happy to
hear that the city was taking
more of an interest in public
art.
“I think it’s a great idea,”
he said. “If you can get
people to stop and look at art
you can get people to stop
and spend money.”
He said if Hermiston is
the biggest city in Eastern
Oregon it should look like it.
“I’m glad Hermiston
is moving in a direction
of revitalizing and beauti-
fying,” he said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
East Oregonian
Faced with several
options, the Milton-Free-
water City Council decided
to start on the path toward
regulating medical mari-
juana sales.
Milton-Freewater City
Manager Linda Hall said
that the council made its
decision after a lengthy
debate at a meeting Monday.
Hall said the council
voted twice on the issue.
The ¿rst vote was to send
an amendment of the city’s
zoning ordinance to the
planning commission that
will recognize marijuana
dispensaries as a business
that can operate in the city.
The
second
vote
triggered a ¿rst reading
for an ordinance that will
change the city’s business
Jail website glitch shows
inmates without charges
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
HERMISTON
City ends transit contract after uninsured injury
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
The city of Hermiston
has suspended Hermiston
Transit Service’s contract for
the senior and disabled ride
program and assistant city
manager Mark Morgan said
the city does not intend to
renew the contract once the
60 day suspension is up.
The decision caused
an outpouring of public
comments during Monday
night’s city council meeting
from employees and clients of
Hermiston Transit Service.
“It has confused a lot
of riders,” driver Nancy
Gomez said. “Some riders,
we can’t even explain it to
them because they don’t
have the mental capacity
to understand.”
Under the senior and
disabled ride program, the
city provides vouchers to
qualifying residents for a
$2 taxi ride. Umatilla Cab
Company also has a contract
with the city to accept the
vouchers.
Barbara
Robinson,
manager of Hermiston Transit
Service, told the city council
the suspension took place
because the taxi company did
not know it was supposed to
inform the city that its wheel-
chair van had broken down.
Morgan contradicted that
account, saying the contract
was terminated because
the taxi service failed to
carry commercial liability
insurance on a van it used to
transport someone who was
using a city voucher and was
subsequently injured during
the ride.
Other Hermiston Transit
Service employees, including
Chantel Robinson, said that
a driver was transporting a
longtime client in his private
vehicle as a personal favor
to her. Robinson said it was
made clear to the client that
it was a personal ride and not
a business one and that no
senior and disabled ride ticket
was used for the trip.
Morgan said there was
no way to prove whether the
client’s account or Hermiston
Transit Service’s account was
true because records aren’t
kept of when and where each
ticket is used.
Several
Hermiston
Transit Service clients said
they didn’t want to switch
to Umatilla Cab Company
because the Robinsons had
always gone out of their way
to help senior and disabled
riders with everything from
carrying groceries to helping
them up after a fall.
“Why are us clients being
punished because they want
us to go to another taxi service
with people we don’t even
know?” Jerry Reeves asked.
Mayor David Drotzmann
said it was city staff, not
the council, that made the
decision but he knew that
the contract required certain
things in order to participate
in the ride program.
“When that contract is
violated we have a responsi-
bility to protect our constitu-
ents,” Drotzmann said.
BRIEFLY
Health advisory
lifted for Willow
Creek Reservoir
HEPPNER — The
Oregon Health Authority
lifted a health advisory
Wednesday issued for
Willow Creek Reservoir
east of Heppner.
Water monitoring
con¿rmed the level of blue-
green algae and associated
toxins are below guideline
values for human exposure,
according to an OHA press
release.
Of¿cials, however,
advise recreational visitors
to be alert for signs of
algae bloom in Oregon
waters because only a
fraction of Oregon’s lakes
are monitored by state and
federal agencies. People
and their pets should
avoid contact if the water
is foamy, scummy, thick,
pea green, blue green or
brownish red in color or if
a thick mat of blue-green
algae is visible in the water.
For local information
about Willow Creek
Reservoir, contact the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
at 541-506-4807. For health
information, to report
human or pet illnesses
due to blooms or to ask
questions, call the OHA
at 971-673-0400. For
more information about
harmful algae blooms, visit
healthoregon.org/hab.
