REGION
Thursday, May 27, 2021
East Oregonian
A3
Forest offi cials caution visitors ahead of holiday weekend
Some roads, trails
and campgrounds
remain closed
or impassable due
to snowfall
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — As
outdoor enthusiasts prepare
to head to the mountains this
Memorial Day weekend,
Umatilla National Forest
offi cials are cautioning that
some roads, trails and camp-
grounds remain closed or
impassable due to late-sea-
son snowfall.
A press release from the
Umatilla National Forest
reported some shaded areas
and cutbanks on mountain
roads still may have dense
snow drifts that vehicles
cannot pass, and most trails
for hiking and cars have yet
to be maintained. And some
Umatilla National Forest/Contributed Photo
Umatilla National Forest offi cials now are working to prepare
campsites and recreational areas at lower elevations for holi-
day weekend visitors.
roads damaged during fl ood-
ing events in February and
May 2020 remain closed.
LOCAL BRIEFING
Officials now are work-
ing to prepare campsites and
recreational areas at lower
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Radisson attaches
itself to airport
hotel project
PENDLETON — The
Minnesota-based Radis-
son Hotel Group Americas
announced its affi liation with
the 75-room hotel project in
development at the Pendleton
airport, according to a Tues-
day, May 25, press release.
In the statement, Raddi-
son called Pendleton a
“quaint town” with a “boom-
ing tourism industry,” before
highlighting the region’s
outdoor recreation oppor-
tunities and the Pendleton
Round-Up.
“We are very excited to
continue our momentum
growing our exceptional
portfolio of hotels in the
West Coast, while building
an amazing relationship with
Makad Corp.,” Phil Hugh,
Radisson chief development
offi cer, said in a statement.
“The international develop-
ment expertise brought by
Makad Corp. will make this
hotel a true destination in
Pendleton that is guaranteed
to bring guests back time and
again.”
Makad Corp., a Vancou-
ver, Washington-based
business, has been consid-
ering developing a hotel
at the airport since 2015,
but the project didn’t break
ground until several weeks
ago. When the city of Pend-
leton agreed to lease a former
section of the airport park-
ing lot to Makad Corp. for
the hotel in 2018, local offi -
cials said the company had
an agreement with a “global
hotel franchise provider,” but
the franchise wasn’t revealed
at the time.
In the press release,
Radisson stated the hotel
will include a restaurant,
bar, lounge, fitness center
and meeting space.
“I am very proud of our
integrated development team
working closely with Radis-
son Hotel Group Americas
and the city of Pendleton,”
Makad Corp. CEO Elie
Makad said in a statement.
“Makad Corp. is commit-
ted to technology, green and
alternative energy, hospital-
ity, logistics and data collec-
tion and this hotel fi ts that
perfectly.”
Makad Corp.’s devel-
opment history in Eastern
Oregon is mixed. While
the company developed the
River Lodge in Boardman,
other projects at the Port of
Morrow either failed to get
off the ground or got tied up
in a lawsuit. Another Pendle-
ton project proposed in 2015,
a data center on the Airport
Road extension, has yet to
break ground.
IMESD receives
grant for Outdoor
School site
PENDLETON — The
InterMountain Education
Service District has received
a grant of $25,000 from Gray
Family Foundation’s Camp
Maintenance Grant Program
for improvements at the
Outdoor School site, accord-
ing to a press release.
The purpose of the grant
is to address critical main-
tenance needs for the facil-
ity, including installation of
stand-alone heat sources,
updating entries and trails for
accessibility, upgrading elec-
trical panel and replacement
of bunk beds and mattresses.
“Like any older camp,
our Outdoor School site
can always use repairs and
upgrades, and we are very
pleased that this grant will
make a diff erence at our facil-
ity. We are very appreciative
of the generosity of Gray
Family Foundation toward
our projects,” said Bob
McMillan, Outdoor School
coordinator for IMESD.
Nancy Bales, executive
director of Gray Family
Foundation, said the foun-
dation recognizes the criti-
cal role the Outdoor School
project will play in enhanc-
ing safe and accessible access
for youth to outdoor residen-
tial facilities in Oregon and
is pleased to partner with the
education service district
in supporting this work in
fulfi llment of their mission.
“Gray Family Founda-
tion recognizes this year
has had signifi cant impact
on the Oregon community.
We believe your organiza-
tion plays a critical role in
the community you serve,”
she said.
The Outdoor School
site is on the north fork of
the Umatilla River on the
Umatilla National Forest near
the Bar M Ranch. IMESD
leases the 654-acre property
from the U.S. Forest Service
for Outdoor School programs
for students of area school
districts.
— EO Media Group
ine Hill, Drift Fence, Drift-
wood, Divide Well, Fairview,
Frazier, Forest Boundary,
Gold Dredge, Ladybug, Lane
Creek, Panjab, North Fork
John Day, Oriental, Pataha,
Penland Lake, Tollbridge,
Tucannon, Welch Creek and
Winom.
