East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, January 17, 2020, Page 8, Image 8

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OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Friday, January 17, 2020
Help: ‘You always have to make sure your neighbors are taken care of’
Continued from Page A1
the woods, it’s just part of the
deal,” Campbell said.
Year after year, winter
weather of some kind ren-
ders the region’s highways
dangerous, Campbell said,
and year after year he ends
up helping people who get
stuck trying to find another
way to travel.
Campbell, who is a for-
mer Pendleton Round-Up
director, often helps plow
his neighbors’ driveways
and said that he’s happy to
help the travelers who need
it, many of whom come
from out of town and aren’t
familiar with the area’s back
roads. However, he’d rather
that common sense prevail
and have people stay off back
roads, which he said are just
as bad if not worse than major
roadways during closures.
“If you don’t have to be on
these roads, then don’t be,”
he said.
Even the professionals
needed some assistance get-
ting through the challenging
conditions on Wednesday
night.
While other agencies like
Oregon State Police and
municipal police stay within
their jurisdiction of the state
highways or their own cities,
the Umatilla County Sher-
iff’s Office handles many of
the calls for help out on the
area’s more remote roads.
Luckily for the respond-
ing deputies and those in
need of help on Wednes-
day night, Umatilla Elec-
tric Cooperative had line
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Tygh Campbell uses his tractor to clear snow drifts from a section of Gerking Flat Road near Athena on Thursday afternoon.
workers tending to scat-
tered power outages on and
near Weston Mountain. And
when authorities weren’t able
to reach stranded vehicles
themselves, the line work-
ers stepped up and used their
own snowcats to transport
emergency personnel to the
scenes of crashes.
“That’s huge,” Lt. Sterrin
Holcomb said. “Those
are things that make a big
difference.”
According to Umatilla
Electric Cooperative repre-
sentative Steve Meyers, the
company’s crews are trained
to protect themselves and
avoid becoming a liability to
first responders in the event
of an emergency. But when
called upon to help, crews are
able to assist if possible.
“We are appreciative
when our crews go above
and beyond the call of duty,”
Meyers wrote in an email.
“And [we’re] grateful when
they are able to help in
any way.”
When it comes to help-
ing agencies coordinate
responses, Umatilla County
Emergency
Manager
Thomas Roberts said the
county primarily takes a sup-
port role during severe win-
ter weather.
“Generally
speaking,
we’ll monitor conditions and
step in to provide support to
response agencies and coor-
dinate with local and state
resources,” Roberts said.
Roberts said the coun-
ty’s emergency management
department, which is housed
in the sheriff’s office, has
some of its own resources,
such as two ATVs that are
equipped with traction tires
to help reach stuck vehicles
in remote areas. One is also
outfitted to transport people
if needed.
Roberts added the depart-
ment has access to the coun-
ty’s search and rescue team,
which has a snowmobile
and other resources they can
deploy too. The department
also works closely with the
county’s road department
and ODOT for coordinat-
ing road closures and traffic
issues.
Both lanes of Interstate 84
from Pendleton to Ontario
opened by 7:30 a.m. Thurs-
day, while Highway 204
and Highway 245 remained
closed to all but local traffic
until later in the day, accord-
ing to ODOT.
Tom
Strandberg,
a
spokesman for ODOT, said
traffic remained slow along
I-84 and advised travelers to
expect delays and to stay off
of it if possible.
Standberg said Highway
11 between Pendleton and
Milton-Freewater
opened
earlier Thursday morning,
though he wasn’t sure exactly
when.
But as the roads begin
to thaw and road conditions
improve, Roberts said the
county’s emergency manage-
ment department has more
work to do.
“My office has to main-
tain the big picture,” he said.
“More snow means more
snowpack, which means
more that will melt in the
spring.”
The department will
work alongside the National
Weather Service and U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation to
analyze how this week’s win-
ter storms may influence
future events, Roberts said,
so the county is prepared for
whatever emergency strikes
next.
Housing: Housing permit goals exceeded in the past; 2019, however, not so much
Continued from Page A1
ment of time and money
will be of value to the city
in bringing this eyesore
back to life, providing much
needed workforce housing,
and increased property value
over the long term,” he wrote.
While Pratt called the
building an eyesore, Pendle-
ton Economic Development
Director Steve Chrisman
used an even blunter term for
the former federal govern-
ment building: “an absolute
train wreck.”
Staff told the council they
were supportive of the proj-
ect and Pratt’s proposal, and
Chrisman listed some of the
reasons why.
Chrisman said Pendle-
ton residents wanted three
things: retail, industry, and
increased school enroll-
ment. Pendleton wouldn’t get
any of these things, Chris-
man said, without adequate
housing.
