REGION
Thursday, November 16, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PENDLETON
Local construction firm to lead fire station project
East Oregonian
After choosing a Portland
firm to design the city’s new
fire station, the Pendleton City
Council selected the company
a block away from city hall to
handle construction.
At a workshop Tuesday,
the council unanimously
agreed to let staff enter into
negotiations with McCor-
mack Construction Co. of
Pendleton to lead construction
on the new station, the center-
piece of a $10 million bond.
This is the first time the
city is working under the
“construction
manager/
general contractor” model
of development, a process
where a contractor is hired
during the design process
rather than after. Instead of
seeking the lowest bidder like
other municipal construction
projects, each bidder is
mainly evaluated on their
qualifications and experience.
City staff said this process
would save money by limiting
the number of change orders
during the project due to
the cooperation between the
design and construction firms.
According to a city staff
report, the five businesses that
sent proposals to the city were
McCormack;
Chervenell
Construction of Kennewick;
Gerding Builders of Corvallis;
Kirby Nagelhout Construc-
Contributed image
This contributed image shows an aerial view of the
proposed concept for the new Pendleton fire station.
tion, a Bend company with a
Pendleton office; and Wright
Brothers, The Building
Company of Eagle, Idaho.
A
selection
team
comprised of city staff and
representatives from Portland
design firm Mackenzie met
four times between Oct. 25
and Nov. 7 to discuss and
evaluate each company, but
struggled to make a final
decision between Kirby
Nagelhout and McCormack
after the pair rose to the top.
Ultimately, the team chose
McCormack because its 3.5
percent construction manager
fee was 0.1 percent lower
than Kirby Nagelhout’s. Its
$20,000 monthly estimate for
managing and performing the
project was lower than Kirby
Nagelhout’s $38,000 per
month estimate.
“We know that the money
can be utilized elsewhere with
the fire station and we intend
to do that,” said Public Works
Director Bob Patterson.
Joseph Hull, McCor-
mack’s director of business
development/operations, told
the council that his company
was “deeply honored” to build
a fire station for “our beloved
hometown.”
The new station will
replace the fire department’s
aging facility at 911 S.W.
Court Ave. To be located at
the old St. Anthony Hospital
parking lot site on Southeast
Court, the station is set to start
construction in 2018 and see
completion in 2019.
BRIEFLY
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Two vehicles were in a head-on collision at South-
east Fourth and Newport on Wednesday afternoon,
redirecting traffic at Main Street and Southeast
Newport for a short while.
Afternoon wreck shuts down traffic
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Minor injury in Highway 11 rollover
This crash Wednesday afternoon off Highway 11 about five miles north of Pendleton left one occupant with a
minor injury, but she did not need an ambulance. A witness said the northbound Ford crossed the single yel-
low line into oncoming traffic, then the driver jerked the car back into the southbound lane, hit the shoulder
and rolled in the field.
Small Business Saturday asks shoppers to buy local
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Sandwiched
between
Black Friday and Cyber
Monday, Small Business
Saturday is on the calendar
once again for local busi-
nesses.
The national movement,
which encourages people to
shop at local small businesses
for the holidays, trickled into
Umatilla County a few years
ago as downtown businesses
in several cities began
offering special deals on the
Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Greater Hermiston Area
Chamber of Commerce
director Debbie Pedro said
she hasn’t compiled a list of
Hermiston businesses having
sales that day, but if people
check businesses’ Facebook
pages or just hit the stores
on Saturday they should find
plenty of shopping opportu-
nities at places like Lucky
Endz Gifts.
“I think a lot of our local
businesses are participating
in Small Business Saturday,”
Pedro said. “I know a lot of
our downtown merchants
are.”
Pendleton Chamber of
Commerce is currently
asking local business owners
to
submit
information
about their Small Business
Saturday participation. The
chamber plans to compile the
list and put it on their website
so that shoppers can know
before they leave the house
which stores will have sales.
Pedro said she received
gift bags, posters and signs
that chamber members will
be able to pick up from
the chamber offices to let
customers know they are
participating.
She said lots of chamber
members are also jumping
into the Black Friday frenzy
by offering sales on the day
after Thanksgiving.
“It’s really exciting to
see some of the businesses
ramping up for that,” she
said.
Pedro said whenever
people choose to do their
shopping for Christmas pres-
ents, buying local is always
a way to support friends and
neighbors.
