REGION
Thursday, January 23, 2020
East Oregonian
BRIEFLY
Hidden Blues
Mobile homes bill
signed into law
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
A barn sits in contrast with the Blue Mountains, shrouded in a fog of rain and clouds, early on Wednesday afternoon near
Pendleton.
No Airport Road hearing set yet
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Uma-
tilla County has put an Air-
port Road construction proj-
ect out to bid, but no hearing
date has been set regarding a
petition by neighboring prop-
erty owners to vacate 13 feet
of right-of-way along the
road.
Engineering work for the
project, which would widen
and improve the road to bet-
ter handle traffi c in and out
of the Eastern Oregon Trade
and Event Center, turned up
a discrepancy between where
property owners had previ-
ously been told their prop-
erty line was and where the
true property lines run. Some
owners have fences, trees or
other assets sitting on the 13
feet that actually belongs to
the county.
County Commissioner
Bill Elfering said he couldn’t
say much on the issue,
because neighbor Chris
Waine has involved attor-
neys. But he said that the
county previously met with
each of the neighbors along
the road about their con-
cerns, and made offi cial
offers of mitigation or tem-
porary use licenses. In many
cases, neighbors will be able
to keep using the right-of-
way, Elfering said.
“We’re trying to disrupt
their life as little as possible,”
he said.
He said at the time, the
neighbors the county had
talked to had seemed satis-
fi ed with the compromises
it worked out with each of
them.
Waine gathered signa-
tures to support asking the
county to vacate the 13 feet,
however, and turn it over to
the neighbors. He said he
has been disappointed by
the county’s handling of the
issue, and the fact that they
had not taken any action so
far on the petition.
“I think the county’s
doing the wrong thing,” he
said.
He has also questioned
whether the county’s survey
department is correct about
property boundaries, and
said there are discrepancies
between the legal descrip-
tion of his property, physical
measurements he has taken,
county records and other
elements.
“The county says, ‘This is
what we say and ultimately
we’re right,’ but I think this is
a situation where there could
be multiple truths,” Waine
said, calling it “a mess.”
Waine continues to gather
as much information he can
about past surveying and
property lines in the area, but
said he doesn’t know what he
will do yet.
In the meantime, the
county is putting the project
out to bid and plans to com-
plete it before the 2020 Uma-
tilla County Fair in August at
EOTEC. During the board
of commissioners’ Jan. 15
meeting, public works direc-
tor Tom Fellows told com-
missioners he was confi -
dent that the $1 million from
the Legislature for the proj-
ect would cover the work
planned for Airport Road,
but he isn’t sure how much
money might be available to
pave part of Ott Road on the
other side of EOTEC.
County approves Stanfi eld-Echo enterprise zone
By ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — A pair
of western Umatilla County
communities are getting
their own enterprise zone.
Once included in a joint
zone with Umatilla, the
cities of Echo and Stan-
fi eld will have their own
tool to stimulate business
in the area starting Feb. 5
after the Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners
approved the designation on
Wednesday.
“This zone is looking
down the road for future
development,” Echo City
Administrator David Slaght
said. “It’s some enticement
and encouragement for
investors. We’re right along
I-84. We’ve got access to
interstate commerce right at
our front door.”
Enterprise zones allow
certain industrial and man-
ufacturing
construction
projects to be granted a
three- to fi ve-year property
tax exemption. The Stan-
fi eld-Echo zone will span
a total of 4.44 square miles
and include the city limits
and urban growth boundar-
ies of both cities. Language
in the designation permits
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners approved
the creation of a Stanfi eld-Echo enterprise zone during
their meeting on Wednesday morning.
hotels, motels and destina-
tion resorts to be included in
the potential tax exemptions
as well.
Both cities were previ-
ously included in an enter-
prise zone with Umatilla,
which was revised in 2019
to add areas along Umatil-
la’s urban growth boundary
and excluded Stanfi eld and
Echo.
Shortly after Umatilla
redrew the zone, Slaght
was hired by the city of
Echo in May and Ben Bur-
gener was brought in as the
city manager of Stanfi eld
in September.
“Both of us were brand
new to our jobs, and when
we stepped in we real-
ized they had essentially
excluded us and left us out
here alone,” Slaght said
of the previous enterprise
zone.
Slaght said it made sense
and was more feasible for
the cities to work together
in applying for the zone
designation.
In Echo, Slaght said the
city council is working with
potential local investors and
are in the process of devel-
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oping strategies and goals
for the new zone.
However, Slaght said the
language allowing hotel,
motel or destination resort
projects to be eligible for tax
exemptions could be crucial
for a future development
along the interstate led by
Kent Madison.
In 2017, Madison fi rst
came to the city with an
idea for a 132-acre devel-
opment that would include
dozens of homes, a hotel,
RV park, commercial and
industrial projects and even
some greenery.
According to Slaght,
Madison has approached
the city about continu-
ing the project, but plenty
remains to be done for it to
materialize.
