REGION
Friday, June 17, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PENDLETON
Fire chief lists six possible station sites
Old St. Anthony Hospital Til Taylor Park
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
After negotiations fell through
with St. Anthony Hospital over
donating its old site, Pendleton
City Council tasked Fire Chief
Mike Ciraulo with identifying
other places to build a ire hall.
He came back with six.
Starting Tuesday at 9 a.m., the
ire department will host a series
of public meetings to collect
public input for the city council
to consider when zeroing in on a
property and a possible May 2017
bond proposal.
The old St. Anthony Hospital
land is still an option, but the other
ive sites are new proposals, a
result of property owners soliciting
their land in recent months.
Previous sites were analyzed
for response times by a consultant,
but Ciraulo said a new report
isn’t necessary. The initial report
determined that a new ire station
should be closest to the intersection
of Main Street and Dorion Avenue,
and Ciraulo said the new sites are
in close proximity.
However, many of the new
proposals are not shovel ready.
Ciraulo said putting a new
ire station at the old Pendleton
Grain Growers building would
present some particular challenges,
including $1.5 million to $2 million
Address: 1601 S.E. Court Ave.
Size: 1.07 acres
Anticipated acquisition cost:
$387,000
Pros: Suficient land to allow
training area, drive-through bays
and parking bays; easy access to
Highway 30
Cons: Property cost; would
require new street (Southeast
15th Avenue); signiicant site
improvement costs; site is east of
the preferred location; railroad
adjacent
Old Bi-Mart
Staff photo by Drew Langton
Til Taylor Park is one of six sites Pendleton Fire Chief Mike Ciraulo
identiied as possible locations to build a new ire hall.
in seismic upgrades.
While there is a state grant the
city could apply for to help pay for
those costs, Ciraulo said it might
be easier to build the ire station in
the PGG parking lot and leave the
structures untouched.
Even though some residents
have suggested renovating the
current ire station, Ciraulo said
the current site still has too many
issues to seriously consider, even if
the city acquired land around it.
Among other issues, an
expanded ire station at 911 S.W.
Court Ave. would still have to
contend with backed-up trafic on
Court, especially during Round-Up
week.
Meetings starting at 9 a.m. are
on the following Fridays: June
17, June 24, July 1, and July 8.
Evening sessions begin at 7 p.m.
on these days: Thursday, June
23; Wednesday, June 29; and
Wednesday, July 6.
Below are the proposed sites
along with their potential costs and
pros and cons, as supplied by the
city of Pendleton.
Address: 312 S.E. Nye Ave.
Size: 2.81 acres
Anticipated acquisition cost:
$900,000
Pros: Plenty of room for all
needs; easy access to Interstate 84
Cons: Outside downtown area;
property cost
O’Grady Property
Address: 210 S.E. Fifth Street
Size: 1.14 acres
Anticipated acquisition cost:
$700,000
Pros: Near downtown area
Cons: Property cost; no room
for training; removal of existing
businesses/structures
Feast your eyes on ‘naked’ barley
Yield, resistance, quality
keys to grain research
FRIDAY, JUNE 17
SATURDAY, JUNE 18
WHITE EAGLE GRANGE
POTLUCK AND MEETING,
5:30 p.m., grange hall between
Pendleton and Pilot Rock on
Highway 395. Public welcome.
(Gail Wilson 541-276-3778).
PENDLETON
EAGLES
STEAK AND LIVE MUSIC, 6-8
p.m. dinner, music 8 p.m. to mid-
night, Pendleton Eagles Lodge
No. 28, 428 S. Main St., Pend-
leton. Open to members and
Address: 1000 S.W. Dorion Ave.
Size: 3.66 acres
Anticipated acquisition cost:
Unknown
Pros: Near downtown area;
plenty of room for all needs
Cons: Unsure of willingness of
land owner to divide property and
cost of land; old building renovation
costs; railroad adjacent
Galloway Property
Address: 420 S.E. Ninth Street
Size: 0.83 acres
Anticipated acquisition cost:
$150,000 plus another $250,000 for
the land and structures to the west
Pros: Near downtown area
Cons: Limited access; no room
for training; removal of existing
structures; unknown if additional
property to the west is available
BRIEFLY
Walden coming to
Umatilla County
Stanield library
to provide summer
reading, meals
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
OSU barley breeder Pat Hayes talks about different varieties of barley
during Thursday’s OSU/Morrow County crop tour along Highway 207
between Lexington and Hermiston.
in every direction, I believe it’s time to
go naked.”
