34/26
A layer of fog
enshrouds a pair
of farm houses
on Mission Mar-
ket Road Tuesday
at the foothills of
the Blue Moun-
tains, south of
Mission. Fog and
freezing fog
remain fore-
cast for Eastern
Oregon through
the weekend,
according to the
National Weather
Service.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2017
141st Year, No. 72
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
BOARDMAN
Debate
emerges
over what
replaces
coal plant
By TED SICKINGER
The Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A sign warning of a bump stands in front of a large pothole that has been filled with gravel Tuesday on Westgate in Pendleton.
Winter wear & tear
Snow and ice cause cracks, potholes
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
The severe winter weather has
some road departments preparing
for a slew of new street mainte-
nance.
Bob Patterson, director of
Pendleton Public Works Depart-
ment, said crews are assessing the
toll that snow, ice and cold caused
road tops to pop free, resulting
in new cracks and plenty of
potholes.
“This winter was much harder
on our road system than (any) in
the last 12 years,” Patterson said.
Pendleton budgeted $300,000
for arterial road maintenance,
about a third of what it needs. And
the city’s street utility fee gener-
ated $480,000, with 70 percent
targeted to residential streets in
good condition and the rest for
streets in the poor condition.
“If anything, this has put more
streets in the worst case,” he said.
Ronald Sivey is Hermiston’s
street superintendent. He said it
was hard to tell at this point if the
winter has caused more damage
than usual to Hermiston’s streets
See ROADS/8A
Fast-tracked
development
questioned by
commission
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Gravel used during the recent snow storms lies in piles on
Northwest Fourth Street on Tuesday in Pendleton.
The Hermiston City Council
and Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners agree it’s time to
lay out a long-term plan for the
Eastern Oregon Trade and Event
Center.
During a joint work session
Monday the two governing bodies
discussed the need to come up
with a concrete operations plan as
soon as possible, and to increase
the focus on marketing so that the
center is busy year-round and not
just during the Umatilla County
Fair and Farm-City Pro Rodeo.
“The fair and rodeo are an
event, one month out of the year,”
city councilor John Kirwan said.
“We should be looking two to
three years out.”
He said it seems the EOTEC
board’s focus has been on getting
the project done in time for
the 2017 fair and rodeo. That’s
important, he said, but so is
making sure the center is busy
so that the city and county aren’t
saying “we need taxpayer money
to keep this going.”
He also said that city manager
Byron Smith, who chairs the
EOTEC board, is spending about
20 to 25 percent of his time on
EOTEC, taking away from other
city concerns. That can’t be the
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
case forever, he said.
Smith and county commissioner
Larry Givens, who also sits on the
EOTEC board, told Kirwan they
share his concerns. Givens said the
center does not have bonds to pay
off, which puts it ahead of most
event centers in terms of becoming
Umatilla’s planning commission found
itself at odds with its city manager Tuesday
night during a planning commission
meeting.
City manager Russ Pelleberg was not at
the meeting, but the commission approved
a motion to ask him to attend their next
one.
The commission had on its agenda an
application from Fastrack, Inc. for a 24-lot
residential subdivision in McNary across
Willamette Avenue from the golf course.
In December the city council had approved
Fastrack’s request for a zone change from
commercial to residential.
When planning commission chair Boyd
Sharp asked planning director Bill Searles
why the subdivision was on the agenda,
Searles said it was at Pelleberg’s request.
Sharp noted that ORS 227.186 requires
the city to provide written notice to adja-
cent land owners of a public hearing on a
land use change at least 20 days in advance.
He said Fastrack submitted its application
to Pelleberg on Jan. 10, so a 20 day notice
could not have been given.
See EOTEC/8A
See UMATILLA/8A
County, city join to discuss EOTEC
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
See PGE/8A
UMATILLA
HERMISTON
Has hosted 40 events
since opening in May
Portland General Electric’s agreement
to close its only coal-fired power plant won
praise seven years ago as an environmental
victory with national implications in the
fight against air pollution and climate
change.
As the 2020 closure date approaches,
though, those good feelings have largely
evaporated. The coalition of environmen-
talists, ratepayer advocates and industry
groups that once cheered PGE’s decision
are now preparing for a showdown instead.
They suggest the utility, in deciding how
to replace the Boardman plant’s power, is
stacking the deck in favor of two new gas
plants it wants to build at the coal plant site.
A series of decisions by the utility and state
regulators later this year will determine the
direction of PGE’s future power supply and
its mix of green energy and fossil fuels.
“The fair and rodeo
are an event, one
month out of the year.
We should be looking
two to three years out.”
— John Kirwan,
Hermiston city councilor