REGION
Thursday, August 10, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Regulators deny Carty
natural gas plant expansion
Permitting suspended while
PGE pursues existing resources
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pirate, parrots set anchor at county fair
Thor, a scarlet macaw, flies up to his trainer, Chris Biro, during the Pirate’s Parrot
Show on Wednesday at the Umatilla County Fair in Hermiston. Biro uses dozens
of exotic birds in his educational show.
PENDLETON
REACH asks to make rec center home base
By EMILY OLSON
East Oregonian
Pendleton’s city council
is considering a proposal to
let a local youth outreach
program lease the Pendleton
Recreational Center starting
this fall.
During Tuesday’s work
session,
City
Manager
Robb Corbett said he was in
negotiation with REACH,
a nonprofit hoping to begin
daily afterschool programs.
The group has its eyes on the
former McCune Junior High
School building, which now
houses a multitude of city
programs.
Corbett said there’s plenty
of space in other facilities
if city programs need to
relocate. REACH would pay
for the building’s operational
costs, helping keep the center
financially
sustainable,
according to Corbett.
Joe Jackson, a REACH
board member, said that
Pendleton’s atmosphere is
detrimental to youth, citing
statistics about local teen
arrests and graduation rates.
The council agreed that
the organization’s aims are
worthy, but raised questions
about the specific use of the
center.
Multiple councilors asked
if the lease would oust the
center’s current users as
some, like children’s groups,
might not mix well with
at-risk youth. Corbett said
there were more than enough
facilities in Pendleton —
such as school buildings
— to relocate the existing
activities.
But councilor McKennon
McDonald said residents
are hesitant to “put a reli-
gious organization in a city
building.”
Jackson maintained that
REACH does not have a
religious agenda, though it
would provide at-risk youth
with religious support if
needed.
For some residents, the
hesitancy over the lease
has to do with a sense of
ownership of the recreation
center, said Councilor Dale
Primmer.
The council will vote on
the lease in early September.
Mayor
John
Turner
suggested REACH keep
working on the paperwork
in the meantime, giving extra
thought to sharing the space
with existing programs.
In other business:
Tuesday’s
workshop
also brought discussions on
creating a tax-funded service
district for OSU Extension,
as well as changing a contract
for the ongoing Pendleton
Heights construction project.
• Mary Corp, the regional
director of OSU Extension,
asked the council to consider
a resolution to include
Pendleton in a proposed
Umatilla County service
district. If enough cities
in the county vote yes, the
district’s creation would be
put to a vote in May 2018.
If included in the district,
Pendleton residents would
be taxed at a rate of 33 cents
per $1,000 of assessed value.
Those taxes would cover
some of OSU Extension’s
loss of federal funding. Corp
said roughly 60 percent
of the funding would go
to extension services like
agricultural education. Forty
percent would go to Umatilla
County’s research centers.
• Developer Saj Jivanjee
brought a new offer to
the council in hopes of
continuing to expand the
Pendleton Heights subdivi-
sion off Tutuilla Road.
He was initially supposed
to pay off $320,000 in liens
after completing the 32-unit
development, completed in
2016, but asked if he could
instead pay $200,000 and
pay the rest after the full
project is completed. He
would then begin work on
the first 20 units of a 100-unit
complex.
The city placed liens on
the development to cover the
cost of about $1.3 million in
infrastructure related to the
project, including roads and
utilities.
• Six students from
Pendleton’s sister city,
Minamisoma, Japan, were
formally introduced to the
council. They gifted the
mayor with a hanging wall
scroll bearing advice from
a Japanese tea ceremony.
The Pendleton Chamber of
Commerce presented the
students with bracelets from
Pendleton’s charm trail.
Councilor
McDonald,
who oversees the trust that
helps fund the exchange
program, invited all coun-
cilors and residents to greet
the students should they
encounter them around the
city. The students are here
until Aug. 18.
Environmentalists
cheered a decision Tuesday
by the Oregon Public Utility
Commission that seemingly
torpedoes any plans by
Portland General Electric to
expand the natural gas-fired
Carty Generating Station in
Morrow County.
PGE had considered
building two new units at
Carty to satisfy customer
demand after 2020, when
the Boardman Coal Plant
is scheduled to close. In
its most recent integrated
resource plan, the utility
estimates it will need 561
additional megawatts of
capacity to bridge the short-
fall and keep up with future
growth.
Regulators
acknowl-
edged PGE’s need for
capacity during a lengthy
six-hour meeting in Salem.
The PUC did not, however,
give the green light to go out
for bids to expand at Carty,
drawing praise from oppo-
nents of fracked natural gas.
“To address the climate
crisis, we need to transition
rapidly off fossil fuels and
increase renewable energy
like wind and solar power,”
said David Van’t Hof,
acting Oregon director for
Climate Solutions. “We
commend the Public Utility
Commission for recog-
nizing that imperative and
rejecting new fracked gas
development.”
