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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2016)
REGION Wednesday, July 27, 2016 MILTON-FREEWATER East Oregonian Page 3A HERMISTON School district gets Treasure hunt leads to National Night Out Medallion finder CLUE No. 1 wins ice cream party another $1.9M from bond sale North, south, east, west Do you know which way is best Is it here, is it there With public property, it could be anywhere By TAMMY MALGESINI East Oregonian Planning to build first new school since 1922 By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian The Milton-Freewater Uniied School District overcame several decades of history when voters passed its irst bond measure since 1982. Now the district is deep into the planning the construction of its irst new school since 1922. Milton-Freewater Super- intendent Rob Clark said the district’s top priority in the bond package is the construction of Gib Olinger Elementary School, a K-3 facility that will replace Grove and Freewater elementary schools. Clark said the district will begin demolishing Grove as soon as it’s sure Olinger is move-in ready. The district will build two soccer ields on the old Grove property. The Milton-Freewater Downtown Alliance has shown interest in starting a community center at Free- water, which will also be vacated. Clark expects Olinger to be completed by summer 2018. Coming much sooner is a new barn for Milton-Free- water’s leet of buses. Clark said the buses’ current storage area, between McLaughlin High School and Central Middle School, is too small and a safety hazard. Without many options for overlow parking, sometimes drivers are forced to park the buses at their homes. “The square footage is better served with kids (than bus parking),” he said. There aren’t any dein- itive plans for what the current bus barn space could be used for, but Clark said it could be used for an agricul- tural program extension or tennis courts. Although the acquisition of a new piece of land for the bus barn hasn’t been inal- ized, Clark said it should be ready by next summer. Also coming in 2017 are heating, ventilation and air conditioning improvements to Mac Hi, Central and Fern- dale Elementary School. The district hired the Wenaha Group of Pendleton as its project manager and Architects West of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho as its archi- tect and is in the process of hiring a construction manager to oversee these projects. Thanks to the district selling the bonds at a higher price than their value, the district was able to leverage an additional $1.9 million for its capital improvement projects. Combining that amount with the original $12.5 million bond and $19 million in state and private grants, the district has $33.4 million to use for facility improvements. Clark said the extra $1.9 million could be used for additional improvements to Mac Hi, Central and Fern- dale, but will otherwise be used as contingency in case the existing projects go over budget. The next step for the district is recruiting members of the public for several focus groups that will meet from late August through October to provide input on the Olinger and Grove athletic complex designs. Having also received a matching grant from the state for its $4 million bond, the Athena-Wetson School District is hoping to wring out some extra dollars from the bond sale process, too. With the district’s low amount of debt, Athe- na-Weston Superintendent Laure Quaresma is hopeful the school system can get a high bond rating. Quaresma said the district is putting a request for proposal for a general contractor to handle the bond projects, which include air conditioning, rooing and security upgrades. Echo School District rounded out the three districts that received matching grants from the state after passing bonds in May. Echo’s bond sale added $225,146 to the $8 million pot, which will be used to build new classrooms and a gym, among other improve- ments. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0836. HERMISTON Umatilla County looks to extend fairgrounds lease By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Umatilla County plans to extend its stay at the fairgrounds in Hermiston through June 2017 due to construction delays at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center. The Hermiston School District owns the fair- grounds at 425 N. Orchard Ave., Hermiston, and leases them to the county at no cost. The area includes the 5,000- seat Farm-City Pro Rodeo grounds. County counsel Doug Olsen said a high school rodeo and similar events plan to use the grounds next year, and the school district and rodeo board want the extension to ensure the events do not have to ind other venues. The East Oregonian earlier this month reported the new arena near the Hermiston Municipal Airport must be completed by July 21, 2017, at a cost of $3.8 million. “Due to delays in the construction of the new fair- grounds/convention center,” the new contract notes, “... the parties agree that it is in the best interest of the public to extend the lease.” The county board of commissioners plans to vote on the lease extension during its public meeting Wednesday at 9 a.m. in room 130 at the Umatilla County Courthouse, 216 S.E. Fourth St., Pendleton. Commissioners Larry Givens and Bill Elfering returned Tuesday from Long Beach, California, where they attended the annual conference of the National Association of Counties. The board also will hold a public hearing to set the boundaries of a new taxing district. The East Umatilla County Health District iled a petition to expand the