A6
LOCAL
East Oregonian
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Court denies injunction in property dispute
Hermiston property owners locked in
a legal battle with Umatilla County
were denied their motion last week
By ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston property own-
ers locked in a legal battle
with Umatilla County and
the city of Hermiston over
a road improvement project
on Airport and Ott roads
were denied a motion for a
temporary restraining order
last week.
“It is unlikely the plain-
tiffs will prevail, and
although it appears their
fence and drain field may
encroach on the road ease-
ment, there is insufficient
evidence the county road
improvement will encroach
on their property or cause
irreparable harm,” Uma-
tilla County Circuit Court
Judge Eva Temple ruled in
her May 13 order on the
motion.
The ruling may seem
like a loss for Chris and
Monique Waine’s case that
seeks to resolve conflicts
between county surveys,
their property deed, and
identified historical mon-
uments, which they claim
would subsequently prove
that 11 feet on the north and
5 feet on the east side of their
property is in fact theirs
and not a county right-of-
way. But the Waines won’t
be deterred by it.
“The thing about an
injunction is it’s not really a
loss, we just lost the argu-
ment that we had a plethora
of evidence that would land
us in a favorable decision,”
Chris Waine said. “There’s
a lot of witness testimony
that still needs to be had,
there’s depositions that still
need to happen.”
Waine said that the
injunction also offered an
opportunity for him and his
attorneys to see what addi-
tional evidence the court
will need to see and how
it needs to be presented.
But Waine said his team
also relied heavily on sur-
vey records provided by
the county in the injunction
hearing, which are being
impacted by excavation and
additional surveys happen-
ing around the property
now.
“The hard thing about
this particular case is things
are continually develop-
Harris Park reopens to the public
Park now open for
day use, overnight
stays with new
guidelines due to
COVID-19
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File
An excavation company works near the entrance to Harris Memorial Park in rural Umatilla Coun-
ty outside of Milton-Freewater in early April. The park will reopen for day use and overnight
stays with new guidelines for sanitation, limited overnight stays and remote payment options.
ing throughout the park and
along its trails, and group
contact sports are discour-
aged. The park’s playground
equipment will also be
unavailable for use.
Park staff will be cleaning
and sanitizing campsites after
each use, and bathrooms will
be cleaned and sanitized at
least twice per day with plans
to increase efforts during the
weekends when more people
are expected at the park.
Campers will need to
bring food, personal hygiene
products and chairs of their
own because the county
won’t make any of these
items available at the park,
and staff have been encour-
aged to implement a remote
pay station rather than han-
dling transactions by hand.
Harris park suffered
severe damages during Feb-
ruary’s historic flooding and
was initially expected to be
a longer renovation project,
but repairs came along faster
than anticipated and staff
have been preparing the park
to ensure its water and elec-
trical systems are ready to go.
Staff have also been
directed to inspect that the
park is better equipped for
some rises in the river, which
is especially prudent after the
National Weather Service
in Pendleton issued a flood
watch for the region through
Wednesday night.
“Where possible staff
were also asked to help
assure that campsites along
the River have new levels
of protection from potential
overflows that might contam-
inate the park,” the guide-
lines stated.
State seeks health care volunteers
to support COVID-19 response
Eastern Oregon
Medical Reserve
Corps has added
30 new volunteers
By ANDREW CUTLER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — As Ore-
gon residents work to get back
to some sort of normalcy, the
Oregon Health Authority is
increasing efforts to recruit
health care professionals to
join the State Emergency
Registry of Volunteers across
the state.
Since March, SERV-OR
has added more than 800 vol-
unteers, strengthening OHA’s
ability to contain COVID-
19 cases and building the
capacity of the volunteer pro-
gram to respond to future
emergencies.
The effort is picking up
steam in Eastern Oregon.
“There has been a signifi-
cant increase in people volun-
teering for different regions
across the state for the East-
ern Oregon Medical Reserve
Corps (EOMRC) and for
Serve Oregon,” said Jason
Yencopal, emergency man-
agement director for Baker
County and the unit com-
mander of the Eastern Ore-
gon Medical Reserve Corps.
“And we’ve seen that increase
in Eastern Oregon, too.”
Yencopal said about 30
volunteers have been added
around the seven-county
region that makes up the
EOMRC, bringing the total
volunteers in the region to
about 90. Having volun-
teers spread out in all of the
counties under the EOMRC
umbrella helps cut down on
response times if volunteers
are needed to travel from, say,
MORE INFORMATION
For more information about Oregon’s response to COVID-19,
please visit https://govstatus.egov.com/OR-OHA-COVID-19
Pendleton to Burns, Yencopal
said.
