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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 2017)
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017 LOCAL NEWS HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 EOTEC discusses management Health survey comes to Umatilla County By JADE McDOWELL STAFF WRITER By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER The Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center in Hermiston was not built for the birds. Yet interim manager Nate Rivera told the EO- TEC board Friday that birds are pulling apart the insulation on the ceilings of the barns and nesting in it. A bid for netting to protect the insulation came in at $196,000 and John Eckhardt of Knerr Con- struction said that even lower cost options would be “well into the $160,000 range.” Board vice chair Dan Dorran questioned wheth- er the insulation’s benefits are worth the maintenance expense to save it. “We don’t have $10, let alone $200,000,” he said. Eckhardt said the insu- lation serves to eliminate condensation dripping down, reduce the sound of the wind rattling the roof and keep a cooler tem- perature inside the barns during the summer. Rive- ra said it is easy to defer maintenance projects due to initial cost, but that of- ten means more expensive fixes down the road. The board wanted to see what other options were out there for deterring the birds. Phil Hamm and Tim Weinke of the Hermis- ton Agricultural Research and Extension Center discussed dust and weed control with the board, offering up the center’s expertise on what types of vegetation could be used on the unpaved, un-irrigat- ed parking areas to hold down the sandy soil but not become a significant fire hazard for vehicles to park on during the fair and rodeo. They said if EO- TEC could come up with seed, the center could lend some free labor and equip- ment. The board autho- rized Dorran to work out the details with HAREC and also voted to have a Department of Corrections work crew pull puncture The four long, white trailers on the former Uma- tilla County Fairgrounds might look out of place amid the rubble, but nurs- es and doctors are hard at work inside. A team from the National Health and Nutrition Survey is in Umatilla County for the next month, conducting in- terviews and examinations on selected participants from around the county. The survey team trav- els to 15 different counties around the United States each year and collects health data. The data are then used to create statistics that the Centers for Disease Control publish about the health of people in the U.S. In each county the sur- vey team visits, they iden- tify about 450 people to be surveyed. Of those, they hope about 350 will partic- ipate. “With the 15 counties, we’re trying to match the U.S. population,” said study manager Janis Eklund. That means the people they select are picked based on age, race, gender and so- cioeconomic status — with the hopes that they can find a collection of participants that mirrors the population of the country. However, Eklund said, they select random home address- es and visit those homes, to see if the person living there fits a demographic they need. Eklund said last week they had identified about 300 people, and they will started examinations Thursday. They will be in Umatilla County until Oct. 31. The examinations this year include dental, di- etary, hearing and body mass scans. They also draw blood, and test participants’ blood pressures using both an old and a new machine. The data they collect is used to study a variety of health trends across the U.S., including anemia, di- abetes, cardiovascular dis- eases, obesity and sexually transmitted diseases. All the information par- ticipants give is confiden- tial, Eklund said. Eklund said every few STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Contestants wait to compete with their livestock in the beef barn during the Umatilla County Fair in August 2017 in Hermiston. vine by hand. Logistics for EOTEC’s biggest event since the Umatilla County Fair and Farm-City Pro Rodeo were discussed at length Friday as the Hermiston Horse Sale Extravaganza looms Oct. 14-15. Rivera said in EOTEC’s current situ- ation — with just a part- time, interim manager as EOTEC’s only staff — the facility isn’t really ready to handle that type of event in 2017. But Rivera said he made an exception for the horse sale because it is an event with a good track re- cord in Hermiston that the community doesn’t want to lose. The sale is ex- pected to bring in 2,000 to 2,500 people and generate about 500 hotel stays. “This is exactly what this facility was designed for,” Rivera said. The facility’s condi- tional use permit has dif- ferent requirements for different sizes of events, and the board discussed whether those attendance thresholds applied to over- all attendance during the entire weekend or merely the number of people on the grounds at any given time, which is expected to be 500 or less. They also discussed the need to have people directing parking and enforcing the restric- tions that are in place for access off Ott Road, and someone from EOTEC to be on site managing those people and taking respon- sibility for issues that arise. Rivera will be tied up with his other job as super- intendent of Hermiston En- ergy Services over the next couple of weeks, but Dor- ran said he would work out logistical problems with horse sale manager Randy Hull and make sure some- one from EOTEC was on site during the event. The board also ap- proved a $2,500 grant from EOTEC’s tourism pro- motion assessment funds to market the horse sale. Board members said the grant amount was coinci- dental to the fact that Hull was paying $2,500 to rent the rodeo arena, barns and pens. That fee was based on the price Hull had paid at the old fairgrounds, and board members noted it would likely change for fu- ture events after a perma- nent manager is brought in and a fee structure is creat- ed for the barns and arena. A middle school lead- ership convention had requested free use of the event center in exchange for doing all set-up and tear-down, but Rivera sug- gested a $400 fee due to the fact that the facility is operating at a loss when comparing expenses such as contract labor