REGION
Tuesday, September 6, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
UMATILLA COUNTY
Pipeline project to begin
construction in 2023
Project to benefi t
irrigators, industry,
cities and more
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
John Tillman/East Oregonian
The ground fl oor interior of The Marigold Hotel in downtown Pendleton refl ects several improvements Friday, Sept. 2, 2022.
Marigold Hotel renovation underway
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
Marigold Hotel, soon to be
The Hotel Pendleton, sports a
new external white paint job
and renovated interior.
“The project should be
complete in the March to April
time frame,” general manager
Donald Williams said. “The
community has been very
welcoming. A gentleman from
the city tree committee came
by recently to comment on the
great paint job.”
Bookings have been
moderate during the construc-
tion phase, Williams said, but,
like everyone else, The Mari-
gold is booked up for the Pend-
leton Round-Up. Being the
closest motel to Main Street
contributes to bookings, he
noted.
“We’re restructuring the
hotel’s image as well as reno-
vating it,” Williams said,
“given its prior reputation.”
During Round-Up, a food
truck with beer, hamburgers
and hot dogs will be in the
upper parking lot, he said.
The city revoked The Mari-
John Tillman/East Oregonian
Marigold general manager Donald Williams poses for a photo Friday, Sept. 2, 2022, outside
the extended-stay hotel under renovation.
gold’s business license in 2021
due to frequent criminal activ-
ity on the premises. Devel-
oper Sydney True received a
$500,000 grant from the Pend-
leton Development Commis-
sion this year to help buy
and remodel the troubled site
into an extended-stay hotel.
“Owner Sydney True wants
to put in an Italian restaurant,”
Williams said, “and a mini
market with locally-sourced
cheese and other items. We’ve
had great support from the
community and want to
contribute and give back to it.”
Williams also serves in the
Economic and Community
Development Department of
the Confederated Tribes of
the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation and owns renewable
energy companies.
Deal for new bridge over Umatilla River goes forward
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
PEN DLETON
—
Umatilla County and the
cities of Hermiston and
Umatilla are moving to agree
on the location of a bridge
over the Umatilla River to
provide a new connection
with Interstate 82.
The county board of
commissioners considers a
memorandum of understand-
ing for the project at its meet-
ing Wednesday, Sept. 7.
“This overpass aff ects all
partners, the cities of Herm-
iston and Umatilla and the
county,” board Vice-Chair
Dan Dorran said. “We each
co-funded the study on
options of 11th Street, Elm
Avenue and Punkin Center
Road. It’s over 300 pages.
We came back together with
the engineers and (Oregon
Department of Transpor-
tation) as a participant. All
agreed based on the long-
term ramifi cations and needs
that Punkin Center would be
the preferred option.”
The county and cities
jointly agreed in August 2021
to fund the cost for a prelim-
inary engineering study on a
potential bridge spanning the
Umatilla River as an exten-
sion of West Elm Avenue or
West Punkin Center Road.
Civil engineering firm
Anderson Perry & Associates
completed the Umatilla River
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Bridge Preliminary Engi-
neering Report in August. It
concluded the better option
is West Punkin Center Road,
which is farther north than
Elm Avenue.
The county board approved
payment of $50,000 to Herm-
iston toward the cost of the
preliminary report for the new
bridge on Aug. 18, 2021.
“There were three roads
that everybody was going
back and forth on,” board
Chair John Shafer said.
“What makes the most sense
to get the traffi c fl ow truly
right. Sometimes the obvious
choice isn’t the best, so we
co-funded the study. It will be
a big help for that region. Try
driving into Umatilla. This
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will off er another way to get
on I-82.”
The three entities want to
document a consensus on this
option, so a memorandum of
understanding to that end and
authorization for the chair to
sign is before the board.
Before beginning construc-
tion of a new bridge over the
Umatilla River, the project
requires further study. The
memorandum of understand-
ing, the agenda item noted,
is not a fi nal decision on the
bridge location but a general
consensus on which option the
three local governments prefer.
