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OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Friday, May 24, 2019
Heights: Pendleton
developer violates
deal with city
Continued from Page A1
working on a solution,” he
said.
Corbett added that he
spoke with Jivanjee’s bank
to confirm that the devel-
oper’s circumstances were
true.
“I’m very comfortable
with where we’re at right
now,” he said.
Reached by phone,
Jivanjee said he was busy
and would not be able to
comment until Tuesday.
The latest twist adds
another wrinkle to Pend-
leton Heights’ convoluted
development history.
The city originally part-
nered with Jivanjee in 2012,
agreeing to donate the
Tutuilla Road land to him
and front the money for
necessary infrastructure
improvements.
But Jivanjee kept return-
ing to city hall with plans
that altered the concept
and incentive deal behind
the development, which
was originally pitched as a
72-townhouse subdivision.
Jivanjee eventually built
32 townhouses, and in
2016, the city signed
off when Jivanjee said he
wanted to finish the proj-
ect with 100 apartment
units instead of 40 town-
houses like he originally
proposed.
In the ensuing years,
Jivanjee would enter into
several rounds of renegoti-
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Construction is underway on the next phase of the Pendleton Heights housing project, just off Tutuilla Creek Road. The de-
veloper of the project started the construction before repaying a required $150,000 loan to the city as agreed.
ations with the city coun-
cil to change the terms of
his incentive deal, usually
involving more money from
the city for infrastructure
or moving around the debt
owed to the city to make
it more palatable to the
project’s private financiers.
The council initially
approved Jivanjee’s pro-
posals, but seemed to grow
warier with each successive
pitch.
In September, the coun-
cil unanimously voted
down a new debt repayment
plan for Pendleton Heights
and didn’t even consider
a last-minute amendment
offered by Jivanjee.
The two sides eventu-
ally came to a compromise
in February, with the city
agreeing to take on more
of the infrastructure costs
and Jivanjee committing
to pay $150,000 to the city
before starting the project,
which was reduced from
the $200,000 set in a prior
deal.
Pendleton Heights has
played an important sym-
bolic role in the city’s
campaign for more housing.
City
officials
have
said that the subdivision
was meant as a signal to
housing developers that
there was a demand for new
homes in the city, and city
leaders have highlighted the
issue by staging tours
at Pendleton Heights with
Gov. Kate Brown and for-
mer First Lady Cylvia
Hayes.
Hermiston: Farmers Market returns Dancers: When Aurora broke her foot
Continued from Page A1
“I thought it was time to
take my hobby to the next
level,” she said.
She just started selling
her “handcrafted, sustain-
able, plant-based” scented
soap at Sassafras Flowers
and sells on Instagram at @
mothandmoon.apothecary.
She wanted to join the farm-
ers market as well, however,
to be involved in a commu-
nity event.
“It’s quite a crowd here,”
she said. “I love the setup.”
Julie Holbrook of Jdhol-
brook Farms outside of
Boardman was new to the
market but not new to sell-
ing her product. She had a
table of farm fresh eggs and
said she was “very, very
impressed” with the market
and how supportive people
were being. She said farm-
ers markets are important to
small farms like hers.
“It gets the public aware of
what farmers have and where
they’re located,” she said.
Other new vendors this
year were selling honey,
jam, bread, crafts and leather
items. There were also plenty
of returning vendors, such
as Rolling Stone Bakery and
Walchli Farms.
3rd Generation Farms
returned with broccoli, spin-
ach, radishes, kohlrabi,
kale, strawberries and a
spring mix of lettuces — all
pesticide-free.
Chris Finley said they
were excited to return and
looking forward to the sea-
son. Jade Mueller, working
alongside her at the booth,
said she loved the new
pavilion.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
“It’s really nice. You couldn’t
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A little girl enjoys a strawberry during the first Maxwell
Farmers Market on Thursday at the Maxwell Siding Pavillion.
ask for a better setting. And
there is great access for the
vendors when they’re setting
up.”
Imelda Alanco didn’t have
a booth at the market, but was
browsing the items for sale.
She said she hadn’t heard of
the farmers market before,
but her sister called and told
her that there was a caramel
corn booth and it smelled
delicious.
“That’s the first thing that
brought us here, but we’re
looking at what else they
have,” she said.
