56/41
CASE OF THE
MISSING
LAWN SIGNS
DAWGS
NOTCH
A WIN
REGION/3A
SPORTS/1B
LOCAL
FOOD,
FARM TO
TABLE
From tinkering to international trade
Page 2
Potato industry targets trendy diet
Page 3
E AST O REGONIAN
Lostine woman raises rare sheep
Page 5
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
HO MEGROWN
INSIDE
planted in nearby fi elds.
the ground. Once that is done,
the rest is up to Mother Nature.
Bellinger said.
to add to their menus. Bellinger
crop.
unusual in Eastern Oregon, a
region dominated by agriculture.
explore.
help feed their communities.
and where it ends up,” he said.
can.”
possible.
Finley’s Fresh Produce. Owners
its own garden near the entrance.
restaurant’s chef.
as many benefi ts on the farm,
Bellinger added.
Larry Walker said. “All we’re
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2017
141st Year, No. 137
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Umatilla County economic development summit equation:
Jobs + people + houses = taxes
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Umatilla County’s second
annual economic develop-
ment summit highlighted a
long and far-ranging list of
projects that cities and other
groups are working on in
every corner of the county.
County commissioner Bill
Elfering said the county is
eager to assist those projects
in any way possible.
“Jobs mean people,
people mean houses, and
houses mean taxes,” he said.
Elfering kicked off the
summit with examples
of projects the county’s
economic
development
department has supported
using lottery dollars from the
state. In the past, he said, the
county has often given that
money to events without a
long-lasting impact to the
county. Now it is focusing
instead on projects that will
leave something tangible for
the community, such as the
Rivoli Theater restoration in
Pendleton and the disc golf
course coming to Hermiston.
One project that Elfering
described as in its infancy is
working with west-end cities
on a bike-ped trail along
the Umatilla River that will
eventually stretch from Echo
down to the Columbia River.
He also described the
county’s efforts to assist in
recruiting new business to the
area. Some — sporting code
names like Project Glitter
See JOBS/10A
Data centers’ boost to
county taxes years off
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
EO fi le photo
The Highland Summit neighborhood on the east side of
Hermiston. The city of Hermiston has focused on promoting
housing development after seeing the rate of workers commut-
ing from the Tri-Cities outpacing the amount of new housing
added to Hermiston.
Four future data centers could boost Umatilla
County’s assessed valuation by $2 billion. County
offi cials, however, cautioned against the project
providing any sudden spike in property tax
revenue.
In April, county commissioners rezoned
roughly 120 acres between Westland and Cotton-
wood Bend roads from exclusive farm use to
light industrial. That provided a path for Vadata,
an Amazon subsidiary, to build four new data
centers. Commissioner Bill Elfering, who over-
sees economic development for the county, said
the new buildings could be worth as much as $500
million each.
See DATA/10A
Bill gives
harsher
penalties
to texting
drivers
“A lot of
kids these
days don’t
get the
opportunity
to get out
into natural
areas.”
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Getting caught texting
and driving could hurt a lot
more if certain bills pass
the Oregon legislature.
Hermiston municipal
judge Thomas Creasing
outlined new traffi c-re-
lated laws being consid-
ered by the legislature
during a city council work
session Monday.
He said both the Senate
and House are considering
upping the penalties for
a fi rst-time offense to as
much as $2,000. Senate
Bill 2 as currently written
would make texting and
driving a misdemeanor
that could include jail
time for second and third
offenses.
“It’s basically treating
it as another form of drunk
driving,” Creasing said.
The bills in question
would also expand the
penalties beyond texting
to cover any operation
of a “mobile electronic
device” while driving.
That includes checking
Facebook on a tablet,
inputting directions into a
See TEXTING/10A
— Joani Bosworth,
U.S. Forest Service
Highland Hills
fi fth-graders
plant willow
starts on the
banks of a
creek during
the Watershed
Field Days at
the McNary
Wildlife Area
on Tuesday in
Umatilla.
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris
NATURE OF DISCOVERY
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Finding the best spots to plant live
willows took some poking and prod-
ding, but the groups of fi fth-graders
from Desert View and Highland Hills
elementary schools in Hermiston
were up to the task Tuesday during
Watershed Field Days at McNary
Lock and Dam.
Richard Cissel, hydrologist for
the Umatilla National Forest, led
the exercise to teach children about
the importance of riparian areas,
explaining how native vegetation
keeps streams cold and clean for fi sh.
“When the willows grow up, they
become these big shrubs and have
all these benefi ts,” Cissel said as
students took turns digging into the
fi rm ground.
Hands-on activities are the bread
and butter of Watershed Field Days,
organized by the Umatilla County
Soil and Water Conservation District.
More than 150 kids cycled through
seven stations Tuesday where they
learned about everything from plants
and animals to weather and soil, and
how they are all connected in nature.
Kyle Waggoner, district manager
for the SWCD, described the event as
part outdoor school and part job fair,
specifi cally for fi fth-graders to expose
them not only to natural resources,
but potential future careers.
“Fifth grade is just about the age
when kids are getting interested in
what they want to do when they grow
up,” Waggoner said. “(Watershed
Field Days) educates them on what’s
actually out there, so at least they are
aware.”
Each station is represented by a
local partnering agency, including
See DISCOVERY/10A
HERMISTON
Second Street to transform into festival plaza
First phase to be complete by spring 2018, paid for by urban renewal district
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
On Monday, Hermiston
City Council approved
designs for a downtown
festival street.
The fi rst phase of the
project will transform the
portion of Northeast Second
Street between Main Street
and Gladys Avenue from
“building to building,”
according to GreenWorks
PC principal architect Mike
Faha.
“It will be quite a different
look and feel,” he told the
council, likening the fi nished
product to “a big plaza.”
Later phases will extend
the project past Gladys
Avenue to the Harkenrider
Center (which breaks ground
Wednesday) and add a plaza
and fountain to the parking
lot across the street from city
hall.
The most expensive part
of the fi rst phase, which is
expected to cost $991,000,
will be raising the street to
the level of the sidewalk to
create a more inviting pedes-
trian experience. Instead
of curbs, street trees and
short posts called bollards
will keep cars from coming
up onto the sidewalk while
still allowing pedestrians to
easily move between them
when the street is blocked off
for events.
Decorative
concrete
pavers, ornamental lighting,
metal benches, short stone
walls and other touches will
create a “sense of place,”
Faha said.
Phase 1 will remove fi ve
parking spots from the street,
but phase 2 will restore them
by restriping the parking lot
across from city hall.
Adding a plaza will cost
about $277,000, adding a
25-foot-wide fountain and
water play area will cost
an estimated $479,000 and
extending the project to the
Harkenrider Center will cost
about $571,000.
Money for the fi rst
phase comes from a bond
that will be paid for using
revenue from Hermiston’s
urban renewal district. City
planner Clint Spencer said
the citizens’ group that
helped develop the festival
street design has expressed
an interest in spearheading a
private fundraising campaign
to help raise money for the
later phases.
Mayor David Drotzmann
said the city has recently had
some “signifi cant conver-
sations” about the future of
the old Carnegie Library on
the corner of Gladys Avenue
and Northeast Second Street,
and noted that extending the
festival street across Gladys
as soon as possible would
help make the library more
attractive.
The fi rst phase is expected
to be complete in spring 2018.
“I’m excited to see what
that looks like,” Drotzmann
said.