Cathy Sampson-Kruse,
an enrolled member of the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion, also petitioned against
burning more natural gas at
Carty.
“I am relieved by the
Oregon PUC ruling,”
Sampson-Kruse said in a
statement Tuesday. “I fully
understand that electric
energy is vital in the world
we live in, but we stand
strong in our belief that
solar and wind energy are
the correct path forward.”
PGE itself suspended
efforts to secure permits
for two new units at Carty
earlier this year, and has
instead entered into negotia-
tions to purchase additional
power from existing North-
west facilities. Spokesman
Steve Corson said those
negotiations are ongoing.
It is not yet certain if
PGE can satisfy all its
capacity needs through
existing resources. If not,
Corson said regulators have
asked for a market study
to provide greater details
about other options.
Another aspect of PGE’s
integrated resource plan
detailed how the utility
planned to add 175 average
megawatts of renewable
energy in order to meet
Oregon’s rising renewable
energy goals. Corson said
PGE wants to take advan-
tage of federal production
tax credits on new projects
before
the
incentives
expired.
The utility commission
did not approve that
strategy either, leaving PGE
to regroup on a new plan.
“They invited us to talk
further with environmental
groups and staff, and come
back in 60 days with an
update,” Corson said.
Corson described Tues-
day’s meeting as “long, but
constructive” and said PGE
is pleased that regulators
have at least acknowledged
their capacity needs moving
forward. Both Corson and
Van’t Hof said they are
looking forward to working
together on refining poli-
cies.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
Forests bump up public use restrictions
East Oregonian
Beginning Friday, the
Umatilla and Wallowa-
Whitman national forests
will move into Phase C
public use restrictions amid
extreme wildfire danger.
The restrictions mean
all campfires and internal
combustion engines —
including chainsaws — are
prohibited within the forests.
Off-road
and
off-trail
vehicle travel is not allowed,
and smoking is permitted
only in enclosed vehicles,
developed recreation sites
or in cleared areas.
Liquid and bottle gas
stoves are still allowed, as
are electrical generators.
Generators, however, are
allowed only if:
• Fully contained within
a pickup truck bed that is
empty of flammable mate-
rial.
• Placed at the center
of an area cleared of all
flammable material within a
10-foot diameter.
• When factory installed
in a recreational vehicle, and
the exhaust is discharged at
the center of an area cleared
of all flammable material
within a 10-foot diameter.
Similar
restrictions
are also in place on lands
protected by the Oregon
Department of Forestry.
Landowners in the North-
east Oregon District are also
prohibited from grinding,
cutting or welding metal or
mowing dried grass with
power-drive equipment.
As of Tuesday, fire-
fighters on the Umatilla
National Forest continue
to strengthen containment
lines and mop up hot spots
on the 167-acre Tupper
Corral fire, located 20 miles
southeast of Heppner. The
blaze, which was reported
Tuesday near the Tupper
Guard Station, is now 40
percent contained. The
cause of the fire is under
investigation.
Doug
Baxter,
fire
management officer on the
Heppner Ranger District,
said interagency coopera-
tion was key in catching the
fire before it could get out of
control.
“The additional fire-
fighting resources provided
by our partners at the Oregon
Department of Forestry
successfully assisted the
district with catching this
fire,” Baxter said.
On
the
Wallowa-
Whitman National Forest,
crews are making progress
on the Bear Butte fire
along the road that leads to
Anthony Lakes Mountain
Resort near Haines. The
fire is holding steady at 492
acres and is now 45 percent
contained. Anthony Lakes
Highway remains closed,
and the resort is still under
evacuation.
For the latest information
on fires and restrictions in
northeast Oregon, call the
Blue Mountain Interagency
Dispatch Center at 541-963-
7171 or visit www.bmidc.
org.
BRIEFLY
Mandi Miller to
perform at Sundown
PENDLETON — Mandi
Miller, a 1988 Pendleton High
School graduate who resides in
New Zealand, will be on hand for a
local performance.
She will perform Saturday from
6:30-8:30 p.m. on Sundown’s
Garden Patio at Sundown Grill
& Bar-B-Q, 233 S.E. Fourth St.,
Pendleton. People are encouraged
to make reservations.
Miller received six awards
in the World Championships
of Performing Arts in 2012. In
addition, Miller, along with her
bandmate Mark “Android” Wilson,
released “Starman in the Stars:
Ode to Bowie” in June 2016.
For more information or
to RSVP for Miller’s local
performance, contact 541-310-
1304 or raphael_hoffman@
hotmail.com. For more about
Miller, visit www.facebook.com/
mandi.miller.58.
Train horns blowing
in Pendleton during
construction
PENDLETON — The
installation of new signaling
equipment in Pendleton has led
Union Pacific trains to sound their
whistles as they pass through town.
