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Hermiston
Herald
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2016
HermistonHerald.com
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ABOUT TOWN
Council approves
dispatch contract
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
FILE PHOTO
NEW RODEO ARENA
EOTEC AWARDS BID
Some details still need to
be worked out, like lighting
and restrooms at arena
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
The Eastern Oregon Trade and Event
Center board awarded a contract for con-
struction of the project’s rodeo arena
Monday, but it doesn’t include restrooms
or arena lighting.
Hendon Construction of Umatilla was
the sole bidder at $3.9 million. Board
chair Byron Smith said the $3.9 million
meets the budget for the project but does
not leave any extra money to add re-
strooms or lighting, which the board had
separated out from the base bid after a
fi rst round of bidding produced bids well
over $4 million and was rejected.
“My encouragement to the contractor
would be to look for some value engi-
neering opportunities,” he said.
Smith said at a previous meeting
that if the money couldn’t be found for
arena lighting, a “worst-case scenario”
would be that the Farm-City Pro Rodeo
becomes a daytime event in 2017. How-
ever, he clarifi ed after Monday’s meet-
ing that there were other options also
being explored, including leasing lights
or bringing over lights from the current
rodeo arena as an interim measure until
more money could be raised.
Despite concerns that the contract
was awarded months behind the origi-
nal schedule, Smith said he felt Hendon
Construction would be “aggressive” in
trying to meet the 2017 deadline and still
had the ability to do so.
During the special meeting the board
also made plans to attend a Hermiston
Planning Commission meeting at 7 p.m.
tonight at City Hall, when the commis-
sion will discuss EOTEC’s request for a
variance on parking requirements.
As things stand now, fair week will
be the only time that more than one of
STAFF PHOTO BY GARY L. WEST
FILE PHOTO
See ARENA, B8
Above: Joe Fartta and David
Bothum remove a broken
fence board at the Farm-City
Pro Rodeo Arena prior the
the 2016 rodeo in August. The
2017 rodeo is expected to be
held at a new arena which
will be be built at the EOTEC
grounds.
Top: The Farm-City Pro Rodeo
arena, currently located at the
Umatilla County Fairgrounds
in central Hermiston, is
shown in this Hermiston
Herald fi le photo. A bid has
been awarded to build the
new arena at the Eastern
Oregon Trade and Event
Center.
Left: Board members,
volunteers and family
members of the Farm-City
Pro Rodeo have traditionally
spent weeks leading up to
the rodeo making repairs and
beautifying the grounds to get
ready for the big event. The
rodeo is scheduled to move to
the Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center in 2017.
Hermiston School District growing faster than expected
By ANTONIO SIERRA
Staff Writer
As soon as the Herm-
iston School District
sets a new high in en-
rollment, the next year
tops it.
According to a district
enrollment report, 5,714
students were attending
Hermiston schools on
Tuesday, Sept. 6, 318
more students than in
September 2015.
That count not only
surpasses the most ag-
gressive growth forecast
calculated for the 2016-
2017 school year (about
5,500 students) in a 2014
Portland State Universi-
ty study, it’s just above
the middle-growth fore-
cast for the 2017-2018
school year.
Although enrollment
figures are shooting
past previous expecta-
tions, district Executive
Director of Operations
Mike Kay said the dis-
trict prepared for the
surge by building five
modular units over the
summer.
Kay said the modu-
lars provided 10 addi-
tional classrooms, with
eight currently in use,
leaving the district with
some additional capaci-
ty if needed.
In the short term,
Kay said the district
will have to continue to
build more modulars to
provide four to six new
classrooms per year
“From a capital con-
struction
perspective,
it’s the most cost-effec-
tive way to add class-
rooms,” he said.
In the long term, the
district is considering a
$104 million bond pro-
posal for the May 2017
ballot, which would in-
clude rebuilding Rocky
Heights
and
High-
land Hills elementary
schools, adding a new
elementary school and
an expansion of Hermis-
ton High School.
If the district does put
the bond on the ballot, it
would come less than a
decade after it passed a
$69.9 million bond re-
placing Sunset and West
Park elementary schools
and Armand Larive Mid-
dle School.
While the new con-
struction increased ca-
pacity, the intervening
years since the bond
passed in 2008 has seen
student enrollment grow
by nearly 1,000 stu-
dents.
In some cases, adding
modulars isn’t enough.
Tricia Mooney, the
assistant superintendent
of human resources,
said West Park has two
“blended classes” for
fourth and fifth grade,
See GROWTH, B8
The Hermiston City
Council
unanimous-
ly approved a contract
with Umatilla County
for emergency dispatch
services on Monday.
The city combined its
dispatch services with
the county’s in 2014,
but an advisory com-
mittee has since been
working out a formula
for how much cities pay
per year for services.
Previously,
Herm-
iston and Pendleton
were paying for ser-
vices based on popu-
lation, while smaller
cities weren’t sharing
the cost. Under the new
contract, cities will pay
based on assessed val-
ue.
The new contract
will cost Hermiston
$303,487 for the first
year — about $50,000
more than it has been
paying — but is still
significantly
cheaper
than having the city run
its own dispatch center
again.
City Manager By-
ron Smith said like
any change, there have
been a few bumps in
the road, but overall the
combined dispatch has
been a benefit to the
city.
“I really think it’s
been a good transition
for us,” he said.
He said the advisory
committee will contin-
ue to meet, but can now
turn its main focus from
finances to improving
operations.
If citizens come to
the police station to
speak with an officer
about a non-emergen-
cy issue outside of
the Monday-Friday 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. hours
it is open, a phone to
the side of the front
door will connect them
straight to the dispatch
office.
Mayor David Drot-
zmann said he wanted
to thank the county and
the sheriff’s office for
taking the time to lis-
ten to cities’ concerns
through the advisory
committee.
In other business
Monday night, the city
council:
• Approved a fran-
chise agreement with
Fatbeam LLC to use
the city’s right of way
for its fiber optic equip-
ment in exchange for a
5 percent franchise fee.
The company will be
providing fiber optic
service for Hermiston
School District.
• Approved a pair of
stop signs on NW 5th
Street where it inter-
sects with Madrona Av-
enue.
• Discussed imple-
mentation of the new
“Where Life is Sweet”
brand. T-shirts and tank
tops with the new logo
and tagline are for sale
at City Hall for $10
apiece, and Smith said
a Portland painting
company should start in
seven to 10 days on re-
painting the entire wa-
ter tower, finishing by
mid-October. The tow-
er will be an off-white
color with the new
“Where Life is Sweet”
tagline and logo (which
includes a watermelon
slice) on both sides of
the structure.