WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
FROM PAGE A7
RULES:
continued from page A7
amend the document before
making a recommendation to the
City Council for approval.
City Planner Clint Spencer
researched similar ordinanc-
es in other cities to create the
initial language for the pro-
posal, which the Community
Enhancement Committee re-
viewed and revised to its cur-
TOUR
continued from page A7
and metal shops and other
career and technical class-
es with John Day School
Board member Mike Cos-
grove. At the end of their
day, they visited the home
students
are
building
through the Columbia Ba-
sin Student Homebuilders
Program.
During the tour of the stu-
dent home site, a couple of
students were working on the
siding and showing Cai’an
how they were connecting the
wiring, heating and air condi-
tioning systems and generally
rent form, Morgan said.
He said, although the current
draft focuses mostly on com-
mercial zones, multi-family
residential developments, such
as apartment complexes, will
be included in the ordinance,
whereas single-family homes
would not be impacted.
He said developments would
be required to landscape 3 percent
of the property in the downtown
commercial zone and 6 percent
in the outlying commercial zone.
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Cai’an said he thought the
project was a great opportuni-
ty for students.
“This is really good,” he
said.
Cai’an also asked Curt
Berger, the teacher oversee-
ing the project, a number of
questions. Berger explained
to Cai’an the students were
involved in every step of the
project, even some of the el-
ements they are not able to
do themselves, such as the
URR¿QJ DQG FRQQHFWLRQV RI
gas pipes, which are done by
licensed contractors and work
crews.
“They practice on their
own, or they are right there
Businesses in the downtown zone
that cannot install traditional land-
scaping can satisfy requirements
by using other features, such as
hanging baskets, fountains, dec-
orative lighting, planter boxes or
outdoor seating, according to the
draft ordinance.
“There will be some credits for
all of these,” Morgan said. “Based
on the site, it may be impossible
to put in additional landscaping.
Obviously, there isn’t that much
space in the downtown for putting
watching as it all happens,”
he said.
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students working on the proj-
ect, guided Cai’an through
the house and showed him
the different rooms and what
the students and Berger liked
to call the “wow factors” of
the house.
Cai’an said he was im-
in a lawn.”
Morgan said the proposed or-
dinance would also require land-
scaping on 3 percent or 10,000
square feet of industrial devel-
opment property, whichever is
smaller.
He said the visual impact of
the ordinance on the city will be
determined when new develop-
ment takes place in the city.
“This was all a direction from
the (City) Council to the Commu-
nity Enhancement Committee to
pressed the house includes all
the special amenities it does,
from a spot in the living room
for an 80-inch television, an
RV hook-up on the side of the
house, a place for a hot tub on
the back deck and exposed
wooden beams that line the
17-foot ceilings in the living
room.
Cai’an said one thing he
liked, in particular, was get-
address aesthetics and curb ap-
peal of the community,” he said.
“The direction that we got was
not to make this any kind of ret-
roactive requirement or anything
like that, but putting this in place
pretty much creates the stand-
point of ‘Yeah, we may not be
able to go back in and get some
properties cleaned up with this
ordinance, but you’ve got to start
somewhere.’ If this is approved, it
would likely have a big impact in
the long run.”
ting to see not only see how
students are building, but
also how homes are built in
the United States in general.
In China, he said, families
live in apartments, which
are built primarily with con-
crete and brick. He said he
has never seen wood used
in a home’s construction be-
fore.
“We don’t have houses
built out of wood where I
live,” he said.
Cai’an said he will share
his experiences with his staff
in China so they can learn
about having programs like
this in a school setting. He
said he was impressed by
what is happening in Herm-
iston.
“There are so many career
opportunities here,” he said.
MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO
)URPOHIW&KLQHVH3ULQFLSDO'RQJ&DL·DQ6WDQÀHOGMXQLRU
Nathan Hurty, Hermiston High School Principal Jocelyn Jones
and Hermiston School District Executive Director of Special
of Programs Jon Mishra look at one of the Columbia Basin
Student Homebuilders Program’s list of building requirements
IRUVWXGHQWV7KXUVGD\LQ+HUPLVWRQ
ANIMALS:
plaints against the shelter
from several people at a re-
cent City Council meeting.
continued from page A7
City Manager Byron
make a special trip for Smith said he met with four
us, and they’re going to people after the meeting to
take about five to 10 dogs obtain further details.
for us,” he said. “I’m to-
“They provided us with
tally excited. One of the a lot of notes and some
biggest stresses is large people that we could con-
breeds that they weren’t tact to get further informa-
willing to take in the past, tion about different things,”
and they’re willing to take Smith said. “We’re just go-
them now, so it’s kind of a ing to continue to do some
game-changer. Sometimes research and looking into
you just run out of room in VRPH RI WKH VSHFL¿F FRP-
your shelter, and if they’re plaints. They have some
willing to take them and VSHFL¿F VLWXDWLRQV ZKHUH
put them up for adoption they think abuse has tak-
in another facility, that’s en place. They have some
super awesome.”
VSHFL¿F VLWXDWLRQV ZKHUH
Putnam said OHS uses they feel like an animal was
a van to pick up the ani- euthanized before it should
mals for free, and he is have been. They had a num-
grateful for the opportu- ber of contacts of people
nity.
(and) suggestions of other
He said pit bulls and ways that could be used to
dogs that have been de- advertise the pets for adop-
termined to be aggressive tion, those kinds of things.
will not be accepted in the They feel like there’s not
Second Chance Program, being enough done on that
but he believes many ca- part.”
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Assistant City Man-
a new home in Hermiston ager Mark Morgan said
will ultimately be adopted city officials met with Pet
elsewhere.
Rescue officials but are
“The
least-adoptable still gathering informa-
dogs are large mixed tion and are not ready to
breeds, and they’re going report to the City Council
to be taking them now, so yet. He anticipated the re-
that’s really going to re- port will be presented at
duce euthanasia rates (at the Feb. 9 meeting.
Pet Rescue),” he said.
Suzanne Phillips, who
voiced her concerns to
the council earlier this
COMPLAINTS
month and later met with
AGAINST PET
city officials, said she
has “probably talked to
RESCUE
100 people” who have
Pet Rescue’s announced had bad experiences with
participation in the Second Pet Rescue, and she has a
Chance Program comes as long list of recommenda-
+HUPLVWRQ FLW\ RI¿FLDOV tions.
continue to research com-
“The bottom line is
MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO
Chinese Principal Dong Cai’an and John Day School Board member Mike Cosgrove get a tour of the Columbia Basin Student
+RPHEXLOGHUVSURJUDP·VÀUVWVWXGHQWEXLOWKRPHIURP6WDQÀHOG6HFRQGDU\6FKRROMXQLRU1DWKDQ+XUW\ODVWZHHN
they are killing animals,
killing our pets, in spite
of life-saving alterna-
tives,” she said. “When
they’re full, they just kill
the animals. They don’t
ask around to see if any-
one can take them.”
She said the animals
available for adoption
should be better adver-
tised, all of the animals
should be spayed or neu-
tered, basic comforts
should be provided, the
shelter should accept
more volunteers and an-
imals should be trans-
ferred to other shelters in-
stead of being euthanized.
Putnam said Pet Res-
cue tries to list animals
on PetFinder.com and
spays and neuters ani-
mals as funds allow. He
said the shelter created a
PayPal account to accept
online donations, and 100
percent of the proceeds
will be used to spay and
neuter animals. Dona-
tions can also be made
at the shelter, 1844 N.W.
Geer Road, Hermiston,
between noon and 5 p.m.
Mondays through Satur-
days. He said the animals
are warm and fed, and
people can fill out appli-
cations for the volunteer
program at the shelter.
People also have com-
plained about the adop-
tion and owner surrender
prices, the annual rent
the shelter pays and the
condition of the kennels
in the past. Some also re-
ported they were turned
down as volunteers, and
some animals with micro-
chips had been adopted
out from the shelter.
To prevent the micro-
chip problem, Putnam
said Pet Rescue recently
purchased a new univer-
sal microchip scanner that
should detect all types
of microchips, unlike a
scanner previously used.
He recommended peo-
ple register their animals
with microchips, which
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