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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2017
141st Year, No. 257
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STANFIELD
Mistakes
were made,
3D Idapro
offi cials say
Three-part plan in motion
to mitigate stench in town
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Plant Biologist America Goyer transfers cuttings of potato stems into a petri dish while working on genetically modifying the
plant to be more resistant to viruses Tuesday in the plant biology lab at HAREC outside Hermiston.
Extension extended to voters
Most cities in Umatilla, Morrow counties to put tax district on ballot
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Come the May 2018 primary
election, nearly every voter in
Umatilla and Morrow counties
will have a say in whether or not
to support the formation of two
new tax districts for Oregon State
University Extension Service.
Eleven of the 12 incorporated
cities in Umatilla County and
all fi ve cities in Morrow County
recently passed resolutions
forwarding the proposed service
districts to the voters, which
would tax 33 cents per $1,000 of
assessed value to help fund OSU
Extension programs.
The only city not to pass a
resolution was Umatilla, meaning
taxpayers there will not pay for
or receive services if the district
passes. Offi cials with OSU
Extension will now work with
county commissioners to initiate
the formation of each district.
“There is a formal process
that’s been outlined in statute,
and will be done county by
county,” said Mary Corp,
regional administrator for OSU
Extension. “Each county has its
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Caleb Glenn, a 4-H member from Hermiston, washes the tail
of his steer during the Umatilla County Fair last August in
Hermiston.
own district with its own vote.
We’re just working on them at
the same time.”
After a whirlwind tour
appearing before every city
council in both counties, Corp
said she is optimistic about the
success of the proposed districts,
though voters will have fi nal say
at the ballot box when the primary
election rolls around next May.
Would tax
33 cents per $1,000
of assessed value
On Monday, the Milton-Free-
water City Council voted 4-0 to
place the district on the ballot,
becoming the fi nal city in
Umatilla County to do so. Coun-
cilors heard from stakeholders
about the value of extension
service, while trying grasp the
impact of a new district on local
taxes.
Councilor Brad Humbert
said he felt it was fair to let the
taxpayers decide.
“I think you have your work
cut out for you to get it to pass,”
Humbert said.
Opting out
The city of Umatilla opted not
to support the proposed service
district for fi nancial reasons,
choosing instead to focus the tax
dollars it receives on other major
utility projects within the city’s
urban growth boundary.
City Manager Russ Pelleberg
said the decision was not a
critique of OSU Extension, but
simply a determination of the
best use of city money.
“Umatilla is starting to grow,
literally,” Pelleberg said. “There’s
only so much of that tax money
to go around.”
Specifi cally, Pelleberg said
the city was concerned about
tax compression, which limits
their ability to collect revenue
from property taxes. The law,
established by Measure 5 in 1990
and later adjusted by Measure 50,
sets a cap of $5 for every $1,000
of real market value for educa-
See OSU/8A
Would raise more than
$1 million annually in Umatilla County
and $462,000 in Morrow County
Several Stanfi eld residents turned out
on Monday to hear the proposed solutions
for the smell that’s been plaguing them for
the past several months, but many left still
skeptical that the odors will go away.
Representatives from 3D Idapro Solu-
tions, the company that owns a factory on
Hoosier Avenue that has been emitting
odors, came from their offi ces in Illinois
to discuss their plans to mitigate the
smell, some of which are already in place.
They admitted to rushing the plant back
into production
after a fi re and
“We ran the
blending incor-
rect materials plant probably
last week that
before it was
led to a worse-
than-usual
ready to run.
stench.
Then we had
The factory,
which moved
the fi re.
into Stanfi eld in
2016, primarily
We tried to
processes whole
get it up and
and cut pota-
toes, peels and running as fast
potato
slurry,
as possible,
dehydrating it to
make dog food.
but put in
K e v i n
Andreson and
the wrong
Mark Johnson of
equipment.”
3D Idapro said
the company is
— Mark Johnson,
in the second
of 3D Idapro
part of a three-
part plan to miti-
gate odors. The fi rst step, completed Sept.
15, was grading the site, eliminating pot
holes on the property to reduce standing
water and to limit potatoes spilling out
of the trucks and decomposing on the
ground, which they said had contributed
to the smell.
In the second phase, which they expect
to complete by Sunday, Oct. 15, they plan
to enclose the receiving area, to reduce the
odors to surrounding areas as the potatoes
dry. This will include putting up a large
tent in the receiving area.
They said they have also established
an odor mitigation system called “Odor
Boss,” which is supposed to neutralize
odors in the area.
The fi nal phase, scheduled for comple-
tion Nov. 30, is the installation of a new
air scrubber. The old scrubber, which was
too small, was damaged in a fi re at the
plant in February.
“The installation of the new unit will
signifi cantly reduce the smells as the plant
operates,” Andreson said.
See SMELL/8A
Councilor’s comments highlight fears of coming out
National Coming Out
Day is Wednesday
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
When fi lmmaker Joe Wilson, a
gay man who makes documentaries
about members of the LGBTQ
community, began arguing with a
man on Facebook about transgender
discrimination, it was hardly his fi rst
time dealing with angry comments
about gay and transgender people.
As the confrontation escalated,
however, and Wilson clicked on the
man’s profi le, he was alarmed to see
that the man he was arguing with —
Lou Nakapalau — was an Echo city
councilor.
“When you croak of AIDS (Anally
Injected Death Serum) I’ll spit on
your grave,” Nakapalau wrote, adding
an anti-gay slur.
As the LGBTQ community and
their allies prepare to celebrate
National Coming Out Day on
Wednesday, Wilson said the fact that a
city offi cial would feel so comfortable
saying things on a public Facebook
page shows how much work remains
to help people feel safe coming out
as LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender or queer).
“It’s taking a big step in life, if
you know people have that kind of
horrifi c and visceral reaction that can
have very dangerous consequences,”
he said.
It can set a tone for other people
in a community to feel that they can
See LGBTQ/8A
EO fi le photo
In this June 11 fi le photo, Vickie Hendricks of Pendleton holds a
sign with a Rev. Martin Luther King quote on it during The Equal-
ity March for Pride and Unity in Pendleton.