REGION
Thursday, February 13, 2020
East Oregonian
BRIEFLY
Truck crash on Interstate 84
United Way taking
fi nancial donations
for fl ood victims
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Frankie’s Towing works to recover a semitruck near Milepost 206 along Interstate 84 west of Pendleton on Wednesday
afternoon. According to Joe S. Merritt, owner of Frankie’s Towing, the truck had been traveling in the eastbound lanes of
the interstate when it crossed the median and westbound lanes before coming to a rest at the bottom of the hill on the
westbound side of the highway. Merritt said that the towing company had surveyed the scene around the time of the
crash Tuesday night before returning Wednesday morning to recover the vehicle.
M-F voters to decide option tax
Funding would
continue taxi, free
bus services for
fi ve years
By ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
M I LTON-F R EEWA-
TER — Milton-Freewater
voters will get the choice to
maintain the city’s afford-
able transportation ser-
vices in May after the city
council voted unanimously
Monday to put an option
tax on the ballot to fund its
cheap taxi and free bus ser-
vices for the next fi ve years.
According to City Man-
ager Linda Hall, the city
saw just how valuable those
services were during last
week’s fl oods.
When rising Walla
Walla River waters threat-
ened the city’s levee, all
residents east of Highway
11 and South Main Street
were evacuated. For those
in the evacuation zone that
were disabled or had other
diffi culties leaving, a city
bus from the program was
there to transport them for
free.
“For a small, rural city
of our size, those services
are so valuable,” Hall said.
The program, which has
been in place since 1971,
usually provides seniors 60
years or older and people
with disabilities of any age
with a cheap door-to-door
medical appointments, gro-
cery stores and more.
The tax is projected to
raise $60,000, or less than
19%, of the more than
$310,000 it costs to oper-
ate the programs each year.
The tax is set to remain at
the same rate it has since
1971 of 37 cents per $1,000
of assessed property value.
At that rate, someone with
“FOR A SMALL, RURAL CITY OF
OUR SIZE, THOSE SERVICES
ARE SO VALUABLE”
— Linda Hall, Milton-Freewater City Manager
taxi for just $1 per ride.
Since the early 2000s, the
program has also provided
a free bus that makes three
round trips to Walla Walla,
Washington, and back each
weekday.
According to documents
provided by the city, the
programs have provided
an average of over 10,000
rides per year. Many of
those rides are used for
essential trips to work,
a home assessed at $75,000
would pay $27.75 per year
for the program.
Hall said the costs of
operating the transporta-
tion programs have gone up
400% since being imple-
mented in 1971, and so
the remaining costs after
tax revenue is paid for by
a combination of county,
state and federal grants.
“It takes a lot to keep
these programs running,”
she said.
Also on Monday, the
council approved a con-
tract with Anderson Perry
& Associates for the design
and engineering of side-
walk and road improve-
ments in the city.
The city is planning to
use its funding to make
improvements to a side-
walk on North Eliza-
beth Street and Northeast
Dahlia Street, the South-
west Eighth Avenue side-
walk and overlay, along
with the overlay at Chest-
nut Street, 12th Avenue and
Walnut Street.
Hall said the project was
earmarked for $3 million in
Oregon’s 2017 transporta-
tion bill, which allocated a
total of $5.3 billion around
the state, thanks to the sup-
port of Rep. Greg Smith,
R-Heppner.
The costs of the agree-
ment with Anderson Perry
&
Associates
cannot
exceed $130,000, Hall said,
and the projects must be
completed before August
2027 in order for the city to
receive the state’s funding.
Hermiston district rolls forward on bond projects
District to begin
design phase for
bond projects
By JESSICA POLLARD
East Oregonian
HERMISTON
—
Months after district voters
approved the $82.7 million
school bond, the Hermis-
ton School District is mov-
ing forward on bringing the
bond projects to fruition.
“We will start work-
ing with our architect now
to enter the design phase,”
Superintendent
Tricia
Mooney said. “That’s the
next big part.”
At a meeting Monday
night, along with select-
ing the Bend-based BBT
Architects to design the
bond projects, the Hermis-
ton School Board appointed
10 community members to
the Bond Oversight Com-
mittee, including Cpt. Scott
Clark, of the Hermiston
Police Department.
“We appreciate our
relationship with the dis-
trict and I appreciate Cpt.
Clark’s desire to sit on a
committee that by charge,
is established to ensure
transparency,” Police Chief
Jason Edmiston said in a
recent post on the police
department’s
Facebook
page.
Other members include
Thomas Ditton, Larry
Lankford, Ben Sargent,
John
Timmons,
Dor-
cie Tracy, former school
board member David
Smith, Hermiston Educa-
tion Foundation co-chair
George Clough and cur-
rent HEF member Kristy
Pierson
“Their charge is to
ensure that the district is
held accountable and trans-
parent in the use of the 2019
bond funds that the voters
approved in November,”
the school district said in a
press release.
