SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
COMMUNITY
Umatilla increases water and sewer rates
City unable to
transfer desired
amount to
reserves without
4 percent hike
BY SEAN HART
HERMISTON HERALD
Umatilla residents will
soon be paying more for
city water and sewer ser-
vices.
At the Umatilla City
Council meeting Tues-
day, members approved
a resolution raising both
water and sewer rates by
4 percent beginning July
1, so residents will see
the rate hike on their Au-
gust bills.
City Manager Bob
Ward
recommended
adopting the increase be-
cause the city was not
able to generate enough
revenue with the current
fees to transfer $100,000
from each account into
reserves for future main-
tenance and expansion.
He said smaller, more fre-
quent rate increases are
also more preferable than
the double-digit increases
for both services the city
adopted about two years
ago after 15 years without
rate adjustments.
“Both of those in-
creases were very signif-
icant rate increases due
to the neglect of looking
at those programs for so
long,” he said. “At the
time, we promised that we
would not wait that long,
that we would come back
with more frequent, less-
er increases as needed. ...
In those 15-year periods
when we didn’t make any
rate increases, we ended
up actually taking mon-
ey out of reserves to pay
our day-to-day operating
costs, so we want to avoid
being back in that posi-
tion.”
Ward said,
even
with
the
increas-
es,
Umatil-
la’s rates will
be less than
Ward
Oregon and
eastern Ore-
gon averages
based on a re-
cent study by
the League of
Oregon Cit-
Trott
ies.
According
to the LOC’s 2014 Water
Rate Survey, which in-
cluded data from 168 cit-
ies, the average residen-
tial water bill for 5,000
gallons with a .75-inch
meter was $31.73 in east-
ern Oregon and $34.88
statewide, and the aver-
age residential wastewa-
ter bill for 5,000 gallons
with a .75-inch meter was
$40.25 in eastern Oregon
and $43.84 statewide.
With Umatilla’s rate
increase, residential wa-
OSU uses drones to conduct
air temperature research
Initial test flights
made near
Hermiston
More details
OSU EXTENSION SERVICE
Scientists at Oregon State
University announced this
week that they are measur-
ing atmospheric temperatures
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suspended from unmanned air-
craft using methods and equip-
ment tested near Hermiston.
According to an OSU
Extension Service release,
with funding from the Na-
tional Science Foundation,
John Selker is buying two
new unmanned aerial vehi-
cles — known as UAVs or
drones — to loft sophisticat-
ed measuring instruments he
designed. The research will
study part of the Earth’s lower
atmosphere, which is poorly
understood and has been dif-
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“These two technologies
together will add orders of
magnitude to the precision
and resolution of our atmo-
spheric measurements,” said
Selker, a hydrologist and pro-
fessor in OSU’s College of
Agricultural Sciences. “We’ll
be able to take a continuous
slice of data through space
and time, getting information
that no one has been able to
capture before.”
Read the complete release
from Oregon State University
Extension service at http://
extension.oregonstate.edu/
news/release/2015/04/osu-
uses-unmanned-aircraft-
take-temperatures-air
According to the press
release, the high-powered
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cable, similar to that used for
telephone and internet com-
munication. By measuring
tiny pulses of light zipping
along spun-glass strands, the
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sands of temperature readings
along their length, detecting
differences as slight as 0.01
degree Celsius.
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near Hermiston, Selker’s OSU
colleagues Michael Wing and
Chad Higgins suspended a
400-foot sensing cable — not
much thicker than a kite string
— from an OSU-owned quad
copter, the press release stated.
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enough that the tip of the cable
just touched the ground. The
cable reported temperatures
every 13 centimeters.
The researchers started
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how the atmosphere devel-
ops in the boundary layer,
the lowest portion of Earth’s
atmosphere, as the sun’s heat
PHOTO BY ROBERT PREDOSA
An unmanned aerial vehi-
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WurEine near +ermiVWRn
begins to move the air.
The Earth’s surface and
near atmosphere — the
area up to about 1,000 me-
ters above the ground — is
a critical zone of feedbacks
between air, water and earth,
Selker said. He said until now
scientists have had a hard
time taking comprehensive
measurements of the lower
atmosphere.
“Typically, you’d have to
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point, a tower or a balloon,”
he said. “Now, instead of
measuring one or two or three
points at a time, we can mea-
sure a million points.”
Such detailed measure-
ments may shed light on how
clouds and rainstorms de-
velop, how air pollution gets
diluted, how pollen moves
across the landscape and oth-
er atmospheric dynamics.
ter customers will pay
a $12.88 base rate for a
.75-inch meter plus $1.30
per 1,000 gallons — up
from a $12.38 base rate
and $1.25 for water con-
sumed. The total for 5,000
gallons will be $19.38.
Single-family residential
units will pay $39.94 for
sewer services, up from
$38.40.
Umatilla will still of-
fer a water hardship rate
— $9.75 base plus $1 per
1,000 gallons — avail-
able for residents whose
income does not exceed
125 percent of the feder-
al poverty rate and a 10
percent water discount
for senior citizens 65 and
older.
