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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 2019)
REGION Saturday, April 13, 2019 East Oregonian A3 McKay Creek fl oods city park By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian McKay Creek crested its banks Friday afternoon and fl ooded Pendleton’s Com- munity Park. The city of Pendleton reported the Bureau of Rec- lamation planned to increase fl ows from McKay Reser- voir into the creek through- out Friday with maximum fl ow of 2,000 cubic feet per second reaching the city lim- its at 6:30 p.m. The bureau instead changed the high release to occur at 4 p.m. The city closed the park before 4 p.m., and police kept an eye out for anyone ignoring the “park closed” signs. Offi cer Sara Tolley trudged through the marshy park more than once to tell folks the park was off-limits. The rising water cut off access to the playground near the Community Park tennis courts, making the area look like a swamp. The muddy water in the creek itself fl oated logs bigger around than basketballs and several feet long. The city warned locals along the creek to prepare for fl ooding. City work- ers and community volun- teers hustled to fi ll sand- bags at McKay Park next to the elementary school on Southwest 44th Street and haul them to the ten- nis courts parking lot on the north end of Southwest 41st Street. Workers estimated they were shoving 120 cubic yards of gravel into the bags. Residents picked up the bags by the pickup loads. Members of the Uma- tilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce Search and Rescue Team also were on the scene in case anyone ended up in the creek’s rush. Volunteers denied a couple of out-of- Staff photo by E.J. Harris, File Cathy Putnam, behind the cash register, helps customers with their prescriptions in October of 2018 at Columbia River Pharmacy in Umatilla. Columbia River Health plans to close Umatilla pharmacy Staff photo by E.J. Harris By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Flood waters from McKay Creek run through Community Park on Friday in Pendleton. Staff photo by E.J. Harris Volunteers stack sandbags in the parking lot of McKay Ele- mentary School, preparing them for residents living along McKay Creek on Friday in Pendleton. town kayakers access to the creek, and sheriff’s Sgt. Dwight Johnson fl ew the agency’s drone to get a fuller sense of the scene from the air. Flooding along the creek occurred in 2004, when fl ows reached 1,525 cfs, according to the city, and in 1991 fl ows reached 3,494 cfs. The city asked non-res- idents to stay out of the McKay area in Pendle- ton’s southwest end so streets could stay open for neighbors and emergency personnel. “These swift water condi- tions can become extremely dangerous,” the city warned. “For your safety, do not get close to the water.” Several workers and vol- unteers at the sites said the worse was to come. They said the Bureau of Recla- mation planned to increase the discharge throughout the evening. City Manager Robb Cor- bett said the Bureau of Rec- lamation plans to increase the discharge to 2,500 cubic feet per second starting Sat- urday at 8 a.m. Police are knocking on doors and talking to McKay addition residents to let them know and check on how they are doing. He also said past McKay fl ows at that level resulted a fl ooding in a few homes. But that was when the city maintained the channel of the creek, he said, and the city has not been able to do that for years. That raises the question of just how much the water the creek can hold. City staff will meet again Saturday morning to assess the situation and go from there. Less than a year after purchasing Carlson’s Uma- tilla Drug, Columbia River Health is closing the phar- macy on April 30. The organization hosted a celebration of the newly renamed Columbia River Pharmacy in November, but on April 4 announced on Facebook that it would be closing the pharmacy “due to circumstances beyond our control” that made it “no longer feasible for us to operate a second pharmacy.” “This has been a heart wrenching decision that has not come easily,” they wrote. “We care deeply for all of our patrons and rec- ognize how this decision will affect each of them.” The Boardman-based health provider also thanked Cathy Putnam, who had U.S. Forest Service and city to give away trees in Pendleton East Oregonian Local schools at the forefront of PERS crisis By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — Two ele- ments make budgeting a painful math exercise for the Umatilla School District: employee health benefi ts and retirement benefi ts. Right now, the eastern Oregon district pays about 8 percent of its budget, or $1.2 million, to the Oregon Pub- lic Employees Retirement System. In the next school year, that cost will go up an esti- mated $46,000. That may not seem like much, but for Umatilla it could mean cuts — espe- cially if the state doesn’t come up with more money for schools. “If there’s any type of increase, that is a direct hit to what we can offer to stu- dents … PERS is a larger and larger percent of those expenses that’s hitting us harder and harder each year,” said Superintendent Heidi Sipe Gov. Kate Brown wants to help Sipe and her colleagues in districts across Oregon by diverting state money to pay part of the districts’ retirement bill. She unveiled how she would do that in an appearance before the Capi- tal Construction Committee on Friday. Brown’s proposed budget already is intended to help districts maintain the dis- trict’s current staff, Sipe said. But legislative leaders have released a lower tenta- tive budget that means Uma- tilla may have to cut one teacher and two assistants. That makes a difference in a district with about 90 teachers and roughly 330 personnel altogether. “Every cut hurts,” Sipe