In March, the completion
of bond sales will allow the
district to access the proj-
ect money. Mooney said the
district is still unsure when
groundbreaking might start
on the construction, which
will include completion of
a new elementary school
on Theater Lane.
The new school would
cause a redefi nition of the
Highland Hills Elemen-
tary School boundary, a
move the district believes
will help alleviate crowd-
ing caused by population
growth. And while the
district has seen a slight
decline in enrollment this
school year, January saw an
upswing in the number of
students coming to Herm-
iston schools.
According to the most
recent enrollment report,
the district saw a 90-stu-
dent drop in December.
January saw a 73-student
boost, and enrollment at
the end of the month stood
at 5,724, which is 21 fewer
students than the same time
last year.
“Our kids are coming
back, and enrollment is
more in line with our pro-
jections,” Mooney said.
Mooney added that
the reason for the drop
in December was partly
because nearly 60 stu-
dents took extended vaca-
tions from school, and were
automatically unenrolled.
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HERMISTON
CHAMBER
SURVEY
Business owners can
take the fl ood damage
survey at: http://survey.
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greeting
Apply for services,
get resources on
Thursday
PENDLETON — Resi-
dents impacted by fl ooding
last week will have access to
services regarding housing,
unemployment and cleanup
at the Pendleton Convention
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Forest Service
waives fees for
President’s Day
PENDLETON — The
USDA Forest Service will
waive fees at day-use rec-
reation sites in Oregon and
Washington on Feb. 17 in
honor of President’s Day.
“National forests offer
visitors countless opportu-
nities for outdoor recreation
— adventure, solitude, or
simply a chance to get out-
side and spend time with
family and friends,” said
Glenn Casamassa, Pacifi c
Northwest regional forester.
“Whatever your interest,
we hope this fee-free day
encourages you to visit and
enjoy all that your public
lands have to offer.”
The fee waiver includes
many trailheads, picnic
areas, boat launches, and
visitor centers. Fees for
camping, cabin rentals, her-
itage expeditions, or other
permits still apply. Fees will
continue to be charged at
recreation sites operated by
concessionaires unless the
individual manager chooses
to participate.
The Forest Service man-
ages 24 million acres of
national forest lands in the
Pacifi c Northwest and over
3,000 world-class outdoor
recreation areas, facilities,
and programs. No fees are
charged at any time on 98%
of national forests and grass-
lands, and approximately
two-thirds of developed rec-
reation sites in national for-
ests and grasslands can be
used for free.
— EO Media Group
2/13
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HERMISTON — The
Hermiston Chamber of
Commerce is hoping to
assess damages to busi-
nesses in Stanfi eld, Echo
and Hermiston in the
aftermath of last week’s
fl ooding.
The chamber released a
four-question survey Tues-
day, which asks employ-
ers if their businesses were
damaged in the fl oods, and
if the damage resulted in a
lack of work for employees.
“We also want to con-
nect business owners and
employees to resources
during this time,” stated
a recent release from the
chamber of commerce.
“Responses help us under-
stand where business has
been affected on the west
side of Umatilla County.”
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INDEPENDENT LIVING • ASSISTED LIVING • MEMORY CARE
UMATILLA COUNTY
— United Way of the Blue
Mountains has allocated
$10,000 to Umatilla County
and is accepting additional
donations to distribute for
relief and recovery efforts
throughout the region,
according to a press release.
“At United Way of the
Blue Mountains, we under-
stand that recovery is a long-
term endeavor, and needs
endure long after disasters
are no longer front page
news,” the release said. “To
that end, we are commit-
ted to raising funds that
will support our neighbors
for the duration of these
efforts.”
According to the release,
100% of donations desig-
nated for fl ood relief will
be allocated for immedi-
ate response efforts, long-
term recovery, fi lling unmet
needs, providing grants to
community partners and
nonprofi t
organizations
and supporting other relief
efforts as determined by
the organization’s board of
directors.
“This is the most effi cient
way to help your neighbors:
work with front-line orga-
nizations who specialize in
disaster response and those
who will be there for the
community over the long
haul,” the release said.
United Way of the Blue
Mountains also donated
$20,000 to Walla Walla and
Columbia counties.
Center on Thursday.
The Red Cross Cascades
Region, Worksource East-
ern Oregon and CAPECO
are partnering to provide
a resource center for those
impacted by the fl oods. It
will be open from noon to
8 p.m. Thursday.
“We’ll hopefully reach
as many people as we can
in eight hours,” said Chad
from the Red Cross. “This
an opportunity for people to
start their recovery.”
Services available Thurs-
day include the opportunity
to fi le for unemployment,
help fi nding housing, access
to cleanup supplies, aid with
document
replacement,
insurance information and
free clothing.
Those who attend are
asked to bring proof of res-
idence, which could include
an up-to-date ID card or
driver’s license, recent mail
or a rental lease.
People in need of trans-
portation to the event are
encouraged to call Let’er
Bus Transit at 541-276-
6476, Those seeking more
information about unem-
ployment can call Work-
source Eastern Oregon at
541-963-7111.
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