Resident John Nichols
said he and many other
Umatilla residents live on
a fixed income, and, al-
though he has refused to
consider discounted rates
in the past, he may be
forced to do so.
Resident
Jack
McWhinney also ques-
tioned the rate increase,
stating people in Umatilla
work hard but don’t make
much money.
Mayor Dave Trott said
he believed city officials
were doing their best to
manage taxpayers’ mon-
ey. He said, however, the
city must maintain its wa-
ter and sewer systems in
order to continue provid-
ing the needed service to
residents.
“We have an aging
infrastructure,” he said.
“The longer it goes, the
worse it gets. ... We have
to do what’s best to see
that the aging infrastruc-
ture for the city is re-
paired in a timely fashion.
Somebody has to pay for
it. I’m sorry, but that’s
us. I know people have
tight budgets, and I know
fixed-income people have
tighter budgets, but we all
share in this together. I
honestly don’t know what
else we can do.”
In other City Council
news:
• The Umatilla munici-
pal judge administered the
oath of office to five new
Umatilla Police Depart-
ment reserve officers who
recently completed the
Bi-county Reserve Acad-
emy: Kimberley Carrier,
Thalia Leon, Calvin Me-
ade, Jordan Robeson and
Fernando Sanchez.
• Council members ap-
proved a new three-year
collective
bargaining
agreement with the Uma-
tilla Public Safety Asso-
ciation for non-adminis-
trative UPD officers that
provides a 5 percent wage
increase the first year and
3.5 percent increases in
each of the second and
third years.
• Mayor Dave Trott
read an annual procla-
mation designating May
3 through May 9 as Two
Rivers Correctional Insti-
tution Employee Recog-
nition Week.
NEWS IN BRIEF
School
district hosting
college fair
The Hermiston School
District will host the North
Central Oregon College
Fair from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
April 16 in the Hermiston
High School Commons.
Representatives from
more than 30 post-sec-
ondary
opportunities,
including colleges, trade
schools and the military,
will be available to an-
swer questions regarding
admissions, scholarships
and academic programs.
High school students
throughout eastern Ore-
gon are welcome to at-
tend.
“The North Central
Oregon College Fair is a
convenient and fun way
for families with high
school students to learn
more about what they
need to do to prepare
for college, college life
and activities, as well as
meet the representatives
that have all of the latest
information on scholar-
ships and majors,” Herm-
iston High School Coun-
selor Jacque Brandow
said in a press release.
Breath of Life
to benefit cystic
fibrosis research
The second annual
Breath of Life fundrais-
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scheduled for May 9 at
Armand Larive Middle
School. The event will
consist of dinner, des-
sert, a silent auction, live
band and bounce houses
for children. Doors open
at 5 p.m., and the dinner
and auction start at 5:30
p.m. Tickets are available
to purchase now at Java
Junkies in Umatilla. They
can also be purchased at
the event. Cost is $10 for
one person or $15 for a
couple. Children 10 and
younger get in free. All
funds raised at the event
go directly to the Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation of
Oregon in Portland. The
money is used for re-
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Veterans benefits
discussion
planned
A discussion about
veterans
benefits
is
scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
April 22 at the Stokes
Center Senior Center,
195 Opal Place, Irrigon.
For more information or
to RSVP, call 541-922-
6420.
lue ountain
ommunity ollege
Student Spotlight: Did You Know?
Jacob Hurbach
BMCC AAOT Student/Baseball Team Member
B
Ja
Jacob
ac
a
Hurbach came to BMCC two years ago from
Sherwood,
Ore., to play baseball for the
S
he
Timberwolves
and to be closer to his family in
Ti
i im
Hermiston.
H
er
“BMCC has really helped me by setting
me up for a future at a four-year college. I feel BMCC
m
do
oe a great job of transitioning high school students
o
does
into
in
nto college. When I give tours to recruits for baseball,
n
th on
one
e th
the
thing I always bring up is how nice of a transition
B M
BMC
MCC
C is from
m high school,” Jacob says. Jacob will also transition
BMCC
w e l l into
wel
we
i
ea school, where he plans to study international
well
a four-ye
four-year
business and marketing so tha
that he can one day take over his family’s business.
Have you heard about the BMCC bond?
BMCC wants to continue to provide a high-quality education for students so they can
succeed like our many distinguished alumni! Check out the bond page on our website to
learn more about how BMCC could continue to provide an affordable education for family-
wage jobs, a safe and secure learning environment and protect the community’s
investment. Look for the bond on the May 19, 2015, ballot!
www.bluecc.edu/about-bmcc/bond-measure
Emily Ann Smith
P ILOT R OCK H IGH S CHOOL
Congratulations! We are so very proud of you.
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Publishes: May 30 th
Send in your text and photos to
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or bring to Paula at the
East Oregonian office by May 18 th .
Mailing address: Attn: Paula Smootz
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BMCC is an equal opportunity employer and educator.
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