A18 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2015
FROM PAGE A1
ZONES:
continued from page A1
would be more appropriate to be
downtown transitional, some ar-
eas that are downtown transition-
al that are more appropriate for
downtown commercial and then
a couple areas that are general
commercial that would be more
appropriate as neighborhood
commercial, given the area and
the types of uses that you would
SLIDE
continued from page A1
will be enclosed, rather
than open like the other
one, and the city contract-
ed with AquaBlue to en-
gineer, manufacture and
install it.
“We wanted a different
type of slide, instead of
putting in a secondary slide
that was really similar,”
he said. “With it being en-
closed, they’re just a little
faster in general, and, be-
cause it has to go out under
the other one, it’s going to
have a little bit of a steep-
er slope to it, so this slide
should be faster than the
one we currently have. So
anticipate.”
He said a general commercial
zone in the South Hill area was
one of the zones the commission
recommended changing to neigh-
borhood commercial.
A portion of the McNary area
is also currently zoned general
commercial, and Searles said the
commission discussed adding a
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“They were thinking that we
might want to create a new zone
for that, something that is may-
this should be more fun in
that sense for those look-
ing for a little bit more of
a thrill.”
Earp said the slide was
paid for through Transient
Room Tax money designat-
ed to Parks and Recreation
for major projects. The city
collects TRT funds when
people stay in temporary
lodging such as hotels. He
said some of the cost may
also be recovered through
increased attendance at the
center.
Even without the addi-
tional attraction, Earp said
the aquatic center has been
popular. Last year, he said,
the facility exceeded the
City Council’s cost-recov-
ery goal, and an estimated
SEAN HART PHOTO
Adam Cornelius, a subcontractor for slide company AquaB-
lue, bolts together halves of a piece of the new enclosed slide
at the Hermiston Family Aquatic Center Thursday.
CANNELL:
expo center.
“There’s a niche out
there, and we’re going to
continued from page A1
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Until she has a physical
Barton Laser Leveling
event center to run, much of has been working since De-
Cannell’s job will be mar- cember on grading and un-
keting the EOTEC project derground utilities for the
to get it on event coordina- site. On Friday, the board
tors’ radar. Her salary will prepared to start “vertical
be paid from the tourism construction” by awarding
promotion assessment fund a bid for construction of
generated for marketing by the event center building to
quarterly payments from G2 Construction of Kenne-
local hoteliers and RV park wick.
owners.
The company beat out
Board
member
Ed Knerr Construction of
Brookshier said Cannell Hermiston and Apollo Inc.
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of Kennewick.
“What impressed me
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from the very beginning is YHU\ YHU\ TXDOL¿HG´ SURM-
that she really got, and un- ect manager Gary Win-
derstands, what we’re do- sand said. “It was a tough
ing here,” he said.
choice.”
Dorran called EOTEC a
Winsand said the bids
“tweener facility” that will for the event center came
offer something for events in just “a smidge over” the
that have outgrown fair- $2.8 million budget esti-
grounds and conference mate for the event center
FHQWHUVEXWFDQ¶W¿OODODUJH construction.
EOTEC’s
be a little bit along the lines of
the downtown transitional zone,
something that is compatible with
pedestrian and small- to medi-
um-scale auto-oriented uses,” he
said. “... I need to take a look at
some of the uses that are already
out there and try to be as accom-
modating to those as possible.”
Searles said that, at Tues-
day’s meeting, the commission
also reviewed the ordinance
language for the bulk of the
project specifiying what uses
60,000 attendees “came
through the door” for the
various offerings, including
public swim time, swim-
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grams and private events.
He said the center hires
about 65 life guards and
swimming instructors for
the summer season, along
with another 25 front desk,
concessions and superviso-
ry employees.
“This is a huge, huge
portion of our program in
the summer time,” he said.
“Summer is, by far, our
busiest season. We offer a
lot of camps and other pro-
grams, but a majority of our
focus goes into this center.
This is the main attraction
in Hermiston in the summer
time. We really put a lot of
attention trying to make
this a really fun, safe expe-
rience. Safety is obviously
really important for us, so
that people feel like they can
send their kids here or come
here with their families and
don’t have to worry about
much but just enjoy the nice
sunshine that we get.”
People can try the new
slide when the aquatic center
opens June 6, and Earp said
the facility will continue to
be updated to keep people
coming back for more.
