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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2020)
Pendleton girl featured in commercial | REGION, A3 E O AST AS 144th Year, No. 88 REGONIAN WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD UMATILLA RIVER FLOODING PENDLETON Council makes way for higher utility fee By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Jeff Runels, center, Keystone president and CEO, indicates to Gov. Kate Brown the extent of the damage to their McKennon Road manufacturing facility on Feb. 14. Flooded businesses plan to restore damaged facilities By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian P ENDLETON — This month’s fl ood has done millions of dol- lars of damage and displaced res- idents from their homes, but it’s also touching people who live nowhere close to the fl ood zone. Gov. Kate Brown toured Key- stone RV Co. and Cor-Tek on Friday, two McKennon Road businesses that were forced to shut down their manu- facturing operations once fl oodwaters breached the nearby levee and fl ooded their facilities. Leaders at both businesses vowed to repair the damage done to their build- ings and resume production, but the companies are each devising ways to protect employees until they can return to work. Jeff Runels, Keystone president and CEO, said the damaged production facility was a “workhorse,” before it was fl ooded with mud and debris, responsi- ble for building three different products for the travel trailer company. The area around the facility was bus- tling on Friday afternoon, but it was from heavy equipment moving dam- aged trailers through the mud. Runels said Keystone will have to scrap about 150 fl ood-damaged trailers, but he’s more concerned about what will happen to employees. Pendleton’s second largest employer, the Indiana-based Keystone employs about 700 people in Oregon and 250 people at the damaged facility. Runels said 50 employees were See Work, Page A7 Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Cor-Tek plant manager Larry Hughes, left, and Gov. Kate Brown discuss damages to the Cor-Tek plant as a result of the Feb 6. fl ooding during a tour on Feb. 14. Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Mud remains in the Cor-Tek plant more than a week after the Umatilla River fl ood- ing on Feb. 6. Gov. Kate Brown toured the facility on Feb. 14. PENDLETON — The Pendleton City Council followed through with the fi rst part of their street repair funding plan Tuesday, approving an ordinance that will allow for a $3 increase to the street utility fee. The fl at fee is assessed to utility bills and varies by water line size, but the rate hike will push the fee to $8.50 per month for customers with three-quarters of an inch lines. City Attorney Nancy Kerns told the council that a follow-up resolu- tion offi cially raising the fee would be presented for approval at its March 3 meeting. Back in 2015, the council planned to raise money for street maintenance by instituting a street utility fee and a gas tax. While voters rejected the gas tax, the city council passed a $5 fee with annual price-indexed a month after Elec- tion Day. The council is pursuing a similar strategy in 2020, just in reverse: the $3 street utility fee increase will be fol- lowed by a 4-cent gas tax proposal on the May ballot. The other signifi cant change to the street utility fee is the way it will be allocated. The 2015 council dedicated the fund- ing from the fee to residential streets, rather than some of the more trav- eled roads the city calls collectors and arterials. Kerns said the city’s pavement man- agement software indicates the city has done enough work on neighborhood streets that it’s time to turn attention to busier roads. “To some extent, the goal that was intended has been achieved or begun to be achieved,” she said. To lessen the impact of the fee hike to low-income residents, several councilors have supported the idea of an expanded discount program, but staff recom- mended the council wait until it can pro- duce a separate resolution. The city hopes to combine those two new revenue sources with a $2 hotel room tax, which has yet to be passed, and $110,000 in cuts to the general fund. All of these moves are expected to generate more than $1 million annually for street maintenance, a number the city estimates will help reverse a deteriorat- ing road system. While the council organizes a cam- paign to support the 4-cent gas tax, local oil distributors have already voiced their opposition to the tax and spent money to defeat the 2015 gas tax proposal. Pendleton hoteliers and the Ore- gon Restaurant and Lodging Associa- tion have also pushed back against the $2 hotel room tax proposal, and the lat- ter has organized against similar taxes in other parts of the state. Wildfi re bills aimed to reduce impact moving forward Will budgetary constraints extinguish momentum for bills? By SAM STITES Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — Two bills being considered by Oregon lawmak- ers this session are expected to be the one-two punch the state needs to considerably reduce the impact of wildfi re on its landscape and residents. In recent years, the onslaught of smoke from major wildfi res has choked many parts of the state through the summer months. Fires threaten homes where forests meet urban sprawl, and timber owners are losing precious resources for Baertschiger Daugherty Golden Smith Thatcher “I HAD SOME CONCERN THAT THE WOUNDS FROM THE TIMBER WARS WERE GOING TO GET IN THE WAY OF THIS WILDFIRE WORK” — Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland renewable building material and wood products. Wildfi re is one of the preeminent threats to Oregon’s way of life in a multitude of ways, but the state is hoping this year it can make headway in minimizing its effects through an approach that takes both the short term and future into account. The fi rst is a bill — Senate Bill 1514 — creating 15 projects to be led by the state Forestry Department that would clear trees, underbrush and other forest material considered to be “fuel” for wildfi re. The proj- ects would take place in locations across the state determined by the department within the 5.2 million acres identifi ed as high-risk areas by the Governor’s Council on Wild- fi re Response. The projects would be funded by a $25 million allocation laid out within the bill. The second bill — Senate Bill 1536 — would overhaul the state’s approach to fi re mitigation and sup- pression, and help communities adapt to smoke and fi re. See Wildfi re, Page A7
