USINESS
B
Economic activity keeps grant
Hermiston
A4
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
dollars À oZing to airport
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
The Hermiston Munic-
ipal Airport may look un-
assuming, but there is more
economic activity going on
there than meets the eye.
“There is a lot more cor-
porate traf¿ c out there than
people would assume,” as-
sistant city manager Mark
Morgan said.
No one keeps track of
every single touchdown
and takeoff at the airport,
but there are an estimated
30,000 “operations” at the
airport each year. Summer
months are busier than win-
ter months thanks in part to
traf¿ c from three agricul-
tural operations that use the
airport as a base.
People tend to think of
airports the size of Hermis-
ton’s — with its 4,500 foot
runway — as the domain
of single-engine hobby
planes, but Morgan said a
signi¿ cant amount of the
traf¿ c coming in and out
of the airport is agricultural
or corporate. Crop dusters
come and go, and corporate
planes deliver executives
for companies like RDO
Equipment and DuPont Pi-
oneer.
The airport also hosts a
UPS freight plane 10 times
a week, handles traf¿ c cre-
ated by construction proj-
ects and sees helicopter
traf¿ c for things like ¿ re-
¿ ghting and medical trans-
port.
Hermiston
Aviation,
which is contracted to run
the airport on behalf of the
city, only has three employ-
ees, but a 2014 report from
the Oregon Department of
Aviation stated the airport
supported 80 local jobs and
26 elsewhere in the state,
combining for a total of $2
million a year in wages. It
also stated that aviation-de-
pendent commercial activi-
ty in the vicinity of the air-
port generated $205 million
in sales statewide.
That type of economic
impact is why the state and
federal governments are
willing to continue invest-
ing grant money into the
airport when there are larg-
er airports with more infra-
structure just a brief À ight
away in Pendleton and the
Tri-Cities.
In September the city
plans to begin a $3.3 mil-
lion project, paid for almost
Owner investing in
Hermiston Plaza
New landscaping
planned before
the holidays
By SEAN HART
Staff Writer
67$))3+272%<(-+$55,6
United Parcel Service employees load an AmeriÁ ight Metroliner
cargo plane with overnight packages recently at the Hermiston
Municipal Airport.
entirely with grant money,
to build a new taxiway at
the airport.
The current taxiway is
out of compliance with
Federal Aviation Admin-
istration standards, which
state that the center of the
runway and the center of
the parallel taxiway must
be at least 240 feet apart.
The project will also in-
clude pavement upgrades,
moving the fuel station and
installing larger fuel tanks.
It will cost the city about
$42,000 out of its general
fund.
Morgan said the city
usually puts about $40,000
a year toward the airport.
The airport also gets rev-
enue from the federal and
state government, fuel sales
and hangar leases. About
40 air-
AIRPORT p l a n e s
a r e
housed
at the airport, all indoors.
Susie Rawe, manager of
the Hermiston Municipal
Airport, said aviation has
changed quite a bit since
Hermiston Aviation took
over the airport manage-
ment 31 years ago. Hermis-
ton has grown much larger,
but at the airport some of
that growth has been bal-
anced out by other devel-
opments. Rising fuel and
insurance costs have de-
creased private plane use
and technological advances
mean corporate managers
don’t have to À y out on lo-
cation as often to sign doc-
uments or examine a piece
of property.
Technology has changed
the way pilots do business,
too. Gone are the days
when pilots used the airport
lounge to spread out paper
charts and plot their course.
Navigation information,
fuel prices at nearby air-
ports, hotel and restaurant
booking, weather condi-
tions and other information
is now at pilots’ ¿ ngertips.
The Hermiston airport even
has an Automated Weath-
er Observing System that
gives pilots up-to-the-min-
ute information on crucial
information like wind speed
and direction via phone.
“Pilots are so much more
independent these days,”
Rawe said. “Smartphones
have changed everything.”
As for the airport’s fu-
ture, the taxi realignment
project could help pave the
way for an expansion some-
time in the future. Morgan
said there are a number of
hurdles, however, to extend-
ing the runway to 5,000 feet,
starting with the fact that
Ott Road would have to be
moved to comply with FAA
standards.
“Even if the stars aligned
perfectly it would be at least
eight years out,” he said.
