REGION
Saturday, September 23, 2017
HERMISTON
Relationship between EOTEC,
conference center on the agenda
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
The Hermiston City
Council will discuss recom-
mendations for management
of the Hermiston Conference
Center and Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center
Monday.
The city hired consultants
J Robertson and Company
to analyze the relationship
between the two venues and
create a report detailing what
the city could do to make both
venues successful. The city
will take over management
of the conference center from
the Greater Hermiston Area
Chamber of Commerce on
Jan. 1.
The report analyzes both
facilities, including their rate
structures and usage levels.
It details eight recommen-
dations for the Hermiston
Conference Center, including
creating one rate structure
for all users, adopting an
online booking system and
updating the facility’s poli-
cies. The report also details
three recommendations for
EOTEC: Consider providing
janitorial work in-house
instead of by contract,
develop a marketing plan for
the facility and “explore addi-
tional signage and branding
opportunities to assist visitors
in finding the facility.”
The discussion begins with
a work session at 6 p.m. and
will continue during the coun-
cil’s regular 7 p.m. meeting,
where the council will be
asked to adopt the report.
During Monday’s regular
session the council will
be asked to consider two
ordinances and a resolution
designed to help encourage
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Umatilla County Fair day campers visit Bill Jennings
and Bob Daniel at the American Legion booth in the EO-
TEC event center in August at the Umatilla County Fair.
The city will look at how to manage both EOTEC and
the conference center during Monday’s meeting.
more housing development
in Hermiston. One ordinance
and the resolution create a
process for designating “infill”
properties that are surrounded
by other development but
remain undeveloped. Those
properties can then receive
permission to deviate from
certain city development
standards if those standards
are “not feasible or will result
in substandard development.”
The other ordinance would
amend lot size, setbacks and
lot coverage standards for
residential zones. It takes the
required lot size for a single
family dwelling from 9,000
square feet to 8,000 square
feet, for example, and allows
the building to cover 40
percent of the lot instead of
the previous maximum of 30
percent.
The council will also
consider a letter of intent
with Mitco Investments for
a joint revitalization project
along South First Place. The
letter outlines a plan for the
city to receive a small parcel
of land next to its planned
skate park across from the
police station, for the city
to contribute $220,000 for a
proposed 65-space parking lot
along South First Place that
will be open to the public and
for Mitco Investments to build
a 5,000-square-foot shade
structure there for hosting
outdoor events.
The entire council packet
and agenda, including the
report that will be discussed
during the work session, can
be found online at https://
www.hermiston.or.us/city-
council-meetings.
On Monday at 4 p.m. the
city council’s transportation
committee will meet to discuss
two possible re-configurations
of the city’s free bus route.
Both proposed routes would
eliminate some stops that have
not been as popular in order to
allow the bus to complete six
loops through town instead of
four per day, and keep each
loop to under an hour.
HERMISTON
East Oregonian
Parker accused of trying to run
over men at marijuana grow
Four months after citizens
first submitted complaints
about an odor nuisance in the
area of south Highway 207,
Luke Dynes was fined $435
for a violation of Hermiston’s
nuisance code and ordered to
abate the smell.
Attorney Patrick Gregg
stated in court that his client
Dynes plans to appeal the
decision to Umatilla County
Circuit Court, which would
cause the order to be stayed
until a ruling on the appeal is
made in circuit court.
The legal wrangling shows
the difficulty of using city
code to put a stop to odor
nuisances, which is something
the nearby city of Stanfield
has been wrestling with after
complaints about the smell
coming from a dehydration
plant located there. In
response to its problem, Stan-
field adopted a new ordinance
mirroring language found in
Hermiston’s nuisance code,
under the belief that the Herm-
iston version would be more
likely to hold up in court.
That language was tested
in Hermiston’s municipal
court on Friday and stood the
test by only a narrow margin.
The case involved a set of
complaints by three different
citizens, alleging that a strong
“stench” from a food waste
recycling operation at 78227
S. Highway 395 — a property
owned by Dynes and used
by various tenants, including
limited liability companies
of which Dynes is a member
— had caused them to have
to stay inside their homes on
April 24. One complainant,
Sarah Anderson, described
the smell in court on Friday as
“vomit in vapor form.”
Under
Hermiston’s
nuisance code, there is
evidence a violation occurred
if there is “oral or written
complaint of three or more
persons, within any 12-hour
period, to the effect that odors
emanating from any activity
within or in the vicinity of the
city are causing adverse health
effects, significant discomfort,
or serious inconvenience to
the persons (or to minors
within the custody or care of
the persons) at a residence or
place of business within the
city limits.”
City residents George
Anderson, Will Anderson
and Sarah Anderson each
submitted letters to the city
dated May 11 describing their
discomfort on April 24.
Hermiston assistant pros-
ecutor Blaine Clooten argued
that their letters fit the defini-
tion of evidence as outlined
in the ordinance, but Gregg
disagreed, stating that the
“within any 12-hour period”
clause coupled with the
present tense wording meant
that the complaints about
April 24 would have had to be
did not state in their testimony
or in their letters of complaint
that they had actually driven
to the property and had seen
that activity there was causing
the smell, or that the smell
was tied to Dynes. He pointed
to a number of other agri-
cultural and food processing
operations within a mile of the
property, including a feedlot,
Shearer’s Foods and Bud
Rich Potato, that could have
degree criminal mischief,
second-degree trespass and
two counts of menacing.
Deputies booked Parker
into the county jail in
Pendleton late Wednesday,
according to online jail
roster. Littlefield said
Parker soon bailed out.
Circuit court records show
the district attorney’s office
has yet to file charges
against Parker. The case
remains under investiga-
tion.
