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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2016)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016 High hopes for transportation bill as legislators visit city By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer Eastern Oregon oficials have different ideas of how to spend state transportation funding, but they were all united in one aspect of their message to legislators visit- ing Hermiston last week: It is past time to update Ore- gon’s transportation infra- structure. “Are we embarrassed to live in a country that is this progressive, and this wealthy, and this smart and we have such backward transportation systems?” Port of Umatilla Manager Kim Puzey asked. He testiied Wednes- day, June 29, at Hermiston High School in front of the Joint Interim Committee on Transportation Preservation and Modernization, a bipar- tisan group of senators and representatives tasked with doing the groundwork for a transportation spending package lawmakers hope to pass during the 2017 legis- lative session. Last year a bipartisan group of eight lawmakers hammered out a deal on a $343.5 million transpor- tation package that would have increased gas taxes and vehicle fees in order to pay for road and bridge re- pairs. But the deal fell apart after Republicans and Dem- ocrats couldn’t ind a com- promise on whether to alter the state’s newly passed clean fuel standards, which would have also raised gas prices. The two parties plan to try again in 2017. The joint committee was in Hermiston to hear from Eastern Oregon cities about the top spending needs in the area, followed by a two- hour bus tour through Uma- tilla County and Morrow County to see the areas of concern irsthand. Rep. Greg Smith, R-Hep- pner. started out the meeting by thanking his colleagues for making the trip to Uma- tilla County. He gave ex- amples of communities in Eastern Oregon working together and assured them that his district was ready and able to leverage any dollars that came their way into public projects that would spur private invest- ment. “Often communities are still ighting over what col- or the dugouts on the Little League ield are going to be,” he said. “That is not the case here.” Later, Marv Padberg, commissioner for the Port of Morrow, echoed those sentiments after giving the committee a tour. He point- ed out hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of eco- nomic development, creat- ing thousands of jobs, that have come to the Port of Morrow in the past decade in part because of the way state and federal dollars were leveraged. “My point today, if I don’t get anything else said, is that we turn this mon- ey around,” Padberg said. “... Just 10 short years ago, when you came up over the overpass, none of this stuff was here. None.” As local leaders antici- pate the opportunity to snag some of the hundreds of millions of dollars that will be up for grabs should a transportation package pass, here are a few projects they proposed to the joint com- mittee June 29: • The city of Hermis- ton would like to overhaul North First Place, includ- ing re-pavement, widening, sidewalks and a redesign of the intersection with Or- chard Avenue next to the po- lice station and ire depart- ment. During Wednesday’s hearing, Mayor Dave Drot- zmann showed legislators a picture of trafic backed up at the intersection, creating their own made-up turn lane and blocking where a ire truck or ambulance would need to pass to respond to an emergency. The plan would take $7 million to complete, and Drotzmann said it was just one of $43 million worth HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 LOCAL NEWS of needed road projects to keep up with Hermiston’s growth. “We can’t fund it with- out your help and support,” he said. “If we were going to go out and try to fund these projects on our own, it would take 143 years.” • The city of Stanield would like to change the feel of its Main Street — which also happens to be Highway 395 — by planting trees, adding medians and creat- ing bulb-outs where there used to be parking. City manager Blair Lars- en told the committee that the lanes of travel would be just as wide as before, but the visual cues to the driver would help prompt people to slow down and look for pedestrians. He said he watched recently as a speeding car passed an elderly woman inside a crosswalk so close by that it knocked the cane out of her hand. Some people refuse to cross the highway on foot at all, he said. “The economic impact of having a real, walk- able Main Street would be huge,” he said. • The North Highway 395 committee, made up of business owners and resi- dents between Hermiston’s urban growth boundary and Umatilla’s, would like to see a trafic signal add- ed to Baggett Lane and the road improved. The project would create a safer route for trucks from Villareal Trucking, Medelez Truck- ing, Reddaway Trucking, Sanitary Disposal and other companies to enter and exit the highway. “They’re going to man- date that employees use that route to get on and off 395,” committee member Steve Watkinds said. “And they’re going to want to use it, be- cause right now it’s so dan- gerous to get on and off.” • The Oregon Department of Transportation would like to move the Umatilla Port of Entry, where semi-trucks pull off to be weighed after crossing into Oregon, from Umatilla to a spot on I-82 just south of the Umatilla River. The project, which would cost an estimated $20 million, would allow trucks to continue on the interstate instead of pulling in and out of heavy trafic in Umatilla, which would re- duce congestion around the interchange. Craig Sipp, ODOT Re- gion 5 manager, also told legislators during their tour that ODOT also wanted to improve safety conditions on Cabbage Hill, using