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East Oregonian
Saturday, January 7, 2017
CITY HALL: Has been a year and a half since fire DEPOT: CDA
Continued from 1A
ordinance required that the building be
repaired within a year of the fire, but the city
council granted the family an extension in
October as long as they built a new roof and
sealed the building by the end of the year.
With the roof incomplete by the deadline,
the council voted to start enforcing the
ordinance Wednesday despite the family’s
arguments against it.
Taking a break from trying to clear the
debris with a loader, Marco Quezada said his
family would have negotiated the extension
further if they had known that the council
wouldn’t make allowances for cold-weather
work stoppages.
“You can’t predict the weather,” he said.
Quezada said the family still intends to
complete the roof and is hoping for warmer
weather next week to restart work on the
project.
The family could have most of the roof
complete within the next few weeks, he said,
but the project still needs an extended period
of dry weather for the small family crew to
finish it.
The daily fine amount, which can go as
high as $500, will be determined by the Pend-
leton municipal court judge.
Quezada said the fine will be a hindrance
to their efforts and hopes the judge will throw
it out.
Given that it’s been a year and a half since
the fire, city manager Robb Corbett said the
council took the right approach.
“I don’t see any other options besides what
the council has already done,” he said.
Corbett said city staff were aware of the
importance of the building to the community
and dedicated hours toward helping the family
find financing and grants to help get the resto-
ration off the ground, but the Quezadas were
slow to react.
Only time will tell whether the impending
fines will be an impediment or a catalyst for
the project, Corbett said.
Pendleton developer Jamie Stone said the
council’s decision is not only an impediment
to the Quezada’s plans, but a permanent
impediment to his own as well.
Stone is the owner of Stone Properties and
inheriting furniture
and equipment
has assisted the Quezadas with the old city
hall project.
After the council’s decision, Stone said
he nixed plans to build eight duplexes and a
couple of high-end homes on Southwest Nye
Avenue.
Stone said the mixed messages the council
sent to the Quezadas meant it was too risky
for him to work with Pendleton city officials.
He said he would most likely develop in
Hermiston instead.
Stone said that if the Quezadas were a part
of the “good ol’ boys,” they would have been
treated differently.
The future of the nuisance case is now in
the hands of the municipal court.
At the meeting Tuesday, Nancy Kerns said
it typically takes a few weeks from the time
of the citation to schedule a court date for the
nuisance fine.
If the judge assesses a fine and the
Quezadas don’t pay it, they could be held in
contempt of court.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836.
Continued from 1A
still on the table.
However, Smith, a state legislator whose
district covers the former Depot land, said
the Base Realignment and Closure office is
working “extraordinarily hard” to complete
a memorandum of agreement by Feb. 1.
Based on his conversations with various
offices involved in the transfer, he believes
the Columbia Development Authority could
be the legal owner of the land by mid-Oc-
tober or the first of November.
Division of water rights between the
CDA and the Oregon National Guard had
been a major sticking point in transfer of
the land, but the board celebrated the news
that a deal has finally been approved, giving
the CDA rights to 73 percent of the water.
Smith said reaching the deal would not have
been possible without significant help from
Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and his staff. He
said the next task will be converting some
of those rights from fire suppression to other
purposes.
On Friday the board also discussed what
to do with the assets — ranging from heavy
machinery to office furniture — that the
CDA will inherit along with the land.
Smith informed the board that he had
finally gotten permission to move equipment
indoors to preserve it from the weather.
However, he said it would be at the CDA’s
expense and based on the estimates from
a mechanic he brought in to examine the
equipment, it would take about $25,000
worth of new tires, batteries, fluids and fuel
to get everything operational enough to drive
to another portion of the depot.
Since the CDA does not have that kind of
money to spend all at once, board member
Kim Puzey suggested that a prioritized list
be made based on the cost of getting a piece
of equipment running and its importance in
protecting.
Smith said the CDA was inheriting
“hundreds” of pieces of office furniture,
including bookshelves, desks, filing cabi-
nets, water coolers and refrigerators, as well
as a “phenomenal” fully-stocked machine
shop. He suggested a small committee be put
together to come up with a plan for handling
all of those assets, which could possibly
include giving items to local governments
and nonprofits.
Morrow County planning director Carla
McLane told Smith she remembered years
before he was hired that formal agreements
had been made with various local entities,
including CAPECO, to transfer some items
to them, and she said those agreements
needed to be located so that the CDA could
honor them.