Parker is the former
owner of the Columbia
Basin Compassion Center
medical marijuana dispen-
sary. When reached Friday,
Parker would not comment
on the arrest but stressed
it had nothing to do with
High Desert Cannabis,
2003 S.W. Emigrant Ave. in
Pendleton. He also asserted
he has no interest in the
business other than buying
his marijuana there. He
hung up twice during ques-
tions and did not answer a
third call.
The morning of his
arrest, Parker was at the
Pendleton Police Depart-
ment. Police Chief Stuart
Roberts said the he was
trying to demonstrate he
had some authority over
the High Desert Cannabis
store.
Parker’s
daughter,
Aimee Parker, co-owns
High Desert with Michael
Ekblad. Both live in
Hermiston, according to
state records. Police Chief
Roberts said the two appear
to be at odds.
Roberts said Michael
Parker came to his office
Wednesday morning upset
when High Desert staff
would not allow him into
the store. Roberts said
Parker showed paperwork
from his attorney, Will
Perkinson — who also is
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Former marijuana busi-
ness owner and convicted
felon Michael Alan Parker
ended Wednesday night in
Umatilla County sheriff’s
handcuffs, accused of
assault at a Hermiston
marijuana grow.
The sheriff’s office
reported deputies Jon
Roberts and Travis Stark
responded to a location on
North Highway 395 near
Hermiston for a report of
a driving complaint and
assault.
County
Undersheriff
Jim Littlefield said the
sheriff’s office would not
provide a more specific
address because there is a
marijuana grow operation
at the location.
The deputies found two
men who claimed Parker,
57, was not welcome there
but refused to leave.
“The assault victims
reported Parker started
fighting with them and
warned them that they
would need guns to keep
him away,” according to
the sheriff’s statement.
They claimed Parker got
in his vehicle and tried to
run over one of them, but hit
a fence and became stuck.
He ran away, the sheriff’s
office reported, and the two
victims left to call police.
When they returned, they
found several windows
broken out of their motor
homes and several damaged
marijuana plants.
Undersheriff
Jim
Littlefield said the deputies
found Parker at the scene
and arrested him on the
following:
second-de-
gree attempted assault,
fourth-degree assault, two
counts of first-degree crim-
inal mischief, one of second
Waste recycler fined for odor
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
made within a 12-hour period
of April 24.
After a discussion on
whether the “12 hour period”
clause was modifying the
timing of the smell or the
timing of the complaints,
Judge Will Perkinson stated
he believed the clause “modi-
fied the effect the odor has
on three or more people,” as
argued by Clooten.
Perkinson also disagreed
with Gregg that it was a
company, not Dynes himself,
that was in charge of the prop-
erty and therefore responsible
for any nuisances that may
have been caused.
In his closing arguments
Gregg
also
questioned
whether there was a “prepon-
derance of evidence” that the
smell had indeed come from
activity at 78227 S. Highway
395. While crimes must be
proved “beyond a reasonable
doubt,” for a violation the city
must only provide a prepon-
derance of evidence, which is
often defined as a 51 percent
chance of guilt.
“The city has not gotten
close to 51 percent,” Gregg
said.
He said that the witnesses
been causing the odor.
In the end Perkinson
said that “just by a hair” the
evidence spoke to the odor
more likely than not being
caused by activity on Dynes’
property, and found Dynes
guilty of a Class A violation.
The violation is punishable
by a minimum of $220 and
maximum of $2,000. The
presumptive, or standard,
fine is $435, which is what
Perkinson imposed.
There are other complaints
about Dynes submitted to
the city of Hermiston about
odors on other dates, but
each date counts as a separate
“nuisance” that must be
addressed separately in court.
The Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality issued a
civil penalty of $29,534 to
Carter & Wyatt Holdings LLC
for commercial or industrial
activity at 78227 S Highway
395 without holding a Water
Pollution Control Facilities
permit from the DEQ. A letter
sent to the company notifying
it of the fine states it is because
“your unpermitted storage and
discharge of vegetable wastes,
which are high in nitrogen,
poses a risk to groundwater.”
the Pendleton municipal
judge — intended for
Aimee Parker to relinquish
some authority in the busi-
ness and give her father a
say in its operations.
Parker said he was about
to head down to the business
and deal with the situation,
according to Roberts, who
said he advised Parker not
to cause trouble. Roberts
said he agreed with Park-
er’s request to an officer
to accompany him to the
marijuana store.
“We were there on a kind
of peacekeeping mission
more than anything else,”
Roberts said.
Roberts said the officer
at the scene called the local
marijuana
compliance
agent for the Oregon Liquor
Control Commission, and
the agent ruled Parker
could not manage the store.
Roberts said Parker was
angry when he left.
While he can’t manage
the store, Roberts said
he vetted Parker as an
employee. Parker has an
extensive criminal history,
Roberts said, but nothing
in recent years that would
disqualify
him
from
working in a marijuana
retail business.
The East Oregonian
called Ekblad, but his father,
William Reuter, answered.
Reuter said neither he nor
his son were at the store
when Parker was there.
Reuter refused to answer
questions, stated he and
Ekblad had no comment
and hung up. Staff at High
Desert Cannabis also did
not want to talk. And Aimee
Parker did not respond to a
message via social media
before end of work Friday.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
SUBMIT COMMUNITY NEWS
Submit information to: community@eastoregonian.com or drop off to the attention of
Tammy Malgesini at 333 E. Main St., Hermiston or Renee Struthers at 211 S.E. Byers
Ave., Pendleton. Call 541-564-4539 or 541-966-0818 with questions.
“Vomit in vapor form.”
— Sarah Anderson,
describing smell coming from operation
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