Justin Jacobs, a media
spokesman for Union Pacific,
apologized for the local disruption
and said the installation should be
completed by Thursday afternoon
at the latest. The new equipment is
likely part of routine maintenance,
he said.
The horns, which began
about a week ago, caused a few
community members to submit
complaints to Union Pacific.
Pendleton is an established quiet
zone, meaning conductors are
Contributed photo by Hal Tapley
Mandi Miller and her bandmate, Mark Android, perform their ode
to David Bowie, titled “Starman in the Stars.” Miller, a Pendleton
native, will perform Saturday in the garden patio at Sundown Grill
& Bar-B-Q, Pendleton.
prohibited from using whistles
except in emergency situations,
such as an obstacle on or near the
tracks.
“Any time there’s a potential
for a safety issue to present itself,
the conductors are going to use
caution,” Jacobs said.
Blocked irrigation
water spilling onto
Seventh Street
HERMISTON — Hermiston
city officials say water that has
been flowing down Hermiston’s
Southwest Seventh Street for the
past several weeks is a result of a
block in the area, which is causing
water to spill out into the street.
Assistant city manager Mark
Morgan said crews this week are
trying to find out the exact nature
of the block and fix it.
“They think there’s some roots
or something blocking it, causing
water to back up,” he said. “It’s
flowing down Seventh and dumps
into the storm drain, and ultimately
into Belt Park,” he said.
While the city doesn’t know
the exact cause of the block,
Morgan said the water coming
onto the road is not city water,
and it’s not a leak from a sewer
line.
“They’ve been using the “Vac-
On” truck, which sucks out sewer
lines. (The truck) is used for all
sorts of things, but that water
is not sewage,” he said, adding
that it’s mostly a combination of
groundwater and irrigation water.
Health Insurance
101 features free
information
The Oregon Health Insurance
Marketplace is sponsoring
“Health Insurance 101” in three
regional communities.
The free two-hour workshop
is designed to help people
understand health insurance.
The upcoming presentations are
Tuesday, Aug. 15 from 6-8 p.m.
at the Milton-Freewater Public
Library, 8 S.W. Eighth Ave., and
Wednesday, Aug. 16 from 6-8
p.m. in Conference Room 1 at
Good Shepherd Medical Center,
610 N.W. 11th St., Hermiston.
In addition, the seminar will be
presented Wednesday, Oct. 11
from 6-8 p.m. in the Community
Room at Pendleton City Hall, 500
S.W. Dorion Ave.
The workshop will help
attendees prepare for the health
insurance open enrollment
period that begins in the fall. An
experienced health-insurance
educator from the Marketplace
will explain how health insurance
works, describe coverage options
and answer questions about health
insurance in Oregon
To register, contact 855-268-
3767 or info.marketplace@
oregon.gov.
Parks & Rec plans
eclipse trip
HERMISTON — Travel
arrangements, snacks and eclipse
glasses are all featured in a solar
eclipse day trip sponsored by
Hermiston Parks & Recreation.
The group will depart Monday,
Aug. 21 at 7 a.m. from Hermiston
City Hall and travel to Baker
City to view the historical event.
Participants are encouraged to
bring their camera and enjoy the
two minutes of darkness in the
path of totality. The estimated time
of return is 3 p.m.
The cost is $20 for
Hermiston residents and $24 for
non-residents. Those who plan to
attend need to register by Tuesday,
Aug. 15.
For more information, visit
www.hermistonrecreation.com. To
register, call 541-667-5018 or stop
by the recreation office, 180 N.E.
Second St., Hermiston.
Group looks for
aviation enthusiasts
HERMISTON — An
organization that promotes general
and recreational aviation invites
people to learn more about the
Umatilla County Experimental
Aircraft Association.
Everyone with an interest
in aviation is invited to attend.
Participants don’t have to have
a pilot’s license or own an
airplane to learn more about
Chapter 219 of the Experimental
Aircraft Association. The club
was chartered more that 50 years
ago at the Hermiston Municipal
Airport.
The group meets the third
Tuesday of each month. The next
meeting is Aug. 15 at 7 p.m. in
the administrative building at the
Hermiston Airport, 1600 Airport
Way, located south of town off
Highway 395.
For more information, contact
Ron Linn at 541-449-3630 or
rlcd@eotnet.net.
Job fair seeks vendors
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston Conference Center is
hosting a Hiring Fair.
The event is Wednesday, Aug.
16 from 2-7 p.m. Area employers
are invited to set up vendor space
to connect with job seekers.
Vendor space is $25, which
includes a 10x10 booth, an 8-foot
table and two chairs. Electricity
is available, but vendors must
provide their own extension cords
and power strips.
For more information, contact
the chamber at 541-567-6151 or
kelly@hermistonchamber.com.
———
Briefs are compiled from
staff and wire reports, and press
releases. Email press releases to
news@eastoregonian.com