WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
LOCAL NEWS
City sells land for Ranch & Home site
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
The Hermiston City
Council sold a small piece
of land to Ranch & Home
owner George Dress on
Monday night, bringing a
planned Hermiston location
for the retailer one step clos-
er to reality.
The .43 acres of proper-
ty is next to a city munici-
pal well and adjacent to the
proposed Ranch & Home
site on South Highway 395
between Hermiston Foods
and the Wal-Mart Distribu-
tion Center. City Manager
Byron Smith said city staff
and engineers “didn’t see a
longterm need” for the prop-
erty, which is outside the
fence line around the well.
Smith said the extra space
would give the Ranch &
Home developers additional
space for delivery trucks to
maneuver around the back
of the store, improving traf-
fic flow.
Jeff Dress, one of Ranch
& Home’s co-owners, testi-
fied in favor of the resolu-
tion to declare the land sur-
plus and sell it.
“We’ve been massag-
ing the site plan, as Byron
knows, quite a bit, and this
would help,” he said.
The price of $6,565
matches the per-acre price
that Ranch & Home paid the
Port of Umatilla for the ad-
jacent property in 2015. The
council approved the resolu-
tion unanimously.
The council also ap-
proved a name for the free
public bus system that will
go into effect in Hermiston
starting Jan. 3. The system
will run from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. Monday through Fri-
day via a contract with Kay-
ak Public Transit.
An online survey by the
city saw the HART (Herm-
iston Area Regional Tran-
sit) receive 51 percent of
the votes, beating out the
Watermelon Express, Bull-
dog Express and Hermiston
Looper. The council unan-
imously voted to adopt the
HART name.
“I heart it,” councilor
Doug Primmer said, setting
off a round of heart and
bus-related puns by council
members.
On Monday the coun-
cil also approved a request
from the Hermiston School
District to waive utility fees
on the Umatilla County
Fairgrounds from Dec. 31,
2016 to May 31, 2017.
The district will take
over the fairgrounds on Jan.
1, but has agreed to hold off
on demolition until the high
school and college rodeos
and horse sales are complete
for the year. The new rodeo
arena at the Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center will
not be finished in time.
Smith said waiving wa-
ter, sewer and electric bills
for five months will cost the
city less than $2,000. Coun-
cilors unanimously agreed
to do so, noting the school
district had been a “very pa-
tient” partner and the events
would bring in much more
than $2,000 of economic
benefit to the community.
“Obviously we want
these events to have a
home,” Mayor David Drot-
zmann said. “We don’t want
them to find a new home. If
they find a new home they
won’t come back.”
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at 541-564-4536.
Enrollment growth fuels district’s
need for new local school facilities
District may also
seek grant funds as
partial bond match
By ANTONIO SIERRA
Staff Writer
At a meeting Monday at
Hermiston High School, Su-
perintendent Fred Maiocco
told a small group of residents
why the school was consider-
ing a $104 million bond pro-
posal for the May ballot just
eight years after voters ap-
proved a $69.9 million bond.
For the district, the proof
was in the population.
Since 2008, Hermiston’s
student enrollment has grown
by 600 students, exceeding
even the most aggressive pro-
jection in a growth forecast
calculated by Portland State
University.
Hermiston High School
bore the brunt of that growth
and is now nearing its
1,600-student capacity.
To boost the high school’s
capacity to 2,000 students,
the district would use the
bond to expand the commons
area, add a science and career
technical education wing to
the north of the building, and
make other additions.
Maiocco said the district
would probably consider
building a second high school
once high school enrollment
approached 2,400, but that
would not likely come under
serious consideration for an-
other 15-20 years.
The current bond package
also includes new elementa-
ry schools at Rocky Heights,
Highland Hills and on the dis-
G O O D
trict’s Theater Lane property,
upgrades Maiocco said will
replace aging and unsafe fa-
cilities in addition to provid-
ing more capacity.
Including those new facili-
ties and updates to Sandstone
Middle School, the school
board thought it was best to
pursue a $104 million bond
in May.
Maiocco said the district’s
facilities have needs outside the
scope of the bond, but the dis-
trict wanted to keep the tax rate
from school bonds under $5
per $1,000 in assessed value.
