WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2016 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 LOCAL NEWS Growing pains at fairgrounds OREGON OFFERS SHORT-TERM FIX FOR DECREASING RURAL could be eased by EOTEC HEALTH CARE COVERAGE By JADE MCDOWELL Staff writer By ALEXA LOUGEE The popularity of the Umatilla County Fair has the fairgrounds bursting at the seams each August, but some see a light at the end of the tunnel with the construction of the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center. The project on Airport Road promises 55 acres of new buildings and infra- structure, parking galore and 39 acres to grow on. For this year, however, the fair is still experiencing growing pains at its loca- tion in the center of Herm- iston. “All the plumbing and sewer and electrical is so old, it’s been band-aided to- gether,” fair manager Don Slone said. He said he is looking for- ward to infrastructure that doesn’t require constant intervention and creative solutions. Another piece he said everyone is look- ing forward to is on-site parking. Currently most fairgoers and volunteers have to ¿ght for parking on Orchard Avenue, Highland Avenue and side streets for blocks in every direction. “It’s a little awkward for a lot of the homeowners,” he said. Jillian and Corbet Weimer know about that. They live on Orchard across from the fairgrounds. They said while they support the fair and wouldn’t presume to have it shut down be- cause of the inconvenience to neighbors, there is no denying the impact on the neighborhood. Traf¿c in- creases dramatically, late- night noise and Àoodlights interrupt their children’s’ sleeping patterns and peo- ple sometimes decide to park in front of their drive- way or take smoke breaks on their lawn. “We don’t look forward to fair week,” Jillian said. Other neighbors echoed those sentiments and said they will be happy to see the fair and rodeo move to a much less densely popu- lated area. Volunteers are anoth- er group looking forward to the move out of town. Wanda Alanis, who was keeping an eye on the ex- hibits in Price Hall on Thursday, said she is excit- ed at the idea of an air-con- ditioned, enclosed space for exhibits. “We try to keep things as clean as possible, but some years when it’s windy it gets nasty,” she said. She and Kris Dorran, superintendent for the canned foods exhibits, said they’re lucky if dust is all that blows in on the quilts and food. Some years rainstorms have Àooded the hall as well. And Dorran said the lack of air conditioning means the award-winning baked goods on display are often covered in mold by the end of the week. They already know the new event center, which will house all exhibits during the fair, will take care of those problems. Af- ter spending years climb- ing ladders to hang quilts from the ceiling, they are hoping the new arrange- ment also includes a safer, more convenient way to display them. Dorran said it will also be nice just to have a new space that isn’t falling apart. “There is a shelf we are not using for canned food this year because we are Staff writer STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS The Umatilla County Fair Court maneuvers through one of the overnight camping areas on their golf cart Thursday at the Umatilla County Fairgrounds in Hermiston. STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Patrons ride the Yoyo at the Umatilla County Fair on Thursday in Hermiston. questioning the integrity of it,” she said. For kids showing an- imals through 4-H and FFA, the new fairgrounds will include new barns with more room. Kenny Nichols, whose daughter is showing a hog at the fair this year, said he hopes that the camping situation will be better as well. His family lives out- side of Hermiston and he and his wife have jobs to get to, so it’s a huge help for them to be able to be able to camp on the fair- grounds. That allows his daughter to wake up and walk over to her 5 a.m. feeding and pen-cleaning duties. However, this year the family was original- ly told that even though they had applied for a spot and paid the fee before deadline, there were not enough spots for everyone and they would not be able to camp there. A couple of days before the fair, he said, they were contacted and told that a spot had been found for them after all. Nichols said it would be nice to have more room, since RVs and tents are currently spaced about ¿ve feet apart from each other. And while water and sewer hookups are not essential, they would come in handy. “The main thing would be more camping spots,” he said. Those attending the fair just for fun have a few up- grades they’re looking for EOTEC to provide as well. Tasha Bleyenberg said she is looking forward to more handicapped-accessible restrooms, particularly a family restroom in the ex- hibitor hall. She had a bad experi- ence in a previous year at the fair with restrooms. She said her autistic son, who was the same size as her at the time, was having stomach problems when they were confronted with a massive line at the reg- ular restrooms. They were forced to use a portable toilet, and Bleyenberg said trying to cram both of them into the space for several STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Patrons look at photos on display in Price Hall on Thursday