Smith said he has been in talks with the
city of Umatilla about handling the site’s
future wastewater needs and had been
contacted by other entities, including the
city of Hermiston, about the same topic. He
planned to meet with those potential partners
later Friday afternoon to work on a plan and
to discuss getting an exception to the state’s
Goal 11 guidelines.
UMATILLA: Wants to start doing more events downtown
Continued from 1A
us right now, so we’re pretty excited about
that,” he said.
To kick off the city’s big push for down-
town revitalization, Ribich and Pelleberg
have sent out surveys to each property
owner and business owner along Sixth
Street and are now following up with face-
to-face interviews. They said they want to
hear from everyone on what their vision is
and what the city can do to help accomplish
it.
“We’re trying to understand from the
property owners, what are your challenges
and what are your goals, and how can we
help you?” Ribich said.
Pelleberg said that during those talks he
and Ribich are also giving business owners
information about city programs like the
facade grants and state resources like
Business Oregon and Oregon Main Street.
Pelleburg said the meetings have been well
received by people who didn’t know about
some of the free resources available and had
felt neglected by the city in the past.
“No one’s reached out to them,” he said.
After collecting as much information as
they can, Pelleburg said the city plans to hire
a consultant who specializes in economic
development to help use that information to
form a plan for revitalizing the downtown
area, particularly Sixth Street, do some
marketing and business recruitment, and
host meetings with local business owners.
“That’s going to be the exciting part,”
Ribich said. “I can’t wait to get to that part.”
The city has been working to step up code
enforcement, and to enforce the code more
evenly, which have been concerns Ribich
and Pelleberg have heard from people
wishing their neighbor would clean up an
eyesore affecting property values. It has also
been hosting a major community clean-up
event each spring that includes volunteers
that will help clean out a property for those
who are physically or financially limited
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
City leaders in Umatilla have kicked off a revitalization effort and have sent out
surveys to businesses and property owners for input.
from doing the work themselves.
“It’s looking a lot better here today than
it did when I moved here two years ago,”
Ribich said.
The city also wants to start doing more
events downtown after seeing the success
of the outdoor family movie nights at the
marina they started last year. Pelleberg said
there is a group in town that plans to start
a farmer’s market in Umatilla this summer.
Pelleberg said some property owners
he and Ribich have talked to said they are
getting ready to put their vacant space back
on the real estate market after taking it down
for a while, and other business owners have
shared new plans for niche businesses such
as kayak rentals. He said the city gets a lot of
commuters from Boardman to the Tri-Cities
passing through and they hope that some of
them can be encouraged to stop and shop in
“tax free Oregon” before heading home.
Before coming to work for the city of
Umatilla, Pelleberg spent time working for
the city of Pasco and the city of Kennewick.
He said when he first worked for Pasco,
it was the part of the Tri-Cities people
looked down on and only worked there as
a stepping stone to a better-paying position
in Richland or Kennewick. However, as
Pasco began doing some of the same type
of investments that Umatilla is starting (new
parks, downtown revitalization programs,
stronger code enforcement), Pelleberg said
eventually people started leaving the other
cities to work in Pasco, and Umatilla feels
like it is going to be the same way.
———
Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@
eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4536.
WHAT INSPIRED ME TO WRITE MY FIRST BOOK.
SALT: Tied to
groundwater
contamination
Continued from 1A
dependable at melting snow
and ice, Strandberg said, but
it is corrosive and potentially
damaging to both vehicles
and roadways. In particular,
Strandberg cautioned that
salt can leach into concrete
down to the steel rebar of
highways and bridges.
“We have to protect our
infrastructure and invest-
ments that the citizens of
Oregon have put in over the
decades,” he said.
Salt is also tied to
increased
contamination
in groundwater, which
Strandberg said is always
a concern in the Columbia
Basin watershed.
However, conversations
are underway about where
rock salt could be advan-
tageous in the region. Five
years ago, ODOT launched
a pilot project using salt on
Highway 95 in southeast
Oregon, between the Idaho
and Nevada borders.
Strandberg said the
program has indeed resulted
in a reduction in crashes.
“They’ve been able to
fine-tune the process over
the years,” he said.
It is possible that rock
salt could come to I-84 as
early as next year, though
Strandberg said there are no
details in place.
“There’s
definitely
some talk,” he said. “It just
depends on how we develop
that program.”
