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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2016)
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 COMMUNITY Depot land transfer delayed until 2017 By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer The Army’s latest schedule has the former Umatilla Chemical Depot land in local control by May 2017. The Columbia Devel- opment Authority was supposed to receive the land in 2015, but it has twice been delayed — first until Nov. 2016, and now until the May 2017 date. On Monday, the au- thority’s executive direc- tor and board agreed that progress was still being made, but also expressed frustration that it has tak- en so much longer than promised. “The length of time in the transfer is costing us opportunities,” board chair and Umatilla Coun- ty commissioner Bill Elf- ering said. After the Army con- veys the former depot land along Interstate 84 east of Boardman, part of it will be used as a National Guard training facility. But the rest will fall under the control of the development author- ity for a wildlife refuge and industrial develop- ment. The authority has re- peatedly stated that it is not taking the land off the Army’s hands unless it is “free, clean and has wa- ter.” FILE PHOTO Some structures involved in the destruction of chemical agents at the Umatilla Army Deport remain after the destruction of the incinerating facility. In October executive director Greg Smith said that the Army’s initial proposal to give the au- thority approximately 25 percent of the site’s wa- ter was not nearly enough to support the scale of economic development needed to make the site worthwhile to acquire. On Monday he said water rights negotiations were slowly moving along, with the Army agreeing to give two wells to the Columbia Development Authority, three to the National Guard and have two wells split between entities. “It comes down to well number one,” Smith said. He said the Pentagon insists it needs the water rights to that well, but has also said it is open to leasing most of those rights to the authority if they worked together to put in infrastructure need- ed to get the defunct well working again. “I genuinely think they want to reach a good res- olution,” Smith said. “But their dilemma — and I think they’re sincere on this — is that they have a national security issue.” That issue is wanting to make sure they have the infrastructure in place, should the water be need- ed once again to support a war effort. They also want to have the water on hand for fire suppression. Those issues were discussed when Smith and board members Kim Puzey (Port of Umatilla) and Gary Neal (Port of Morrow) met with De- fense Base Closure and Realignment Commis- sion (BRAC) officials in Washington, D.C. in March. Puzey said the at- mosphere of the meeting started off “bristly” and “prickly” but Smith did a good job of practicing the principle “seek first to understand, then to be understood” and the ten- sion in the room lowered considerably as things went on. Puzey said even though the water discussion was taking a long time, he be- lieved that taking the time to negotiate was, in the end, going to be mutually beneficial for both the de- velopment authority and the National Guard. Smith said he felt that another trip to Washing- ton, D.C., in the next cou- ple of weeks while Con- gress is going through the appropriations process would be highly produc- tive for moving things along. The board agreed. At the beginning of the meeting the board heard from a potential client. Taylor Steele said her employer, One Ener- gy Renewables, a Seat- tle-based company spe- cializing in utility-scale solar farms, was inter- ested in leasing a section of depot land for a solar panel installation. Puzey said he thought One Energy Renewables would be a good example to take to the federal gov- ernment and show them the types of projects that are being held up because the conveyance process was taking so long. The Columbia De- velopment Authority is a partnership between Umatilla County, Morrow County, Port of Umatilla, Port of Morrow and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Res- ervation. April 7th W e do m or e t h a n c of f ee… F resh Sea fo od & Stea k D ouble R R a nch B eef F ull B a r & E spresso B rea kfa st, L unch, D inner IN BRIEF P C B & B istro 24 1 S. M a in Street • 54 1-3 7 9-3 663 Two died Sunday in wrong-way crash sodomy, third-degree rape and contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor. Naillon was ar- rested March 28. Deputy James En- glish began investigating the case on Feb. 29 after the 14-year-old victim’s mother reported that she discovered suspicious content on her daughter’s cell phone, which indicat- ed alleged sexual activ- ity between Naillon and the girl. Detective Kacey Ward gathered evidence from the victim who con- firmed there was unlaw- ful sexual activity. Dep- uty English interviewed Naillon, who admitted that he had sexual contact with the girl. Naillon was arrested and lodged in the Umatil- la County Jail. The case will be forwarded to the Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office. A Hermiston man driv- ing the wrong way on In- terstate 84 died along with the driver of another driv- er in a head-on crash. Shane R. Ware, 48, and Mary A. Padilla, 47, of Homedale, Idaho, died in the collision Sunday about 1:30 a.m. near Pendleton, according to Oregon State Police. Ware drove a 1999 Sat- urn SL westbound in the eastbound lanes of Inter- state 84 several miles east of Pendleton, according to a report from state police. He struck the Chevrolet minivan near milepost 214. A 10-year-old pas- senger in Padilla’s vehicle suffered non-life threaten- ing injuries, and an ambu- lance took the child to St. Anthony Hospital, Pend- leton. Ware forced anoth- er vehicle off the road a few miles before the fa- tal crash. Sherry Marie Anderson, 24, of Rainier, Oregon, suffered non- A 44-year-old inmate life threatening injuries of Two Rivers Correc- after she wrecked trying tional Institution died to avoid the wrong-way unexpectedly Monday, driver. An ambulance also took her to St. Anthony Hospital. State police did not know yet if drugs or al- cohol were a factor in the crashes. The Oregon Depart- ment of Transportation, Umatilla Tribal Fire and Ambulance, Pendleton Fire and Ambulance, Umatilla County Sheriff’s Department, Pendleton Police Department and the Umatilla Tribal Police De- partment responded to the scenes. :KLOHRI¿FHUVZHUHLQ- vestigating the fatal crash, a 1994 Ford Ranger drove through the closed scene. Tribal police stopped the pickup and arrested Josh- ua Haynie, 32, of Pendle- ton, for driving under the LQÀXHQFH RI LQWR[LFDQWV He later provided a breath sample with a blood-alco- hol level of .16 percent, twice the legal limit. Third inmate in six weeks dies at TRCI the Oregon Department of Corrections has an- nounced. Inmate Shawn McMil- lian, 44, was transport- ed to a local hospital for medical care at 2:30 p.m. on April 3. He was pro- nounced dead on Monday, April 4, at 10:12 a.m. McMillian entered DOC custody Aug. 25, 2015, on five counts of child sex abuse in the first degree out of Lane County. His earliest re- lease date was 2020. Next of kin have been notified. No other details are avail- able at this time. McMillian is the third TRCI inmate to die with- in the past six weeks. On March 20, inmate Ronald Marcus, 60, was found unresponsive in his cell. On Feb. 27, Joel Abbot, also 60, was found unresponsive in his cell and flown to a Portland hospital where he died. Marcus was incarcer- ated out of Multnomah County on one count of first-degree manslaugh- ter. Abbot was serving a life sentence for first-de- gree murder. Happy National Beer Day, Oregon! Come into 40 Taps in Pendleton to celebrate with award winning Craft Beers! Extended Happy Hour from 3-7 pm. Cheers! 337 SW Emigrant Pendleton www.fortytaps.com Hermiston Tavern Coldest Beer in Town $5 - Burger & Beer Special - 9 am - 5 pm! 425 N 1st Pl• Hermiston 2220 SE Court Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 541-567-3971 Good Beer, Good Food, Good People 541-276-1075 Remember to be responsible DON’T DRINK & DRIVE 541-289-7414 125 N. 1st St. Hermiston 1 18 SE COURT PENDLETON, OR 541-276-3737 We Proudly serve USDA Choice & Prime Cut Steaks! Man charged with sexual contact with minor Local and farmer owned, we craft beer for the people, not the gods of Brewvana. Join us, demand our beer at your local bar, be an outlier. A 19-year-old Hermis- ton man has been charged with sexual contact with a minor. The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office arrest- ed Kyle Naillon, 19, on charges of third-degree www.ordnancebrewing.com 1619 N. First St. Hermiston, OR 541-289-7838 Dinner 4:30 pm to close • 7 nights per week Lunch Tue - Fri 11:30 am - 1:30 pm • Full Bar Tap room open 2 - 9 pm M-F 12 - 10 pm Sat & 12 - 6 pm Sun 405 N. Olson Rd. Boardman, OR 97818 541-481-2231
