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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 2016)
REGION Saturday, October 22, 2016 HERMISTON East Oregonian Page 3A HERMISTON EOTEC board Council to consider Highland Trail agreement awards barn bid By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Construction of the barns at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center can get underway after the board approved a bid Friday. The three barns will be inished by Knerr Construc- tion and its subcontractors, but the board put manu- facture of the initial barn structures out for a bid and received four responses. It awarded the contract to G2 Construction of Kenne- wick. John Frew of Frew Development Group told the board that the other three bidders had not included bid security in their bid, despite the fact that it had been listed as a requirement for a responsive bid. “If you select a contractor without bid secu- rity, they can walk on you at any time,” he said. He said the project’s legal counsel agreed with him that the lack of bid security was a “gray area” as to whether or not a bid could be awarded without it. If the bid is for a capital improvement, state statute requires bid security that guarantees the contractor will stick with the project. But since the contract is merely for delivery of the barns, and not for founda- tion and other installation work, one could also argue that it was for delivery of “supplies,” in which case bid security would not be legally required. After some discussion the board took Frew’s recommendation to consider the three bids without bid security as non-responsive and awarded the bid to G2 Construction at a little over $484,000. Frew told the board that even though two of the non-responsive bids had been lower, G2 Construc- tion’s bid was still a “very solid number” that was lower than he had expected all of the bids to come in. “I think it’s a good number from a very, very good contractor,” he said. The barns will take an The Hermiston City Council will discuss natural gas, GIS mapping and a new trail when it meets on Monday. During a 6 p.m. work session, staff will update the council on progress being made toward the city forming its own municipal natural gas utility. The city formed the utility in name only in 2014 after a dispute with Cascade Natural Gas over the price of extending natural gas to the Cook Industrial Site south of Hermiston. Cascade Natural Gas challenged the city in court. But after the Umatilla County Circuit Court upheld Hermis- ton’s right to form the utility, the city council in 2015 approved the hiring of an engineer to begin plans for forming the Hermiston Gas Utility Department. After the natural gas discussion, staff will also update the council on Geographic Information Systems mapping. The city has been working to map all of its water infrastructure so that it can better keep track of where pipes are and when they were last replaced. Assis- tant city manager Mark Morgan said eventually the project will be expanded to cover all public works utilities. During its regular meeting at 7 p.m. the council will consider an intergov- ernmental agreement with the Oregon Department of Transportation for construction of a multi-use trail parallel to Highland Avenue between Southwest 11th Street and Riverfront Park. ODOT estimates the project will cost estimated eight weeks to arrive. In the meantime, Hendon Construction, which is working to build the rodeo arena, reported that ground has been broken and cement crews should be ready to start pouring in 10 to 14 days. “I think we’re at or ahead of schedule,” Carl Hendon said. On Friday the board had on its agenda a lease agreement with the Farm- City Pro Rodeo for the mercantile area by the rodeo arena. The 50-year lease, for a one-time payment of $50, would allow the rodeo board to make improve- ments and use the area for events. In return, the rodeo board would allow EOTEC to use the space for events when it was not already in use. Some board members were unsure about language that requires the two groups to coordinate to make sure that events held in the mercantile area and other parts of EOTEC do not conlict with each other, but did not give either group veto power over the other’s events. “That’ll get us by until we have the irst argument about it,” EOTEC board member Don Miller said. Rodeo board member Mike Kay said it was hard to make provisions in the lease for every single situ- ation, however. Instead, the lease forces communication between the two groups before decisions are made so that problems can be resolved. “You have to work on good faith, you have to work on forced communication and on mutual agreements,” he said. Larry Givens, who represents Umatilla County on the EOTEC board, requested that approval of the lease be put off until the board’s next meeting on Oct. 28 so that the county’s legal counsel could look at it, and the board agreed. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4536. Staff photo by Gary West The Hermiston water tower got a new coat of paint and motto this month. The city budgeted $75,000 on the project, plus $25,000 to add the new brand elsewhere around the city. The city council meets Monday at 7 p.m., with a work session at 6 p.m. $663,225 and the state will pay approxi- mately 77 percent of that cost. According to the agreement before the council on Monday, the project will be city-run, and in addition to its 23 percent match the city will be responsible for paying any additional costs if it runs over budget. Morgan said the city plans to run the beginning of the trail from the corner of Southwest 11th and Highland then take it west along Highland “until the money runs out,” but at least as far as Riverfront Park. Whether the trail loops under the Highland Extension bridge and through Steelhead Park or ends at the top of the bridge depends on funding and agree- ments with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. “The trail going under the bridge is the number one goal, but if it doesn’t happen in the irst round, bear with us,” Morgan said. The city hopes to construct the trail next summer. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4536. Kiwanis Club takes on Pendleton playground liability East Oregonian Despite a growing number of park playgrounds that have been closed over safety issues, the Pendleton Parks and Recreation Department could cross one off the list without spending a dime. The city is inalizing a memorandum of under- standing with the Kiwanis Club of Pendleton to transfer maintenance responsibility and liability coverage to the nonproit. The city closed down the play structure at Kiwanis Park a few months ago after a specialist inspected the playground and found that it was unsafe and in need of replacement. Parks and Recreation Director Donnie Cook said the Kiwanis Club disagreed with the specialist’s assess- ment and agreed to take on responsibility. “They thought I was overreacting,” he said. Cook said the city will send a list of the play- ground’s needed repairs, but will otherwise continue to maintain the rest of the park, which includes a basketball court and picnic shelter. The Pendleton Parks and Recreation Commission and the Kiwanis Club have already approved the memorandum, which will be inalized if the Pendleton City Council approves it at the Nov. 1 council meeting. In the meantime, the department is still seeking funding to replace aging playgrounds at Aldrich, May and Sherwood parks. Cook said the city has secured a $15,000 grant from the Pendleton Foundation Trust, which could be added to the $10,000 in in-kind labor the city will provide. Added together, Cook said the city has already raised more than a quarter of its $90,000 goal. Despite some early success, Cook said the department still plans to apply for a large state grant that will “bundle” all of the projects together. Cook said the city will try to obtain more private grants to show the state it has community support, while also using that money to fund construction costs, the state grant going toward acquiring the playground equipment. While these new play- grounds are still concepts rather than reality, the department has put out a survey asking Pendletonians what they want out of their new equipment. The survey asks eight questions including which parks they go to, what equip- ment they would like to see and which age the equipment should be appropriate for. The survey can be found on the parks and recreation website and Facebook page and is open through Nov. 14. PENDLETON Fall Preview features local dance groups East Oregonian Rhythmic Mode is hosting its annual Fall Preview, which also features the Jr. Jam and Esprit dance teams. The free event is Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Pendleton High School’s Warberg Court, 1800 N.W. Carden Ave. The doors open at 6 p.m. For more information, contact Joni Sirovatka at 541-377-1333 or jasirovatka@gmail.com. ——— Contact community editor Tammy Malgesini at tmalgesini@eastoregonian. com or 541-564-4539. We will be closed on Mondays starting January 2nd 2017. 125 S. Main, Pendleton, OR 97801 (541) 276-9292 • penbkco@eotnet.net ALL NEW 2017 CAMRYS IN STOCK Want Year Around Outdoor Space? W e’ve Got A Solution! 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