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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 9, 2017)
Friday, June 9, 2017 OFF PAGE ONE UMATILLA: Revitalization plan recommends creating PRISON: Fire reignited by sparks from electrical outlet a ‘parks corridor’ through town, more gathering places Page 10A East Oregonian Continued from 1A Continued from 1A is located each Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. The market may be small, but such a venture may not have been possible even a year ago, when Landing Days — the city’s signature event, managed by the chamber of commerce — was first canceled and then brought back in dimin- ished form due to lack of volunteers. Momentum for change in Umatilla is building, and the city hopes the down- town revitalization plan unveiled this week will capitalize on that momentum. The plan, titled Umatilla Together, was created by a group of Portland State University graduate students with input from more than 300 Umatilla residents, elected officials and city staff. Nate Miller, one of the students who worked on the plan, said design changes to Umatilla could help promote the city as a destination, rather than a bedroom community or a place to get gas on the way to somewhere else. The plan discusses the need for more gathering places suitable for events like the Mid-Week Market, and more “walk- ability” by adding sidewalks and trails and connecting existing trails. Miller noted the city’s strong east- west orientation, which contributes to people just driving through on Highway 730. To encourage them to venture off the highway, the plan recommends improving some of the city’s north-south streets, particularly B, F, I, C, Sloan and Jane streets. The plan also recommends creating a “parks corridor” through town, running north of Fifth Street in the mostly undeveloped area running parallel to downtown. Sixty percent of the space is controlled by the federal government and therefore has limited opportunities for commercial, residential or industrial activity. The parks corridor plan suggests leasing more land from the Army Corps of Engineers to develop public gathering spaces, similar to the lease already in place for an expansion of the Third Street soccer fields. It also suggest working with a landscape architect on projects in the corridor such as using trees to hide the city’s recycled water treatment facility from view. “It creates a base for trails, and creates a destination for the north-south streets,” Miller said. “We know that parks draw people.” On the west end of town, Miller said there are opportunities to encourage more housing development with views of the Umatilla River, Columbia River and parks corridor. He said the PSU students also recommend creating a “confluence received two national awards from the American Police Hall of Fame during a ceremony near EOCI’s front steps. The presenta- tion included the organiza- tion’s General Commenda- tion Award and Life Saving Award. As the Oregon Department of Corrections Honor Guard stood by, Anderson quietly accepted plaques and medals from EOCI Superintendent Jeri Taylor with the demeanor of someone who finds the spotlight unsettling. After the ceremony, the humbled EOCI employee agreed to talk about the fire. He said smoke billowed from the carpentry shop just after midnight when he and three others arrived at the scene. “When we opened up the door, there was smoke from the ceiling to about three feet off the ground,” Anderson said. During a foray inside, flame was discovered in the tool room. The men retreated to round up as many fire extinguishers as they could find. As Sgt. D. Fitzpatrick ran to call the fire department and meet firefighters at the gate, Anderson went back in, carrying an extinguisher and ducking below the smoke. Fire crawled along the tool room’s walls and ceiling. Anderson blasted the flame with the extin- guisher, then retreated to catch a breath. Each time he returned, the flames had resumed. Then he realized why. “I watched a spark jump out of the electrical outlet and reignite the whole thing,” Anderson said. “I kept putting it out and it kept starting up again.” Chief Ciraulo arrived five minutes before his firefighters and was briefed by Anderson, who then ducked back inside before Ciraulo could stop him. “I wouldn’t recommend Staff photo by E.J. Harris Umatilla city councilor Mark Ribich buys a sandwich from Sharon Harvey with Campfire & Smoke Cowboy Grub at the Mid-Week Market in Umatilla. overlook” where people can stop and look out over where the two rivers meet. Once Umatilla reaches its goal of re-opening the Old Town Site along the Columbia to the public, the students also suggested a goal of creating a Heritage