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East Oregonian
EOTEC: Umatilla County, city of Hermiston
must share full responsibility of project loan
Continued from 1A
loan program was in place.
“We’re working the
phones, and people have
been great,” he said.
The original plan was
for the loan to be backed
using the EOTEC property
as collateral, but county
council Doug Olsen pointed
out in December that
EOTEC — formed by an
intergovernmental agree-
ment between the county
and the city of Hermiston
— could not do anything the
county was not authorized
to do, and the state constitu-
tion prohibits counties from
using land as collateral for
loans.
The resolution on the
agenda at Tuesday’s meeting
offered full faith and credit
backing for up to $750,000
in loans to EOTEC, with the
assumption that the city of
Hermiston would back the
other half of the loan. But
Rivera told the commission
that the banks needed both
partners to of¿cially back
the entire $1.5 million on
paper, however they might
end up splitting it up in the
event of a default.
Commissioner
Bill
Elfering proposed that the
number be increased to $1.5
million and that a clause be
added that made the backing
contingent on the city of
Hermiston’s
willingness
to also guarantee the $1.5
million.
Commissioner
Larry Givens voted with
Elfering in favor of that
resolution, with Commis-
sioner George Murdock
absent.
If the EOTEC fund-
raising committee raises at
least $625,000 by March 1
it will add a third livestock
barn to the project. Another
$600,000 will buy 2,000
permanent seats at the
rodeo. The next $700,000
will buy panels and pens for
livestock instead of renting
them. And the last $75,000
of the $2 million goal would
be used to add electrical and
water hook-ups to the RV
sites provided for exhibitors.
The EOTEC board’s
regular meeting, originally
scheduled for Friday, has
been postponed until Jan.
29 at 7 a.m. at the Staf-
ford Hansell Government
Center.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
HILL: Will teach business classes in Croatia
Continued from 1A
foothold, access capital and
markets, develop their prod-
ucts and expand beyond their
ZIP codes.
Hill, also BMCC’s Vice
President of Economic
Development, leaves his job
at the end of the month, but
the 69-year-old isn’t ready
to retire — not hardly. The
business world is Hill’s play-
ground and the perfect place
to exercise his agile brain.
He will head across
the ocean to teach college
business in the Mediterra-
nean nation of Croatia. In
addition, he recently released
a book (“Venture Finance:
The essential growth guide
for startups and small busi-
nesses”) and he will soon
start writing another book
aimed at helping American
and European entrepreneurs
navigate each other’s busi-
ness landscapes.
Hill will also grow his own
company, Argo Resources,
an importexport ¿rm that
handles Croatian wines,
oils and other products such
as an electric hybrid motor
designed and manufactured
in Croatia.
Hill’s relationship with
the
Eastern
European
country started in 2006
when he traveled there to
guest lecture at the Poly-
“There’s the
sheer beauty
of it. Anyone
who goes there
comes back
with their jaw
dropped.”
— Art Hill,
on Croatia
technic University of Pula.
His infatuation grew as he
returned multiple times in
the next decade.
“There’s the sheer beauty
of it,” he said. “Anyone who
goes there comes back with
their jaw dropped.”
Hill’s brown eyes get
a touch dreamy when he
talks about Croatia, an oasis
of turquoise water, sandy
beaches and Roman ruins.
Hill said he thinks one reason
he feels so at home there is
because of family roots in
nearby Slovakia, where the
language is similar. After
he arrives in Croatia, he
will spend three months in
an immersion program to
improve his Croatian while
he teaches class in his native
tongue.
“I’ll teach in English,” he
said. “English is the language
of business throughout
Europe.”
He has already purchased
a small motorcycle for
driving in downtown Pula,
where parking places are
almost nonexistent and gas
cost about $8 a gallon the last
time he checked.
Hill will bring his acumen
into his Croatian classroom
and as he launches his
second book. He started
his ¿rst about a year ago,
partially to satisfy Croatian
university requirements that
include being published. Hill
wrote about what he knew —
small business. Chair Seven
Books, the ¿rst publisher
he approached, made him a
deal.
“I still wake up at night
thinking, ‘Is this really true?
Did this really happen?’” Hill
admitted.