“When you support your
local businesses, you’re
supporting jobs, and you’re
supporting the opportunity to
have great products available
right here in the community,”
she said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
HERMISTON — Two vehicles were involved in an
accident at Southeast Fourth Street and Newport Avenue
on Wednesday afternoon, causing a brief hiccup in traffic
flow and blocking the section of Fourth Street between
Main and Newport streets around 3:30 p.m.
One vehicle, a small pickup truck, was traveling
south on Fourth Street and hit the other vehicle, a sedan,
head-on. The sedan was in the wrong lane.
No information on injuries was immediately available.
Gail Nelson to take on county
economic development and tourism
Gail Nelson is leaving the Pendleton Chamber of
Commerce to become economic development and
tourism coordinator for Umatilla County.
Nelson has been the chamber’s
executive director since 2011.
Umatilla County Human Resources
Director Jennifer Blake announced
Wednesday that Nelson accepted the
new position with the county.
Nelson said she does some
economic development and tourism
work in her role with the chamber, so
the county job should be a fine fit.
“On some levels I think it can be
Nelson
similar,” she said. “And it is a new
challenge, too. I’m always looking to
try something and challenge myself.”
The county’s hiring committee interviewed three
candidates last week. Nelson won’t start until Feb. 1.
She said that is by design. This is a busy time of year
for the Pendleton chamber, and she said that waiting until
the second month of 2018 provides time for the board to
search for and hire a new chamber director.
Nelson will work with Commissioner Bill Elfering,
who heads up economic development for the county.
Elfering said Nelson has the skills and abilities to “land
her feet on the ground running.” He said Nelson already
is familiar with key economic needs for the area, such as
workforce housing.
State spent $260K for eclipse military backup
By CHRIS LEHMAN
Oregon Public Broadcasting
This summer’s total
eclipse of the sun in Oregon
came with a price tag.
On Tuesday, the Oregon
Military
Department
requested an extra $260,724
for its current budget to pay
for the costs of managing
crowds during the Aug. 21
event.
The agency’s deputy
director, Dave Stuckey, told
members of the Oregon
Legislature’s Ways and
Means Committee that the
bulk of money paid Oregon
National Guard soldiers
called into active duty.
“We
activated
155
soldiers and Air Guard
personnel,” he said.
The costs also included
the
use
of
military
equipment.
“Forty-eight
Humvees, two Blackhawk
helicopters, two Lakota
helicopters,” Stuckey said.
“We wanted to be able to
respond and help just in
case.”
In the months leading up
to the eclipse, emergency
management
officials
warned that huge crowds
coming to Oregon would
clog highways and stretch
first responders to their
limits. They said smaller
communities in the path of
the eclipse could face gas
shortages, limited cellphone
reception and medical facil-
ities stretched to their limits.
A worst-case scenario,
officials warned, would be
a sudden wildfire that would
force tens of thousands
of people to flee on rural,
two-lane highways.
But those worse-case
scenarios did not happen.
Aside from a few traffic
jams, the eclipse largely
came and went uneventfully.
The Oregon Office of
Emergency
Management
is hoping to apply lessons
learned during eclipse prepa-
rations to better prepare for
natural disasters that could
occur in the state’s future,
such as a major earthquake
or tsunami.
Lawmakers on the Ways
and Means Subcommittee
on Public Safety gave
a preliminary approval
to the funding request
from the Oregon Military
Department. The final
consideration of the request
will come during the 2018
legislative session.
The East Oregonian will not publish on
Th anksgiving Day
due to the postal holiday.
Look for your Holiday Edition
on Wednesday, Nov. 22
• Home for the Holidays special section
• A guide to the upcoming Farm Fair
• Wednesday and Thursday comics, features,
puzzles and TV listings
SATURDAY  NOV 18
Pendleton Convention Center
9 AM - 4 PM
Only $1 Admission!
OVER 90 VENDORS!
RAFFLE TICKETS FOR:
$2,000 Cash, Gift Baskets, and Door Prizes!
MEET SANTA! LUNCH AND DESSERTS!
Raffle Tickets available at the door or from any Altrusan
• BLACK FRIDAY INSERTS:
Big 5 Sporting Goods
Big Lots
Bi-Mart
D&B Supply
Harbor Freight Tools
Home Depot
Rite Aid
Sears
U.S. Cellular
Walgreens
Walmart