WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2017
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
LOCAL NEWS
Good Shepherd
plans to acquire
Gifford Medical
HERMISTON HERALD
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
The 2017 Hermiston High School graduating class listens to a speaker during Saturday’s commencement ceremony.
Hermiston looks at new
venues for graduation
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Hermiston High School
this year boasted a record
number of graduates — but
with that came unprece-
dented crowds filling the
gym, auditorium and com-
mons to watch those stu-
dents walk across the stage.
In the coming months,
the Hermiston School Dis-
trict will look at options to
better accommodate those
crowds, which will likely
keep growing. The district
is examining three new
venues in which graduation
could be held: the school’s
Bulldog Stadium at Ken-
nison Field, the rodeo
grounds at the new Eastern
Oregon Trade and Events
Center, and the Toyota Cen-
ter in Kennewick.
Hermiston superinten-
dent Dr. Fred Maiocco said
the district would bring
the issue before the school
board this fall.
“The challenge is that
our crowds are growing,
and we can only accom-
modate the same number
of people. This year we
allowed each student to
have five tickets for fami-
ly members, and last year
it was six. I anticipate it
would go down to four
next year, and that’s just
too few.”
Maiocco said this year
about 300 people watched
the graduation on a screen
in the auditorium, and
more overflowed into the
school commons. There
were 1,800 in the gym,
not including the students
and staff on the floor. This
year’s graduating class of
332 students came from a
school population of about
1,600.
Of the three options
the district is exploring,
Maiocco said there are
some challenges with each.
“We’re taking another
look at the Bulldog stadi-
um, Kennison Field,” he
said. But he noted several
disadvantages to using that
facility, including the lack
of air conditioning, and the
distance between the crowd
and graduates.
“And it only provides
a couple hundred more
seats,” he said.
The EOTEC rodeo
grounds are another option,
Maiocco said, that would
not address the problem of
outdoor heat.
“Unfortunately the EO-
TEC building is not big
enough,” he said.
With nothing in the re-
gion on the Oregon side
large enough to hold such
large crowds, the district
has also begun looking
across the river. Holding
graduation at the Toyo-
ta Center would be a ma-
jor change, but mitigates
some of the issues the dis-
Hermiston signal project delayed
HERMISTON HERALD
One of Hermiston’s main
infrastructure projects has
been delayed after it received
no bids from contractors.
The
project,
which
planned to put a traffic signal
at Highway 207 and West
Elm Avenue and another at
West 11th Street and Or-
chard Avenue, will likely be
delayed at least six months
according to Mark Morgan,
assistant city manager.
“We don’t have a plan
nailed down,” Morgan said.
“But we will probably re-bid
in the fall once construction
season is over.”
Morgan said the city had
hoped to start construction
this fall, but now will likely
not get to bid again until that
time.
“It’s not a minor project,”
he said. “Really, the environ-
ment we’re in now is that
construction folks are just so
busy.”
The projects at those two
intersections included a left-
turn lane on Highway 207
into Good Shepherd Medical
Center.
The cost for the traffic
signals is about $1.6 mil-
lion, with funds provided by
an Oregon Department of
Transportation grant, Good
Shepherd Healthcare system
and the city of Hermiston.
Committee looking at franchise fee increase
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
As the Oregon legisla-
ture looks to raise revenue
for transportation projects,
the city of Hermiston is
working on a plan of its
own.
The city’s public infra-
structure committee has
been working to put togeth-
er a comprehensive capi-
tal improvement plan, and
recently moved on to the
street department portion of
the project.
That could include a
plan to raise franchise fees
on providers of electricity,
natural gas, cable and tele-
communications.
“Before we start to de-
velop what that plan looks
like, we really need to have
an idea of what the resourc-
es are going to be,” assis-
tant city manager Mark
Morgan said.
In a 12-page memo
to the committee, Mor-
gan recently laid out the
city’s main options for
raising money for street
projects: increasing fran-
chise fees to 7 percent, add-
ing a $5 surcharge to utility
bills or adopting a 5 cent
gas tax.
Outside of the city’s
control, but also a possi-
ble revenue stream, is the
major transportation pack-
age the legislature is hop-
ing to pass before the end
of their 2017 session. If
the bill passes as current-
ly written the city would
receive additional street
maintenance revenue from
the state’s plan to raise the
gas tax by 14 cents per
gallon, in addition to fund-
ing a multi-million dollar
overhaul of First Place
that would include traffic
signals at its intersections
with Highland Avenue and
Orchard Avenue.
Other street projects the
city’s public infrastructure
committee is looking at list-
ing in the capital improve-
ment plan include paving
roads like East Theater
Lane, overlays on various
worn-out streets and ex-
tending Gettman Road to
Highway 395 so that it can
be used as another major
east-west corridor through
town.
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trict is looking to address.
Maiocco said this year, the
district sent a team up to
review a graduation at the
Toyota Center, and felt it
may be a good option for
Hermiston.
“The basic rental would
be less than $10,000 to rent
a facility,” Maiocco said.
“But that’s not the only
cost. We’d look at trans-
portation, all logistics.”
But he added that Herm-
iston already spends about
$10,000 on graduation,
even at its own facility.
Maiocco said the dis-
trict is currently analyzing
its options.
“We’ll certainly take
public input, and provide
all kids of opportunities
for that,” he said. “But ulti-
mately, it’s a school board
decision.”
Maiocco said the dis-
trict aims to find a solution
to its graduation issues for
the upcoming school year.
One of Hermiston’s
largest employers will
get even larger as Good
Shepherd Medical Center
will assume ownership of
Gifford Medical on July
1.
Gifford Medical, which
is located across from
Good Shepherd on West
Elm Avenue, will retain its
name and current services.
Dr. Joseph Gifford will
continue to see patients,
but on a part-time basis.
The other three doctors at
the facility will also con-
tinue to work there.
Gifford has been a doc-
tor since 1974 and has
been practicing in Herm-
iston since 1990. When
he started the practice, he
was the only doctor there.
Lisa Gifford, Dr. Gif-
ford’s wife and the com-
pany’s spokesperson, said
the hospital plans to retain
all the company’s employ-
ees.
“It happened pretty
fast,” said Gifford. “We
decided to sell because
we’re wanting to retire.”
Gifford said she hopes
the change will be good
for the practice and for pa-
tients.
“We hope it will even-
tually grow it and allow
it to expand hours,” she
said.
A representative for
Good Shepherd could not
be reached by press time.
Gifford Medical currently
provides urgent care as
well as private practice.
HSD hires new
operations director
HERMISTON HERALD
The Hermiston School
District has hired Brad
Wayland as its new direc-
tor of operations.
Wayland will start the
job July 15, pending ap-
proval from the school
board, replacing outgoing
director Mike Kay. Kay
is retiring from the district
June 30.
Wayland has a back-
ground in operations man-
agement. He is currently
the president of his own
company, Sentry Securi-
ty Consultants in Haw-
thorne, Nevada. Among
other jobs, he has served
as the director of facilities
and operations for Cen-
tral Valley School District
outside Spokane, Wash-
ington.
Wayland is also a retired
Air Force lieutenant and
has a Masters of Science
in Management Science
from Ohio University, and
a Bachelor of Science in
Engineering from the U.S.
Air Force Academy.
“Mr. Wayland will be
a great addition to the ad-
ministrative team,” said
Tricia Mooney, assistant
superintendent of human
resources. “He brings a
wealth of knowledge in
many areas.”
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