REGION
Thursday, June 17, 2021
East Oregonian
A3
PSD approves stimulus-boosted budget
HERMISTON
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Federal
stimulus aside, the Pendleton
School District has adopted
a budget it considers “status
quo.”
On Monday, June 14,
the Pendleton School Board
unanimously voted to adopt
a $60.5 million budget for
the 2021-22 school year.
The budget’s $44.1 million
general fund — the fund
used to pay for teachers,
supplies and materials and
other operational costs —
represents nearly an 11%
increase from the year before,
but district Director of Busi-
ness Services Michelle Jones
said the jump is largely due to
federal stimulus for COVID-
19 relief.
Jones said the district is
using some of its money to
hire new staff, including new
elementary teachers to allevi-
ate class size limits, staff for
the district’s summer reme-
dial program and interven-
tion specialists at all school
levels.
The district also is seeing
its technology budget double
from $862,000 to nearly $1.8
million. Jones said the money
is being used to replace
Google Chromebooks —
every student in the district
has one laptop assigned to
them — and make other tech
investments.
With the federal stimulus
expected to be a one-time
shot in the arm, Jones said
the rest of the budget is fairly
status quo.
For now, the stimulus will
cover up for the revenue lost
from the tax levy, but Jones
said it still will need to be
addressed long-term. After
keeping it palace for years,
voters in 2020 rejected
the tax levy, which gener-
ated $300,000 per year for
operational costs. Citing an
economic climate that’s still
recovering from the effects
of COVID-19, the board has
yet to put the levy back on
the ballot.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
The parking lot at Riverfront Park in Hermiston sits in dis-
array after floodwaters severely damaged the park during
2020 floods. The Hermiston City Council on Monday, June 14,
2021, awarded a $154,140 contract to Granite Construction
to revamp the park.
Police investigate break-ins at Hermiston restaurants
East Oregonian
City awards contract
for park project
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Hous-
ing developers will have to
adjust to new rules and new
prices after the Hermiston
City Council adopted several
housing-related changes
during its Monday, June 14,
meeting.
Under mandate from
a new statewide housing
law, the city had to change
its zoning rules to allow
duplexes in all residential
zones, including those that
previously only allowed
single-family dwellings.
“For the record, the plan-
ning commission wanted to
make sure that they got it
into the record that they very
much want to express dissat-
isfaction with the process
taken by the state Legislature
in mandating these changes,”
City Planner Clint Spencer
said.
As part of House Bill 2001,
cities also must treat duplexes
and single family dwellings
the same. That pushed the
city to make other changes,
including allowing duplexes
on smaller lot sizes, matching
the 5,000 square feet previ-
ously reserved for individual
houses.
In a separate action, the
city council approved new
fees for the building depart-
ment, raising them 17-33%.
City Manager Byron
Smith said the city is required
to adopt building permit
fees matching the state of
Oregon’s established fee
schedule so the city can use a
free building permit program
from the state. If the city
doesn’t use that program, he
said, purchase of a different
system typically costs about
$35,000.
Smith said some of the
fees had not been updated for
20 years.
The city council on June
14 also added new appendices
to its comprehensive plan, as
required by House Bill 2003.
The city’s planning
department worked with
Angelo Planning to study
housing needs in Hermis-
ton. According to Spencer,
the city has 5,047 acres of
unconstrained residential
land and 346 acres that have
constraints that would make
them unlikely to develop in
the future. Of the city’s resi-
dential land supply, about half
of it is developed or already
committed for future devel-
opment, leaving 2,562 acres
available for future residen-
tial development.
Spencer said those acres
could theoretically support
18,075 more housing units
in Hermiston, but planners
estimate Hermiston only
needs 2,030 additional hous-
ing units by 2040, with about
38% of those being rentals.
Granite Construction will
handle a revamp of River-
front Park after the city
council awarded the bid. The
company was the low bidder
of three bids at $154,140.
After the park was
damaged significantly by
flooding in 2019 and 2020,
the city plans to move the
parking lot and playground
toward the south side of
the park, out of the path of
raging flood waters when the
Umatilla River overflows its
banks.
Smith said it was “really
kind of scary” to see the
power of the river last year,
when it ripped the asphalt
parking lot into large chunks
and carried away those heavy
pieces.
The parking lot since
has been gravel, but Gran-
ite Construction will add a
new parking lot to the south
end of the park and grass will
replace the the current park-
ing area. The city also plans
to build a new, larger play-
ground to replace the one
destroyed in 2020, and Gran-
ite Construction will do the
site preparation for that. The
Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency is covering 75%
of the project.
The council also approved
the city’s 2021-22 budget
during the June 14 meeting,
adopting a document that
includes millions in new capi-
tal projects.
