REGION
Saturday, January 8, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
City plots course for federal money
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
city of Pendleton has applied
four successive times for a
massive federal grant that
would have allowed the city
to reconstruct a congested
interchange. Each time, the
U.S. Department of Trans-
portation passed over Pend-
leton for other projects.
But according to Pendle-
ton’s lobbyists in Washing-
ton, D.C., things are looking
up in 2022.
At the cit y council
meeting Tuesday, Jan. 4, a
representative from CFM
Advocates, the city’s lobby-
ing fi rm, made the case it
should be easier for Pend-
leton to get a slice of the
pie because the pie itself is
larger. Kirby Garrett, CFM
vice president of federal
affairs, told the council
that what changed between
now and the city’s previous
attempts was the November
passage of the Infrastruc-
ture Investment and Jobs
Act, commonly known as
the bipartisan infrastruc-
ture bill.
For the past several years,
Pendleton has applied for a
$24.4 million grant under
DOT’s RAISE program
(known as BUILD during
the Trump administration).
The city wants to use the
grant money to signifi cantly
realign the interchange at
Interstate 84 Exit 209, which
leads to Southgate. City offi -
cials believe the move would
alleviate traffi c and safety
concerns in the area.
Garret explained to the
council why the grant appli-
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Southgate passes under Interstate 84 as vehicles navigate
the Exit 209 interchange Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, in Pendleton.
The city has failed four times to secure a federal grant for
a realignment of the interchange, but the city’s lobbyist
in Washington, D.C., say getting the grant could be easier
in 2022.
cations failed previously and
why the city’s application
might have a better chance
at success in the future.
“There’s political dynam-
ics, local match require-
ments, that type of thing,”
he said. “Due to all that,
we’ve been coming up
just short. But the RAISE
grant program is going to
be increased by 50% annu-
ally for the next fi ve years.
So that provides a lot more
money for us to try to
pursue.”
The bill didn’t just
boost the RAISE grant, it
also created new pots of
money for the city to look
at. Garrett highlighted the
Rural Surface Transporta-
tion Program. Backed by $2
billion, Garrett said the grant
program only is off ered to
rural communities looking
to fund large projects, crite-
ria that makes the pool of
competition much narrower.
Outside of the Exit
209 interchange, Garrett
said CFM also is looking
to help the city apply for
other federal grants, such
as $2.4 million to build a
new bus barn in Pendleton
and expand the city’s public
transportation system, and
$755,135 for the Pendle-
ton Fire Department to buy
new defi brillators and fi re
engines.
Garrett said the city also
may be able to fi nd funding
through earmarks, appro-
priations that are attached
to specifi c bills, in addition
to grants.
Through this process,
Garrett said the city could
seek funding on a number
of projects,including $1.5
million to build a road
between Highway 11 and
Highway 30 for housing, $1
million to improve security
along the Pendleton River
Parkway and $1.1 million to
revitalize the Vert Audito-
rium.
“Realistically we know
that probably not every proj-
ect is going to get funded,
at least in this year, but we
think they’re all competi-
tive and all worth putting
forward,” he said.
W h i le t he c ou nci l
didn’t take any action after
Gar ret t’s presentation,
members did vote on several
diff erent issues.
• The council unani-
mously approved a resolu-
tion that will raise a number
of service fees throughout
the city. While most fee
hikes were small, there were
a few signifi cant changes.
The airport revamped its
fee structure to include the
quality of existing structures
when determining lease
rates. The park also changed
its fee structure that superfi -
cially looks like a decrease,
but is actually a net increase
because of some tweaks to
the reservation system.
• T he cou ncil also
approved a $10.6 million bid
from Rotschy Inc. of Pasco
to build a new 2-million-gal-
lon reservoir and booster
station at the airport. The bid
came in nearly $2 million
less than the engineer’s esti-
mate and will be paid for by
the remaining money from
a state revolving fund loan
that will be paid back from
customer water bill revenue.
Morrow County superintendent announces retirement
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
MORROW COUNTY —
Superintendent Dirk Dirk-
sen recently announced
his retirement from the
Morrow County School
District, a decision he
almost made 11 years ago.
In an interview Dec. 29,
Dirksen said he considered
retiring back in 2011 when
he still was a principal at
Riverside Junior/Senior
High School in Boardman.
But when the superinten-
dent position opened up,
he ended up adding more
than a decade to a 41-career
in Morrow County as a
teacher, coach, adminis-
trator and chief executive.
Dirksen said the retire-
ment was planned and he
felt that it was the right
time to step down.
“I’m not getting any
younger at this point,” he
said.
D u r i ng h is t i me as
superintendent, he said he
was proud of the district’s
improved graduation rates
and the partnerships it had
established with organi-
zations to improve the
district’s “wraparound”
services for students, such
as mental health and career
technical education.
