Umatilla Electric Cooperative incumbents hold onto seats | REGION, A3
E O
AST
145th Year, No. 80
REGONIAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2021
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Spring 2021
MILTON-FREEWATER
INSIDE •
FARMERS,
DROUGHT AFTE RANCHERS FEAR
R PARCHED MAR
CH
PAGE 2
Another
round of Umatilla County in ‘two-week caution’
repairs County reports
84 COVID-19
for pool cases over the
UNION COUNTY
SUNFLOWER
SEEDS GROW
ON WORLD STAG
E
PAGE 12
WHEAT GROWER
ABOUT LACK S WORRIED
OF MOISTUR
E
PAGE
18
last two weeks
Beleaguered Joe
Humbert Family
Aquatic Center to
fi x recurring issue
Murdock
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
Umatilla County reported 84
cases over the last two weeks, a
total that would qualify it for high
risk, bringing increased restric-
tions on indoor activities and
commerce countywide.
“It’s very disappointing and
very disturbing,” Umatilla County
SALEM — Umatilla County
could move back to the high coro-
navirus risk category as it begins a
“two-week caution period” start-
ing Friday, April 23, amid a sharp
spike in COVID-19 cases.
By SHEILA HAGAR
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
MILTON-FREEWATER —
Linda Hall is very much hoping
the third time will be the proverbial
charm.
Hall, city manager, was fi lling in
the Milton-Freewater City Council
last week on the status of the public
pool.
Plans call for the Joe Humbert
Family Aquatic Center to open on
Memorial Day and stay that way
until Labor Day, Hall said, but that’s
been said before.
The facility, rebuilt in 1996 after
voters approved a bond, has suff ered
largely from age and a little from
human error, offi cials have said.
In 2019, the pool closed at the
end of July as a baffl ing, recurring
issue clouded the water time and
time again. The problem, while not
toxic, hampered lifeguards trying to
see swimmers in the water.
Through a process of eliminat-
ing possible causes, it was discov-
ered the rubber coating that had
been applied on pool walls that
spring as an upgrade was disinte-
grating into the water.
Eventually city administrators
and pool experts decided it made
the most sense to close the aquatic
center and reopen the next year.
Refunds and holdovers were off ered
to season pass holders.
Along came 2020, which not
only brought a highly contagious,
global pandemic, but continuing
issues with the pool. The replace-
ment coating was a fi nicky product,
requiring certain outdoor tempera-
tures for a stretch of days and zero
rain, Hall said last June. At the same
time, Oregon’s COVID-19 restric-
tions aff ected every recreational
setting and use.
In just a few weeks, the new
coating also began failing, and
smoke from regional wildfi res made
outdoor recreation unhealthy.
The pool closed early for a
second year, after about three weeks
of operation.
Aquatic facility experts eventu-
ally found the pool surface and much
of the equipment had reached life
expectancy of about one-quarter of
a century and that to continue recoat-
ing the plaster did not make sense,
either economically or operationally.
See Repairs, Page A8
Shafer
Commissioner George Murdock
said of the recent uptick in cases.
In a press release on Tues-
day, April 20, Gov. Kate Brown
announced that 10 counties in
Oregon will move to high risk this
week after reporting increased
rates of infection. And two other
counties — Malheur and Grant
— would join Umatilla in the
“two-week caution period.”
The state determines a county’s
risk level every two weeks based
around reported cases and infec-
tion rates, but will allow a county
to remain at its current level in a
“two-week caution period” if it
moved down in the most recent
assessment.
Umatilla County moved to
moderate risk on April 9 after
reporting some of its lowest
COVID-19 totals since spring
2020, according to data from the
county health department. Last
week, however, the county reported
a sharp increase of 54 new cases.
“It isn’t just a little bit of an
increase,” Murdock said. “It’s
enough of an increase that, when
you’re fl irting with moderate (risk)
versus high (risk), you can’t aff ord
See Caution, Page A8
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Irrigation equipment waters a fi eld west of Echo on Wednesday, April 21, 2021. According to the National Integrated Drought Information
System, the west end of Umatilla County is experiencing moderate to severe drought.
Drought declared
Umatilla County moves to
declare drought as offi cials
raise concerns for agriculture
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — The Umatilla
County Board of Commissioners
in a Tuesday, April 20, meeting
moved unanimously to declare a
drought disaster in the county and are asking
that Gov. Kate Brown and U.S. Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack follow suit.
If the state declares a drought, local farm-
ers could receive relief in the form of state or
federal grants, offi cials say.
“We have a very large area in Umatilla
County that is in the severe drought stage
right now, with another equally large area
in extreme drought,” Umatilla County
Commissioner Dan Dorran said in the
meeting, adding that “the rest of the county
is either in abnormally dry or moderate
drought.”
Dorran said people in the agriculture
industry have been reaching out to him and
voicing concerns over the current conditions.
“Right now, there’s cattle farmers that are
beginning to have to buy hay because of no
early grass, and that’s a big worry,” Dorran
said. “Dryland wheat farmers, where are they
going to be and what kind of moisture are
they looking at? Are they going to be able
to sustain the crops they have until the next
rain they get?”
Don Wysocki, a soil scientist for Oregon
State University based in Umatilla County,
said this year’s wheat crop is in dire need
of rain.
“If we get rain too late, we can’t really
recover,” he said. “I think it’s still at a stage
where if we get rain, we’d have pretty good
recovery. But another week or two and we’re
going to be beyond good recovery.”
Counties like Baker and Union have
already declared a drought as much of
Central and Eastern Oregon is experiencing
See Drought, Page A8
Cost overruns stretch park renovation budget
Parks and Recreation
Department proposes
reducing scope of Til
Taylor Park project
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The Pendleton
Parks and Recreation Department
has proposed reducing the scope
of the Til Taylor Park renovation
project because of cost overruns,
but the Pendleton Development
Commission is considering going
over budget to help the department
complete its original vision.
At a Tuesday, April 20,
See Parks, Page A8
IN OTHER BUSINESS
The Pendleton Development
Commission opened up its wal-
let in other ways at its April 20
meeting, including:
• The commission agreed to
spend $55,000 to help pay for
renovations at the Pendleton
Convention Center’s Happy Can-
yon Room.
The convention center has
already fundraised more than
$100,000 from individuals and
nonprofi ts, but the commission’s
contribution will help the city
cover any cost overruns.
According to a staff report, the
renovations will include a new
ceiling, fl ooring, fresh paint,
lighting and “back lit LED murals.”
Staff believe the upgrades will
help the Happy Canyon Room
become a venue unto itself and
also off er another selling point
to both existing events and pro-
spective events.
• Commission members voted to
give downtown building owner
Vicky Pearce a grant to help
renovate the second story of the
Crabby’s building from 220 S.W.
First St. to 221 S. Main St.
In a staff report, Charles Denight,
the commission’s associate direc-
tor, wrote that Pearce intends to
convert the upper story to offi ce
space and has already identifi ed
a tenant.
The commission granted Pearce
$63,760, or 40% of the project’s
total cost.
• Lastly, the commission voted
to expand its housing renova-
tion program to include rental
properties.
The program will provide forgiv-
able loans for housing renova-
tions under slightly diff erent
rules than the loans off ered
to owner-occupied houses,
but Councilor Steve Campbell
said the change was meant to
address the fact that 70% of the
houses in the urban renewal
district are rentals.