“This is, by far, the big-
gest improvement we have
made to the aquatic center
since it opened with a new
slide, but every few years
we do try to add new fea-
tures to increase its popu-
larity,” he said. “This isn’t
the end. We do have plans
to make improvements in
the future. We’re looking
for different options, and
we’re always looking to en-
hance the experience here.”
overall project budget is a
little more than $12.8 mil-
lion.
G2 Construction presi-
dent Doug Gunther said his
company was grateful for
the opportunity to become
part of the project, and he
planned to start attending
EOTEC meetings regularly.
Next month, the EO-
TEC authority plans to
approve Frew Develop-
ment’s design for the ro-
deo arena and livestock
barns and release bid
packages for construc-
tion. According to a re-
port Winsand handed the
board, sitework will begin
“in earnest” in late March.
Dorran said the board
has not had time yet to
speak to Umatilla Coun-
ty about replacing board
member Chet Prior, who
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seat on the EOTEC au-
thority until his death Feb.
15.
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are allowed in each zone. The
current ordinance language is
similar in all of the commercial
zones and does not list what
uses are allowed. By specifying
the allowed uses for each of the
zones, the proposed changes
differentiate the zones and ef-
fectively regulate where certain
businesses will be allowed to
open. Strip clubs and marijua-
na dispensaries, for example,
would only be allowed in the
general and highway commer-
cial zones.
Searles said, because the
changes would affect each of
the commercial zones, every
property owner in those areas
would receive an individual no-
tice before the public hearing.
The changes will only affect
new or expanding businesses,
not those already in operation.
The next Planning Commis-
sion work session begins at 5:30
p.m. March 24 at Umatilla City
Hall.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Hermiston High School senior
Tymek Chrzanowski, far right,
and HHS junior Elizabeth
Herrera pose for a photo with
RIÀFLDOVIURPWKH3RHWU\2XW
Loud Competition after receiv-
ing awards for competing Mon-
day night. Chrzanowski earned
the highest score of the night
and will participate in another
competition March 7 in Salem.
POETRY:
continued from page A1
day.
“I did get pretty ner-
vous,” he said.
Chrzanowski
recit-
ed “Second Coming” by
William Butler Yeats and
“Ozyandias” by Percy
Bysshe Shelley, and his
performances earned him
the top prize for the night.
He will next perform at the
central regional competi-
tion March 7 in Salem.
To prepare, Chrzanows-
ki said he wrote both po-
ems down on paper and
practiced them as he
walked to school each day.
“Both of them were
pretty short, so they were
easy to memorize,” he
said.
When it came time
to perform, Chrzanows-
ki said he chose to use a
lot of intensity and vocal
dynamics to portray the
theme of the poems.
“These poems are very
dramatic,” he said. “I used
an authoritative tone, and
you kind of have to get a
bit worked up.”
Herrera
performed
“Caged Bird” by Maya
Angelou based on the
book “I Know Why The
Caged Bird Sings.” She
then recited “Ecology” by
Jack Collom. In each, Her-
rera said she found a deep
connection to the poems.
“ ‘Caged Bird’ makes
me think about how frus-
trated she must have
been,” she said. “I can’t re-
late to the segregation part,
EXW,FDQGH¿QLWHO\LGHQWL-
fy with how she feels. I
challenged myself to try
to come to the level she’s
at and try and portray to
the audience what she was
feeling.”
Even though Herrera
said she had some expe-
rience public speaking in
speech and debate, she
was a bit nervous because
she had never recited po-
etry before. She let her
nerves work to her advan-
tage, however, by allowing
herself to get lost emotion-
ally in her recitations.
“When I did ‘Caged
Bird,’ her book is very
deep,” she said. “I got a lit-
tle choked up. I know what
part of the book it was re-
ferring to when I was recit-
ing the poem.”
Both competitors said
they enjoyed competing.
Chrzanowski said compet-
ing has helped him over-
come his fear of public
speaking.
“Having the opportuni-
ty at the high school level
to do things like this when
there is not a lot at stake
is good practice,” he said.
“It is useful for jobs, inter-
viewing and many other
things. Many jobs require
the ability to speak in front
of people.”
Herrera has already
used her public-speaking
experience in a larger con-
text. This week, she and
her fellow students in the
Columbia Basin Student
Homebuilding Program
traveled to Salem and
spoke before the Oregon
House of Representatives
about their experience and
how it had impacted them
and their school careers.
After competing Mon-
day, speaking to Oregon’s
legislators was easy, Her-
rera said, adding one told
the students they should
become lobbyists.