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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2018)
REGION Thursday, February 22, 2018 East Oregonian PENDLETON Page 3A BRIEFLY Elgin principal hired for Weston-McEwen job ATHENA — Weston- assets for our district, McEwen High School and we look forward to found its next principal just welcoming him into our across the county line. community,” Superinten- According to a press dent Laure Quaresma said release, the Athena-Weston in a statement. School District Shell was hired Elgin High selected after School Principal being interviewed Rob Shell to serve by separate panels the same role for for students and Weston-McEwen. staff. A former Shell will history teacher replace Jim Reger, and Navy veteran, who is serving as Shell will start on Weston-McEw- July 1. en’s interim prin- Rob Shell “We know cipal this year and Rob’s background served as interim and experience in the high superintendent during the school setting will be great 2015-2016 school year. Tax proposal advances after breaks removed Staff photo by E.J. Harris Tall grass and wildflowers grow in an open area of the north bank of the Umatilla River in Pendleton in this May 2017 file photo. The property, once considered for a housing development, could be designated for conservation. City council directs staff to look into preserving riverfront land By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian A grassroots effort to conserve a piece of riverfront land north of the Umatilla River is one step closer to reaching its goal. In its role as the Pendleton Development Commission, the Pendleton City Council directed city staff to clarify the legal process of desig- nating the land for conserva- tion. The commission had previously considered selling the half acre for housing development, but a group of nearby property owners and environmentalists lobbied the commission to preserve it and formed a committee to devise a solution. Packing council chambers again Tuesday night, the group was represented by Casey Brown, a Pendleton parks and recreation staff member who took a personal interest in preserving the land. Brown said the committee collectively contributed 200 hours toward the project and ultimately agreed to three recommendations to the commission: approve the land’s conservation, choose how it would be conserved and extend the “vision” to all riverfront land in the city. While the council didn’t want to tackle a river-wide conservation plan, members did seem open to the committee’s first two recom- mendations. Councilor Neil Brown praised the committee’s efforts, saying it was an example of how the commu- nity can come together behind a cause. City manager Robb Corbett said he wanted to run the issue by city attorney Nancy Kerns and it could be brought back before the commission at its March 20 meeting. Earlier in the meeting, the commission approved a $26,933 façade grant to the Pendleton Underground Tours, which intends to turn the former MaySon’s Old Fashioned General Store space into a “made in Pend- leton” store. As a part of the façade renovations, the under- ground tours will install new windows, doors and storefronts at MaySon’s, Alexander’s Chocolate Clas- sics and 365 S. Main St., the new space for the Pendleton Downtown Association. At the city council meeting immediately following the commission meeting, the council took several actions: • The council unanimously approved amending the chronic nuisance ordinance to include properties where frequent criminal activity occurs. Kerns said the ordinance might not have much current use, but it may be useful in the future. • The council also approved a $23,500 work order with Anderson Perry & Associates to conduct a study of changing out existing street lights for LEDs. “Study will evaluate the cost to own, install, and operate LED street lights compared to the continued cost of paying Pacific Power & Light for the existing high-pressure sodium street lights,” a staff report states. SALEM (AP) — The top legislator in Oregon’s state Senate said he supports a stripped-down proposal to partially disconnect the state’s tax law from last year’s federal tax overhaul after legislators increased the amount of money the proposal would raise by removing breaks for indi- viduals and businesses. Senate President Peter Courtney confirmed his support Wednesday. The proposal would stop a federal deduction on certain types of income from also being automatically deducted from Oregon taxes. Altogether, changes in the federal overhaul law were forecast to cost the state up to $217 million over the next two years, according to a report released by the state econ- omist last week. The bill would reverse that impact, and collect $27.4 million extra in taxes, or about $244.4 million altogether. The measure’s future had been in question after Senate leaders sent the bill back to committee. Farm house fire started in flue STANFIELD — A blaze at a Stanfield home was likely caused by a flue fire, Umatilla County Fire District officials said. Fire crews responded to a call at a home on North Ash Road in Stanfield on Tuesday afternoon, around 2:30 p.m. No one was in the home at the time of the fire, according to fire marshal Scott Goff. “It was contained to one building, and was knocked down in less than 30 minutes,” Goff said. “But with these older farm houses, it got into some of the void spaces.” Goff said the fire started in the basement, and got into the floor space between the basement and the ground level. Goff said the house belongs to Larry Newman, a former board member of the Stanfield Fire Department. He said the damage was fairly extensive, but probably repairable. Umatilla County picks charter committee By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian The Umatilla County Board of Commis- sioners selected nine people to serve on the county charter review committee. The county’s home rule charter requires a committee of at least five residents to review the founding document every four years, though the last review was in 2008. County counsel Doug Olsen said several people submitted applications, and the county limited the committee to nine. He said the group represents different communities and areas of the county. The board of commis- sioners Wednesday morning in Pendleton voted 3-0 to appoint the following to serve on the committee: • Sally Anderson Hansell of Hermiston • Jerry Baker of Athena • Genna Banica of Pendleton • Daniel Dorran of Hermiston • Mark Gomolski of Hermiston • Michele Grable of Pendleton • Jennifer McClure Spurgeon of Weston • Donald Miller of Milton-Freewater • Kim Puzey of Hermiston The new committee has until July 2019 to make recommendations for possible changes to the charter. The board of commissioners gets to say whether those recommendations end up on a ballot for county citizens to decide. The board also approved nine wolf depre- dation grants totaling $83,771. The grants from the Oregon Department of Agriculture compensate livestock owners for losses due to wolves. The nine grants covered the costs of non-lethal and preventative measures, ranging from paying for range riders to motion-detection lights to food for guard dogs. The largest amount — $26,019 — went to the Cunningham Sheep Company of Pend- leton. The Agricultural Research Foundation of Corvallis received the second largest grant — $20,621.83 — for a depredation preven- tion workshop. Hellberg Farms of Lowden, Washington, received the smallest grant of an even $1,000. And in other business, the board authorized Aggregate Resources Industries of Spring- field to drill and blast 25,000 cubic yards at the Casper Gravel Pit. The company’s bid of $1.99 per cubic yard beat two competitors. The board also approved an $11,000 contract for two table top emergency training exercises. County emergency manager Tom Roberts told the board the funding is from a state hazardous material grant that required a local match of 20 percent. 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