“If we only have volun-
teers in three of the seven
counties, we’re always pulling
from those three,” he said. “If
we can get them spread out all
over the region, the drive time
for volunteers to respond in
the case of a severe outbreak
would decrease and make our
response time increase.”
The
Oregon
Health
Authority is planning for vol-
unteers to be a key part of the
state’s COVID-19 recovery
to potential volunteers in
Eastern Oregon has been
productive.
“It’s been positive,” said
Ray Denny, public safety
director for the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation and a manager
for the EOMRC.
The EOMRC is a group of
doctors, nurses, emergency
medical technicians and resi-
dents around Eastern Oregon.
The organization falls under
the State Emergency Regis-
try of Volunteers. The Corps
“WHEN OUR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
WAS PREPARING FOR THE WORST
OF THIS, VOLUNTEER HEALTH CARE
WORKERS ANSWERED THE CALL.”
— Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
effort by supporting contact
tracing, testing and commu-
nity wellness campaigns, and
studies of long-term commu-
nity effects and mass vacci-
nation programs. Volunteers
who sign up in the coming
days will have the oppor-
tunity to train and deploy
quickly.
“The objective is to get
enough contact tracers for the
counties, and then whether
it’s county or state, we have
enough contact tracers to sup-
port positive cases in order to
be able to go through that pro-
cess to keep people safe and
to reduce the spread,” Yenco-
pal said.
Getting the word out
supports local county health
departments, area hospi-
tals, emergency management
offices and local response
teams in a seven-county area:
Gilliam, Morrow, Umatilla,
Union, Wallowa, Grant and
Baker.
In addition to helping with
disease outbreaks, SERV-OR
volunteers are ready to
respond to other emergen-
cies and natural disasters,
such as flooding, wildfire
and earthquakes. A couple
of events the EOMRC has
been involved with, Yencopal
said, include the solar eclipse
in 2017 and supporting the
Red Cross shelter during
the February flooding in
Umatilla County.
Health care professionals
can register to volunteer with
SERV-OR at SERV-OR.org.
“Oregon’s health care
workers are our most valu-
able asset in the fight against
COVID-19,” said OHA
Director Patrick Allen. “Their
skills and energy are sav-
ing lives every day, in every
part of the state. SERV-OR
provides another opportu-
nity to give back and sup-
port response efforts while
connecting volunteers to
high-quality training.”
While the backbone of the
EOMRC are health care vol-
unteers, Denny said there is a
need for volunteers without a
medical background.
“Sometimes we just need
somebody there to help direct
people. We don’t want to take
a nurse and put them in that
role unless we have to,” he
said. “We’d rather have them
be able to immunize or what-
ever we’re doing there. So, we
would be looking for some
regular volunteers as well.”
SERV-OR is Oregon’s ros-
ter of licensed physicians,
nurses, pharmacists, Emer-
gency Medical Technicians,
behavioral health providers,
respiratory therapists and
other medical professionals
who have registered to volun-
teer in response to local, state
or federal emergencies.
“When our health care
system was preparing for
the worst of this, volunteer
health care workers answered
the call,” Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown said. “I want to com-
mend all our health care pro-
fessionals and volunteers for
their incredible work protect-
ing the lives, safety, and well-
ness of Oregonians during
this crisis.”
“We’re going to scru-
tinize what they’ve done
in the past,” Waine said.
“What this is really going
to boil down to is was this
done the right way, and I
don’t think that it was.”
Meanwhile, the proj-
ect’s construction has pro-
gressed and Waine said
this week that contrac-
tors are paving the roads.
The next court date has yet
to be set, and Waine said
things around the neighbor-
hood may soon be quieting
down, but he has no plans
of backing away from the
conflict.
“We’re going to keep
holding the line,” he said.
Oregon Veterans’
Affairs launches
Educational Bridge
Grant Program
The new program
was established
during the 2019
legislative session
By ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY
— Harris Park is back open
to the public with some new
guidelines in place due to
COVID-19.
The Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners for-
mally adopted new guide-
lines for the park Wednes-
day that include limiting
overnight stays to Umatilla
County residents, increas-
ing sanitation protocols and
implementing remote paying
options.