for janito- rial to rental revenue. “It costs us over $1,000 per day just to open our doors,” he said, calculating the cost since July 1. The board also ap- proved some sugges- tions by Rivera for policy changes to address prob- lems caused by evening events involving alcohol. He suggested an earlier last call for alcohol in order to make sure events wrapped up on time. He said the center should stop offer- ing a discount for doing their own tear-down, since “drinking and exhaustion” was causing additional wear and tear on chairs and tables, and that renters should be charged a $250 fee for leaving their dec- orations in the building to be picked up later. He also said that someone needed to be supervising securi- ty staff hired for events, since “without supervision we’ve identified that very little work is actually be- ing done,” including one incident in which security showed up two hours late to a wedding. ——— Contact Jade McDow- ell at jmcdowell@eastore- gonian.com or 541-564- 4536. Buses switched to new route on Monday By JADE McDOWELL STAFF WRITER Hermiston’s free pub- lic bus system changed its route this week. The system, known as HART, will now make six circuits through town each day instead of four, and the route has been rearranged with the goal of riders spending less time on the bus during a round trip. During a Public Transit Advisory Committee meet- ing Sept. 25, assistant city manager Mark Morgan said ridership has not increased as was expected, and Kay- ak Public Transit and the city have received feedback that the system isn’t well suited for round-trip travel. The new route designed by Kayak reduces the num- ber of stops the bus makes and creates a system that rotates directions each trip instead of making a contin- uous loop in one direction around town. It also runs from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. instead of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Starting Monday, the num- ber of stops went from 30 to 20, eliminating several stops with low ridership, in- cluding Riverfront Park, the Aspens, Sunland Avenue and Moore Avenue. The trade-off is that the bus will now run six loops through town during the day, and loops will be under an hour instead of the previous hour and 15 minutes. Fewer rid- ers will have their ride in- terrupted by the bus driver stopping for their regularly scheduled breaks as well. The bus will also change directions during the day, providing longer and short- er options for riders to choose from. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4536. STAFF PHOTO BY JAYATI RA- MAKRISHNAN Cristal Alatorre Perez, a dietary interviewer, talks with Chris Woltman during the NHANES survey. years, some of the tests will change based on medical research. The staff that work for the survey spend much of the year on the road, con- ducting examinations in different counties. Rita Washko, a doc- tor with the survey team, has been traveling with NHANES for about 12 years. She said it’s been inter- esting seeing how differ- ent the various parts of the United States are, health- wise. “The biggest difference I’ve seen is the difference in blood pressure control throughout the country,” she said. “There are some regions where it’s much higher.” Washko would not say specifically where, but she said she has also noticed that in rural areas she tends to see older people that are more physically robust. Washko said one of the challenges with the survey job is the lack of follow-up. “Say you have an abnor- mal CBC (complete blood count). I speak to the per- son so they understand, and send them off, but I nev- er find out what happens. That’s a big disconnect, and I had to get used to that.” But she noted that the primary goal of those working for NHANES is to collect data. “We’re collecting data that affects the entire pop- ulation.” Those who participate in the study are compensated $125, plus a transportation fee. –—— Contact Jayati Ra- makrishnan at 541-564- 4534 or jramakrishnan@ hermistonherald.com. MEDICARE OPEN ENROLLMENT IS OCTOBER 15 - DECEMBER 7 Get answers to questions about Medicare or help getting a new prescription plan. FREE Medicare counseling & information from trained SHIBA volunteers. Oct. 20, Nov. 3 & 17, Dec. 1 Conference room 7 (by education dept.) Oct. 27, Nov. 10 Conference rooms 5 & 6 (by the cafeteria) 9am-1pm call 541-667-3509 or email cherrera@gshealth.org MEDICARE BIRTHDAY PARTY! Third student-built home sold The Hermiston School District has sold its newest student-built home. Taylor and Brittany Smith will receive the key to their new home on Oct. 4 at 4 p.m., in a ceremoni- al event at the home in the Fieldstone Crossing neigh- borhood on Southwest An- gus Court. The house was listed at $379,000 and is 2,466 square feet, with sever- al special amenities. The home has a full outdoor kitchen, a gas fireplace, a three-car garage and a central vacuum system. The house is also equipped 3 0 with energy-efficient heat- ing, cooling and ventila- tion systems, and lights and appliances. The new owners are both graduates of the Hermiston School District. Brittany Smith is a teach- er at Sunset Elementary School, and Taylor Smith is the son of school board member Dave Smith. The home is the third in a series of 11 homes that will be built by students from Hermiston, Umatilla and Stanfield high schools as part of the Columbia Basin Student Homebuild- ing Program. Students work on most aspects of the home, from putting up rock to laying down floors. 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Six weekly FREE classes Wednesdays, starting Oct. 11 through Nov. 15 3pm-4:30pm Celebration! night trip to Las Vegas & $500 gift ca Grand Prize - 3 rd ! Saturday, Oct. 7, 10am-1pm POWERFUL TOOLS FOR THE CAREGIVER: th Anniversary WEEKLY DRAWINGS! Turning 65 this year? Want to change your Medigap, Prescription Plan or Advantage plan? Join us for this FREE, fun and educational event and learn about: • The basics of Medicare • Your rights & responsibilities • Social Security & Disabilities Must pre-register, call 541-667-3509 HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kenny Gibbs! From All your Family and Friends! Information or to register call (541) 667-3509 or email healthinfo@gshealth.org www.gshealth.org
