REGION
Thursday, May 16, 2019
East Oregonian
A3
Maxwell Farmers Market ready to open next week
Organizers said
several new
offerings are in the
works
OPENING DAY
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
The market’s opening
day is Thursday, May 23.
It will run each Thursday
from 4-8 p.m. at the Max-
well Siding Pavilion, 255
N. First St. in Hermiston
Live music starts at 5 p.m.
The Maxwell Farmers
Market will offer fresh pro-
duce and other local goods
to Hermiston residents start-
ing next Thursday.
Organizers Miranda Tor-
res and Nicole Brown said
many of last year’s vendors
are returning and there will
be several new offerings
this year, including home-
made salsa, leather works,
ice cream, a second bakery
and fresh eggs.
Beverages from Hermis-
ton Brewing Company will
also be available on-site
again this year.
“We try to do a ratio so
that we don’t have all crafts,
responsibility for the event
last year the number of ven-
dors and attendees greatly
increased.
“It worked so well last
year we’re trying to keep it
fairly similar,” Torres said.
That includes keeping the
market on Thursday nights
for the second year in a a
row.
“Thursday nights seemed
to work well because people
can go unwind after work
and do some local shopping
and get dinner and listen to
music,” Brown said.
One thing that has
Staff photo by E.J. Harris,File
Isela Bautista, center, of Sunnyside, Washington, restocks ears of corn at her booth for Bau-
tista Farms at the 2018 Maxwell Farmers Market.
or all value-added foods,”
Brown said.
She said the number
of vendors will increase
County agrees
to new Umatilla
enterprise zone
Stanfield, Echo to
be dropped under
new agreement
East Oregonian
Umatilla
County
granted the city of Umatil-
la’s request to drop Stan-
field and Echo from its
enterprise zone, but not
under the exact format it
wanted.
At a Umatilla County
Board of Commission-
ers meeting on Wednes-
day, Umatilla City Man-
ager David Stockdale said
the city wanted to be able
to offer enterprise zone
incentives to incoming
businesses without having
to involve the two other
cities or create a conflict
by competing with them.
Enterprise zones are
state-sanctioned
areas
where local governments
can offer large-scale
employers a multi-year
property tax exemption.
Since the city’s pro-
posed boundary changes
to the enterprise zone
extend beyond city limits,
Umatilla needed the coun-
ty’s consent or co-spon-
sorship to proceed.
But the city and county
disagreed whether the
former or latter were the
better option.
Stockdale and city staff
wanted the county to con-
sent to the new enterprise
zone, meaning the county
wouldn’t be involved in
the zone’s operational
decisions.
Stockdale said negotia-
tions can slow down and
get “murky” if multiple
entities are involved. He
added that he expected
the Port of Umatilla to
consent to the enterprise
zone.
But
Commissioner
Bill Elfering argued
that a co-sponsorship
model was fairer to the
county and the “general
citizenship.”
Ultimately, the board
voted unanimously to
co-sponsor the revised
enterprise zone.
New Pendleton
fire station nearing
completion
Firefighters could
move into new
facility in July
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Pendleton’s firefighters
could start moving into the
city’s new fire station in
early July.
Joe Hall, operations
and business director with
McCormack
Construc-
tion Co., told the Pendle-
ton City Council during
its work session Tuesday
night the goal is to get the
approval for occupancy
before Pendleton Whisky
Musical Fest on July 13.
Achieving
that
is
“going to be under the
wire,” he said, but looks
good for an OK by July 10.
Pendleton voters passed
a $10 million bond in 2017
to primarily build the new
station at 1455 S.E. Court
Ave., and the city hired
McCormack as the general
contractor and construc-
tion manager.
Bob Patterson, city
public works director, told
the council the total proj-
ect budget now stands at
more than $9.4 million and
there’s roughly $266,000
available to date.
He also said while mov-
ing in could start in July,
there still needs to be test-
ing of systems, includ-
ing phones, and relocat-
ing from the the old station
at Southwest 10th Street
and Court Avenue prob-
ably will finish before
Round-Up, with an open
house for the public to
follow.
The project also will
move the old flag pole
from the 10th Street site to
the new station. But Hull
said that pole is too old
and wind-worn to serve as
a functional flag pole, so
the new station gets a new
flag pole as well.
!
ED R
IT FFE
LIM E O
M
TI
SAVE
$100
off new
termite protection*
SAVE $50
off initial pest service
with annual contract*
*Offer expires 06/30/2019. Offer avaicabce to residentiac customers who purchase a new pestfree365
pcan on or after 02/15/2019 This offer does not appcy to commerciac pest pcans. The $50 discount wicc be
deducted from the initiac service. Cannot be combined with any other offers.
Offer detaics subject to change.
CALL TODAY! 877-234-2178
throughout the summer as
new crops are ready for
harvest.
