REGION
Saturday, June 9, 2018
East Oregonian
BOARDMAN
BRIEFLY
Port of Morrow extends
application deadline for manager
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
The Port of Morrow com-
missioners decided on Fri-
day to extend the deadline for
those wanting to apply for the
port’s top position, and that
there will be some updates to
the application.
As longtime port man-
ager Gary Neal sets to retire at
the end of the year, the com-
mission has been searching
for someone to step into the
role. Now, they have decided
to extend their application
period until the end of June, in
the hopes that a more specific
application will attract more
candidates.
So far, commission-
ers said, seven people have
applied for the job.
At a special meeting Fri-
day morning, commission-
ers noted that they had not
yet reviewed the seven appli-
cations they’ve received, and
that those people would still
all be considered. The pur-
pose of extending the dead-
line, said commissioner Rick
Stokoe, was to make sure
they’d made it available to the
best candidate.
“We feel it’s important to
do our due diligence, and try
to find the best applicant for
the port, and the employees of
the port,” said Stokoe. “This
position is extremely vital, not
only to Morrow County but to
the region.”
Commissioners said thus
far, the advertisement for the
position had only been posted
regionally, including in local
newspapers, as well as some
port organizations in Oregon
and Washington. The recruit-
ment process, which has been
facilitated by the Special Dis-
tricts Association of Oregon
(SDAO), started May 1.
Stokoe said initially they
hoped to have SDAO narrow
the applicant pool down to 25,
and then the commissioners
would narrow it down to five.
Commissioner Joe Taylor
said they plan to expand the
search nationwide.
Stokoe said the initial
application did not list a sal-
ary range, but the updated
one will state that the direc-
tor’s salary will be between
$175,000 and $250,000
annually.
He said the application
will also clarify a piece about
a “residency requirement.”
The initial application stated
that the person hired would
have to live in the port dis-
trict, which spans all of Mor-
row County. The updated
application will still require
the new port director to live
in the district, but will spec-
ify that the commission will
allow a period of time for the
person to relocate.
The commission hopes to
have a new manager in place
by Oct. 1.
HERMISTON
Staff photo by Jade McDowell.
Spring chinook
season extended
on Umatilla
The spring chinook
salmon season on the
lower Umatilla River from
the Highway 730 bridge to
Threemile Dam has been
extended through June 30,
because of a strong return
of fish to Threemile Dam.
“After a slow start to
chinook run, the numbers
have picked up enough
this month that we can
offer some additional fish-
ing opportunity,” said Bill
Duke, ODFW district fish
biologist in Pendleton, in a
release.
To date, 2,400 spring
chinook have been counted
at Threemile Dam and
anglers have harvested 450
fish.
The season had origi-
nally been set to close after
Sunday.
The daily bag limit will
continue to be two adi-
pose fin-clipped adult chi-
nook and five fin-clipped
jacks. Jack salmon are
less than 24 inches long.
A combined angling tag is
required for this fishery.
Anglers do not need to
record jack catch on their
combined angling tags, but
it is illegal to continue fish-
ing for jack chinook once
the adult bag limit is met.
Unmarked wild fish must
be released carefully and
unharmed.
The Umatilla River
from Threemile Dam to the
CTUIR reservation bound-
ary is also open for spring
chinook through June 30.
However, anglers will
find limited numbers of
The city of Hermiston is considering banning residential use of portable shipping containers for storage.
Storage containers could be restricted
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
The Hermiston City
Council will be discussing
a possible code amendment
Monday that would ban use
of Conex boxes and other
metal shipping containers
as permanent storage units
on residential property, and
require a building permit for
using them on commercial
and industrial land.
The proposed regula-
tions will be discussed in
depth during a work ses-
sion at 6 p.m., and the coun-
cil will have a chance during
their regular 7 p.m. meeting
to direct staff to initiate the
amendment process, make
changes to the proposed
language or reject the idea
altogether.
The new rules were
drafted after councilor John
Kirwan brought up that he
was seeing more homes
and businesses use the large
metal shipping contain-
ers often found on trains or
barges as make-shift storage
units or shops. The city’s
code does not address the
practice.
Under a first draft by city
staff, portable storage con-
tainers — defined as “any
box-like container which
is transported by truck or
trailer to a desired location
for drop off and which is
otherwise stored at an offsite
location” — would be pro-
hibited in residential zones
except when placed for less
than 120 days in connection
with a construction proj-
ect that has been issued a
building permit. In commer-
cial and industrial zones one
portable storage container
per lot would be allowed
but would be subject to a
building permit and regu-
lations including keeping it
rust-free, the same color as
the primary building on the
property and in line with set-
back rules.
Also included in the dis-
cussion is a second set of
amendments relating to
accessory dwellings. The
amendments — which
accommodate for new leg-
islation from the state —
would require that acces-
sory dwellings such as guest
houses or basement apart-
ments be registered with the
city and subject to a permit
and permit fee. The property
would also pay multi-fam-
ily dwelling rates for utili-
ties and be subject to park-
ing requirements and other
standards.