district to conform with the ambulance service area. The board then would set the matter for a inal hearing. And more than $240,000 in special transportation fund grants also are on the board’s agenda. The grants help local organizations and governments provide public transportation — including a grant of $78,300 for the city of Pendleton for its dial- a-ride program and other transportation. ——— Contact Phil Wright at pwright@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0833. Move over Pokémon Go players, treasure hunters will soon be scouring public places in Hermiston in search of a golden medallion. Erica Sandoval, Herm- iston Police Department crime prevention/youth services oficer, hid the medallion for a treasure hunt as part of the annual National Night Out festivi- ties in Hermiston. Attached to a red, white and blue ribbon, it’s about 3 inches in diameter. “I go out in the cover of darkness to hide it,” Sandoval said. “There have been a lot of Pokémon players so this should be interesting.” Sandoval has been in charge of hiding the medal- lion for eight years. She gets excited about the hunt because families, individuals and groups of friends look forward to the yearly event. Annual National Night Out activities have been going on across the country for 33 years and this is Hermiston’s 18th year of participating. The event, Sandoval said, helps intro- duce neighbors to each other and encourages the devel- opment of Neighborhood Watch areas. It also provides Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini The person who inds this golden medallion, which is hidden somewhere in Hermiston, wins a National Night Out ice cream social block party Tuesday, Aug. 2 in Hermiston. an opportunity for police and ireighters to visit with citizens in a relaxed setting. “It’s really important to get to know your neighbors to watch out for each other,” Sandoval said. By getting acquainted with neighbors, she said people take ownership of their neighborhoods. By recognizing people and becoming aware of their comings and goings, it reduces opportunities for crime. There are about 50 Neighborhood Watch areas in Hermiston. To learn more about the program or to schedule a party, contact Sandoval at 541-667-5112 or esandoval@hermiston. or.us. The city of Hermiston, the East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald will treat the person who inds the medallion to an ice cream social block party Tuesday, Aug. 2 at 6:15 p.m. City councilors, city oficials and emergency responders will serve ice cream at the winner’s party. The EO is publishing clues each day until someone inds the medallion. In addition, a bonus clue can be found on the front page of Wednesday’s Hermiston Herald. Sandoval encourages people to get in touch with their inner detective. The clues may refer to Hermiston history, song lyrics, books, movies or people. Treasure hunt rules: •The medallion is located on public property. Although not in plain view, searchers won’t have to dig to ind it. •Participants must live in Hermiston. Employees and immediate family members, or independent contractors, of the Hermiston Police Department, East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald are ineligible. •The medallion is hidden inside the city. The inder will not have to leave prop- erty that is publicly owned or controlled by a public agency to ind it. •The person who inds the medallion must immedi- ately take it to the Hermiston Police Department, 330 S. First St. If it’s found after 6 p.m., the person needs to call 541-966-3651 or 541-567- 5519 and ask dispatch to contact Sandoval. •The winner acknowl- edges, by participating in the treasure hunt, the EO will publish his or her name and picture, and the winner will participate in the National Night Out activities. Umatilla County welcomes four sheriff’s deputies East Oregonian Two new Umatilla County sheriff’s deputies graduated from the Oregon Public Safety Academy and two police veterans also joined the sheriff’s ranks. The sheriff’s ofice in a written statement announced deputy Calvin Meade, 30, and deputy Trevor Limburg, 26, graduated July 15 from the state’s basic police course in Salem. The county hired them in January, and they began the 16-week basic training in March. The new deputies have another four to six weeks of in-house ield training before they work solo. Meade was the manager of Columbia Harvest Foods, Umatilla, and a football and tennis coach at Umatilla High School, according to the sheriff’s ofice, and he was a reserve oficer with the Umatilla Police Department for more than a year. He graduated from Hermiston High School and is a senior at Washington State University. Limburg was a supervisor with G4S Secure Solutions, Umatilla, and was a reserve deputy with the sheriff’s ofice for more than a year- and-a-half. He is a graduate of Walla Walla High School, attended Walla Walla Community College and is a former Eagle Scout. Jonathan Roberts and Nathan Rankin also are new to the sheriff’s patrol staff but have years of police experience, the sheriff’s ofice reported. Roberts for the past six years worked for the Pendleton Police Department, and before that was with Milton-Freewater and a military police oficer in the U.S. Army. Rankin, 27, comes from Junction City, where he won a $45,000 settlement this summer after he sued the city and former Police Chief Mark Chase in 2015 for wrongful termination. Rankin is working on a master’s degree, the sheriff’s ofice reported, and has experience as a corrections oficer. The sheriff’s ofice also is looking to ill one vacancy and two new openings in its patrol division.