Hermiston has had a
farmers market in various
forms in previous years,
but after local business-
man Mitch Myers took over
changed is the location.
The Maxwell Farm-
ers Market was meant to
be located inside the new
4,600-square-foot Maxwell
Siding Pavilion last sum-
mer, but a dispute between
Myers and the city of Herm-
iston put construction of the
permanent shade structure
behind schedule, pushing
the market under a large
tent on the corner of Locust
Avenue and South First
Place.
This year’s market will
be inside the pavilion, kit-
ty-corner from the 2018
location. Parking will be
available at the pavilion, on
the street and on the lot that
hosted last year’s market.
Announcements about
the market, including the
entertainment for the week,
will be posted on the Max-
well Farmers Market Face-
book page.
Local musician Dallin
Puzey will perform May 23.
Engineers: State’s infrastructure is falling apart
Report says state
must do more
to prepare for a
potentially major
earthquake
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon’s
pipes, roads, bridges and
other structures for mov-
ing around the state and to
get power and water need
significant work, civil engi-
neers said Wednesday.
Much of Oregon’s infra-
structure is deteriorat-
ing with age, and the state
must do more to prepare for
a potentially major earth-
quake, according to the Ore-
gon chapter of the American
Society of Civil Engineers.
A group of 28 experts
from the society pored over
data on ten types of struc-
tures from roads to dams,
unveiling their findings at
the Capitol Wednesday, in
their second such report.
The first was done in 2010.
They graded all of the
areas C for “mediocre” or D
for “poor” and “at risk.”
Some of those structures,
like pipes, aren’t visible.
But what they provide —
like clean drinking water
— is essential to the state’s
economy and quality of life,
the civil engineers said.
Nationally, each fam-
ily loses an average of
$3,400 per year in dispos-
able income due to “poorly
functioning infrastructure,”
said Greg DiLoreto, former
CEO of the Tualatin Valley
Water District and chair of
a national committee within
the American Society of
Civil Engineers focused on
the country’s infrastructure.
“That’s money they could
be saving for retirement,
vacations, college educa-
tions,” DiLoreto said.
Oregon has better infra-
structure than the country
overall, but not by much.
Engineers found that in
particular trouble are the
state’s wastewater systems,
dams, levees and the energy
grid, including the systems
that transmit and distribute
electricity and oil.
The engineers say that
the state’s bridges, drink-
ing water systems, inland
waterways, ports, rail, and
roads are middling.
In most cases, the struc-
tures that support each of
these systems are getting
older and less reliable.
The engineers also warn
that the state needs to do
more to prepare for the
Cascadia Subduction Zone
earthquake, which could
be severe enough to dam-
age power lines, natural gas
and oil lines, roads, bridges,
water and sewer systems
and communications.
“We need strong leader-
ship, extensive planning and
robust funding to prepare
our infrastructure for being
resilient,” said Mark Libby,
chair of the committee that
prepared the Oregon report.
“It’s important to remem-
ber that every dollar spent
toward building more resil-
ient infrastructure saves at
least six dollars afterwards.”
According to the state’s
Department of Geology and
Mineral Industries, there is
a roughly 10 to 14 percent
chance of a 9.0 magnitude
Cascadia Subduction Zone
quake in the next 50 years.
Two years ago, lawmak-
ers increased taxes and fees
to improve the state’s trans-
portation system.
Engineers said that’s
a step in the right direc-
tion, but urged legislators
to provide more money for
a state program called Con-
nect Oregon, which distrib-
utes state money for air,
rail, water and bicycle and
pedestrian transportation
infrastructure projects.
Matt Garrett, Oregon
Transportation Department
director,
acknowledged
during a press conference
on the report that “we can
do better.”
“It’s clear our work to
enhance the condition and
the resiliency of our infra-
structure system is nowhere
near complete,” he said.
In their review, the engi-
neers found that Oregon
levees, wastewater systems,
dams, and energy trans-
mission systems are in poor
condition.
Oregon has nearly 900
dams, the majority regu-
lated by the state. In the
next five years, 70 percent
of them will be more than
50 years old, and they’re not
ready for an earthquake.
Gov. Kate Brown has
requested House Bill 2085,
which would update the
state’s dam safety regula-
tions. When a dam fails —
as dams have 39 times in
Oregon since 1897, accord-
ing to engineers’ testi-
mony— that poses a risk to
roads, bridges, property and
life.
The House passed the bill
in April and it is scheduled
for a public hearing in the
Senate this week.
The predicted Cascadia
earthquake could also dam-
age the physical structures
that transmit and store oil,
which in some cases are 50
to 100 years old, and which
most Oregonians still rely
on as fuel for cars.
The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers estimates that
about 100,000 Oregonians
live or work behind levees,
which protect them from
floods.