Larry Lutcher, with OSU Extension
in Heppner, said ield days are an
important resource for farmers looking
to improve or diversify their operations
and potentially improve their bottom
line.
“Variety selection is a huge part
of that,” Lutcher said. “I hope they’ll
go home and think about one or two,
possibly three different lines, and see
how they do on their own farms.”
As for this year’s wheat crop,
Lutcher said harvest should hopefully
be better than last year after the region
received nearly an inch and a half of
rain in May. However, he said farms
are still struggling to recover from
three consecutive years of drought and
below-average precipitation.
“Water conservation is key,” he said.
“That’s kind of the name of the game.”
———
Contact George Plaven at gplaven@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0825.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
PENDLETON
MASTERS
SWIM CLUB, 5-6 p.m., Round-
up Athletic Club pool, 1415
Southgate, Pendleton. Fees are
$5 per session coaching fee;
non-RAC members pay $8 pool
fee per session. (Tania Wildbill
541-310-9102).
PENDLETON EAGLES LA-
DIES AUXILIARY KITCHEN,
6-8 p.m., Pendleton Eagles
Lodge No. 28, 428 S. Main St.,
Pendleton. (541-278-2828).
COLUMBIA GRANGE, 6:30
p.m. potluck; 7:30 p.m. meeting,
Columbia Grange hall, 32339
Diagonal Blvd., Hermiston. (Do-
ris Reid 541-567-8663).
PGG
ECHO — U.S. Rep.
Greg Walden, R-Oregon,
will hold a town hall
Monday in Echo where
residents can listen and
ask questions about the
latest work happening in
Congress.
The meeting is
scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
at the Echo Community
Center. Afterward, Walden
will travel to Pendleton for
lunch with the local Rotary
Club. That visit will begin
at noon at the Red Lion
Hotel.
Walden’s day will
continue with a veterans
roundtable discussion at
2:30 p.m. at the VFW Post
2990 in La Grande. The
congressman will hold a
second town hall at 5:15
p.m. in Baker City, and
attend the 100th birthday of
World War II veteran Leslie
Davis at the Baker VFW
Hall.
For more information,
visit www.walden.house.
gov.
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Golden wheat swayed in the breeze
Thursday afternoon as researchers
with Oregon State University updated
farmers on the latest statewide variety
trials in Morrow County.
Bob Zemetra, a wheat breeder with
OSU’s Department of Crop and Soil
Science, said the keys to successful
breeding are yield, resistance and
quality. A solid wheat variety should
be able to make the most of Eastern
Oregon’s limited rainfall, while with-
standing potentially cold winters and
avoiding damage from diseases such as
stripe rust.
“It’s hard to make a variety have
everything,” Zemetra said.
In order to test new varieties against
the local elements, OSU Extension
Service conducts a number of ield trials
along Highway 207 between Hermiston
and Lexington. Some wheat types might
mature early or be more susceptible to
certain diseases, which are things that
farmers need to know ahead of time
before they plant or spray fertilizer.
At the end of the day, Zemetra
said growers should hang their hat on
quality, which gives the Northwest a
distinct edge in the marketplace.
“We produce some of the best wheat
in the world,” Zemetra said. “You have
to push for quality.”
Wheat wasn’t the only grain that
caught the farmers’ attentions on
Thursday. Pat Hayes, a barley breeder
with OSU, is also pushing for that crop
to gain more of a foothold across the
state as craft breweries continue to rise
in popularity. He highlighted the results
of his research in Morrow County
following a second year of trials.
With names like Alba, Verdant,
Glacier and Strider, Hayes said barley
holds plenty of promise if the price is
right. Prices are higher for malting and
food barleys than feed varieties, he
said. He especially pointed to “naked”
barleys — where the grain can be
removed from its hull — as an attractive
option for their versatility in all different
markets.
“It all comes back to the hull, which
is inedible to humans and have little to
no beneit in feed,” Hayes said. “After
30 years of pushing the barley envelope
Address: 700 S.E. Dorion Ave.
Size: 1.61 acres with pool and
memorial, 1 acre without
Anticipated acquisition cost:
None
Pros: Near downtown area; no
property cost
Cons: Loss of existing park land;
relocation/removal of play struc-
ture; insuficient land for training
guests. (541-278-2828).