Center where tourists can learn about the site. “The city can begin to put itself on the map and really start thinking of itself as a destination,” Miller said. Other ideas included increasing acces- sibility for people with disabilities, putting together a transportation plan and adding more color and art downtown. The plan also fits in with the Oregon Department of Transportation’s plan to redevelop Sixth Street, adding sidewalk bulb-outs and other features encouraging traffic to slow town starting in spring 2018. The full Umatilla Together presentation is available at city hall or electronically. Not every citizen in attendance Tuesday was fully on board — one ques- tioned the wisdom of giving up possible business locations in the parks corridor for “a little bit of grass” and another said the plan did not seem to take senior citizens into account. But many said they had never before seen such a large effort to plan for Umatilla’s future. Even those who were not selected for the open council seats had positive things to say about the city’s potential. Lyle Smith, a former city councilor who was also one of the candidates not selected Tuesday, said he believes the city is doing “really well” right now. He cited the annual citywide cleanup effort that is getting “bigger and better” each year, the increase in city events, planning efforts for parks and downtown and the up-tick in community involvement. “When I was a city councilor before, if we had eight people at a city council meeting that was a big turnout, and last night we had eight people who applied for a city council position,” he said. James Deacon has never held elected office before or served on a city committee, but he threw his hat in the ring for city council, citing a desire to see downtown Umatilla brought to life. He said he thought Umatilla could benefit by having a cohesive theme downtown, similar to the Old West theme in Sisters, and could work to recruit businesses that would draw people in from Hermiston and the Tri-Cities. “If Umatilla could do something like that to draw people off the highway, just about the time they’re getting tired, we could bring people in,” he said. He promised the city council on Tuesday night that even if he didn’t get selected he had decided that making the city of Umatilla a better place to live would be his “passion from this point forward.” Clayton Hayes, another council candidate who had never served on a city council before, said he would like to see Umatilla become more of a bicycle and pedestrian-friendly community. He said he and his family use the trails offered around Umatilla but it would be nice if they were more connected. He said the best way for the city to fill empty storefronts on Sixth Street is to make Umatilla an attractive place to work and live. “If there’s money to be made, someone will come in here,” he said. this for anybody,” Ciraulo said, “but he did it smart. He went in low. There was no stupidity.” Anderson said he was motivated to try and beat back the fire because of the potential for disaster if the fire crept out into the work area. “The whole place is dry wood and lacquer,” he said. “It’s extremely flammable.” The chief said Ander- son’s efforts kept the fire in check. Later, Anderson assisted fire personnel by describing the building’s layout and helping shut off the power. J.L. Humphries, a retired Oregon State Police detective and member of Retired State Troopers, nominated Anderson for the pair of awards. “When someone goes above and beyond like Sgt. Anderson did, you need to say, ‘Good job,’” Humphries said. “What in the world would have happened if that fire had gotten out of control?” No one can truly know, but Ciraulo said Anderson kept the fire from spreading and conceivably might have saved one of his fire- fighters from injury or even death. “He did this intelligently and logically,” Ciraulo said. “Frankly, he saved the day.” On Monday, the shop smelled of sawdust, not smoke. Inside, inmates sawed and sanded. Mike Cleveland, the physical plant manager, said the damage was repaired in short order and involved a lot of cleanup of tools. The fire destroyed about $38,000 in motorized hand tools. Cleveland hasn’t yet received the results of an investigation by the Oregon State Fire Marshal into cause of the fire. ——— Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810. GRIEF: Can now focus on recruiting volunteers Continued from 1A the Dougy Center in Portland, an organization that brings together families who have lost loved ones and provides peer counseling through discussion, art and music. Using the Dougy Center as a model, the Terjesons looked to create their own grief counseling organization in Umatilla County, founding