OFF PAGE ONE/REGION
Thursday, December 23, 2021
East Oregonian
A9
Snow:
Continued from Page A1
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Snow covers the front lawn of BackFire Station on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021, in Pendleton. The owners of the BackFire, 911 S.W. Court Ave., are
refi ning a request for further funding from the Pendleton Development Commission.
BackFire grant request
delayed a second time
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — A vote on whether to
grant the owners of BackFire Station more
money to complete their renovation project has
been delayed a second time.
Several hours before the Pendleton Devel-
opment Commission was set to consider Sean
Hart and Erin Bennett’s request at its meeting
Tuesday, Dec. 21, the commission announced
it was pulling the vote from the agenda. In an
interview, Charles Denight, the commission’s
associate director, said both sides mutually
agreed to postpone further discussion while
the owners refi ne their proposal.
The postponement comes on the heels of
a special Dec. 14 meeting where Hart and
Hospitals:
Continued from Page A1
An offi cial with Baker City’s
Saint Alphonsus Medical Center
said the funds will be crucial in
renewing depleted resources and
hiring temporary staff such as
nurses.
The American Rescue Plan
Rural payment program pool
totals nearly $7.5 billion in federal
funds, and was targeted toward
suppliers and providers that serve
rural Medicaid, Children’s Health
Insurance Program and Medi-
care benefi ciaries, according to a
release from the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services.
“Health care providers in rural
Bennett requested the commission expedite
reimbursement payments and an additional
$188,288 to get the project done. The couple
made the case that infl ated construction costs
and a labor shortage added costs to the project
they never anticipated.
Although much of the work on turning the
former fi re station into a public-facing busi-
ness was nearly complete, Hart and Bennett
said the business needed the money to fi nish
their project.
The Pendleton City Council in 2020 hand-
picked Hart and Bennett, who also operate a
motorcycle parts business named Moto Stuff ,
to buy the newly vacated Fire Station No. 1 at
911 S.W. Court Ave. Acting as the development
commission, council members then granted
the pair $494,819 to turn it into a multi-pur-
communities have been hit hard
by the COVID-19 pandemic,
and they continue to experience
signifi cant fi nancial hardships,”
U.S. Health and Human Services
Secretary Xavier Becerra said
in a press release. “The infusion
of these funds will be critical to
ensuring rural communities main-
tain access to high-quality health
care and addressing urgent needs
like workforce recruitment and
retention.”
Payments ranged from as little
as $500, which went to provid-
ers such as individually licensed
psychiatrists and social workers,
to several million dollars. The
largest single award for Oregon
went to Central Oregon’s Saint
Charles Health System, which
received more than $10.5 million.
pose facility. The owners already have moved
in Moto Stuff and launched BackFire Station,
a restaurant and lounge. They anticipate adding
lodging and motorcycle rentals once the reno-
vations are complete.
After hearing Bennett and Hart’s pitch at
the Dec. 14 meeting, commissioners discussed
ideas about adding a grant to help cover costs of
fi re suppression sprinklers, but wanted to see
more information before making a decision.
The Dec. 21 meeting was supposed to provide
that decision before the issue was pulled from
the agenda.
Denight said the commission could get
another chance to consider Hart and Bennett’s
request at either a special meeting or at the
commission’s next regularly scheduled meet-
ing, which is set for Jan. 18.
Of the nearly 500 awards
distributed, the most frequent
award was $500, which went to 88
Oregon suppliers and providers.
Provisions in the program
allowed providers in the Port-
land metropolitan area to receive
funding, even though there was a
separate fund of $9 billion already
earmarked for providers and
suppliers in non-rural areas. Clin-
ics and providers in Portland that
received funding included North-
west Urology in the Pearl District
of Portland, which received just
more than $90,000.
According to U.S. Health and
Human Services, providers who
serve Medicaid, CHIP, and Medi-
care patients who live in rural
communities are eligible for the
ARP Rural payments. As well,
providers who serve any patients
living in Federal Offi ce of Rural
Health Policy-defi ned rural areas
with Medicaid, CHIP, or Medicare
coverage, and who otherwise meet
the eligibility criteria, will receive
a minimum payment.
Other Portland businesses that
received funding include optom-
etrist clinics, acupuncturists, a
dentist offi ce, retirement homes
and Portland State University —
which received just more than
$1 million, though the univer-
sity does have its own on-campus
clinic.
U.S. Health and Human
Services did not respond to
requests for comment about the
requirements for the payments
before publication.
Fire district reports progress on Hermiston silage burn
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The silage
fi re burning in southwest Herm-
iston continues to garner atten-
tion from Umatilla County Fire
District No. 1.
