Hermiston
HERMISTON NATIVE
Herald
erald
HermistonHerald.com
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2016
DANIEL BUCK
RETURNS HOME AS
NEWEST ER DOCTOR
Page 4
$1.00
ABOUT TOWN
City to create
two new
committees
33 ANNUAL IRRIGON
RD
WATERMELON
FESTIVAL
STAFF PHOTOS BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Clara Funk attacks a piece of watermelon as her brother, Tony Sexton, looks on during a past Irrigon Watermelon Festival. This year’s event is
Saturday at Irrigon Marina Park.
ACTIVITY FEATURES
WATERMELON, FAMILY FUN
By TAMMY MALGESINI
Community Editor
M
elons and family fun are featured during
the annual Irrigon Watermelon Festival.
In its 33rd year, the festivities kick
off Saturday with a breakfast from 6:30-
9:30 a.m. at Irrigon Marina Park. The
parade, which starts at 10 a.m. in down-
town Irrigon, winds back to the marina park for the rest of
the day’s activities. The event’s opening ceremonies start
at 11 a.m.
Derrick Kestler is gearing up for a great car show
during the event. He invites people to join the parade and
then display their vehicle for the show. For more about the
car show, call Kestler at 541-571-0421.
Renee Couchman of the festival committee said people
See FESTIVAL, A14
Lily, a golden retriever owned by Mike Starling, watches the crowd in the
entertainment area during a past Irrigon Watermelon Festival. This year’s
event is Saturday at Irrigon Marina Park.
Umatilla council wants to attract
new business, develop Old Town
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
The city of Umatilla is
looking to take a greater
role in economic devel-
opment as city councilors
and staff meet together in
a series of goal-setting ses-
sions.
City Manager Russ Pel-
leberg said he has been
working with the county,
the Port of Umatilla, the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion and Business Oregon
on some projects in “very,
very preliminary stages”
that could bring more busi-
nesses in to the area.
“There are many pieces
of the puzzle in motion,”
he said.
Pelleberg said one of
those efforts has been to
start actively marketing
available land to com-
panies that might be a
good fi t, offering up de-
tailed information packets
about everything from the
amount of traffi c passing
by each day to the infra-
structure in place.
On July 19, during a
workshop to discuss coun-
cilors’ goals for the city,
one type of business ev-
eryone wanted to set their
sights on was an outlet
mall. Councilors and staff
pointed out that a collec-
tion of brand-name stores
not found in the Tri-Cities
had the potential to draw
people from there who
were looking for nearby
deals with no sales tax at-
tached.
Mayor Dave Trott said
at the meeting that the
city needed to foster local
entrepreneurship but also
look afi eld for opportuni-
ties.
“It’s not necessarily
people in our back yard
who have got the interest,”
he said.
Pelleberg told council-
ors that it would take “a
lot more than a phone call”
to bring an outlet mall to
Umatilla but it didn’t mean
they shouldn’t work on it.
He told the East Orego-
nian that he has been look-
ing with engineers at what
will be needed to bring
water to some of the prop-
erties in the urban growth
boundary along Highway
395 that aren’t currently
feasible for businesses to
See UMATILLA, A14
The city of Hermis-
ton is creating two new
committees to address
upcoming projects.
The fi rst is a design
committee for the festival
street that the city plans to
build along Second Street
in front of City Hall using
money from the Urban
Renewal District.
City Manager Byron
Smith told city councilors
on Monday night that the
committee would work
for about a year with
architects to design the
project and gather public
input. The committee will
be made up of one city
council member, one city
staff member and three
members of the public.
The other commit-
tee is a transit advisory
committee, which will
help the city look at “po-
tential improvements” to
the city’s transportation
system. The city has al-
ready budgeted to begin a
Dial-a-Ride system in the
next year to supplement
the taxi ticket program
for senior and disabled
residents.
That committee will
include two councilors,
someone from the plan-
ning department, some-
one who uses the taxi
ticket program, someone
in the senior care indus-
try, someone from the
Chamber of Commerce
and a citizen.
The rest of Monday’s
meeting was uneventful,
with committee reports,
the June fi nancial report
and a proclamation rec-
ognizing National Night
Out.
Herald off ers
bonus clue for
treasure hunt
Each year, the Herm-
iston Herald, East Ore-
gonian and city of Herm-
iston treats the winner of
the National Night Out
treasure hunt to an ice
cream social block party.
Erica Sandoval, Herm-
iston Police Department
crime prevention/youth
services offi cer, hid a
golden medallion, which
is about 3 inches in di-
ameter and is attached
to a red, white and blue
ribbon, somewhere with-
in Hermiston. For full
rules, grab a copy of the
Wednesday, July 27, East
Oregonian. Daily clues
will be published in the
EO until the medallion is
found.
A bonus clue,
What are you going
to do?
Read the tips and put
on your thinking caps.
It may not look like
it, but it could be under
wraps.
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
The person who fi nds this
golden medallion, which
is hidden somewhere in
Hermiston, wins a National
Night Out ice cream social
block party Tuesday, Aug.
2 in Hermiston.