Cason’s Place with their friends Jon and Melissa Nitz. The group established a board of Pendleton and Hermiston residents, alter- nating meetings in both towns while they searched for a permanent site. St. Anthony spokesman Larry Blanc said Cason’s Place goals aligned with the St. Anthony’s mission, and the hospital board agreed to deed the nonprofit the clinic and a house it owned next door. Since the hospital moved in 2013, its clinic and services began to consolidate around the new campus at St. Anthony Way near Southgate. After the Southeast Court orthopedic clinic followed St. Anthony to the south side of town, the building was temporarily filled by Home Healthcare & Hospice, before it too joined the new campus. “If you need an x-ray or blood work, it just makes sense to have it at the hospital,” Blanc said. St. Anthony’s consolida- tion on Southgate has been a boon to nonprofits looking for new facilities. When St. Anthony moved its We Care Rural Healthcare Clinic to the new hospital, Pioneer Relief Nursery moved into the vacated building at 1312 S.W. Second St. The hospital also owned the nursery’s old home at 715 S.E. Court Ave. and promptly donated it to the Pendleton Warming Station. St. Anthony’s latest gift is critical for Cason’s Place, which can re-focus its energy and resources from acquiring a building to recruiting volun- teers. “It’s huge because we don’t have to pay rent, we don’t have to pay property taxes,” McBee said. While Blanc said St. Anthony did some renova- tion before handing off the property to Cason’s Place, McBee said there’s still some construction work volunteers need to do as they paint and knock down walls to make former patient rooms more suitable for arts and crafts, painting, group talks and other forms of therapy. Although Cason’s Place has a network of more than 50 volunteers and contacts across Eastern Oregon, it’s going to need more helping hands to do things like facil- itate therapy. McBee said the organiza- tion is planning a multi-day event called Cason’s Camp for late August, which will act as a trial run for operations at the new building. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836. OPENINGS FOR OPERATORS OF NEW RETAIL LIQUOR LOCATIONS OLCC is recruiting applicants for new retail liquor locations. The open recruitment process is a market-driven effort to improve customer convenience by expanding retail liquor locations with a measured, but consistent amount of growth. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission is accepting applications and aiming to add new retail liquor locations in the following counties: Baker County Crook County Deschutes County Gilliam County Grant County Hood River County Jefferson County Morrow County Sherman County Umatilla County Union County Wallowa County Wasco County Wheeler County Applicants are evaluated on background, knowledge and work experience in: • Retail business management • Inventory/cash management • Retail sales and operation • Customer service/public relations in a retail environment • Financial ability to open and operate a retail liquor location A detailed business plan will be required as part of the application process. For additional information on open recruitment for new retail liquor locations and application information, visit: http://www.oregon.gov/OLCC/LIQUORSTORES/Pages/liquorsalesoutlets_openrecruitment.aspx Questions can be directed to OLCC.RetailServices@oregon.gov or call 503-872-5020 (toll-free 1-800-426- 2004, Dept # 62). Provide your name, email address and phone number. Applications can also be picked up at 9079 SE McLoughlin Blvd., Portland, OR 97222. An application with a business plan must be received at OLCC’s main office in Portland at the above address, by 5:00 PM, Monday, July 31st, 2017. Applications received after this deadline will not be accepted. Additional open recruitments for these areas and others in the state may occur in the future. FIREFIGHTERS WANTED Applications are now being accepted for Reserve FF/EMT Please contact Lieutenant Keene for more information at: 541-267-1440 541-276-1442 Or visit the city web page for an application http://pendleton.or.us/ • No Previous Experience Necessary • Fire Training and Certifi cations Provided • Competitive and Challenging environment • Supportive Staff and Mentoring Program • Must Be Self-Motivated and Eager to Learn • Must Obtain EMT/B Within a Year • Must Be at Least 18-Years of Age • Have a High School Diploma or GED • Have a Valid Oregon Driver’s License • Pass a Criminal Back Ground and Drug Screening • Must Be Able to Pass Department Physical Agility Test • Must Be Available for Fire/EMS Recall Be part of the Be part of the Be part of the COMMUNITY EXCITEMENT TRADITION