Looming over the market
is a steel bell tower added just
last week.
Mitch Myers, whose com-
pany owns the pavilion and
runs the market, said it is a
replica of the one that stood
there in 1900, when the prop-
erty housed Hermiston’s first
fire department. A picture
from the time period shows
the bell in the foreground
and Hermiston’s first bank in
the background — a picture
Myers was able to replicate
with the still-standing stone
bank building on the corner
of Highway 395 and Main
Street.
He said the original bell
was taken down during
World War II so that the
bronze could be repurposed
to help the war effort.
The Maxwell Farmers
Market will run all summer
each Thursday from 4-8 p.m.
at 255 S. First Place.
PERS: Senate approves cut to
public employee retirement benefits
Continued from Page A1
voted against the measure
but said in a statement that
it was the “first step to rem-
edying the unfunded liability
that has been a detriment to
our state.”
The plan garnered fierce
opposition from unions, who
have bashed the idea of cut-
ting benefits since the plan
was publicly released a few
weeks ago.
“The Oregon Senate has
voted to reduce the retire-
ment security and compensa-
tion for educators, firefighters
and all public employees,”
said John Larson, President
of the Oregon Education
Association, the state’s larg-
est teacher’s union. “These
unfair and illegal reductions
are a betrayal of Oregon
values.”
Some Democrats against
the measure echoed those
comments on the floor, say-
ing that PERS employees —
which include teachers, fire-
fighters and child welfare
workers — don’t have a large
enough salary to weather
more cuts.
Sen. Sara Gelser, a Demo-
crat from Corvallis, said refi-
nancing the debt only “kicks
the can down the road” and
that all residents of the state
should be responsible for this
problem since everyone ben-
efits from public services.
“We should not put that
debt on a small group of
people,” said Gelser. “It’s
not a fair solution, it’s not a
real solution.”
Continued from Page A1
The loss of Madison had
a domino effect.
“We had to rehearse
three main roles with
understudies, as well as
rehearsing them in their
own roles, all the time
understanding that they
wouldn’t know which role
they were dancing until
several weeks before the
show,”
Sneden-Carlson
said. “They had to work
really hard.”
Lead male dancer
Austin Ford adjusted
to lifting a partner of a
different height. Madison
stands six feet, several
inches taller than Cori Jo
Lindsay.
Cori Jo, Madison’s
understudy, would start
rehearsing
Madison’s
part even more diligently,
knowing
she
might
perform Princess Aurora
for real. Alli Sauer took
on Cori Jo’s part and Erin
Picken picked up Alli’s
role. Madison transformed
from lead dancer to coach.
“The minute she was in
a boot, she was in the studio
with a big cup of water,
sitting in a chair coaching
Cori Jo,” the director said.
Madison
performed
from the waist up as Cori Jo
mirrored her movements.
Sneden-Carlson marveled
at their commitment.
“Madison came to
every single rehearsal and
lovingly coached another
girl in the part of her
dreams. She didn’t hold
back in any way,” Sneden
-Carlson said. “Cori Jo
was so gentle and careful.
She didn’t freak out and
bulldoze herself through a
big, scary role.”
When not at rehearsal,
Madison spent time doing
physical therapy with
Sneden-Carlson’s husband,
Bob Carlson, a physical
therapist for St. Anthony
Hospital.
On April 23, Madison,
Madison’s mom, Shannon
Gruenhagen, and Sneden
-Carlson sat in the doctor’s
office nervously awaiting
the
verdict.
Would
Madison dance in the show
Photo by Rachael Owen
When dancer Madison Gruenhagen (left) broke her foot,
understudy Cori Jo Lindsay doubled her rehearsal time to
learn Gruenhagen’s lead role in “Sleeping Beauty.” Gruen-
hagen assisted by demonstrating arm movements from a
chair.
or not? Cori Jo waited for
a text. The entire dance
school braced to hear the
news.
When the doctor said
the bone was healed, “We
all hugged and cried,” said
Madison. Then Madison
texted Cori Jo, who reacted
with relief.
“I wasn’t torn at all,” she
said. “I was very happy.”
Madison’s muscles were
weakened and she was
banned from pointe shoes
until after the show, but she
embraced the opportunity
of getting back to work. On
opening night (Thursday,
May 23), she took the stage
and will perform again at
7 p.m. Friday, and 2 p.m.