SUNDAY, JUNE 19
PENDLETON
EAGLES
BREAKFAST, 9 a.m. to noon,
Pendleton Eagles Lodge #28,
428 S. Main St., Pendleton.
Open to members and guests.
(541-278-2828).
MONDAY, JUNE 20
BLUE MOUNTAIN PIECE-
MAKERS, 12 noon, Thimbles
Fabric-N-More, 1849 Westgate
Place, Pendleton.
PENDLETON ROTARY, 12
noon, Pendleton Elks Lodge, 14
S.E. Third St.
DIRT DABBLERS GAR-
DEN CLUB, 12:30 p.m., Vert
Club Room, 345 S.W. Fourth
St., Pendleton. Visitors welcome.
(johnsonstub@yahoo.com).
HERMISTON TEEN LI-
BRARY ADVISORY COUNCIL,
4-5 p.m., downstairs Hermiston
Public Library, 235 E. Gladys
Ave.
OREGON
TRAIL GEM
& MINERAL SOCIETY, 6 p.m.,
Pendleton City Hall commu-
nity room, 501 S.W. Emigrant
Ave., Pendleton. (Tom Moon
541-278-9702).
BLOOMER GIRLS GAR-
DEN CLUB, 7 p.m., meeting site
varies, Hermiston. (Marge Tim-
mons 541-567-4069).
PENDLETON
TOAST-
MASTERS, 12 noon, Roosters
Restaurant, 1515 Southgate.
(Jim Marquardt 541-969-4845).
STANFIELD — The
Stanield Public Library
announced that its Summer
Reading Program will also
include a Summer Meals
Program for children ages
1-18.
The Summer Reading
Program runs each weekday
from Monday, June 20
through Monday, July 25
beginning at 11 a.m. at the
library, 180 W. Coe Ave.
During the program, all
children through age 18
are also eligible to receive
a nutritious lunch from
noon to 12:30 p.m. free of
charge, regardless of race,
color, national origin, sex,
age or disability.
The library has been
selected to receive a
Summer Meals Support
Fund grant from Partners
For a Hunger-Free Oregon
to help meet the goal of
making sure kids in the
Stanield community
have the fuel they need to
learn and grow during the
summer.
For more information on
local summer meal sites,
visit SummerFoodOregon.
org
Frazier Farmstead
hosts summer
festival
MILTON-FREEWATER
— It’s almost time to kick
up your heels during the
Frazier Farmstead Summer
Festival.
The 21-and-older event
features dinner, music
and dancing. An annual
fundraiser for the museum,
the event is Saturday,
June 25 from 6-10 p.m. at
1403 Chestnut St., Milton-
Freewater. Tickets are $40
per person.
Dinner will be provided
by Specialty Catering by
Jennifer. Also, many Walla
Walla Valley wines and
beer by Dragon’s Gate
Brewery will be available
for purchase. Music
features Robin Barrett and
Coyote Kings with Tiph
Dames.
The Frazier Farmstead
Museum is a six-acre site
listed on the National
Register of Historic Places.
It was settled in 1868 by
community founder W.S.
Frazier. Money from the
event goes to support the
museum.
For more information,
call 541-938-4636 or
visit www.facebook.com/
events/261605557563496.
———
Briefs are compiled
from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email
press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
Route work
pays for my
children’s
activities.
TUESDAY, JUNE 21
PENDLETON TOASTMAS-
TERS No. 154, 6:45 a.m., Pend-
leton City Hall community room,
501 S.W. Emigrant Ave. (toast-
masterdarlenesue@gmail.com).
TOPS CHAPTER OR 1110,
8 a.m. weigh-in, meeting starts
at 8:45 a.m., Missionary Baptist
Church, 125 E. Beech St., Herm-
iston. (Margaret Wetterling 541-
720-0276).
BIBLE STUDY, 10 a.m.,
First United Methodist Church,
352 S.E. Second St., Pendleton.
(Rev. Jim Pierce 541-276-2616).
GREENFIELD
GRANGE
PINOCHLE, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.,
Greenield Grange Hall, Board-
man. (Jane Dean 541-481-
5223).
GREATER
HERMISTON
AREA REPUBLICAN WOM-
EN’S CLUB, 11:45 a.m., Desert
Lanes, 1545 N. First St., Herm-
iston. No-host lunch. All women
welcome. (541-567-0006).
Become a
East Oregonian
Carrier.
211 SE Byers Ave.
Pendleton
or call:
541-276-2211
1-800-522-0255