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East Oregonian
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
BOARDMAN
PGG: Members won’t see
any dividends returned to
them for three to six years
Walden addresses concerns during town hall
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Proposed
legislation
that could help police track
kidnapping victims faster
was one of the bills Repub-
lican Congressman Greg
Walden discussed during
a town hall meeting in
Boardman on Tuesday.
Walden, chair of the
Energy and Commerce
subcommittee on commu-
nications and technology,
said he supported the
Kelsey Smith Law, named
after a teenage girl who
was kidnapped in a Target
parking lot in Kansas. It took
four days to ind her body
after Verizon refused to turn
over her cell phone’s loca-
tion data. The law named
after her would compel
companies to turn over the
location of a phone to police
in situations where there is
an imminent risk of harm or
death.
“It’s a tragic situation,”
Walden said.
Other things Walden
discussed during the town
hall include:
• Another communica-
tions bill is named after Kari
Hunt Dunn, who was stabbed
to death by her ex-husband
in a hotel bathroom. Her
nine-year-old daughter tried
to call 9-1-1 repeatedly in
the next room but didn’t
realize she had to dial 9 irst.
Kari’s Law would require
all phone systems to be able
to call 9-1-1 without dialing
any other numbers irst.
• In response to a question
about whether the Senate
should hold conirmation
hearings for Supreme Court
nominee Merrick Garland
before the presidential
election, Walden said he was
in the House of Representa-
tives, not the Senate, but he
did think the Senate should
hold a hearing.
•
Several
attendees
complained that the city of
Boardman had not been able
to add ballields and other
recreational opportunities
to the waterfront property
owned by the Corp of Engi-
neers because the Bureau of
Indian Affairs had the right
of irst refusal on leasing the
land, but had not given the
Corp or the city an answer
over the course of several
years. Walden agreed with
them that there should be
a deadline imposed on
the Bureau, and asked for
follow-up information to be
sent to him to look into the
situation further.
• Morrow County Judge
Terry Tallman was honored
by Walden for his “many
years of leadership and wise
council.” Tallman is Morrow
County’s
longest-serving
judge at 18 years, and also its
last as the county moves to
a part-time county commis-
sioner system.
• Tallman said Oregon’s
Coordinated Care Organi-
zations have been “very,
very successful” in helping
improve health outcomes in
Morrow County, particularly
in bringing counselors and
nurses into the schools, and
worried what would happen
to them now that the $2
billion in federal money
funding them has been spent.
Walden said if Medicaid
money was like winning the
lottery, Oregon had chosen
to take the lump sum instead
of the annual payouts and
couldn’t expect to go back
and ask for more money after
spending the entire lump
sum. State Rep. Greg Smith,
also in attendance, agreed
with Walden that continued
funding of the CCOs in the
future was a problem that
would need to be igured out
on the state level.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Continued from 1A
from last year’s harvest to
maintain their investments,
but came nowhere close to
meeting that goal.
On the other hand, neigh-
boring Morrow County
Grain Growers earned a
proit of $321,315 last year,
with $207,584 in patronage
and equity paid to members.
Northwest Grain Growers,
based in Walla Walla, also
made $4.4 million for the
year ending April 30, 2015.
At Monday’s meeting, the
PGG board recommended
dissolving, which allows the
co-op to put its proitable
divisions up for sale. By
selling off businesses like
the grain division, energy
and Precision Rain irrigation
subsidiary, the board wants
to ensure those services
remain intact under new
ownership. PGG currently
has 67 employees, most of
which Jacobson said would
at least be offered the chance
to keep their jobs.
“These are all proitable
businesses,” said Jacobson,
who was hired at PGG in
2012. “We’ll get those sold.”
The irst order of busi-
ness, Jacobson said, is to
close the deal with United
Grain Corporation, an outit
owned by the Mitsui Group
of Japan. United Grain has
traditionally been one of the
West Coast’s top exporters,
and is now expanding its
reach to work directly with
farmers.
Tony
Flagg,
vice
president of business devel-
opment, said he couldn’t
discuss terms of a deal with
PGG, but is looking forward
to establishing roots in the
region.
“We want to do busi-
ness with producers, not
middlemen,” Flagg said.
“We think it’s better for
both.”
Meanwhile,
PGG
DEPOT: Transfer pushed back to May 2017
Continued from 1A
pieces of the former Umatilla
Chemical Depot.
The jobs those invest-
ments promise to bring to
the region can’t take shape,
however, until the depot
land is transferred from the
U.S. Army to the locally
controlled Columbia Devel-
opment Authority. The land
was expected to return to
local control in early 2015,
but the Army’s Base Realign-
ment and Closure ofice has
now pushed that timeline
back to May 2017.
Walden and his staff have
been working with local
leaders to see what can be
done to help speed up that
process, and on Tuesday
those leaders gave the
congressman a tour of the
depot, emphasizing all the
way how critical it was that
federal bureaucracy did not
continue to be a barrier.
Greg Smith, executive
director of the Columbia
Development
Authority,
said the phone in his ofice
is ringing all the time with
people interested building on
the depot land.
Just the three separate
solar projects, proposed
by different companies on
different sections of the land,
would represent a total of up
to $750 million in invest-
ment.
“What’s going to end up
happening, if we don’t get
this going, is enthusiasm is
going to wane,” Smith said.
Staff photo E.J. Harris
Congressman Greg Walden, center, gestures while ask-
ing a question while on a tour of the Umatilla Army
Depot with the Columbia Development Authority on
Tuesday west of Hermiston.
