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THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022
Listen
Courthou
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JUN E 8–15
146th Year, No. 74
INSIDE
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
, 202 2
PA GE 3
WW W.G
OEA STE
RNO REG
No more
yellow
glow
PA G E 8
Some board
members, teachers
hope for higher
enrollment in fall
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
East Oregonian
P
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Blue Mountain Community College President Mark Browning addresses faculty members
Monday, June 6, 2022, at a meeting before board members approved a retrenchment plan
that would lay off fi ve faculty members.
The work
The project will replace light
fi xtures on existing poles. The city
is not installing new streetlights or
relocating poles.
Ameresco, the city’s energy
services contractor, is coordinat-
ing the work, and its subcontrac-
tor, DJ’s Electrical, is installing the
fi xtures. Multiple crews are esti-
mated to complete 30 – 40 fi xture
conversions per day, taking 20 to
30 minutes per light.
“Work will be performed in a
moving operation that may require
temporary traffic lane restric-
tions, and the sidewalk, bike lane
or curbside parking spaces located
adjacent to the work site will be
temporarily restricted while crews
are actively working on a specifi c
fi xture,” the city reported.
See Lights, Page A8
’62
BMCC board approves
budget and faculty layoffs
City replacing
1,005 streetlights
with higher
effi ciency lighting
PENDLETON — Pendleton’s
nighttime glow is undergoing a big
change.
The city is replacing 1,005 exist-
ing streetlights from high pressure
sodium fi xtures to light-emitting
diode fi xtures. Work begins June
20 and runs through August.
The city announced the plan
Monday, June 6, in a press release.
According to the city, the new
LED light fi xtures will reduce the
city’s energy costs, reduce mainte-
nance and reduce carbon emissions
by 310 tons per year. The new lights
use up to 50% less energy and have
a longer lifespan than the traditional
lights the city is using.
The project is part of the city
council’s strategic goal No. 1 to seek
out more sustainable infrastructure
funding for buildings, roads and
utilities.
“The new LED lights will have
a slightly diff erent color,” the city
reported, “appearing more white than
yellow, and direct light diff erently,
enhancing visibility for drivers.”
And the project is budget-neutral
for the city.
Energy Trust of Oregon has
provided an incentive of about
$70,000 for the project cost in the
fi rst year. “The projected energy
and maintenance savings will fully
fund the project,” according to the
city, “resulting in no cost to taxpay-
ers” and no up-front capital.
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PA GE 7
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Blue Mountain Community College English instructor Ki Russel urges college board mem-
bers Monday, June 6, 2022, to rethink retrenchment plans during public comments before
the board voted on a budget that laid off fi ve teachers. Listening from left are BMCC Chief
Operations Offi cer Pat Sisneros and board member Kim Puzey.
ENDLETON — The Blue
Mo u n t a i n C o m m u n i t y
College Board of Education
has approved the adminis-
tration’s retrenchment plan,
laying off fi ve full-time faculty members.
The board voted on the plan Monday
night, June 6, in a special meeting.
The college laid off the instructors in
business, criminal justice, English, music
and chemistry, according to Blue Moun-
tain Faculty Association President Sascha
McKeon.
The board also passed adjustments
to its current budget and changes to the
proposed 2022-23 budget, then adopted
the new budget.
The college’s total budget for fi scal
year 2022-23 is more than $55,626,381, an
increase of $11.4 million (25.8%) from the
previous year.
According to budget documents, this
is largely due to the college planning
increases in the building fund expendi-
tures to construct the FARM II project. In
addition, expenditures in the debt service
fund have increased due to increased bond
principal payments. Expenditures in the
enterprise fund have also increased as a
result of planned increases in continu-
ing education activity and liquidation
of remaining inventory and assets in the
bookstore.
The general fund budget for 2022-23 is
$17.4 million, a decrease of almost $1.14
million — or 6.14% — before the budget
for 2021-22. Decreases in the general fund
and other funds off set the overall increases.
According to the college, the decreases
are due to changes in activities as a result of
decreased enrollment and include decreases
in fi nancial aid, student club activity and
in the general fund as a result of “aligning
projected expenditures with revenues.”
See BMCC, Page A8
Much abuzz at Pendleton’s drone testing hub
UAS range has
boosted economic
activity at the airport
Editor’s Note: This is part one
of a three part story Oregon Public
Broadcasting produced on the
Pendleton Unmanned Aircraft
System Range. The second and
third parts are running in subse-
quent print editions of the East
Oregonian. The entire story is
online at www.eastoregonian.com.
By KRISTIAN
FODEN-VENCIL
Oregon Public Broadcasting
PENDLETON — Ten years ago,
Eastern Oregon Regional Airport
in Pendleton was an albatross: an
expensive relic left over from World
War II.
“It was a pretty sleepy little
regional airport, to be honest,”
Pendleton Mayor John Turner said.
Back then, the airport only had
20 employees, and there wasn’t
enough economic activity to justify
a regular fl ight to Portland.
But the Pendleton airport did
have two massive runways that
date back to World War II and
carry a storied history. This is
where the so-called Doolittle Raid-
ers — the pilots who fi rst bombed
Tokyo, taking off from the deck of
Stan Springer/Contributed Photo
Retired Air Force Col. Stan Springer, center, runs the Volatus Group, a
drone pilot training facility in Pendleton. He said there are several rea-
sons Pendleton has become popular.
the aircraft carrier USS Hornet in
the middle of the Pacifi c Ocean —
trained for that mission.
In 2012, Pendleton hired a new
economic development director,
Steve Chrisman, and one of his top
priorities was fi guring out a better
use for the airport. On his fi rst tour,
he met Oregon National Guard Lt.
Col. Alan Gronewald, who was
overseeing a drone test.
Chrisman said the offi cer had a
simple message for him: “He said,
‘Listen, I don’t want to tell you your
job Mr. Economic development guy,
but this world is coming fast.’”
In the beginning
Gronewald was talking about
drones. So in partnership with the
University of Alaska-Fairbanks,
the city applied to become a feder-
ally-approved drone test range.
It was a long shot; Oregon had
neither a long history of working
with drones nor as much money as
others states. But in 2013 the Pend-
leton Unmanned Aircraft System
Range was granted federal permis-
sion.
The concept of a federal
commercial drone testing range was
relatively new, so initially, Pendle-
ton offi cials weren’t entirely sure
how to proceed. Gradually, city
leaders collected enough state and
city money to build new hangars so
visiting drone companies could test
and tweak their vehicles in private.
Then, using an Oregon Inno-
vation Council grant, the airport
bought laser cutters, 3D printers
and high-tech lathes, so companies
could remake broken drone parts
on-site and quickly resume testing.
The airport bought several
mobile air-command centers too,
so companies could drive out into
the countryside to fl y their drones
over varied terrains, like canyons,
forests, pastures and rivers. Most
recently, with the help of a $3
million federal grant, the airport
built a 100-acre industrial park with
lightning-fast internet.
Eff orts yield results
The result of all this work and
spending: Pendleton has become
one of the most popular of the
federal government’s seven drone
testing sites, with up to 1,000 take-
off s or landings every month.
Retired Air Force Col. Stan
See Drones, Page A8