The MOU also requires the
county and two cities to update
their transportation plan to
refl ect the bridge project.
U M AT I LL A
—
Construction is on the
schedule to begin in 2023
in Umatilla County on the
fi rst phase of an irrigation
project to benefi t industry,
cities, irrigators, fi sheries
and a threatened aquifer.
T he approximately
$20 million phase of the
Ordnance Regional Water
Supply and Aquifer Resto-
ration Project is to carry
Columbia River water
from Umatilla County’s
pump station through a
new pipeline to the north-
east corner of the former
Army ordnance depot. All
components of the project
might total $43 million.
“We’re going to turn
dirt on phase A in 2023,”
said John Shafer, chair of
Umatilla County Board
of Commissioners and the
project supervisor.
The city of Umatilla is to
benefi t from this phase of
the project, which supplies
residential water west of the
Umatilla River and permits
development of an indus-
trial park.
Umat illa Cou nt y’s
contributions to phase
one were the purchase of
the pump station in 2019,
project design, fi sh screen
capacity purchase, ease-
ment acquisition, risk capi-
tal and debt service cost
sharing. Private partners
also shared capital cost to
design and build the distri-
bution line for the city of
Umatilla.
“I was four months on
the job when I proposed
we buy (Northeast Oregon
Water Association’s) pump
station on the Colum-
bia west of Umatilla,”
Shafer recalled, and fellow
Commissioners Bill Elfer-
ing and George Murdoch
agreed.
Umatilla County has
hired a consultant for the
project’s up to $17 million
phases two and three to
take more water from
the Columbia River to
help local farmers, while
providing a ready source
for economic and environ-
mental benefi ts.
Phase two extends the
pipeline from the depot’s
northeast corner to indus-
trial development areas and
connects with Westland
Irrigation District’s existing
pipe crossing Interstate 82.
From there, Columbia River
water can enter Westland’s
A Line canal.
The chief beneficia-
ries of phase two are the
Columbia Development
Authority, for industrial
water, and Westland Irri-
gation District, which has
short supply and relies on
Umatilla River and ground-
water sources. But fi sh and
wildlife should also benefi t,
as more water can remain in
McKay Reservoir.
Umatilla County esti-
mates the cost of the second
phase at around $13 million.
Shafer said the original cost
estimate was $6 million, but
costs soared due to infl a-
tion in the past year and a
half. The county is seeking
additional federal funding.
Westland is sharing costs
through the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture fi nanc-
ing.
Aquifer recharge
Phase three has an esti-
mated cost of $2.5 million
for aquifer recharge and
monitoring component. The
shallow, alluvial Ordnance
aquifer underlies the south-
ern portion of the former
depot, extending eastward
across I-82. The recharge
capability is planned to be
45 cubic feet per second per
day. Shafer said 20 cfs go to
Westland, 5 cfs for the city
of Umatilla and 5 more for
the recharge project.
The other 15 cfs are
i nt e r r upt ible, Shafe r
explained. A Y-shaped pipe
allows Grimmway Farms
to receive half of that fl ow,
with priority over Westland
during the growing season.
The private company is the
world’s largest producer of
carrots. In the off -season,
the water is available for
recharge.
Phase th ree offers
quantit y and qualit y
improvements to alluvial
aquifer water, according
to the county, and could
provide a sustainable
water supply to Westland,
well owners and industrial
customers in the Westland
Road vicinity. Recharge
also might benefit lower
Umatilla River habitat.
Umatilla County has
secured funding for basin
recharge and construction
of monitoring wells through
a 2021 ARPA appropria-
tion. The county is seek-
ing additional funding for
recharge project testing in
possible partnership with
Oregon State University.
A proposed compo-
nent of the project would
recharge the Ordnance
aquifer with Umatilla River
water. The $6 million esti-
mated cost would construct
a pump station and pipeline
to deliver river water to the
recharge basin.
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