According to the guide-
lines, the park will be open
for both day use and over-
night camping, though res-
ervations will be restricted
to Umatilla County residents
only for the time being.
“No such residency
requirement shall be in place
for day use although travel
regulations remain in effect
in the State of Oregon,” the
new guidelines stated.
Those attending the park
are encouraged to continue
practicing social distanc-
ing,” Waine said.
Ultimately, Waine said
they’re hoping to prove
the northeast corner of the
property has been “lost”
after mistakes were made
during previous surveys
and how historical monu-
ments were tied to it.
While the legal pro-
cess and ongoing standoff
between the Waines and the
county have been wearing
on their family mentally and
financially, they’re commit-
ted to fighting the injustices
they believe they’ve faced
and will continue to take
the case to higher courts if
last week’s ruling is a sign
of more to come.
SALEM — The Ore-
gon Department of Veter-
ans’ Affairs is now accept-
ing applications for a new
grant program aimed at
helping Oregon veterans
complete their educational
goals, according to a press
release.
The Veteran Educa-
tional Bridge Grant Pro-
gram provides financial
assistance to veterans who
are unable to complete
their education due to the
unavailability of one or
more required classes.
“The financial reality
of many student veterans’
situations is that they can’t
simply take a semester
off,” said ODVA Director
Kelly Fitzpatrick. “And we
know that many of those
who have to seek employ-
ment to provide for them-
selves and their families
may never return to the
classroom to finish their
education.”
The new program,
which the Oregon Legis-
lature established during
the 2019 legislative session
with the passage of House
Bill 2201, provides grants
to eligible student veterans
to alleviate the financial
stress during a gap period
when required courses are
unavailable, allowing them
to stay in school and finish
the academic program.
“In Oregon, we believe
our veterans should not
have to miss out on the
chance to reach their career
and educational goals sim-
ply because of the timing
of course offerings,” Fitz-
patrick said. “At a time
when student veterans’
schedules and finances
may be more challenged
due to the COVID-19 cri-
sis, this program is needed
now more than ever.”
Under the program,
eligible student veter-
ans, who are unable to
complete their education
due to the unavailability
of required classes, may
receive grants of up to
$5,000. Recipients must
be a veteran eligible for GI
Bill benefits, an Oregon
resident, and enrolled in an
Oregon-based academic
program that is approved
by the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs.
For more information
about the Veteran Edu-
cational Bridge Grant
Program, or to apply,
visit the ODVA web-
site at www.oregon.gov/
odva/agency-programs/
grants/Pages/Education-
al-Bridge-Grant.aspx.
Questions may also be
directed to ODVA’s Vet-
eran Educational Bridge
Grant coordinator, Scott
Salazar, at ebg@odva.
state.or.us or by phone at
503-373-2338.
Umatilla National
Forest seeks public
input on Davis Project
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
North Fork John Day
Ranger District of the
Umatilla National Forest
is seeking public comment
on the proposed Davis
Farm Bill Categorical
Exclusion project, accord-
ing to a press release from
the Umatilla National
Forest.
The purpose of the
Davis Project, located
approximately 35 miles
southeast of Ukiah, is to
reduce the risk and extent
of an ongoing insect and
disease infestation. The
Davis Project proposes to
treat up to 3,000 acres by
removing trees through
mechanical
treatments,
including
commercial
thinning, small diameter
thinning, pile burning and
prescribed fire.
Treatments
would
remove insect- and dis-
ease-infested trees and
reduce stocking levels to
decrease competition for
moisture, light and nutri-
ents. Proposed activities
are designed to improve
the ability of trees to ward
off insects and diseases
and decrease fuel buildup
from dead and dying trees,
increasing forest stand
resilience.
The Forest Service is
seeking scoping comments
to help refine the proposed
action and identify ways
to improve the project.
The comment period is an
opportunity for the public
to be involved in the pro-
cess and offer thoughts on
alternative ways the For-
est Service can accom-
plish the project purpose
and need. The Forest Ser-
vice will be accepting
comments on the proposal
until June 18.
The North Fork John
Day Ranger District also
intends to host a field trip
to the project area during
the scoping period on June
11, with the date or the
format for the field trip
depending on the status of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more informa-
tion about the Davis Proj-
ect or the upcoming field
trip, contact Wendy Eddy,
the project lead, at wendy.
eddy@usda.gov or 541-
427-5387.
Additionally,
those interested in attend-
ing the public field trip are
encouraged to RSVP to
Eddy.