tac- tics that include more chain- up areas, increased lighting and variable speed limits that adjust to the weather conditions. Fireworks spark fires across area By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer Fireworks on the Fourth of July on Monday night caused several ires in the area. One of the most visible ires of the night was on the Hermiston Butte, where falling embers from the city-sponsored ireworks show lit up the south side of the distinctive landmark. The rest of the ireworks were set off as planned de- spite the blaze, but Umatilla Fire District 1 Chief Scott Stanton said the department was on the butte for about two hours total. They had done a con- trolled burn on the north side of the butte a few days earlier, but Stanton said they didn’t do the south side because as far as he could remember that side had never burned during a ireworks show before. “Usually with the pre- vailing winds and the way they shoot, we’re good,” he said. Stanton said there was only one truck standing by at the bottom of the butte when the ire started be- cause District 1 was also standing by for the Stan- ield ireworks show, in addition to responding to a dumpster ire and a separate STAFF PHOTO BY DANIEL WATTENBURGER Fireworks from Hermiston’s annual Fourth of July celebration started a grass ire Monday at the Hermiston Butte. brush ire at the same time. In total the department responded to six ires on Monday, four of which were caused by ireworks. One not related to ireworks was a structure ire on Southwest 23rd Street ear- ly Monday morning, which caused signiicant damage to the attic of a home. Stanton said it seemed like a fairly average Fourth of July weekend. “We’ve seen busier,” he said. In Ione, the ireworks show was actually cut off mid-show due to a ire sparked by falling em- bers. The all-volunteer ire department couldn’t be reached Tuesday, however a post on the Ione 4th of July Facebook page noted that the show was short- ened due to a brush ire that started shortly after the show began, but “our vol- unteer iremen were on it quick and have it out.” Despite the ires, Nick Bejarano, spokesman for Good Shepherd Health Care System, said the Hermiston hospital didn’t see any ireworks-related injuries in the emergency room over the weekend this year, including smoke inha- lation caused by ires. He said the hospital, urged people to carefully read the directions if they were going to set off their own ireworks. Less than an hour after the Fourth of July week- end oficially ended at midnight, ireighters from Hermiston and Pendleton were called out to a large brush ire on Highway 37 near Pendleton. Ciraulo said it grew to about 500 acres, and there was a lare- up again later in the day, but so far there was no indi- cation that it was caused by ireworks. Frew takes over as EOTEC general contractor Frew will act as contractor for remaining construction, except for rodeo arena By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer A special meeting of the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center board on Fri- day, July 1, clariies Frew Development Group’s role in the project going for- ward. The company will be the general contractor and construction manager for all remaining components — including barns, fencing, lighting, landscaping and food stalls — except the ro- deo arena. During the EOTEC board’s June 24 emergency meeting, John Frew, presi- dent and CEO of Frew De- velopment Group, told the board that constant meet- ings with stakeholders over every detail were hindering progress to the point that the project would not be ready in time for the 2017 Uma- tilla County Fair and Farm- City Pro Rodeo unless changes in process were made. The board voted to give the company more direct control by changing their contract from project manager to general contrac- tor. On Friday, however, Frew said that further meet- ings with stakeholders and a promising pre-bid meet- ing had persuaded him that the rodeo arena should be carved out from that role, allowing the bid process for a general arena contrac- tor to continue. He said six contractors showed up to the meeting and allowing one of them to get started on work as soon as the bid is awarded July 29 would be just as fast as having Frew Development Group put together its own team of subcontractors. He said it has been made clear to bidders that the are- na needs to be completed by July 21, 2017 at a cost of $3.8 million. “$3.8 million is the bud- get, and if contractors out there feel they can’t do it then they’re wasting their time,” he said. On Friday the board also voted to reject the two bids for the barns. Both bids came in more than $1 million over the $2.6 mil- lion the EOTEC authority has available, necessitating changes to the design. Frew said part of the problem was that the construction indus- try was “very, very busy” in Eastern Oregon right now. During the public com- ment section Richard Meis- ner, who lives on Ott Road near EOTEC, said that events held at the event cen- ter building since it opened in May have frequently violated the city’s noise ordinance, running until as late as 1 a.m. He also complained about a delay in getting dust suppressant laid down on Ott Road, and about trafic after the events heading east instead of go- ing back up Airport Road to Highway 395 as was in- tended. Byron Smith, the EO- TEC board chair and Herm- iston city manager, said the city would investigate the noise ordinance issue. The board’s next meet- ing will be July 15. Veronica Zapata Auto Health Home Life habla español 541/289-3300 • 800/225-2521 Veronica Zapata Family Insurance Agent The Stratton Agency Hermiston / Pendleton • stratton-insurance.com BABYSITTING BASICS For babysitters ages 10-15. 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