Hill has eased back from
leading the SBDC as his
replacement, Carol Frink,
adjusts to her new job. Frink,
a business coach with her
own consulting business and
SBDC experience, is a good
hire, Hill said. He won’t
waste a moment worrying
about the future of the
program.
Hill imparted his business
acumen to local entrepre-
neurs and big employers
alike, according to former
BMCC President John
Turner.
“He was a really valuable
interface between BMCC
and regional employers,”
Turner said.
Hill also served on the
Oregon Economic Devel-
opment Association and
Oregon Workforce Alliance.
He chaired the Roundup
City Development Corpo-
ration.
Jayne Clark, president of
Pioneer Construction, and
commercial lender Mike
Short, of Bank of Eastern
Oregon, say they will miss
Hill’s positivity and problem
solving.
“He is driven, hard-
working, ever busy and a
voracious road warrior,”
Short said. “Art has left the
SBDC in excellent shape,
with great people in place to
carry on after his protracted
departure.”
“He’s been a mentor and
an asset for me for many
years — someone I could call
and bounce ideas off,” Clark
said. “He’s been a wonderful
resource.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or call 541-966-0810.
MYTHBUSTERS: Show ¿lmed in July
Continued from 1A
and consulting company in
North America, to put the
myth to the test. But ¿rst,
they needed somewhere
remote to ¿lm the segment.
Gino Smith, a quality
assurance and hazardous
materials specialist with
AllTranstek, does trainings
with Paci¿c Ethanol at the
Port of Morrow. Smith
recommended the site, and
put the MythBusters crew in
touch with Lyndon Jones, the
plant manager.
Jones said he didn’t think
twice about welcoming the
show to Boardman. With the
port’s approval, the Myth-
Busters arrived on Monday,
July 13 and wrapped up the
evening of Thursday, July
16.
“They were great guys,”
Jones said. “It was a good
experience overall.”
Now in its 16th and ¿nal
season, MythBusters has
been one of Discovery’s
longest running and most
popular programs. The show
stars Savage and Hyneman,
two special effects experts,
who use science to test
popular myths, adages,
rumors and even movie
scenes.
MythBusters touted the
episode, “Tanker Crush,”
as their biggest ever logis-
tical operation. For the
experiment,
AllTranstek
coordinated not one, but
two decommissioned tanker
cars 67 feet long and 10 feet
in diameter, with half-inch
thick steel walls. The cars
were brought to the port and
onto a rail loop near Paci¿c
Ethanol’s facility, in view of
the Columbia River.
“The river’s a real pretty
setting,” Jones said. “They
loved it.”
Jones said he checked in
on the set periodically, and
had two employees spend
all week with the crew.
Boardman Police Chief
Rick Stokoe and several
volunteers from the rural ¿re
department were also called
in to help.
Fire¿ghters were initially
brought in just for emer-
gency medical services,
but ultimately took part
in the ¿lming. In order to
simulate the “rain” portion
of the experiment, they used
a portable ¿re monitor to
douse the ¿rst tanker after it
was ¿lled with steam.
After spraying close to 350
gallons per minute for over an
hour, the car never buckled.
It wasn’t until the next day,
with the second tanker,
that Savage and Hyneman
theorized internal damage to
the car might make a collapse
more likely.
For this, they used a
crane to drop a 3,500-pound
concrete block onto the car
and lowered the pressure
inside with an industrial
vacuum. This time, it crum-
pled like a crushed soda can.
However, since rail
tankers are designed to with-
stand severe conditions and
are only susceptible if they’re
badly damaged, Savage and
Hyneman declared the myth
“busted.”
“We got it a little bit
on the third try after some
manipulation,” Jones said.
“It was dramatic.”
Adam Cole was one of
four ¿re¿ghters with the
Boardman Rural Fire Protec-
tion District who helped out
on the project. He said he has
been a fan of MythBusters
for years.
“None of us even knew
it was their last season,” he
said. “That made it really
special.”
As excited as he was,
Cole said he and others were
required to sign a con¿den-
tiality agreement and were
forbidden from talking about
the episode before it went to
air. That didn’t stop the rumor
mill from swirling, especially
after some locals recognized
Savage and Hyneman eating
at Hale’s Restaurant in
Hermiston.
