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.