The district fi rst responded to
the fi re the morning of Dec. 8 and
found a pile of corn silage had
self-heated and began to openly
burn. Firefi ghters extinguished
the fl ames and returned several
times after the fi re fl ared up, but
there is little the district can do to
extinguish the burn.
In a press release Monday, Dec.
20, Umatilla County Fire District
No. 1 reported it conducted a
follow-up inspection on the fi re,
and the property owner is trucking
in water and hauled off 15 loads of
silage during the weekend.
“This fi re is a large smolder-
ing pile of organic material that
requires the use of heavy equip-
ment and water to complete extin-
guishment,” according to the
district. “To simply fl ow water
on this type of fi re as has been
suggested by some citizens, will
do nothing to mitigate the smoke
in a timely fashion.”
The district also reported the
fi re is not “hostile” and the prop-
erty owner is working to put
out the fire, which the district
explained is unintentional and
does not fall under its open burn-
ing regulations.
The fi re district also stated it
has been in contact with the city
of Hermiston, Umatilla County
Smoke Management and the
Oregon Department of Environ-
mental Quality regarding the
fi re and will continue to moni-
tor the situation until the work is
complete.
Measurements on Monday morn-
ing, Dec. 20, showed 34 inches of snow
depth and a snow water equivalent of
7.5 inches, which is about 14% above
average. The seven-day outlook is for
2½ more inches of snow water, which
is the more important measurement
for predicting spring and summer
water supplies.
Emigrant Springs is at 3,800
feet and is southeast of Pendleton
and northwest of La Grande. With
12 inches of snowpack, including 6
inches of new snow, the site is 52%
below average with 1.8 inches of snow
water equivalent. The fi ve-day fore-
cast predicts another 7 inches will fall.
Bowman Springs, at 4,530 feet, is
west of La Grande. Snowpack is 10
inches and 100% of the average. The
site is forecasted to receive 6 more
inches in the next 5 days.
Lucky Strike, at 4,970 feet and
south of Pilot Rock, has a snowpack
of 7 inches; 72% of normal. Six inches
are predicted to fall in the next fi ve
days.
Spout Springs Ski Area sits at 5,000
feet west of Elgin and has a snowpack
of 31 inches. Eighteen inches are fore-
casted to fall in the next fi ve days.
The Milk Shakes site on the
Oregon/Washington border east of
Walla Walla has 42 inches of snow-
pack with 24% snow/water equiva-
lent. This is 10% above average and
18 inches are predicted to fall in the
next fi ve days.
On the Union County side of the
Wallowa Mountains just up the hill
from Cove, Moss Springs, at 5,760
feet, 25 inches of snowpack is recorded
with 6.6 inches of snow water equiv-
alent — 93% of normal for this time
of year. Eleven inches of new snow is
predicted to fall in the next fi ve days.
In Wallowa County, Mount
Howard, at 7,900 feet, has 20 inches
of snow with 4.6 inches of snow water
equivalent, putting it at 75% of normal.
Just over the ridge at Aneroid Lake,
7,400 feet, conditions are drier. The
site records a snow water content of 4.1
inches, which is 58% of average. The
next fi ve days should see 22 inches of
new snowfall.
Across Eastern Oregon, watersheds
still are reporting lower-than-average
numbers for snowpack. The Grande
Ronde-Burnt Powder-Imnaha Basin is
at 96%; the Malheur Basin is at 94%,
John Day Basin is recording 90%;
Harney Basin is at 91%, while the
highest for the region, Umatilla-Walla
Walla Basin is at 100%.
CTUIR secures
stimulus funds
for ambulance
East Oregonian
WASHINGTON — Eight months
after President Joe Biden signed the
American Rescue Plan Act, funds
continue to benefi t local recipients.
In a Dec. 6 press release, Oregon
Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merk-
ley, both Democrats, announced the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation would be getting
a little less than $1 million in federal
stimulus. The tribes will use the
$988,031 to purchase an ambulance
and related equipment.
“The Umatilla Tribal Fire Depart-
ment has been in need of new rapid
response vehicles and equipment
for some time, and so this award
will help us to greatly improve the
emergency services that our fire
department provides to the Umatilla
Indian Reservation community,”
CTUIR Board of Trustees Chair Kat
Brigham said in a statement. “We
thank Sens. Wyden and Merkley for
their work to help secure this funding
for the Tribe.
NO EAST OREGONIAN ON CHRISTMAS DAY
Due to the postal holiday, we will not publish a paper Saturday, Dec. 25, but have included comics for that edition in today’s paper.
We will publish our next edition on Tuesday, Dec. 28.
Elkhorn Barn Co.
Tobias Unruh, owner
600 David Eccles Rd • Baker City, Oregon
Sales
Custom Barns and Storage
541-519 -2968 • Elkhornbarns@gmail.com • 509-331-4558