said. The rapidly growing cost of retirement benefi ts is put- ting the squeeze on school districts across the state. Larger school districts are bracing for eye-popping increases until 2035. “PERS is just sucking all of the oxygen out of educa- tion,” said Kathy Goss, chair of the Salem-Keizer School Board. “So districts our size have to pay many millions to PERS every year, and we’re going to have to lay off some teachers.” She fears that the addi- tional tax money lawmakers want to raise for schools this year could pay for pensions instead of students. Just between 2021 and 2023, for example, the Bend-La Pine Schools would have to pay about $11 million more to PERS, according to estimates provided by the governor’s offi ce. Brown wants to make those leaps less dramatic. Her goal: rustle up at least $2.46 billion between 2021 and 2035. That money would go to a special account to offset the increases. Brown wants $800 mil- lion in “seed funding” to get that account started later The firm of Grable Hantke Law Group, LLC, offers a wealth of experience in a variety of specialties, as well as knowledgeable and dedicated staff. Our firm is committed to providing personal attention to each client. We specialize in all aspects of family law. Our areas of practice include: dissolutions, legal separation, modifications, custody, parenting time, adoption, paternity, restraining orders, stalking orders, spousal support and child support. We also specialize in probate, estates, wills, guardianships and conservatorships. http://www.grablelaw.com tel: 541.276.1851 • fax: 541.276.3146 334 Southeast Second Street • P.O. Box 1760 Pendleton, Oregon 97801 this year. Then, over time, the state would dedicate more than $1 billion in future taxes to help schools mitigate increasing assessments to cover retire- ment costs. The upshot is, if the state is helping schools pay for those increases, schools would be able to use their money for other things — namely, to keep teachers on payroll. “She doesn’t want to see cuts in teacher positions,” Nik Blosser, Brown’s chief of staff, said in an interview. Where would the money come from? Brown is fl exible, Blosser said. But she has some ideas. They include using some of the “kicker” income tax rebate, using money from the state’s workers compensation fund, and using any high- er-than-expected revenues from taxes on capital gains and estates. Brown signed a bill Wednesday that would reduce the expected 2020 kicker by $108 million. Brown is also propos- ing that employees contrib- ute money to their basic pen- sion, in an amount depending on their salary and when they joined government ser- vice, until the system is fully funded or 14 years, which- ever comes earlier. PERS is a hybrid plan, meaning there’s a basic pen- sion and a 401(k)-style sav- ings plan on top. The governor’s idea is to reduce the amount of money employees contribute to the 401(k)-style plan, and put that money toward paying for the employee’s basic pension. Employees wouldn’t see a pay cut under that idea. But their benefi ts would get reduced. “There’s something for everyone to both love and hate in the plan I’ve intro- duced,” Brown is expected to tell legislators Friday, according her prepared tes- timony. “But make no mis- take: by stabilizing PERS rates for schools, we also sta- bilize jobs for teachers and educators.” ——— Reporter Claire Withy- combe: cwithycombe@ eomediagroup.com or 971- 304-4148. Withycombe is a reporter for EO Media Group working for the Oregon Capital Bureau, a collaboration of EO Media Group, Pamplin Media Group, and Salem Reporter. CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT CLASS SATURDAY APRIL 20 TH Hermiston Best Western 1PM CLASS ONLY! previously owned the phar- macy and had stayed on to work as a pharmacist, and stated that they would help customers move their pre- scriptions elsewhere. Columbia River Health did not return phone calls or an email requesting more information about the clo- sure. They had previously announced plans to build a new clinic in Umatilla and eventually move the pharmacy into that build- ing but have not announced whether the closing of the pharmacy will have an impact on the plans for the clinic. Several customers responded to the Facebook post by expressing their sadness at the news. Uma- tilla mayor Mary Dedrick wrote that the closure was a “huge mistake” on Colum- bia River Health’s part after the community had trusted them. The U.S. Forest Service is teaming up with Pend- leton’s parks and recre- ation department, parks and recreation commis- sion, and tree commission to do its annual Arbor Day giveaway in the Walmart parking lot Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. According to a press release, volunteers will be giving out seedlings for Blue Elderberry, Redosier Dogwood, Golden Currant and Quaking Aspen. May 2-4, 2019 Join us for a full weekend of geldings, grit and cowboy gear. With twenty of the best stock saddle bronc riders in the world converging upon Pendleton, the North American Stock Saddle Bronc Championship has built a reputation as one of the most exciting, best paying bronc ridings in the Western States Ranch Rodeo Association. The North American Stock Saddle Bronc Championship will be Saturday, May 4, 2019 at 7pm at the Round-Up Pavilion. Multi-State $ 80 Oregon Included No Fee Oregon Only $ 45 MULTI-STATE Valid 35-States, including Washington Shaun Shaun Curtain Curtain 360-921-2071 360-921-2071 or or email: email: ShaunCurtain@gmail.com ShaunCurtain@gmail.com | www.ShaunCurtain.com.com | www.ShaunCurtain.com.com For more information on this event, Contact Nick Michael 509-240-5841 email: Nicholas.michael@edpr.com Inviting entries for our Bit, Spur and Silver and Leather Work competitions. Entry info on our website. https://www.cattlebarons.net