The bond proposal cer-
tainly cuts it close, adding 90
cents to the current $4.09 per
$1,000 tax rate.
The district will also try
to offset some of the cost by
applying for a grant through
the Oregon School Capital
Improvement Matching Pro-
gram, a state initiative that
provides matching funds for
districts that pass bonds.
Districts in Echo, Umatil-
la, Milton-Freewater and Ath-
ena-Weston, have all used it to
their advantage, and Maiocco
estimates Hermiston could
get $4 million from the grant
program if their application is
approved.
The deadline for the grant
application means the board
needs to commit the bond
proposal by Dec. 12.
If the bond gets the green
light, school board member
Ginny Holthus said the board
would help form a political
action committee to cam-
paign for the bond starting in
January.
With the last public opin-
ion survey showing 48 per-
cent of voters opposed to the
bond versus 46 for it, Maioc-
co said the district would see
clear, negative effects from
not being able to build new
facilities while enrollment
continues to rise.
The district has added 14
modular classrooms to its
schools since 2008. If Herm-
To our valued patients,
It is with a heavy heart to inform you of the pass-
ing of Dr. Ritchie Hibbert. At this time the offi ce will
remain open. Dr. Hibbert always made sure that our
patients would be taken care of and we would like to
thank you for your continued support as we make this
transition.
With the huge support of the dental community our
offi ce will continue to see patients with dentists step-
ping in to cover our current and future appointments
during this time as we transition into a new practice.
iston continued to meet or
exceed the Portland State en-
rollment projection, it would
need to add another 22 units,
bringing the total number of
modulars to 56.
Maiocco said the district
has already switched from
buying modulars to leasing
them to save money. If the
district wasn’t able to con-
tinue building them, it might
have to consider switching to
a year-round or double-shift
school schedule.
Given the relative fre-
quency in which the district
has asked for bonds from the
public, an audience member
asked Maiocco if the district
would pursue another bond in
10 years.
“We will be back,” Maioc-
co responded. “We will not
solve all of it.”
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
541-966-0836.
IN BRIEF
Holiday season
shines in Boardman
com or visit www.aauw.
org.
A musical Christmas
light show, living Nativi-
ty, a visit by Santa Claus
and carolers are featured
in an event at the SAGE
Center.
The Boardman Christ-
mas Lighting is tonight
(Wednesday, Nov. 30)
at 6 p.m. at 101 Olson
Road, Boardman. In ad-
dition, cookies and hot
chocolate will be served.
(NOTE: Due to a change
in venue, the wrong lo-
cation is listed in the
“Home for the Holidays”
calendar, which was in-
serted in the Nov. 23 edi-
tion).
For more informa-
tion, call 541-481-3014
or visit www.visitsage.
com/event/153.
Christmas concert
features local talent
AAUW meeting
features wine tasting
An opportunity for
wine tasting is available
during the AAUW De-
cember general meeting.
Everyone is invited
to the gathering, which
is Thursday at 7 p.m. in
Great Pacific Wine & Cof-
fee Co., 403 S. Main St.,
Pendleton. The wine tast-
ing fee is $10.
AAUW’s
(formerly
knowns as the American
Association of University
Women) mission is to as-
sist in bettering the lives
of women and girls. For
more information, contact
karenallen1965@gmail.
The public is invited to
see the newly remodeled
dining room at the Hard-
man Community Center.
A
celebration
is
planned featuring an open
house and potluck. The
free event is Sunday from
1-4 p.m. at 51186 High-
way 207, located about 20
miles south of Heppner.
Main dishes are provid-
ed by Ruggs Ranch and
Snow McElligott; and
coffee and punch by the
center. Those planning to
attend are asked to bring
a side, salad or dessert to
share. To coordinate seat-
ing, large groups should
RSVP.
For more information,
contact hcc@hughes.net
or 541-676-9718.
Friday, December 2nd • 7:30 pm
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We, as an offi ce, look forward to still seeing each of
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S H E P H E R D
Local musician Dal-
lin Puzey, the Hermiston
Community Choir and
others will kick off the hol-
iday season in song.
The Community Christ-
mas Concert is Friday at
7:30 p.m. at the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, 850 S.W. 11th St.,
Hermiston. There is no ad-
mission charge.
For more information,
contact
ilene.curtis@
a1ind.com.
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