REGION
Saturday, February 18, 2017
East Oregonian
ECHO
Page 3A
PENDLETON
Coffeehouse, mercantile opening downtown Commission considers
$3.5M line of credit
for downtown projects
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Echo residents will be able to buy
groceries locally starting in March.
Dana and Pam Reese plan to open the
Buttercreek Coffeehouse and Mercantile
on March 10 in the former Wheat and
Barley Pub space on Main Street. They
plan to serve locally sourced coffee, food
and wine but also to offer a selection
of basic groceries and fresh, seasonal
produce.
“The community hasn’t had a grocery
store in decades,” Dana said.
The couple said they want to tailor the
coffeehouse to the community’s needs,
and to create a friendly gathering space
that complements rather than competes
with other local businesses.
Adjustments will be made as needed,
but for now the plan is to be open from
5:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through
Saturday, with special openings during
downtown events or when people want
to rent out the space.
Pam said eventually she would like to
see the shop offer a selection of books
for sale as well, and they plan to add
outdoor seating during the summer. She
said the menu will include breakfast
foods such as muffins, breakfast burritos
and bagels while lunch will include soup
and pepperoni rolls.
“We’ll mostly be about grab-and-go,”
she said. “People are welcome to eat it
here but we want it to be convenient.”
She teaches middle school and high
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Dana Reese, left, and Pam Reese stand near a historic photo of the
building they are renovating to create the Buttercreek Coffeehouse and
Mercantile.
school English at Echo School, and said
her students have served as volunteer
taste testers for the menu.
The Reeses plan to use coffee from
Buckin’ Bean Coffee Roasters in
Pendleton, wine and beer from the local
wineries and sell produce in the grocery
store from local growers.
The building at 201 W. Main St.
was built in 1920 and still has much of
the original brickwork and hardwood
flooring. It was originally a butcher shop,
then a grocery store. Dana said they have
enjoyed working on the historic building.
They plan to do a trial run opening
with a limited menu on March 4
during the Red 2 Red bike race, then
open officially on March 10. For more
information call 541-376-5540 or email
buttercreek10@gmail.com.
———
Contact
Jade
McDowell
at
jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com
or
541-564-4536.
BRIEFLY
PSD lifts brief
lockout at
Washington
PENDLETON — Wash-
ington Elementary School
went into lockout Friday
morning from 7:55 a.m. to
8:20 a.m. because of “an
outside threat,” a Pendleton
School District press release
states.
At approximately 7:40
a.m., two Washington
students reported to staff that
they saw a man with a gun on
the levy several blocks south
of the school.
As staff notified police,
Washington and the rest
of the district went into a
lockout, and buses were
diverted from the school.
Police found the man
shortly after 8 a.m. and told
the district to take schools out
of lockout.
Pendleton Police Chief
Stuart Roberts said the man
was carrying a BB gun
and didn’t break any laws.
Roberts added that the man
was spotted by the students at
the intersection of Southeast
Byers Avenue and Southeast
Third Street and never got
closer than nine blocks to the
school.
Unlike a “lockdown,”
which confines students and
staff members to classrooms
while police secure a facility,
a lockout seals school entry
ways but does not interrupt
school activities.
While noting his frus-
tration with having security
situations two days in a
row following a lockdown
at Pendleton High School
Thursday, superintendent
Andy Kovach praised
high school principal Dan
Greenough, Washington
principal Aimee Van Nice
and Pendleton Police Chief
Stuart Roberts for their quick
response.
ODOT holds public
meetings
The Oregon Department
of Transportation, and the
North East and South East
Area Commissions on
Transportation will host
public meetings in eight
Eastern Oregon communities
on Feb. 27, where they
will discuss proposed
transportation. All members
of the public interested in
learning more about the
projects, or providing their
own input, are encouraged
to attend. The Statewide
Transportation Improvement
Program will be discussed,
and includes several proposed
transportation projects to be
completed between 2018 and
2021. More than 80 projects
have been proposed for the
Eastern Oregon area. The
program is developed by
ODOT, Area Commissions
on Transportation, federal,
local and tribal governments.
Those unable to attend the
meeting can link to it through
Eastern Oregon University’s
video conference system,
Zoom.com.
Meetings will take place
in Baker City, Boardman,
Burns, Enterprise, John Day,
La Grande, Ontario and
Pendleton.