And these campgrounds
remain closed: Godman,
Jubilee Lake, Mot tet,
Midway, Misery, Olive
Lake, Target Meadows,
Teal Spring, Umatilla Forks,
Wickiup, Woodward and
Woodland.
Forest offi cials are urging
visitors to contact their local
ranger district before heading
to the mountains to confi rm
where they plan to travel is
open and accessible. Offi cials
also are warning visitors to
refrain from driving on wet
or unstable ground and to
keep an eye out for “pull-off s
in rocky, well-drained areas,”
the press release stated.
Visitor s shou ld be
cautious while maintaining a
campfi re and never leave one
unattended. They also should
pack extra food, water, cloth-
ing and emergency supplies
and let people know where
they are going and when
they hope hope to be back
because cellphone service in
the mountains is limited, the
press release said.
Motorists should obtain a
Motorized Vehicle Use Map
before heading to the moun-
tains to ride all-terrain vehi-
cles, the press release said.
Visitors are required to
pay a nightly fee of between
$8 to $24, with fees added for
additional vehicles at a given
campsite.
Reservations now can be
made for campsites Bull Prai-
rie Lake, Jubilee Lake, North
Fork John Day and Olive
Lake. All other campsites in
the Umatilla National Forest,
according to the press release,
are available on a fi rst-come,
fi rst-served basis.
Hermiston council approves industrial park contract
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
A sign advertises the site of the new Radisson Hotel at the
Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton on Wednes-
day, May 26, 2021.
elevations for holiday week-
end visitors, the press release
said.
“Our first focus is to
address hazard tree removal
and other safety issues before
our campgrounds can open to
the public,” Forest Recreation
Program Manager Shane
Dittlinger said in the press
release.
Some campgrounds will
be open during the holiday
weekend with “clean-up and
start-up” and other services
limited, the press release
said.
“Our seasonal workforce
is still coming on so we’re
working really hard with the
limited number of employees
we do have on staff ,” added
Dittlinger.
The Umatilla National
Forest reported the following
campgrounds will be open for
the holiday weekend: Alder
Thicket, Bear Wallow, Big
Creek Meadows, Big Springs,
Bull Prairie Lake, Coalm-
HERMISTON — The
city of Hermiston is on its
way to making the South
Hermiston Industrial Park
more “shovel ready” after
city councilors awarded a bid
for a $1.6 million construc-
tion project at their Monday,
May 24, meeting.
The project will extend
Southeast Campbell Drive
down to East Penney
Avenue, pave an undevel-
oped right of way for South-
east 10th Street connecting
to Highway 395, create a
new road leading into Port
of Umatilla-owned property,
and add water and sewer
lines in the area.
The council awarded
the contract to Tapani, Inc.
of Richland, Washington,
which was the apparent low
bidder of four bids.
“All four of these bids
were within $100,000,”
Assistant City Manager
Mark Morgan said.
The city previously
formed a local improve-
ment district to help fund
the project, which aff ects 20
property owners, Morgan
said. A federal Economic
Development Administra-
tion grant will pay for half
of the project, the city and
Umatilla County will cover
10% and property owners
in the district, allocated
by frontage, will pay the
remaining 40%.
The council had been
planning to pass amend-
ments to the city’s sidewalk
ordinance and an ordinance
renewing the city’s franchise
agreement with Cascade
Natural Gas. But accord-
ing to the city’s charter, at
least fi ve councilors out of
the eight must vote for ordi-
nances to pass, and only
four councilors were present
May 24.
The council did have
enough people for a simple
majority vote on the bid
award and approval of a
proposed wayfi nding sign
program in Hermiston.
According to City Plan-
ner Clint Spencer, the sign
program started with discus-
sions about downtown park-
ing lots, which are free to
use but often underutilized
as people don’t know where
they are or who is allowed to
park there. A plan to create
a system of signs pointing
people to free parking grew
into a full-fl edged wayfi nd-
ing sign program that will
use a system of coordinated,
decorative signs to direct
visitors around the city.
The proposal includes
la rge sig ns ma rk i ng
entrances into Hermiston
and downtown, pointing the
way to attractions, provid-
ing informational kiosks
and maps, marking trails
and displaying the names
of parks. Spencer said the
city wants to make it easier
for drivers to fi nd common
destinations for visitors, such
as the Eastern Oregon Trade
and Event Center, Kennison
Field and Good Shepherd
Medical Center.
Spencer said the esti-
mated cost for every sign
location on the list of possi-
bilities is about $805,000, but
the project is meant to take
place over fi ve or more years
and the city could choose to
cut back on the number of
signs as well. The city has
$48,000 in urban renewal
dollars set aside for the fi scal
year to take care of all the
parking signage downtown.
The city also is redoing
one of its parking lots, at
the corner of East Gladys
Avenue and Northeast
Second Street. City Manager
Byron Smith noted some
businesses surrounding the
lot will have their water or
sewer service shut off for a
day at a time during the proj-
ect.
The resulting parking lot,
he said, should provide better
service, featuring 11 addi-
tional spaces, better paving,
new landscaping, new light-
ing and two electric vehicle
charging stations.
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