Gary
Neal,
general
manager at the Port of
Morrow, said there was
speculation that Savage
and Hyneman were in the
community, but by the time
word got around they had
already left.
“They were trying to be
low key,” Neal said. “There
weren’t a lot of people
driving by and gawking.”
Neal said he wanted to
bring in school classes for
¿eld trips to learn about the
science behind the project,
but was told no. He said
they’re hoping to get a copy
of the episode to show at the
SAGE Center.
Cole described Savage
and Hyneman as down-to-
earth guys who love their
jobs. He said it was a once-
in-a-lifetime opportunity to
work on the show.
“Who
thinks
of
Boardman, Oregon being on
MythBusters, let alone the
biggest production they’ve
ever had?” he said. “It’s
amazing what they can do.”
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Search suspended
for missing Marines
KANEOHE
BAY,
Hawaii (AP) — Of¿cials
Tuesday suspended their
massive search for 12
Marines who were aboard
two helicopters that crashed
off Hawaii last week.
The
around-the-clock
effort failed to locate any sign
of the 12 service members
despite ¿ve days of searching
by several agencies.
Of¿cials said at a late
afternoon news conference
that the search would be
suspended at sundown and
the Marine Corps would
transition to “recovery and
salvage” efforts. A memorial
is tentatively planned for
Friday at Marine Corps Base
Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay.
“The decision to suspend
the search without ¿nding
survivors is particularly
dif¿cult,” said Capt. James
Jenkins, chief of staff and
acting commander of the
Coast Guard 14th District
in Honolulu.
The search began late
Thursday when a civilian
on a beach reported seeing
the helicopters Àying and
then a ¿reball.
The
Marines
were
alerted when the CH-53E
helicopters carrying six crew
members each failed to return
to their base at Kaneohe
Bay following a nighttime
training mission. Hours later,
a Coast Guard helicopter and
C-130 airplane spotted debris
2½ miles off of Oahu.
The crash was near the
north shore, but the search
area spanned from the
western coast of Oahu to the
northeast corner of the island.
The transport helicop-
ters were part of the 1st
Marine Aircraft Wing at
Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
Known as Super Stallions,
they are the U.S. military’s
largest helicopter, capable
of carrying a light armored
vehicle, 16 tons of cargo or
a team of combat-equipped
Marines, according to a
Marine Corps website.
HILL MEAT: Street upgrades
at Hill Meat would cost $150k
Continued from 1A
of Transportation grant
it received several years
ago for industrial roadway
improvements.
While the cost of making
street improvements to just
the area surrounding Hill
Meat would be $150,000,
Public Works Director Bob
Patterson said he the city is
looking into using the rest
of the money to improve
other roads in the Eastern
Oregon Regional Airport
industrial park.
The council also passed
a 120-day moratorium
on cell tower construc-
tion while the planning
commission
considers
further regulations on the
structures.
During the permitting
process for a cell tower on
Southwest Dorion Avenue
by Kwong’s Cafe, City
Manager Robb Corbett
said he was “disturbed” to
discover that the city didn’t
have any land use regula-
tions for cell towers.
“I felt that it was
important for us to slam
the door shut for a period
of time for us to be able to
discuss it,” he said. “This
is a limited amount of time
and then we can decide
(whether) we want to make
any changes before it’s
reopened again.”
Although there aren’t
any pending cell tower
applications, Corbett said
this would give city of¿-
cials time to consider regu-
lations such as conditional
use or tower disguising
requirements.
Noting that cell towers
in residential zones already
required
conditional
approval from the planning
commission, some coun-
cilors were concerned that
the city would miss out on
business opportunities if
the ban encompassed the
entire city.
The council passed an
amendment removing resi-
dential zones from the ban,
meaning the moratorium
applied only to central
mixed use, commercial and
light industrial zones.
The council voted unan-
imously twice, ¿rst to hold
the ¿rst reading, second
reading and public hearing
at the same meeting,
and then to approve the
ordinance instituting the
moratorium.
The ordinance also
declares an emergency,
which puts the ban imme-
diately into effect, although
the council has the option
of extending it for another
six months.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.