REGION
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
East Oregonian
PENDLETON
Council picks fire station architect
Also approves $503k in work orders
for street, stormwater data collection
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Two months after voters gave
them the go-ahead, the city of
Pendleton is starting to spend
money from the $10 million fire
bond.
At a meeting Tuesday,
the Pendleton City Council
unanimously agreed to hire the
Mackenzie engineering firm of
Portland to provide architectural
designs and engineering services
for the fire department’s new
primary station on Southeast
Court Avenue.
Fire Chief Mike Ciraulo said
Mackenzie has a reputation of
avoiding change orders and
keeping a project under budget.
According to Ciraulo, the
$701,891 cost for Mackenzie’s
services is $8,000 less than
estimated.
The city council was also
set to consider sending out a
request for a proposal to hire
a general contractor during
the design stage, but the city
postponed that decision to meet
an advertisement requirement for
the public hearing.
The council did make a
decision on some of Ciraulo’s
emergency equipment requests,
which are also a part of the
bond. The council unanimously
approved spending $27,530
for “Jaws of Life” extrication
equipment and $103,714 for
heart monitors.
Before the meeting,
firefighter/paramedic Jared
Uselman told the council that the
new heart monitors were lighter,
smaller, Bluetooth-capable and
able to provide better readings.
In addition to the fire bond,
the council also approved
$503,000 in work orders with
Anderson Perry & Associates.
Anderson Perry will assist
the city in collecting data on the
city’s streets and stormwater
systems. The engineering firm
will also help the city develop
a street master plan and a
stormwater utility fee.
City Manager Robb Corbett
explained the importance of the
street master plan.
“If we anticipate longterm
having a robust conversation
on street maintenance, we have
to talk about things like street
lights, painting, curbs, (the
Americans with Disabilities
Act),” he said. “It’s not just about
asphalt maintenance. That’s what
I think the value of a master plan
is. It helps provide the council
with the information to have a
conversation about what to do
with the limited tax dollars that
we have.”
The council unanimously
approved the work orders.
Pendleton city council also
took action on other issues,
including:
• The council unanimously
approved offloading two
properties.
The city sold a 3,300-square-
foot property near the
intersection of Southwest
Court Avenue and Westgate to
a business looking to develop
mini-storage units on the site.
The city originally acquired
the property in 2004 through
eminent domain.
The council also transferred
ownership of a property at 1103
S.E. Court Place to Domestic
Violence Services.
The city originally bought the
property in 1991 for $89,500 and
leased it to Domestic Violence
Services, but because of the
property’s future maintenance
needs and the grant opportunities
the nonprofit can access if it
owns the property, the city
decided to relinquish ownership.
The property is now worth
$300,000, according to Umatilla
County.
• As the Pendleton
Development Commission, the
council unanimously approved a
$3.5 million line of credit from
Banner Bank.
The money will be used to
fund the commission’s operations
through the end of urban renewal
district in 2023.
• The council unanimously
approved spending $77,517
for equipment at the Pendleton
Unmanned Aerial Systems
Range mission control room.
The funds are derived from a
state grant mainly used to build a
hangar at the airport.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com or
541-966-0836.
Irrigators want investigation of fish management
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
EO Media Group
The Columbia-Snake River
Irrigators Association is calling
for an investigation of actions
by fisheries managers they say
were fatal to federally protected
juvenile salmon and steelhead
in the Columbia-Snake river
system.
The irrigators claim that
in the spring of 2015, those
managers compromised juvenile
fish survival and the subsequent
return of adults by allowing
the fish to remain in the Lower
Snake River during extremely
poor river conditions — low
flows and high temperatures
— rather than barging them
downstream in the Army Corps
of Engineers’ transportation
program.
In their July 10 request, the
irrigators asked the inspectors
general of the Army Corps and
the Department of Commerce
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration to
investigate the issue.
In response to Capital Press
inquiries, the agencies stated they
have received the request and are
reviewing it.
The irrigators said the
managers deviated from the
legally required “spread the risk”
policy under the Endangered
Species Act biological opinion
on fish management in the river
system.
The policy boils down to
leaving half of the juvenile fish
in the river and transporting the
other half downriver to below
the Bonneville Dam when river
conditions threaten successful
migration.
In 2015, managers transported
only 13 percent of the juvenile
fish — the lowest percentage on
record dating back to 1993.
The policy has been in place
for decades and was upheld in
U.S. District Court in 2005.
Sheriff’s office nabs four for
DUIIs during Fourth of July
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
The Umatilla County
Sheriff’s Office arrested four
people for driving under the
influence of intoxicants
during the Independence
Day weekend.