EOU to advise
transfer students
Students interested in
transferring to Eastern
Oregon University can attend
upcoming advising sessions
in Pendleton and Hermiston.
Jacelyn Keys, academic
advisor and regional center
director, will explain how to
transfer credits, how to apply
and how to access resources
such as ¿nancial aid and other
enrollment services.
Pendleton: 5-6 p.m. Nov.
4 in room 208 of Morrow
Hall at BMCC and from 12-1
p.m. Nov. 9 in room 201 of
Morrow Hall.
Hermiston: 5-6 p.m. Nov.
3 in community room 134 at
the Eastern Oregon Higher
Education Center and from
12-1 p.m. Nov. 10 in the
EOHEC conference room.
Students are encouraged to
bring copies of their unof¿cial
transcripts for reference.
For more information, call
541-289-2841.
license ordinance to include
medical marijuana dispen-
saries and determine how,
where and when they will
operate.
Hall said the council’s
discussion did include
recreational marijuana sales,
but an of¿cial decision on
that subject probably won’t
come until early 2016.
Under House Bill 3400, a
council’s ban on marijuana
sales after Dec. 24, 2015
must be referred to voters
for approval.
Hall said the council’s
decision did not come
without opposition, with
both motions approved by
a 4-2 vote. Councilors Brad
Humbert, Steve Irving, Ed
Chesnut and Steven Patten
voted for the measures,
while Orrin Lyon and Jeff
Anliker voted against them.
Willie Lee McLemore,
48, has been in the Umatilla
County Jail, Pendleton,
since the Morrow County
6heriII¶s OI¿ce arrested
him Oct. 13 for sexual abuse
and rape.
But the jail’s online
roster did not show any
charges.
The jail’s online arrest
information was blank as
well for Jerome Myles
Minthorn, the 32-year-old
Pendleton man Oregon
State Police arrested Friday
after he tried to Àee in a
car with a woman and her
10-month-old baby boy.
The website also lacked
arrest information for four
more of the 185 inmates the
jail typically holds.
The county does not
operate the jail website.
Rather, Sun Ridge Systems
contracts to manage the
roster site. Sun Ridge also
provides the software to
run the county’s dispatch
and 9-1-1 communications
systems, which has had
some technical problems.
Jail commander Capt.
Stewart Harp called the
website situation frustrating.
“We’re kind of at the
mercy of the vendor to
provide a service, and we
pay for that service, and
sometimes we don’t get what
we are paying for,” he said.
T.J. Anthony Joadam
Kestler, 20, was the earliest
example, with the online
roster showing a booking
date of July 26. Who
arrested him, where and
on what charges remained
unknown. The other book-
ings were in October.
Harp said providing
the public information on
the Internet means it is
readily available so jail
staff at the book-in do not
have to answer phone calls
about charges or provide
information to the public
about what agency made
the arrest. He explained the
jail’s computers automati-
cally provide information to
the vendor so it can update
the website. He also said
there was a glitch earlier
this year when the website
did not update for about a
week. That time, he said,
the vendor’s computers
stopped
communicating
with the county’s, and Sun
Ridge ¿xed the problem.
Harp said as soon as he
or his staff ¿nd out about a
problem, he has someone
call Sun Ridge. He did that
again Tuesday afternoon
and anticipated the missing
information would be
online soon.
CONCEALED CARRY
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Nov. 11 th • 1:00 pm or 6:00 pm
Walk-Ins Welcome!
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Our Annual Holiday Design Contest Is On!
Designs Due At Local Branches By 11/03/15
360-921-2071
Winner Gets $125 Plus Other Perks!
Holiday Design Contest Winner Last Year:
Mattelynn Moon of Hermiston, OR.
NIXYAAWII CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
ANNUAL GATHERING 2015
Thursday, October 29
5:30pm-7:30pm
Cayuse Hall
Wildhorse Resort & Casino
Pick Up Entry Forms At
Your Local Branch or
Visit Us Online!
Pendleton 157 S Main St
Hermiston 50 E Theater Ln
Heppner 127 N Main St
Milton-Freewater 504 N Main St
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*UHDW)RRG6ORW7RXUQH\
www.communitybanknet.com
Member FDIC
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