Dirksen has come a long
way from his days as a
teacher at Columbia Middle
School, which eventually
became Ir rigon Junior/
Senior High School. But
he will stay busy through
the end of his tenure in July
as the district readies itself
to seek a new bond in May.
Dirksen said the district
will release more details
on the bond in the months
ahead, but the school board
has committed to putting
a bond proposal in front of
Morrow County voters in
the spring.
Dirksen said all schools
in Heppner, Boardman and
Irrigon will get some sort
of infrastructure or secu-
rity upgrade if the bond
passes in 2022. He added
that they will also focus on
specific areas, like reno-
vating the aging exterior of
A.C. Houghton Elementary
School in Irrigon.
In the meantime, the
Morrow County School
Board is preparing for
a post-Dirksen f ut u re.
On Dec. 17, the board
announced it was working
with the Oregon School
Boards Association to iden-
tify and hire the district’s
next superintendent.
The district also formed
a superintendent screening
committee that will review
applications and even could
observe some of the open-
ing interviews. Interested
community members had
until Thursday, Jan. 6, to
apply, and the board will
select committee members
by Jan. 10.
T he s u p e r i nt e nd e nt
position closes on Feb. 16.
Morrow County joins the
Pendleton School District
in looking for a new leader.
Pendleton Superintendent
Chris Fritsch also recently
announced his intent to
retire after nearly f ive
years in Pendleton. The
Pendleton School Board
already started its own
search.
HERMISTON
Moving on up
Assistant city
manager says
$9M city hall
project on track
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
H ER M ISTON —
Hermiston Assistant City
Manager Mark Morgan
fields a lot of questions
every day. Nowadays, he
is receiving many inqui-
ries into his city’s ongoing
city hall and public safety
center project at 180 N.E.
Second St.
Morgan stood across
the street from the project
Wednesday, Jan. 5, in the
rain, to discuss progress on
the facility.
Constr uction is on
track, he said, for opening
city hall at the end of 2022.
Recently, roofi ng went up
on the building. These
days, workers are wiring
and plumbing the struc-
ture. Much of their work is
not visible from the outside
as they recently started
installing walls.
“From here on out,
it’s going to seem to be
moving ver y slowly,”
Morgan said, as work-
ers fi ll out the building’s
“guts.”
The weather, though,
he added, is not caus-
ing delays. Workers are
protected inside the newly
roofed and walled struc-
ture. In addition, there
are not material concerns,
which was a worry last
year; Morgan said materi-
als have been acquired as
needed.
Finding value
“The biggest thing that
folks always are curious
about is the cost,” Morgan
said.
To m a ny p e o ple,
Morgan said, the $9
million price of the proj-
ect is high, especially
when considering it will
be a building “for a bunch
of bureaucrats sitting
there and pushing paper
around.”
He stated, though, it
is important to remem-
ber this project combines
multiple city departments
under one roof, which will
be cost effi cient in terms
of staffi ng. It also will, he
said, free up space for the
police department at the
public safety center.
Morgan provided an
example of effi ciency with
the new building. The
city council chambers in
the old building was used
for council meetings and
otherwise went unused
for 99% of the time, he
said. Meanwhile, in the
police building, a munic-
ipal courtroom sits vacant
nearly all the time.
“What this project is
doing is bringing the court
function into city hall, so
we will be able to combine
the city council chambers
function along with the
courtroom function,” he
said. “Now, we won’t have
two big spaces that go
unused all the time.”
The police department
will be able to expand once
the court relocates, which
Morgan called a bene-
fit “from an operational
standpoint.”
Also, the move of the
court, as well as the Herm-
iston Building Depart-
ment, to the new city
hall will be a “long-term
cost-savings,” he said. This
will reduce the number
of front desks, thereby
cutting back the need
for additional staff when
added employees might
otherwise be needed.
“This will allow us
to absorb more commu-
nity growth and absorb
more demand for walk-up
services,” he said.
Morgan said he could
not put an exact dollar
amount on the savings,
though he expressed confi -
dence this was the right
move, fi scally. Likewise,
he said he found it diffi cult
to quantify another of the
city hall’s likely values —
the message the new build-
ing sends.
“This is a big signal to
everyone in the commu-
nity and future develop-
ment interests that (the
city is) committed to being
downtown, and we’re
committing to investing
in the downtown a signifi -
cant amount of resources,”
he said. Downtown busi-
nesses, cu r re nt a nd
prospective, should be
encouraged that this proj-
ect brings more people to
the shops and restaurants
around it.
All this goes to say,
Morgan is feeling optimis-
tic about this project and
the value it will have to the
community.
He added that once
people see the new build-
ing with its planned red
brick facade, they will be
as excited as he is about it.
“ It ’s a l l c o m i n g
together,” he said, “and I
think it will work really
well.”
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