Chrisman said the prop-
erty tax revenue the city is
forgoing — estimated at
$15,766 over five years —
would be a low price to pay
for more housing. The rebate
would only apply to the city’s
share of the property tax rev-
enue and not other taxing
entities, like the Pendleton
School District.
“No one is crawling over
themselves to come build in a
market that is extremely slow
growth,” he said. “The only
way you’re going to fix that is
to incentivize people to come
in here.”
Councilor
McKennon
McDonald said she wor-
ried about the perception of
the city continuing to strike
special deals with certain
developers.
“Everything you said
sounds great and sounds like
it makes sense, but we still
haven’t addressed the ele-
phant in the room: Do we
make something that’s uni-
versal that everyone can
have?”
Mayor John Turner con-
tinued his defense of the
city’s use of incentives, say-
ing he didn’t want a “cookie
cutter approach” to incen-
tives because each housing
project was different.
Despite some of the
“NO ONE IS CRAWLING OVER
THEMSELVES TO COME BUILD IN A
MARKET THAT IS EXTREMELY SLOW
GROWTH. THE ONLY WAY YOU’RE
GOING TO FIX THAT IS TO INCEN-
TIVIZE PEOPLE TO COME IN HERE.”
Steve Chrisman, Director of Economic Development
debate, the council will con-
sider Pratt’s request at its
Tuesday meeting.
After experiencing some
years where the city issued
less than 20 permits for new
housing construction, Pend-
leton has seen an uptick in
activity.
In 2017 and 2018, the city
exceeded its goal of issuing
more than 50 housing per-
mits per year.
Pendleton fell off in 2019,
only issuing 25 permits, but
in an interview after the
meeting, Turner attributed
the decline to the first phases
of the Pendleton Heights
addition and Westgate apart-
ments being delayed until
2020.
He was confident housing
permits would pick up again
once those projects started
this year.
Project updates
I & E Construction is the
Clackamas-based company
behind the 200-unit apart-
ment complex on Westgate.
In an interview, City
Manager Robb Corbett said
I & E was in the process of
completing the planning pro-
cess with the city.
The East Oregonian
reached out to I & E twice for
comment, and although com-
pany representatives said an
employee with knowledge of
the project would provide a
follow-up call or email with
more information, there was
no response.
Pendleton Heights devel-
oper Saj Jivanjee is con-
tinuing to work on starting
the first 20 apartments of a
planned 100-unit apartment
complex at his property.
The city fronted some of
the money for infrastructure
improvements for the prop-
erty, which also includes 32
townhouses. Although Jivan-
jee has been late in paying
back the city what he owes,
Finance Director Linda Car-
ter said he made his most
recent payment.
In an interview, Jivan-
jee said he plans to start the
first phase of the apartments
once public improvements
are completed, but he didn’t
want to provide a timeline
because of previous negative
media coverage.
The city was also involved
in the development of new
homes at Sunridge Estates.
Because of a foreclosure,
the city ended up owning
several lots at the subdivision
off of Tutuilla Road. In 2017,
the city sold the lots to Pend-
leton developer Dusty Pace
for $660,000, about $100,000
less than what the city owed
Banner Bank for a local
improvement district.
In an interview, Pace
said he’s built houses on 30
of the 45 lots the city sold
him. Demand for the new
houses has been good, and
he expects to finish the entire
project within the next couple
of years.
One of the few housing
projects the city isn’t involved
in is Sunset View Estates, a
planned 116-home subdivi-
sion near Southwest Hailey
Avenue and 30th Street.
Longview, Washington,
developer Hal Palmer got
approval from the Pendle-
ton Planning Commission in
2018, but there’s been little
activity at the site since then.
Palmer said the project
is still in a holding pattern
while he tries to find funding
and a development partner.
While it may be easy to
find developers in the Port-
land metro area, Palmer said
it was a lot more difficult to
find one willing to go east of
the Cascades.
Palmer said he’s continu-
ing to meet with potential
developers for the project.
Climate: In response to Republican concerns, new bill includes significant changes
Continued from Page A1
listen to them.
“As long as we can sit
down and collaborate and
work on common goals,
on issues, I am 100 per-
cent behind doing that,”
said Sen. Lynn Findley,
R-Vale, the newest member
of the Senate and its envi-
ronment committee. “And
that’s (what) I believe that
we should all be here for ...
But if it’s, ‘My way or the
highway,’ then that’s a diffi-
cult decision to make.”
Rep. David Brock Smith,
a Port Orford Republican
who served on the com-
mittee that considered last
year’s proposal, said he was
not involved in crafting
the new legislative concept
released last Friday.
“Not being included in
the new discussions was
rather unfortunate,” Brock
Smith said in an interview,
“Because we might have
been able to mitigate some
of the issues that this bill
has.”