For updates on travel
conditions through the
weekend, visit www.trip-
check.com.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
Phone and Internet Discounts
Available to CenturyLink Customers
The Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC) designated CenturyLink
as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier within its service area for
universal service purposes. CenturyLink’s basic local service rates
for residential voice lines are $15.48-$17.55per month and business
services are $23.00-$28.00 per month. Specific rates will be provided
upon request.
CenturyLink participates in a government benefit program (Lifeline)
to make residential telephone or broadband service more affordable
to eligible low-income individuals and families. Eligible customers
are those that meet eligibility standards as defined by the Federal
Communications Commission and OPUC. Residents who live on
federally recognized Tribal Lands may qualify for additional Tribal
benefits if they participate in certain federal eligibility programs. The
Lifeline discount is available for only one telephone or broadband
service per household, and can be on either wireline or wireless
service. Broadband speeds must be 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps
upload or faster to qualify.
A household is defined for the purposes of the Lifeline program as
any individual or group of individuals who live together at the same
address and share income and expenses. Lifeline service is not
transferable, and only eligible consumers may enroll in the program.
Consumers who willfully make false statements in order to obtain a
Lifeline discount can be punished by fine or imprisonment and can be
barred from the program.
Internet Basics may also be available to Lifeline eligible subscribers
and provides reliable home high-speed Internet service up to 1.5Mbps
for $9.95* per month for the first 12 months of service. Please call
1-800-257-3212 or visit centurylink.com/internetbasics for more
information regarding CenturyLink Internet Basics.
If you live in a CenturyLink service area, please call 1-855-954-6546
or visit centurylink.com/lifeline with questions or to request an
application for the Lifeline program.
*CenturyLink Internet Basics Program – Residential customers only
who qualify based on meeting income level or program participation
eligibility requirements, and requires remaining eligible for the entire
offer period. First bill will include charges for the first full month of service
billed in advance, prorated charges for service from the date of installation
to bill date, and one-time charges and fees described above. Qualifying
customers may keep this program for a maximum of 60 months after service
activation provided customer still qualifies during that time. Listed High-
Speed Internet rate of $9.95/mo. applies for first 12 months of service
(after which the rate reverts to $14.95/mo. for the next 48 months of
service), and requires a 12-month term agreement. Customer must either
lease a modem/router from CenturyLink for an additional monthly charge
or independently purchase a modem/router, and a one-time High-Speed
Internet activation fee applies. A one-time professional installation charge
(if selected by customer) and a one-time shipping and handling fee applies
to customer’s modem/router. General – Services not available everywhere.
Customers must not be currently subscribed to CenturyLink Internet service.
CenturyLink may change or cancel services or substitute similar services
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Additional restrictions apply. Terms and Conditions – All products and
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After my 4th tour in Iraq back in November 2009,
I was having a hard time shutting off the war mindset.
While I struggled to keep the inner rage from war under
control, I fought three years to get seen by the Mental
Health Department from the United States Army . Once
I established my fi rst appointment with a Psychologist
I wrote a 25 page statement about my side effects
from war and gave it to them a week prior to my fi rst
appointment . I fi gure when you spent 6 years running
back and forth to Iraq “January 2003 to November
2009” it’s hard to explain or share all your problem
to a Psychologist who will only give you a 50 minute
session. The 25 pages has became a book which is
now on a mission to stop the 22 suicided Deaths a
day amongst our fellow War Veterans.
GET YOUR COPY TODAY AT:
Pendleton Book Co.
125 S. Main St.
Pendleton, Oregon
Book & Game
38 E. Main St.
Walla Walla, Washington
Eastern
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Forum
GUN FACTS, REGULATIONS, AND THE
SECOND AMENDMENT
F eaturing : S tuart R oberts , J erod B roadfoot & Lou J affe
January 17, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.
BMCC, Rm ST-200, 2411 NW Carden Ave., Pendleton
For more information please call Karen at 541-966-3177. Need not be member to attend.
Please detach and send with payment
Name
Phone #
Address
City
E-mail address
Please include a season fee of $20 per individual member.
Please make checks payable to BMCC.
$6.00 at the door, students free
Lecture reminders will be sent via E-mail, as will weather cancellation notices, if necessary .
Thank you for mailing your membership forms to:
InterMountain ESD (IMESD) 2001 SW Nye Ave. Pendleton, OR • Attn: Karen Parker