“I don’t know where it’s
going, but I didn’t want to
leave that off the table,”
Slaght said.
The cities had to seek and
eventually received con-
sent from the Port of Uma-
tilla for the designation, and
the zone was additionally
co-sponsored by the county.
“I think it gives them
fl exibility with it and own-
ership of it,” Commis-
sioner Bill Elfering said at
Wednesday’s meeting.
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week will determine if
Morgan will be required
to stand trial.
Hermiston Warming
Station sets
training sessions
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston Warming Sta-
tion has announced a new
series of volunteer training
sessions after the emer-
gency shelter had to stay
closed on Sunday due to
insuffi cient volunteers.
Volunteers must be 18
or older and pass a back-
ground check. After com-
pleting one of the sessions,
they will have access to an
online schedule to sign up
for any open shifts on any
dates they are interested
in.
Training sessions, held
at the warming station at
1075 S. Highway 395, will
be as follows:
Friday, 6-7 p.m.
Saturday, 3-4 p.m.
Sunday, 9-10 a.m.
Monday, 6-7 p.m.
Tuesday, 5-6 p.m.
Wednesday, 6-7 p.m.
Jan. 30, 5-6 p.m.
Blue Mountain
Land Trust asks for
public input
WALLA
WALLA,
Wash. — The Blue Moun-
tain Land Trust seeks pub-
lic input on its 2020-24
Conservation Plan that
will guide its conservation
efforts in Asotin, Colum-
bia, Garfi eld, and Walla
Walla counties in Wash-
ington, and in Baker, Gil-
liam, Grant, Morrow,
Sherman, Umatilla, Union
and Wheeler counties in
Oregon.
The Blue Mountain
Land Trust in a news
release asked the pub-
lic to take an online sur-
vey to assist updating the
plan. The survey is online
at survey.sogosurvey.com/
r/3eVTK8 and closes Fri-
day, Feb. 7. The purpose
of the conservation plan is
to guide the Land Trust’s
priorities for the next fi ve
years and to identify strat-
egies for advancing those
priorities. The Land Trust
will fi nalize the plan in
March.
“The plan provides
direction to the Land
Trust’s board and staff to
ensure that we spend our
resources in ways that pro-
duce the greatest possible
conservation gains in our
region,” according to the
news release.
The Blue Mountain
Land Trust is a not-for-
profi t organization that
protects and enhances
farm and ranches, wild-
life habitat and water-
ways in the Blue Mountain
region. For more informa-
tion, visit www.bmlt.org,
email bmlt@bmlt.org or
call 541-620-5754.
— EO Media Group
1/23
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HERMISTON — An
Irrigon man is facing fel-
ony charges after report-
edly throwing a Molotov
cocktail in a Hermiston
neighborhood.
Hermiston
police
arrested Jeremiah Michael
Morgan, 20, on Sunday
evening. Law enforcement
offi cials said it is believed
that Morgan threw a home-
made incendiary device
on top of a garage on East
Browning Avenue before
fl eeing on foot.
It is also believed that
Morgan knew the male
victim in the case, and that
the action was part of a
continuing dispute.
The district attorney’s
offi ce formally charged
Morgan with attempted
fi rst-degree arson, a Class
B felony; unlawful posses-
sion and manufacture of
a destructive device, both
Class C felonies; and reck-
lessly endangering another
person, a misdemeanor.
Court documents assert
Morgan attempted to start
a fi re or cause an explo-
sion, but it doesn’t appear
the incident caused any
damage or physical injury.
Morgan was still lodged
at the Umatilla County Jail
as of Wednesday after-
noon. A probable cause
preliminary hearing next
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SALEM — Some
mobile home owners
are a step closer to gain-
ing fi nancial aid for their
housing since Gov. Kate
Brown signed House Bill
2896 into law last week.
The bill, chiefl y spon-
sored in part by Rep. Greg
Smith, R-Heppner, and
Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Ath-
ena, last year funnels $9.5
million to nonprofi t cor-
porations to create man-
ufactured dwelling pres-
ervation and replacement
programs for older, less
insulated homes.
Umatilla
Electric
Cooperative supported the
bill during the last legisla-
tive session, and is taking
steps to create a program
in its service area.
“We’d like to help our
customers by identify-
ing older mobile homes,”
UEC Member Services
Administrator Steve Mey-
ers said. “If we can help
replace those with (new)
mobile homes, it’s not
just going to help custom-
ers potentially save hun-
dreds of dollars a month,
it will help sustain our
communities.”
Meyers added that
the process of establish-
ing a program could take
months. The coopera-
tive is seeking commu-
nity partners and federal
backing. He said individ-
uals interested in receiv-
ing an update on progress
can call Umatilla Electric
at 541-567-6414.
The bill also stipulates
that Oregon’s Housing
and Community Services
Department establishes
an advisory board. Pub-
lic affairs director for
the department, Kenny
LaPoint, told the East
Oregonian
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