On Monday the city
council will also vote on
the city’s 2018-2019 bud-
get, which the budget com-
mittee approved in May
with an all funds budget of
$54,940,093. The budget is
nearly $5 million less than
2017-2018, mostly due to
large capital improvement
projects such as the Har-
kenrider Center and festival
street preparing to wrap up
construction.
The proposed budget
would add a few new per-
sonnel, most notably a parks
foreman who would han-
dle day-to-day maintenance
6/8 - 10
6/11 - 12
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of parks to free up the parks
and recreation director for
longterm planning projects.
The city hopes to conduct a
feasibility study in the next
year for some sort of indoor
aquatic center or wellness
center.
The biggest capital proj-
ect included in the proposed
budget is a new one-mil-
lion-gallon water tower on
the corner of Punkin Cen-
ter and Northeast 10th Street
and accompanying improve-
ments to the water sys-
tem that will make housing
development on that side of
town more affordable. The
$4.5 million project will be
paid for by a short-term loan
that will be paid off using
future enterprise zone pay-
ments from Lamb Weston.
Another project the city
is tackling in 2018-2019
is the West Highland Trail
Extension, which will create
a pedestrian and bike trail
parallel to Highland Ave-
nue from Riverfront Park to
Southwest 11th Street. The
city council will be asked to
award the bid for construc-
tion of the trail on Monday.
The low bid was Hum-
bert Asphalt for $343,225,
which falls above the engi-
neer’s estimate of $308,200
but within the $450,000 in
the 2018-2019 proposed
budget. The city anticipates
receiving a $404,559 grant
from the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation.
In addition to a pub-
lic hearing for the bud-
get, Monday’s agenda also
includes a public hearing
on the Harkenrider Center,
which is expected to open
at the end of the summer as
the city’s new senior center.
The city will take oral and
written comments from res-
idents about their views on
the project, funded by a $2
million federal Community
Development Block Grant.
Other items on Monday’s
agenda include updates
to the employee hand-
book, grant applications, an
amendment cleaning up the
legal language on the city’s
franchise fees for telecom-
munications, a vote on the
Hermiston Urban Renewal
agency’s 2018-2019 budget
and an update on commit-
tees and the Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center. The
full agenda packet can be
found online at hermiston.
or.us/meetings. The coun-
cil meets at Hermiston City
Hall, 180 N.E. Second St.,
starting with the work ses-
sion at 6 p.m.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
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Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
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chinook in this area as
all adult fish collected at
Threemile Dam are being
transported upstream and
released into the upper
Umatilla River.
Mosquito district
to conduct aerial
sprays June 12
UMATILLA — A
large number of mosquito
hatches along Highway
730 is prompting the West
Umatilla Mosquito Control
District to conduct aerial
mosquito control spraying
June 12.
The targeted spray-
ing will take place after
sunset with a twin engine
airplane.
They will cover a total
of 10,000 acres, including
areas between Umatilla
and the Morrow County
line, and portions of Power
City.
For more information
contact West Umatilla
Mosquito Control District
at 541-567-5201.
Eighth Street
Bridge closes
again on Monday
PENDLETON
—
Pendleton’s Eighth Street
Bridge will be closed to
vehicles from 7 a.m. to 5
p.m. on Monday as con-
struction continues on the
bridge replacement proj-
ect, according to a city
press release.
Construction vehicles
and equipment will be on
site throughout the day and
the city is asking drivers
to plan to use an alternate
route.
Adams and Hermiston
field days set for June
East Oregonian
Educational opportu-
nities abound during field
days for Columbia Basin
Agricultural
Research
Center and the Hermis-
ton Agricultural Research
and Extension Center this
month.
CBARC’s annual Field
Day will take place Tues-
day at 48937 Tubbs Ranch
Road in Adams, in cooper-
ation with the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture. The
event will include tours and
displays regarding plant
breeding, wheat disease,
weed control, soil fertility
and cropping systems.
“USDA and OSU scien-
tists have been conducting
field tours at this location
every year since 1930 and
we are very proud to con-
tinue this tradition today,”
stated a news release from
CBARC. “The Field Day
is designed to demon-
strate to the growers and
the public what is being
performed at the research
center, provide education
to the attendees as well
as increase the growers’
potential profit margins.”
Field Day is free and
open to anyone with an
interest in dry land crop
systems. Registration with
complementary coffee and
doughnuts is at 7:45 a.m.
after which attendees will
be taken via tour bus to
eight different presenta-
tions. A free lunch will be
provided at 1 p.m. with
four more stops on the tour
after.
Irrigated
Cereal
Field Day takes place at
HAREC, 2121 South First
Street, from 2:30 p.m. to
6 p.m. The agenda topics
ranging from wheat dis-
ease to insects.
Potato Field Day also
take place at HAREC, with
registration from 7:45-8:15
a.m. on June 20 and pre-
sentations from 8:15 a.m.
to 12:05 p.m. Lunch is
provided.
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Senior Rachel Roelle wins 3,000-meter
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EOU Trustee Bobbie Conner will give the
commencement speech at both the 10 a.m.
and 2 p.m. ceremonies June 16
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