Visit Kopacz Nursery &
Florist in Hermiston for a
free pair of gardening gloves
FRED WIDMAN
OF ECHO
MAN HIT BY CAR,
FALLS INTO ICY
RIVER, SURVIVES
GROUPS
PREPARE
FREE MEALS
NORTHWEST/2A
REGION/3A
50/38
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2016
141st Year, No. 27
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
UMATILLA
One dollar
BMCC
planning
animal
science
facility
County, port donate
$150K to project
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
James Brown pushes his granddaughter, Zabrina Taylor, 3, on a swing as her sister, Zariah Taylor, 3, and mother, Jessica Huie, play
in the merry-go-round at Nugent Park on Tuesday in Umatilla.
A passion for parks
City manager pushes for livability projects
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
A new park on Umatilla’s
south hill and expansions of
several other parks are being
written into the city’s future.
City manager Russ Pelleberg
said he has been collaborating
with other staff on a master
parks plan that he feels “very
optimistic” could result in some
big grants next spring.
“The time is right to throw our
hat in the ring for funding,” he
said.
Parks are a passion of
Pelleberg’s. Before becoming
Umatilla’s public works director
in 2013 and city manager in
2015, he designed several in the
Tri-Cities area as senior engineer
for the city of Kennewick and an
associate engineer in Pasco.
He said those livability proj-
ects the cities built in the 1990s
helped attract new economic
development to the area in the
early 2000s.
“I know that can happen here,
too,” he said.
Umatilla has eight parks, some
as small as a set of tennis courts.
Pelleberg said it is signifi cantly
below the recommended number
of park acres per capita and many
of the parks and their amenities
are not up to Americans with
Disabilities Act standards.
As a result, building up
the city’s parks has become a
priority for both city staff and
the city council. Plans include
renovations of current parks, a
major expansion of Hash Park in
McNary, new soccer fi elds next
to the current one and a new park
in the south hill neighborhood.
At Hash Park, which is
See PARKS/10A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The city of Umatilla is planning to expand Hash Park from three
acres to possibly up to 26 acres.
The Third Street soccer fi eld currently only has one fi eld,
although the city would like to add three more to the park.
With three new bond projects
already under construction, Blue
Mountain Community College is
planning another building complex
to broaden its animal science and
equine programs.
Voters approved a $23 million
capital construction bond for
BMCC in May 2015 that included
the Facility for Agricultural
Resource Management, or FARM,
in Pendleton, as well as the Preci-
sion Irrigated Agriculture Center in
Hermiston and Workforce Training
Center in Boardman.
Now the college is seeking $10
million for FARM Phase II, which
would expand classes for animal
science, equine and veterinary
students. The complex would also
provide an arena for the BMCC
rodeo team and community live-
stock events.
BMCC has requested $5 million
for the project through the state
of Oregon’s community college
capital construction program,
and would cover the rest through
matching dollars. Umatilla County
commissioners pledged $150,000
toward the project at its meeting
Nov. 2. On Tuesday, the Port of
Umatilla followed suit with a
$150,000 contribution of its own.
Both the port and the county had
previously committed that money
to the Round-Up City Development
Corporation for another matching
grant to help pay for a radar system
at the Pendleton UAS Range. That
grant application, however, was
unsuccessful, leaving the funds
available for reallocation.
Camille Preus, BMCC presi-
dent, met Tuesday with the port in
Umatilla and made her pitch to the
commission. She said the FARM
Phase II facility would command a
regional, if not statewide focus, and
attract more prospective students to
the school.
“We would not be pursuing the
program if we did not feel there
would be a high demand,” Preus
said.
FARM Phase II would be
located in Pendleton within two
miles of the BMCC campus on
privately donated land, Preus said.
The facility would not displace any
See BMCC/10A
HERMISTON
Fuzzball Animal Rescue
looking for foster homes
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
The animals of Fuzzball Animal
Rescue aren’t always easy to fi nd
homes for.
The small Hermiston rescue
operation, which places injured
and sick stray animals into foster
homes while they are nursed back
to health, has rescued everything
from a playful kitten with a broken
leg to a geriatric Shi Tzu with a skin
condition.
The Shi Tzu’s name is Sweetie
Pie and she is still looking for a
home. Her foster mom, Joellyn
Herriman, said Sweetie Pie was
found near Hat Rock in August.
“She’s pretty much blind and
pretty much deaf, but she’s a nice
girl,” Herriman said.
She hopes perhaps a retired
couple or someone else who doesn’t
mind keeping the little dog company
during the day and giving her medi-
cated baths will come forward to
give her a home.
Fuzzball Animal Rescue foots
the bill for veterinarian care and
food for foster animals like Sweetie
Pie, but the small nonprofi t relies
See FUZZBALL/10A
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Joellyn Herriman holds Sweetie Pie, an elderly Shi Tzu she is providing fos-
ter care for while Fuzzball Animal Rescue searches for a permanent home.