Republicans seem to
want to focus on nudging
Oregonians to sign on to
cleaner energy sources.
“We have to have a car-
rot, perhaps wrapped in
chocolate icing, before you
go with the stick,” said
Findley, who was sworn in
as a senator just last week,
jumping over from the
House to fill the seat of a
resigning lawmaker. “And
right now, we don’t. So I
think I think it’s imperative
that we do that.”
Brock
Smith
said
Wednesday he has gathered
bipartisan support for a bill
that would boost incentives
for Portland-area residents
to buy electric cars and
hybrids.
The greenhouse gas
proposal’s architects, Sen.
Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay,
and Sen. Michael Dem-
brow, D-Portland, said the
new plan includes signifi-
cant changes in response to
Republican concerns from
last year, like phasing in
new regulations for trans-
portation fuels.
Yet before fielding ques-
tions Wednesday, Baertsch-
iger made a forlorn speech
— his cadence that of a
priest resignedly lamenting
the state of the world to his
congregation.
“We talk about the
rich getting richer and the
poor getting poorer,” said
Baertschiger, “We see that
all the time. Well, I think
this is kind of an example.
Because the average work-
ing family just don’t have
the ability to deflect these
costs. They’re stuck. I think
because of the polariza-
tion of this particular piece
of legislation — we can’t
seem to come to any agree-
ment, we can’t even move
towards any agreement —
that maybe it’s just time
to let the voters make the
decision.”
Baertschiger
said
Republicans have discussed
a direct referral to voters
and indicated there could
be some support among
Republicans for that.
But the draft legisla-
tion contains an emergency
clause, which means that
the bill can’t be referred to
voters by lawmakers. Vot-
ers could still use the initia-
tive process to force a pub-
lic vote.
Dembrow said that mak-
ing the legislation effective
immediately after legisla-
tors approve it would allow
the state to prepare for the
program’s launch in 2022,
even if an initiative is set in
motion.
Asked what specific pol-
icy ideas Republicans had
tried to suggest but hadn’t
“stuck,” as he phrased it,
Baertschiger said his col-
league, Sen. Fred Girod,
R-Stayton, had “worked on
quite a bit about, you know,
electrification and some
credits, tax credits and stuff
with that.” Incentives could
help electric companies
accommodate demand on
the grid as transportation
starts using more electric-
ity, Baertschiger said.
“You know, the prob-
lem with fossil fuels is
when it comes to the natu-
ral resource sector is there’s
nothing out there in tech-
nology yet that replaces
the brute horsepower we
need to produce the natural
resources, whether it’s trac-
tors or fishing boats or any
of those kind of things,”
Baertschiger said. “There’s
nothing really out there yet.
And I think we ought to
keep trying to incentivize
new technology to be able
to replace that. But those
are things that are going to
take a long time.”
Dembrow said that Dem-
ocrats have been making
efforts to include Repub-
licans, pointing to Girod’s
involvement in early talks
on the current proposal.
“We have been listening
to and to a certain extent
working with other Repub-
licans as well,” Dembrow
said. “But I’m not going to
go into detail on that. But I
will say that their concerns
and ideas are included
in this bill and were the
grounds for the changes
that we made.”
Brock Smith isn’t con-
vinced that rural Orego-
nians would be spared the
effects of anticipated higher
fuel costs in metro areas if
the legislation passes.
“The initial increase in
cost of transportation fuels
will still fall to rural Orego-
nians in the costs of goods
and services, right?” Brock
Smith said. “An apple that
someone buys, or an arti-
cle of clothing that some-
body buys in Brookings,
is going to be more expen-
sive because it costs more
to bring it there from Port-
land. And so they’re not
mitigating any of those
financial impacts.”
Dembrow said the pro-
posal prohibits fuel import-
ers from passing the costs
associated with complying
with the new regulations
to customers in areas of the
state that aren’t subject to
the regulations.
The proposal would reg-
ulate fuels beginning in
the Portland metro area in
2022, and in 2025, extends
to metro areas of the state
and cities where at least 10
million gallons of fuel are
imported.
“Whether or not they can
vote for the bill, is, that’s up
to them,” said Dembrow of
Republicans. “They have to
do what’s right for their val-
ues and the way they per-
ceive their constituency.”
He said that while he
can’t speak for Republi-
cans, he “would expect”
them to try to affect what
the bill looks like, and then
vote against it if they still
didn’t support it.
“I vote on a lot of things
I wish I didn’t have to
vote on ... But if you have
majority support, you have
majority support. And, you
know, I think people need
to respect that,” Dembrow
said. “And let me just add,
that given the changes that
we’ve made in the bill, if
Republicans don’t show
up, I’m not sure how much
of it is about the program
itself and how much of it
is really about politics and
ideology.”