at the Umatilla County Fairgrounds in Hermiston. minutes as she tried to help him clean up in 100 degree heat was a miserable expe- rience. “It kind of deterred me from trying to take my son to the fair,” she said, not- ing that she knew of oth- er families who were also hesitant to take disabled or special-needs family members because of the restroom issue. Slone said the new fair and rodeo grounds at EO- TEC will be up to code when it comes to accessi- bility, including ADA re- 3*QPQTGF V 3 Q3DG3C3RCTV3QH3VJG3 E 3 QOOWPKVKGU3YG3UGTXG 3s33)GPGTCN3'ZEGNNGPEG3 H 3 QT3VJG3'CUV31TGIQPKCP3 H 3 QT3VJG3UGEQPF3 E 3 QPUGEWVKXG3[GCT 3s33$GUV3+PETGCUG3KP3 % 3 KTEWNCVKQP3D[36JG3 & 3 CKN[3#UVQTKCP 3s335YGGRUVCMGU3#YCTF3 D 3 [3VJG3%CRKVCN32TGUU 3 13/GFKC3)TQWR3PGYURCRGTU3YGTG3JQPQTGF3YKVJ33CYCTFU3CV3VJG31TGIQP3 ' 30GYURCRGT32WDNKUJGTU3#UUQEKCVKQP35WOOGT3%QPXGPVKQP31WT3HCOKN[QYPGF3 3RWDNKECVKQPU3 CTG3 RTQWF3 VQ3 EQPVKPWG3 C3 VTCFKVKQP3 QH3 LQWTPCNKUVKE3 GZEGNNGPEG eo o It’s not like her. Mom has always been so patient, but now when I ask her questions she gets angry. We can help. 1-855-ORE-ADRC HelpForAlz.org OREGON DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES PROGRAM strooms and a large number of hanidcapped-accessi- ble parking spots near the event center and at the ro- deo grounds. He said the extra space at the new fairgrounds will mean more room and the opportunity to ¿nd the best layout for vendors, food stalls, carnival rides and other components. “If we don’t like the layout the ¿rst year we can change the layout for the second year,” he said. “We don’t have to put it back the same way.” The state of Oregon has sought to suture rural Ore- gon’s growing health care coverage wound. The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services announced an agreement between the state and several health insur- ance companies last week. As part of the agreement, some companies will con- tinue providing coverage in counties they had originally planned to leave in 2017. In exchange, the state will allow the carriers to increase health care premi- ums even more than initially planned. Umatilla County current- ly has access to coverage from seven companies. Four companies, Lifewise, Pacif- icSource, Providence and Regence, had all planned to withdraw coverage from the county and several neigh- boring counties next year. The agreement with the state will see two of those companies, Providence and Regence, remain in Uma- tilla County along with Bridgespan, HealthNet and Moda. The county will now have ¿ve options, instead of three, for individual health care coverage in 2017. “We are concerned about the shrinking number of op- tions in certain areas of the state, and we asked insur- ance companies to recon- sider their decisions to with- draw,” said Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon De- partment of Consumer and Business Services. “This is a short-term solution to pro- vide more options in 2017, but we need to focus on long-term solutions to stabi- lize the individual market.” This agreement is only for one year and does not address the underlying is- sues causing companies to decrease coverage, such as insuf¿cient payments by the federal government to cover losses from high-risk cus- tomers. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid paid out only 12.6 cents on the dollar to insurers under the “risk corridors” pro- gram, one of three programs designed to reduce risk and prevent loss for insurers and act as incentive for compa- nies to insure more people. According to insurers this resulted in steep losses for several companies, causing them to raise premiums and narrow network coverage. Bridgespan, Regence and Providence’s rates will rise from three to six percent more than indicated back in July. “While bringing back these plans throughout the state is in the best interest of consumers, we know con- tinued rate increases are not sustainable,” Allen said. “In the coming months, we will work with the Governor’s of¿ce, legislators, and stake- holders to develop proposals for the 2017 legislative ses- sion that address the under- lying costs of health care so that Oregonians throughout the state continue to have coverage options.” Josh Goller of Simmons Insurance in Hermiston in an email called the an- nouncement a “positive de- velopment for our region,” but cautioned, “it will still be important to evaluate how the pricing and networks for these carriers compare for these plans for next year.” The state of Oregon is hosting a town hall today in Hermiston from 6 to 8 p.m. at Good Shepherd Hospital in room CC2. Called Health Insurance 101, these meet- ings will discuss the basics of health insurance, as well as options that exist for all Oregonians. There will also be time for audience questions. eomediagroup.com group 3'CUV31TGIQPKCP * 3 GTOKUVQP3*GTCNF % 3 JKPQQM31DUGTXGT ' 3 CUV1TGIQPKCPEQO 3*GTOKUVQP*GTCNFEQO 3%JKPQQM1DUGTXGTEQO % 3 CPPQP3$GCEJ3)C\GVVG 3%CPPQP$GCEJ)C\GVVGEQO 36JG3&CKN[3#UVQTKCP 3$NWG3/QWPVCKP3'CING 1 3 TGIQP3%QCUV361&#; % 3 QCUV34KXGT3$WUKPGUU3,QWTPCN & 3 CKN[#UVQTKCPEQO 3/['CING0GYUEQO 31TGIQP%QCUV6QFC[EQO 3ETDK\LQWTPCNEQO 3%CRKVCN32TGUU 39CNNQYC3%QWPV[3%JKGHVCKP 5 3 GCUKFG35KIPCN 1 3 WT3%QCUV3/CIC\KPG % 3 CRKVCN2TGUUEQO 39CNNQYCEQO 35GCUKFG5KIPCNEQO 3&KUEQXGT1WT%QCUVEQO