REGION
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
City, BMCC work on public projects
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Private sec-
tor activity may have slowed down,
but public projects are still moving
forward, particularly at Pendle-
ton City Hall and Blue Mountain
Community College.
Late last week, work crews from
Silver Creek Contracting began
working on repairing the staircases
to the Vert Auditorium, which was
jointly funded by the Pendleton
Development Commission and a
state grant that was obtained by the
Pendleton Downtown Association.
Members of the Pendleton
City Council approved the nearly
$103,000 project last year, but
the project has been gestating
for months as the city fi gured out
what the grant would and wouldn’t
cover, according to a report from
commission Associate Director
Charles Denight.
The project now covers the
repair of the crumbling steps that
lead to the Vert’s main entrance
and the Southwest Fourth Street
entrance, in addition to a disability
access ramp.
The old staircases were heav-
ily damaged from years of weath-
ering deicing chemicals. Acting
as the development commission,
the council will consider adding
$5,400 to its local match for the
contractor to install heating coils
underneath the entrance steps to
keep the steps clear during the
winter without use of salt or other
chemicals.
Facilities Manager Glenn Gra-
ham said the city is using the
opportunity of Silver Creek being
on-site to have crews do work out-
side the grant around the city hall
block.
Graham said some of the other
projects include an access ramp to
the Pendleton Recreation Center,
some brick removal near the rec
center, and new stairs to the Foun-
dation Room.
While the pandemic has nega-
tively affected residents and busi-
nesses around Pendleton, Graham
said the slowdown has actually
worked to the advantage of the city
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Piles of concrete debris sit in front of the Vert Auditorium in Pendleton
on Monday morning as workers begin to remove the stairs and side-
walks around the building.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
The derelict tennis courts at Blue Mountain Community College in
Pendleton sit partially demolished on Monday morning as the college
begins to remove the unused courts.
hall projects because there’s less
foot traffi c to deal with.
Graham said the deadline for
the grant-funded projects is June
27, but he anticipates the work will
be done well in advance.
Across town at BMCC, the col-
lege is tearing down its tennis court
rather than trying to repair it.
Casey White-Zollman, BMCC’s
vice president of college rela-
tions and advancement, said the
court had been inactive for about a
decade and had become a bit of an
“eyesore.”
White-Zollman said BMCC
maintenance crews are handling
the demolition while Pendleton
Electric is removing the light poles
from the court.
In exchange for keeping the
light poles for itself, White-Zoll-
man said Pendleton Electric is
doing new lighting for the road
leading up to the college and the
BMCC sign.
“We’re taking advantage of
some good timing,” she said.
Once the court is gone,
White-Zollman said the college
plans to leave the ground bare and
let it return to a grassy area.
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BRIEFLY
Studded tire deadline
extended until May 15
SALEM — Oregon drivers will
not be required to remove studded
tires until 11:59 p.m. Friday, May
15. The deadline had previously
been extended from April 1 to May
1.
While studded tires are allowed in
Oregon by law from Nov. 1 through
March 31, the Oregon Department
of Transportation decided to again
extend that deadline in response to
the continuing public health emer-
gency of COVID-19.
ODOT encourages drivers to
have their studded tires removed
before May 15 if it can reasonably
be done while maintaining social
distancing.
Three new positive
cases identifi ed in
Umatilla County
UMATILLA COUNTY —
Three more cases of COVID-
19 have been reported in Uma-
tilla County, according to a press
release from Umatilla County Pub-
lic Health.
The three latest people diag-
nosed with the novel coronavi-
rus had connections to previous
cases, the county confi rmed. All
three cases are recovering at home
in self-isolation. There are still no
reported deaths from coronavirus
in Umatilla County.
The county also reported that
12 of the previously reported cases
are considered recovered. Individu-
als are considered recovered when
they have been free of symptoms,
including fever, cough and short-
ness of breath, for 72 hours. The
county said there are 15 cases that
remain active and one individual,
remains hospitalized.
Umatilla County’s 27 positive
cases come from a total of 479 tests.
Kayak Public Transit
pushes closure to
April 25
PENDLETON — The Con-
federated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation are extending
the closure of Kayak Public Transit
due to COVID-19 until April 25, a
press release said.
The tribes will continue to mon-
itor the situation and will make a
determination about the follow-
ing week on or before April 24, the
release said.
The closure — in response to
COVID-19 — started on Monday,
March 23.
“Kayak recognizes its role as
a lifeline for access to employ-
ment, medical and shopping needs
throughout the region and we do
not take this action lightly,” the
release said.
Kayak Public Transit operates
three fi xed routes and four com-
muter bus services in Southeastern
Washington and Northeastern Ore-
gon, including La Grande, Hermis-
ton and Walla Walla, Washington.
COVID-19 business
assistance program
closes Thursday
PENDLETON — The Pendleton
Development Commission’s eco-
nomic relief program for small busi-
nesses is now open, but the applica-
tion window is closing quickly.
The deadline for the commis-
sion’s Pendleton Retail and Hospi-
tality Relief Program is Thursday,
and businesses will have to meet
a very specifi c set of criteria to be
one of the 50 entities selected for the
$2,000 grant.
Requirements include:
• A Pendleton business license
• Location in the urban renewal
district — downtown Pendleton and
some of the surrounding area
• Negative impact from one of
the governor’s executive orders
shutting down or curtaining busi-
ness operations to slow the spread
of COVID-19
• Must employ the equivalent of
20 positions or less
• Either has applied for or com-
mits to apply for small business
assistance from the state or federal
government
• Will either remain open or
reopen no later than July 1
• Nonprofi ts are not eligible
“Essential” businesses like
restaurants, retail and hospitality
will be prioritized, and if the city
receives more applications than its
$100,000 budget, the winning appli-
cants will be selected by lottery on
Friday.
Applications are available in a
rack near the entrance of the Pend-
leton Chamber of Commerce, 501
S. Main St.
— EO Media Group
5
STEPS
FOR
SAFE
DIGGING
Working on an outdoor project? Careless digging poses a threat to people, pipelines and underground
facilities. Always call 8-1-1 first. Here are five easy steps for safe digging:
Source: call811.com
1. NOTIFY
Call 8-1-1 or make a request
online two to three days
before your work begins.
The operator will notify the
utilities affected by your
project.
2. WAIT
Wait two to three days for affected
utilities to respond to your request.
They will send a locator to mark any
underground utility lines.
2-3
3. CONFIRM
C
Confirm
that all affected utilities have
responded t to your request by comparing
the mar
marks to the list of utilities the 8-1-1
call c center notified.
4. RESPECT
Respect the markers provided by
the affected utilities. The markers
are your guide for the duration of
your project.
5. DIG CAREFULLY
If you can’t avoid digging near the
markers (within 18-24 inches on
all sides, depending on state laws),
consider moving your project location.
A3
Hermiston Office
750 W. Elm Ave.
Hermiston, OR 97838
(541) 567-6414
Boardman Office
400 N.E. Eldrige Drive
Boardman, OR 97818
(541) 481-2220
www.UmatillaElectric.com