The budget includes a
1% cost of living increase
for staff in July 2021 and a
1.5% increase that will take
effect in 2022 if revenues
come in as expected. The
budget includes a one-per-
son increase in staff, from the
equivalent of 121.47 full-time
employees to 122.47 FTE,
with the hiring of an extra
water utility worker.
HERMISTON — Police
are investigating a series of
break-ins that resulted in
thousands of dollars worth of
damages and property theft
from restaurants in the down-
town Hermiston area, accord-
ing to Hermiston Police Chief
Jason Edmiston.
Five businesses had their
windows broken on Sunday
evening, June 13, through
Monday morning, June 14,
Edmiston said in an email.
An unnamed suspect gained
access to at least three of those
businesses and stole items
from at least two of them.
Taste of Thai, on West
Hermiston Avenue, and
Lawan’s Thai Garden, on
North First Street, reported
stolen items. The suspect
also gained access to Dough
Cookies on North First Street,
but police received no reports
of theft.
Two other businesses,
El Ranchero, on East Main
Street, and Neighbor Dudes,
on North First Street, also had
their windows broken, but
police have yet to determine
if the suspect gained access to
those restaurants.
Edmiston would not
disclose the cost of the
damages or items stolen
from the businesses, but said
police found a cash register
drawer along Interstate 84 and
planned to see if it belonged to
Taste of Thai.
Police have obtained
video evidence, according to
Edmiston, and all the cases
remain under investigation.
There have been multiple
incidents in Hermiston like it
recently, Edmiston said.
“We have had other busi-
nesses in town and on Main
Street have the same thing
happen recently where
someone will quickly gain
access and rummage around
while inside,” he said. “I can
only imagine how frustrat-
ing it is for the owners who
have already had many chal-
lenges thrown their way this
past year.”
LOCAL BRIEFING
Hermiston to
break ground on
$2M project July 7
HERMISTON — The
city of Hermiston will break
ground on a new industrial
park project Wednesday,
July 7.
The $2.5 million project
will add roads, water and
sewer to the South Hermiston
Industrial Park. According to
a press release, construction
is expected to last about four
months and create 16 new
parcels of shovel-ready indus-
trial land.
The work by the city will
coincide with development
of a new 179,000-square-foot
warehouse for Meyer Distrib-
uting, which plans to hire
approximately 70 full-time
employees in the fall, accord-
ing to the city.
Funding for the infra-
structure project at SHIP
comes from a $1.46 million
U.S. Economic Development
Administration grant, a local
improvement district made up
of adjacent property owners,
the city and Umatilla County.
“These new shovel-ready
lots will make it much easier
for small light Industrial oper-
ations to set up and provide
support services to our other
large agricultural and indus-
trial operations in the region,”
Assistant City Manager Mark
Morgan said in a press release.
The groundbreaking
is scheduled for July 7 at
12:15 p.m. on East Penney
Avenue.
— EO Media Group
6/18-6/24
Cineplex Show Times
Theater seating will adhere to social distancing protocols
Every showing $7.50 per person (ages 0-3 still free)
Hitman's Wife's
Bodyguard (R)
1:00p 4:00p 7:00p
Peter Rabbit 2:
The Runaway (PG)
2:00p 5:00p 8:00p
In The Heights (PG-13)
12:40p 3:40p 6:40p
Cruella (PG-13)
1:40p 4:40p 7:40p
The Conjuring:
The Devil Made Me Do It (R)
4:20p 7:20p
Spirit Untamed (PG)
1:20p
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
Pursuant to Oregon Revised Statutes 305.583 (9) and (10),
notice is hereby given that on June 9, 2021, Umatilla
County Fire District No. 1, Umatilla County, Oregon (the
“District”) adopted a resolution (a) classifying the tax levy
to be imposed to pay the principal of, premium, if any,
and interest on the District’s proposed issuance of general
obligation bonds in the aggregate principal amount not to
exceed $13,145,000 as not being subject to the limits of
section 11 or 11b, Article XI of the Oregon Constitution,
and (b) specifying the authorized uses of the proceeds of
the general obligation bonds. Any individual may contact
the Fire Chief of the District at 320 S. 1st Street,
Hermiston, OR 97838, telephone (541) 567-8822, to
obtain a copy of the resolution. Judicial review of the
classification of the taxes or the specification of
authorized uses may be sought within 60 days of the date
of the resolution.
UMATILLA COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT NO. 1
UMATILLA COUNTY, OREGON
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MUSEUM • DINING • TRAVEL PLAZA • FUNPLEX
800.654.9453 • PENDLETON, OR • I-84, EXIT 216
wildhorseresort.com • Owned and operated by CTUIR
Management reserves all rights to alter, suspend or
withdraw promotions/offers at any time.
CAT10284-3