As the group stood on the
eastern edge of the depot,
looking at what Smith called
some of the best industrial
land in Oregon, Port of
Umatilla Director Kim
Puzey pointed out the FedEx
facility and ConAgra plant
that could be seen on the
other side of Interstate 82.
If Walden wanted to know
what the blank expanse
of sagebrush will likely
look like after the land is
transferred to local control,
Puzey said, “Just look across
the street.”
Smith said he was hired
to develop land, not transfer
it, but a year later he’s still
navigating the Columbia
Development
Authority
through negotiations with
the federal government.
The latest sticking point
has centered around water.
The Oregon National Guard
will use 7,500 acres of the
depot land for training facili-
ties, and the Pentagon wants
to make sure it has plenty
of water at its disposal. A
study commissioned by the
National Guard said they
needed about 15 percent of
the water available onsite,
but current negotiations give
them about 37 percent.
Oregon Military Depart-
ment Deputy Director Dave
Stuckey said they want to be
a good partner, but they also
recognize that they are liable
for ire suppression on their
land and want to make sure
enough water is available for
those purposes.
He said he thinks there
are “just a couple of small
sticking points” on the water
negotiations left to address.
Stuckey also said that the
DONNELLY: In her 15th year of teaching
Continued from 1A
physical education. She
said her biggest challenge
is convincing students to be
active and be excited about it.
Donnelly works hard to ind
activities students will enjoy
and carry with them.
“A lot of people think it’s
the ‘roll out the ball’ type
thing and there’s no learning
going on,” she said. “These
kids are learning skills and
tactics and applying them.
There are cognitive pieces
going on, and there is an
academic piece. It is physical
education. They are learning.”
Donnelly teaches about
150 students a day across six
physical education classes:
the adaptive class, three
classes for sixth-graders, one
for eighth-graders and one
for a combination of seventh-
graders and eighth-graders.
In each class, students learn
the basics of sports and other
activities as well as problem
solving, coordination and
teamwork.
Now in her 15th year of
teaching — including 11
years at Sunridge — Donnelly
continues to love her job.
Donnelly said middle school
students have a unique energy
and willingness to try new
things that drew her toward
the age group.
When in training, she
worked with students at all
levels — elementary, middle
school and high school — and
latched on to the excitement
and potential of middle
school.
Being the only female
among Sunridge’s four P.E.
teachers means Donnelly also
supervises the girls locker
room, where most of her plan-
ning takes place. In her down
time between classes, she
said she is always looking for
ways to tweak her programs
so students get the most out of
them. Donnelly’s main goal
in each of her classes is for
students to learn and discover
new ways of being active
to become lifelong healthy
adults.
“I’m very passionate
about what I teach and my
curriculum. I’m not going to
just sit back and take the easy
road,” she said. “I want my
students to be fulilled and to
take something with them.”
———
Contact Jennifer Colton at
jcolton@eastoregonian.com
or 541-564-4534.
Where would you go if you died today?
WHAT GOD SAYS:
1. You have sinned against God: “For all have sinned,
and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
2. There is a penalty for your sin: “For the wages of sin
is death.” (Romans 6:23a) “And Death and Hell were cast into the
Lake of Fire. This is the second death.” (Revelation 20:14)
3. Jesus Christ paid your penalty: “While we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) “Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures…He was buried, and…He
rose again the third day...” (I Corinthians 15:3-4)
4. Now He offers you a free gift: “But the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b)
*You Cannot Earn That Gift: “Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to His
mercy He saved us...” (Titus 3:5) “For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God...” (Ephesians 2:8)
WHAT YOU MUST DO:
You must accept God’s gift. HOW?
1. You Must REPENT (agree with God that you are a
sinner and need to be saved). “Except ye repent, ye shall
all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3)
2. You Must TRUST IN CHRIST “If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him (Jesus) from the dead, thou
shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9) “For whosoever shall CALL upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
Guard plans to host up to
1,200 personnel at a time
at the training facilities,
including 120 people there
full-time, and that they are
anxious to have the land
conveyance process inished
too.
“We want to get moving
out here,” he said.
Walden said it was in
everybody’s best interest for
the land conveyance to be
completed, and that he was
happy the help however he
could. Earlier in the day said
that he had wanted to make
sure the depot was on his
itinerary for that very reason.
“At this point it’s
important to send a message
that we’re on it and we care,”
he said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
members won’t see any divi-
dends returned to them for
possibly three to six years.
Some, like Eric Anderson,
have doubts whether they’ll
see any money at all.
Anderson, who’s been a
member of the co-op for 40
years, described the mood
at Monday’s meeting as one
of resignation. He said he
and his wife have $36,000
worth of lost dividends from
PGG, and they’re far from
the only ones. Missing those
payments is especially difi-
cult for seniors, Anderson
said, who have counted on
that income.
“These directors took
it from their neighbors,”
Anderson said. “It’s their
neighbors’ money.”
As for seeing any equity
returned, Anderson said it’s
a steep climb for a co-op that
still has pension obligations,
environmental
liabilities
and a $15 million loan from
CoBank left to pay back.
“I resent that the board
misleads members and the
East Oregonian to believe
there will be a signiicant
amount
of
money,”
Anderson said. “I hope
there will be signiicant
recovery. But they’ve not
given me much incentive (to
believe).”
Jacobson said CoBank
has not called on PGG’s loan
and has been supportive
through the process. He
understands some people
are angry, but that “it
serves no purpose to ind a
scapegoat.” Jacobson also
defended the board, saying
they’ve been transparent
reporting what they knew
about the co-op’s inances.
Jacobson said he has an
idea of how much equity
will be returned to members,
but would not specify.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
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