Saturday, in the Bob Clapp
Theatre at Blue Mountain
Community College.
To be sure, this is
an all-ends-well tale of
overcoming adversity. For
Sneden-Carlson, however,
the story has an interesting
twist.
The veteran ballet
teacher
once
danced
in a professional ballet
company. At age 22, she
herself rehearsed to play
the role of Princess Aurora
in “Sleeping Beauty.”
During a rehearsal, a male
dancer lifted her into the
air and somehow lost his
grip. She went down hard,
breaking most of the ribs
on her right side. The
injury sidelined Sneden
-Carlson for six months.
When the doctor said she’d
never be pain-free if she
continued, she decided to
teach ballet instead. She
dances vicariously now
through her students and
when they come through
with such grace and
courage, it is sweet.
Madison still can’t
believe the support.
“They were so kind,”
she said.
Of the opportunity to
dance the role of Princess
Aurora, she said, “I’m
ecstatic. I feel amazing that
I even get to be onstage.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
k ane y@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0810.
Senators reintroduce legislation to provide long-term stability for SRS program
East Oregonian
WASHINGTON — Sen-
ators from Oregon and
Idaho reintroduced legis-
lation Thursday to provide
much-needed financial cer-
tainty for rural counties to
ensure they have the long-
term funding needed for
schools, road maintenance,
law enforcement and other
essential services.
Democratic
Oregon
Sens. Ron Wyden and
Jeff Merkley joined with
Republican Idaho Sens.
Mike Crapo and Jim Risch
to reintroduce the Forest
Management for Rural Sta-
bility Act, which the sen-
ators first introduced in
December 2018.
The legislation makes
the Secure Rural Schools
program — which expired
at the end of fiscal year 2018
— permanent by creating
an endowment fund to pro-
vide stable, increasing and
reliable funding for county
services.
“This is a matter of
making sure Oregonians
living and working in rural
counties have the financial
certainty they need and
deserve,” Wyden said. “It’s
time to put an end to the
financial roller coaster in
forested counties in Oregon
and permanently invest in
our teachers, law enforce-
ment officers, bridges
and roads.”
The SRS — originally
co-authored by Wyden
— was enacted in 2000
to financially assist coun-
ties with public, tax-ex-
Merkley
Risch
empt forestlands. Since
then, Wyden, Crapo, Merk-
ley and Risch have worked
to give SRS a more per-
manent role in assist-
ing rural counties with
large tracts of federal
lands.
“One of Oregon’s many
treasures is our vast swaths
of public lands,” Merkley
said. “Since they’re not part
of the local tax base, the
counties that contain those
lands deserve permanent,
consistent support from
Wyden
Crapo
the federal government to
fund basic necessities like
schools, law enforcement,
and infrastructure.
I’m urging my col-
leagues to fulfill this
essential commitment to
every family in our rural
communities
without
delay.”
Critical services at the
county level have histor-
ically been funded in part
with a 25 percent share of
timber receipts from fed-
eral U.S. Forest Service
lands and a 50% share of
timber receipts from fed-
eral Oregon and Califor-
nia Grant Lands managed
by the U.S. Bureau of Land
Management. As those rev-
enues have fallen or fluctu-
ated due to reduced timber
harvest and market forces,
SRS payments helped
bridge the gap to keep
rural schools open, provide
road maintenance, support
search and rescue efforts
and other essential county
services. Since enacted in
2000, SRS has provided a
total of $7 billion in pay-
ments to more than 700
counties and 4,400 school
districts in more than 40
states to fund schools and
essential services like
roads and public safety.
“I am thankful to
Wyden and Crapo for
working to stabilize fund-
ing for schools in Eastern
Oregon with their Forest
Management for Rural Sta-
bility Act, Umatilla School
District
Superintendent
Heidi Sipe said. “The per-
manent endowment created
by their bill will help rural
students and their families
by allowing school districts
to make long-term plans t
hat avoid the ups and
downs of uncertain rev-
enues. That’s a winning
equation for rural com-
munities operating often
on narrow budget mar-
gins, and I am excited for
a future of consistent, reli-
able, funding mechanisms
that create the best oppor-
tunity for good student
outcomes.”