Kiwanis offer
scholarships
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston Noon Kiwanis
Club is accepting
applications for its Perry
Johnson and Russell Dorran
post-secondary education
scholarships.
Current seniors at
Hermiston High School
or graduates of Hermiston
who are attending college
in academic programs are
eligible to apply for the
scholarship awards.
Applications are avail-
able at the HHS counseling
office or the Hermiston
Chamber of Commerce, 415
S. Highway 395. Important
factors in the evaluation
of applicants includes
academic record, commu-
nity service, leadership
qualities and financial need.
The scholarships are
given in memory of a
pair of past Kiwanis
members. Johnson also
was a Baptist minister, who
championed youth services
and supported education.
Dorran was a charter
member of the club, as
well as the Hermiston Elks
Lodge, Hermiston Devel-
opment Corporation and
Blue Mountain Community
Thank You for Being
Such a Strong
Community Presence!
College board, and served
on many other area boards
and committees. He was
recognized at the chamber
awards banquet in 1963 and
again in 1990.
The applications must be
submitted by Friday, March
31. Interviews with poten-
tial scholarship recipients
will be scheduled.
For more information,
contact George Clough at
541-567-6024 or Hermiston
Noon Kiwanis Club, P.O.
Box 375, Hermiston, OR
97838.
———
Briefs are compiled
from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email
press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
The Pendleton Devel-
opment Commission has
ambitious plans for the
last six years of the urban
renewal district and wants
more money to make those
plans happen.
The members of the
Pendleton City Council
are also the members of
the commission, and both
bodies will meet Tuesday
to discuss their financial
options.
At the commission
meeting, members will
look at opening a $3.5
million line of credit.
City manager Robb
Corbett, who also serves as
the commission’s executive
director, wrote in a report
to the commission that
applying for a line of credit
would be different than
the financing measures the
commission has taken in
the past.
Instead of applying for
a large loan and using the
revenue the urban renewal
district collects from
taxing increments to pay it
back like the commission
has in the past, Corbett
is recommending the
commission use the line of
credit to borrow money on
an as-needed basis.
Any debt the city incurs
would be paid back by
2023, the same year the
urban renewal district will
expire.
Commission officials
have projected $3.36
million
in
expenses
through the 2023 fiscal
year,
including
$1.2
million for the second-
story
improvement
program, $300,000 for
a festival area and a 3
percent bump in oper-
ating costs each year that
would see its budget rise
from $70,960 in 2017 to
$84,730 in 2023.
To help execute all of
these projects, the city
council will consider
giving a raise to the only
employee solely dedicated
to commission business —
associate director Charles
Denight.
When the commission
created Denight’s position
two years ago, Corbett
wrote that city officials
were unsure how much
work the position would
need.
Corbett recommends
boosting Denight’s salary
from $21,400 to $31,400
and expanding his work
week from 20 hours to 27
hours. He is also proposing
that Denight’s operations
budget grow from $35,000
to $44,968.
If the council decides
against the new budget,
Corbett wrote that Denight
would have to drop some
of his responsibilities.
In other council busi-
ness, the council will also
consider an ordinance that
imposes interest and penal-
ties for marijuana stores
that don’t pay their taxes
on time.
The
ordinance
is
required by the Oregon
Department of Revenue,
which has an agreement
with the city to collect the
local 3 percent tax on the
city’s behalf.
Four
recreational
marijuana businesses have
applied for licenses since
voters legalized cannabis
sales
in
November,
although none have opened
yet.
The
commission
meeting is on Tuesday at
6 p.m. while the council
meeting
immediately
proceeds it at 7 p.m. Both
meetings are in the council
chambers at city hall, 500
S.W. Dorion Ave.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
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Umatilla County Historical Society
extends a special thank you to the following
who helped us through a difficult winter
Pendleton Fire Department
which responded to a fire alarm triggered by water
damaged sensors and stayed to protect our galleries
from flooding due to a burst water pipe
Dan Leonard of Gordon’s Heating and Cooling
who helped us diagnose and monitor a serious
flooding situation and who generously provided
support and assistance over a several day period,
as our system slowly normalized
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O So Kleen
which sent its crew out on a Sunday night
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drying equipment to minimize damage
Larry Baarstad of Baarstad’s General Contracting
who endured frigid temperatures to thaw
frozen drainage pipes underneath the our
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