The sheriff’s office
released
the
results
Monday. Extra patrols to
crack down on intoxicated
drivers during the four-day
weekend resulted in the
following arrests:
• Jared Patterson, 26, of
Hermiston, for possession
of
methamphetamine,
possession
of
heroin,
resisting arrest, and DUII
(controlled substances).
• Daniel Loftus, 54,
of Hermiston, for DUII
(alcohol), reckless driving,
making an unlawful turn,
open container (of alcohol),
and breath test refusal.
• Jose Alfredo Orozco,
27, of Hermiston, for DUII.
The sheriff’s office reported
Orozco’s
blood-alcohol
limit was .03 percent, less
than half the state’s limit of
.08 percent, but he still was
too impaired to drive.
• And Christine Faye
Spence, 39, of Weston, also
had a blood-alcohol level
of .03 percent but showed
signs of alcohol and drug
impairment. The sheriff’s
arrested her for DUII,
possession of methamphet-
amine, and three counts
of recklessly endangering
another person for the three
children she had with her in
the car.
In addition to the arrests,
the sheriff’s office cited or
warned 27 other drivers for
violations. The Oregon State
Sheriff’s Association funded
the local effort, which was
part of a nationwide move
to get more impaired drivers
off the street. The next DUII
blitz is Aug. 8-12 during the
Umatilla County Fair.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
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Severe conditions existed in
2015, and managers should have
been maximizing the juvenile
transportation program, they
claim.
Fish managers knew by April
1 that river conditions were
potentially lethal, and NOAA
Fisheries twice requested an
early start date for transporting
juvenile fish. Those requests
were rejected, and there’s no
administrative record showing
why, he said.
By the time transport started
a month later, 60 percent of the
chinook and 50 percent of the
steelhead had already tried to
migrate, he said.
“It was just raw stupidity,” he
said.
The debacle is rooted in a
larger problem — endless ESA
litigation by environmental
groups and the state of Oregon.
Over the past 25 years, those
groups have filed multiple legal
actions challenging the validity
of the biological opinion guiding
hydropower operations, he said.
The irrigators association
— which consists of private
pumpers, municipalities and food
processors — has been involved
in that litigation as a defendant
intervenor since 1992. The
litigation has jeopardized water
rights and led to higher power
costs, with the Bonneville Power
Administration spending $17
billion of rate-payers’ money to
mitigate for fish, he said.
The situation is out of control,
and the litigation needs to stop,
he said.
The 2015 transport failure
“demonstrates how insane this
has all become … they are so
enthralled with trying to do
natural river conditions and spill,
they’re killing the fish,” he said.
The ESA statute provides
for executive action to convene
an ESA committee — or God
Squad — to determine what’s to
be done.
Page 3A
BRIEFLY
Judge bars arson suspect
from ‘fire starting materials’
PENDLETON — Angela Fix
remains in the Umatilla County Jail,
Pendleton, in lieu of $50,000 bail for the
charge of first-degree arson.
The state accused Fix of starting the
fire early Sunday at 439 S.W. Birch
Place, Pilot Rock, the home of Larry
Castro. Pilot Rock Police Chief Bill
Caldera reported
Castro’s body was
in the home. He
was 77.
Circuit Judge
Jon Lieuallen set
the bail during a
hearing Monday
afternoon at the
Umatilla County
Courthouse,
Fix
Pendleton. Fix
became disruptive
and attorney Kara Davis, who repre-
sented Fix for the hearing, said Fix’s
comments were “ill advised.” Lieuallen
also ordered courtroom staff to turn off
her microphone.
If Fix can post $5,000, 10 percent of
the bail, she can get out of jail. Lieuallen
on the jail release form noted one
special condition of her release: “No fire
starting materials.”
Fix has a hearing the morning of June
24 in which the district attorney’s office
is likely to bring formal charges from an
indictment.
Fix nor anyone else faces charges in
connection to Castro’s death. However,
Caldera stated, the investigation is
ongoing.
Pendleton to hold Eighth
Street Bridge open house
PENDLETON — As work on the
Eighth Street Bridge continues, Pend-
leton city officials are providing another
update on the $7.42 million replacement
project.
According to a letter sent to local
residents from Public Works Director
Bob Patterson, the Knights of Pythias
will host a barbecue and open house at
its 11 S.E. Eighth St. lodge at 7 p.m. on
July 31.
Patterson wrote that representatives
from the city, OBEC Consulting
Engineers and the Oregon Department
of Transportation will update the
Eighth Street neighborhood on plans to
re-purpose the bridge trusses on South
Main Street and provide an update on
the project and its schedule.
The city has set a bid date for the
construction of the project for Oct. 12.
———
Briefs are compiled from staff
and wire reports, and press releases.
Email press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com