One upgrade that has
been on the city’s capital
improvement list for years
that will be started at the
airport this year is an Air-
port Geographic Informa-
tion System mapping proj-
ect, which will help pilots
land in poor weather condi-
tions. Morgan said the FAA
offered the city discretion-
ary grant funds to complete
the system two years ahead
of schedule, freeing up
funds for some other airport
upgrade in 2017.
Dickerhoof Properties has
been investing in Hermiston
Plaza since it purchased the
retail center last year.
Darren Dickerhoof said
the family-owned company
bought the plaza anchored by
Safeway in November 2014
and has already spent about
$500,000 on maintenance
projects with more improve-
ments planned. The company
primarily buys and remodels
older properties with the in-
tention of owning them for 20
to 30 years, he said.
“It’s a good long-term in-
vestment,” he said. “In our
opinion, that’s the dominate
retail center in the market.”
The facility consists of
about 150,000 square feet
of retail space and features
about 17 tenants. The prop-
erty, however, was in need of
repair, Dickerhoof said.
Many of the roofs were
old and leaking, so Dicker-
hoof Properties began re-
placing them with membrane
roo¿ ng about ¿ ve months
ago. He said the company
also replaced about 15 heat-
ing, ventilation and air condi-
tioning units.
“We’ve been systematical-
ly going through and cleaning
it up,” he said. “We’re prob-
ably about two-thirds of the
way through. A lot of the
big stuff that you can’t see is
done. The visual stuff we’re
not very far along with.”
In the next several months,
Dickerhoof Properties plans
to improve the center’s aes-
thetic appeal. Parking lot and
retaining wall enhancements
are planned during the next
six weeks, Dickerhoof said.
Once complete, he said the
entire property will then be
landscaped before the holi-
days. The company is also
remodeling a portion of the
property for a Club 24 expan-
sion, he said.
Hermiston Plaza was
Dickerhoof Properties’ largest
acquisition, but the compa-
ny also acquired the property
and constructed the building
for Big 5 Sporting Goods in
Hermiston in 2008. Dicker-
hoof said the company spe-
Walchli named Columbia Basin Realtor of the Year
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
Eight years after she
joined her mother in the
real estate business, Nancy
Walchli has been named the
2015 Realtor of the Year by
the Columbia Basin Board of
Realtors.
Walchli, a Hermiston Re-
altor with American West
Properties, said she was a
stay-at-home mother to four
girls before her mother, Shir-
ley Parsons, convinced her to
get her real estate license and
come work with her.
The
mother-daughter
team works together, and if
one isn’t available when a
client stops by, the other will
step in and take care of them.
“It makes it kind of nice,”
HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Walchli said.
This year she is serv-
ing as the president of the
Columbia Basin Board of
Realtors, so she said she
was “shocked” when the
rest of the board told her
they had agreed to give
her the award despite her
position.
Walchli said the method
of selling houses has stayed
pretty much the same since
she joined the industry, but
the market has changed sub-
stantially.
“When a house is on the
market and you like it you’d
better jump on it, and it
didn’t used to be that way,”
she said.
She said her favorite part
of real estate is helping ¿ rst-
time home buyers.
“They’re so excited, and
you get to help them with
that,” she said.
Walchli grew up in
Hermiston, and married her
high school sweetheart, Pat-
rick, after graduation from
Hermiston High School.
Together they raised four
children and now have two
grandchildren.
Walchli said she “cannot
think of a better communi-
ty” to help people ful¿ ll their
dreams of homeownership.
67$))3+272%<6($1+$57
Ron Monkus, left, and Cameron Beers from Knerr Construction
work on a handicap access Tuesday at Hermiston Plazay.
Dickerhoof Properties, which purchased the center anchored
by Safeway in November, plans to complete maintenance and
landscaping on the property by the holidays.
67$))3+272%<6($1+$57
Dickerhoof Properties is in the process of renovating Hermiston
Plaza. The company plans to complete new landscaping at the
center by the holidays.
cializes in smaller markets and
also owns Melanie Square in
Pendleton and Columbia Riv-
er Center in The Dalles.
For more information
about Dickerhoof Proper-
ties or Hermiston Plaza, visit
dickerhoof.com.
VOLUME 109 ɿ NUMBER 50
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EDITOR
gwest@hermistonherald.com
541-564-4532
7$00<0$/*(6,1,
JADE McDOWELL
6$0%$5%((
6($1+$57
KIM La3/$17
JEANNE JEWETT
COMMUNITY EDITOR
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541-564-4539
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