But 30 percent of the
levees that the Army Corps
of Engineers inspects are
rated “unacceptable” and
11 percent are minimally
inspected. The condition of
the rest of them is unknown,
a mystery the engineers find
unnerving.
“We need to do more to
understand the condition
of the remaining levees,”
Libby said.
Oregon’s wastewater sys-
tems got a failing grade.
About $5 billion in
replacement and repairs is
needed, and it’s yet another
area where population
growth, aging materials and
a possible earthquake pose
red flags.
That cost could fall in
part to consumers. The
average customer pays less
than one penny per gallon
of wastewater treated, Libby
said.
The state’s bridges are
also aging, and although the
2017 transportation funding
bolstered bridge repair, the
state would need three times
the amount of money to ade-
quately update the state’s
8,000 bridges and culverts.
Libby, who on Wednes-
day was wearing a tie
emblazoned with the Golden
Gate Bridge, said the state
should particularly focus on
bridges, which are “critical
lifelines,” especially in the
event of a natural disaster.
“We need to shift to a
more aggressive replace-
ment program versus the
maintenance and repair that
we’ve been doing,” Libby
said.
That would mean, he
said, replacing nearly 100
per year, many times over
what the state replaces
annually now.
As Oregon’s popula-
tion grows, the state needs
to make sure the drinking
water system can treat and
distribute enough water to
all those people, the society
said.
About 80 percent of Ore-
gonians get their drinking
water from public systems,
Libby said. Century-old cast
iron pipes and the possible
Cascadia earthquake also
pose risks to the system.
Engineers also looked at
the state’s inland waterways
— rivers that are used to
help move agricultural prod-
ucts and other goods.
Jetties, locks and pile
dikes along the Columbia
River and Willamette River
need repair or upgrades.
Businesses are turning
to larger ships, which on
the Columbia River don’t
have enough turning basins,
anchorages and stern buoys.
Oregon has 23 public
ports, essentially way sta-
tions for goods coming
through the state. The condi-
tion of the state’s ports var-
ies, but maintaining them is
also challenge.
State and federal fund-
ing for ports has declined,
and the engineers say that
Congress should protect a
special federal trust fund
for harbor maintenance,
which lawmakers on Capi-
tol Hill have moved to off-
set other areas of the fed-
eral budget.
Oregon trains, mean-
while, are in decent condi-
tion. Trains moved nearly
65 million tons of goods,
including wood and paper
products, farm products and
chemicals, on about 2,800
miles of tracks in the state
in 2017.
5/16
Cineplex Show Times
$5 Classic Movie
Showing Wednesday at 12PM
THE ENFORCER
Pokemon
Detective Pikachu (PG)
4:40p 7:10p
9:40p
The Hustle (PG13)
4:20p 7:40p 9:50p
Avengers: Endgame (PG13)
3:50p* 6:30p 8:00p
Long Shot (R)
4:10p
Ugly Dolls (PG)
3:40p* 5:50p
Breakthrough (PG)
10:10p
Save with Frontier Internet Bundles
Pay one price for two great services: high-speed Internet
Serious speed!
and a full-featured home phone
Bundle and save today
Simply Broadband Max
BROADBAND ULTRA + PHONE + SECURE
19
67
97
99
Per Month
Per Month
With Qualifying
Phone Service
Call today
and pay less
John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum (R)
Thursday, May 16th • 7:00p, 9:50p
12 Mbps + Free Wi-Fi Router + 2 Year Price Lock
Protect Your Identity, Devices & Files
6 Mbps + Free Wi-Fi Router + 1 Year Price Lock
855-972-6641
* Matinee Pricing
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
You can’t get BS from a buffalo.
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
*Internet access service and charges not included. Frontier does not warrant that the service will be error-free or uninterrupted. Nest products: Additional $9 shipping fee per Nest device. Nest products must be purchased with new Internet service or eligible Frontier Secure services. Taxes, governmental and Frontier-imposed surcharges,
minimum system requirements and other terms and conditions apply. Nest®, Nest Learning Thermostat™, Nest Protect™, Nest Cam™ and the Nest logo are trademarks or service marks of Nest Labs, Inc. ©2017 Frontier Communications Corporation
S ERIOUS I LLNESS ?
Imagine The Difference You Can Make
DONATE YOUR CAR
You May Qualify for a Living Benefi t Loan
Have you been diagnosed with cancer or another serious medical condition?
Do you have at least $75,000 of life insurance?
Through our program you can borrow money from your
life insurance and receive up to 50% of your policy’s
death benefi t today.
Call today to see if you qualify.
1-855-284-5304
AW18-1023
1-844-533-9173
FREE TOWING
TAX DEDUCTIBLE
Help Prevent Blindness
Get A Vision Screening Annually
Ask About A FREE 3 Day
Vacation Voucher To Over
20 Destinations!!!