A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
LOCAL
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2017
EO FILE PHOTO
In this January 2016 file photo, Cuttie and Cuddles share a
pen at PAWS animal shelter in Pendleton.
Pioneer Humane Society
chases taxing district model
By PHIL WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER
The Pioneer Humane
Society wants Umatilla
County voters to support
a taxing district for animal
control.
Ben DeCarlow of
Hermiston,
Pioneer
Humane Society board
treasurer, made the pitch
Wednesday morning to the
Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners. He said
a special taxing district
with a rate of 10 cents per
$1,000 of assessed value
would generate around
$500,000 for the organi-
zation to cover the cost of
services.
Pioneer Humane Soci-
ety operates the no-kill
Pendleton Animal Wel-
fare Shelter, which took in
860 dogs and 1,430 cats in
2015 and 2016. DeCarlow
said the society also oper-
ates programs to provide
pet food for lower income
pet owners and transporta-
tion for pets that need to be
spayed or neutered.
He also told the board
the nationwide animal con-
trol model is for counties to
support humane societies.
Without the steady stream
of tax revenue, he said
Pioneer Humane Society
“would not be headed in a
positive direction.”
Marjorie Iburg, for-
mer Pendleton city coun-
cilor and former PAWS
board member, told com-
missioners the popula-
tion of unwanted animals
“could be overwhelming”
for the county if not for the
Pioneer Humane Society.
She said that a taxing dis-
trict would include Herm-
iston, and the animal shel-
ter there would receive tax
revenue, possibly through
a contract with Pioneer
Humane Society.
Commissioners
Bill
Elfering and George Mur-
dock voted to allow the
group to proceed and seek
the approval of local city
councils. The commission-
ers noted that was how the
Oregon State University
Extension Service Dis-
trict had to get a resolution
on the May 2018 ballot to
consider forming a new
taxing district.
On that note, the board
held the first of two public
meetings on the Extension
Service District.
Dan Dorran of Herm-
iston, former Umatilla
County Fair Board mem-
ber, was among the hand-
ful of people who spoke
in favor of the exten-
sion service district, along
with local wheat producer
Greg Goad. No one spoke
against.
The board of commis-
sioners approved a coun-
ty-wide boundary for the
extension district and set
the second public hearing
on the matter for Jan. 3.
Downtown Hermiston value
increased by $8 million
Hermiston’s
urban
renewal
district
has
increased in value by more
than $8 million during its
first four years of existence.
The Hermiston Urban
Renewal Agency began
in 2014 to promote down-
town Hermiston by re-in-
vesting property tax growth
back into enhancements to
the downtown core. The
area covered by HURA has
increased in value by 20
percent, from $42.2 million
to $50.5 million.
Assistant city man-
ager Mark Morgan said
in a news release that
much of the growth has
come from the new Holi-
day Inn Express. HURA’s
revenue has increased by
$100,000 in the first year of
the hotel’s operation. The
hotel was given a $36,400
façade grant from HURA
and $50,000 for sewer
improvements from the city
of Hermiston.
Other investments of
HURA back into down-
town have also helped raise
property values, includ-
ing façade grants to vari-
ous businesses and a pri-
vate-public
partnership
with Mitco Investments to
create a new 50-space park-
ing lot open to the public.
“If the main goals of an
Urban Renewal Agency
are to increase the taxable
value and eliminate barri-
ers to new private invest-
ment, then I think we can
safely say we’re hitting it
out of the park so far,” Mor-
gan wrote. The city plans
to begin building a new
festival street next to city
hall using urban renewal
funds this spring, and a new
senior center being built is
expected to draw more traf-
fic downtown. Morgan said
projects in the downtown
area were about contribut-
ing to a “critical mass” of
foot traffic.
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY COLLEEN SANDERS
The Eastern Oregon Climate Change Coalition, or EOC3, participated in a clean energy jobs rally Nov. 4 in Pendleton,
organized by Don Sampson and Renew Oregon to raise support for a proposed Oregon cap-and-invest energy policy.
Climate coalition gains momentum
Group born out of
Umatilla County
focus group
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO MEDIA GROUP
O
ne year after becom-
ing a formal non-
profit organization,
the Eastern Oregon Climate
Change Coalition is ready to
broaden its outreach on cli-
mate change issues affect-
ing farms, forests, businesses
and communities across the
region.
The group, which goes by
the shorthand EOC3, origi-
nally formed in 2006 as the
Umatilla County Climate
Change Focus Group, an ad
hoc citizen’s committee to
discuss local climate impacts
and how to adapt moving
forward.
EOC3 filed for nonprofit
status in January 2017, and
its nine-member board of
directors has produced a stra-
tegic action plan outlining
goals and programs. That
plan will be unveiled at the
group’s 2018 annual meet-
ing Saturday, Jan. 6 from 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Oregon
State University Extension
Service conference room at
Blue Mountain Community
College in Pendleton. The
meeting is open to the public.
Colleen Sanders, EOC3
board chairwoman and the
newly hired climate adapta-
tion planner for the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation, said their
primary mission is to provide
education and understanding
about climate change, espe-
cially as it influences rural
Eastern Oregon.
“So much of our human
society has been built on the
predictability of our climate
and the seasonal weather pat-
terns,” Sanders said. “What
climate change is doing
is completely throwing a
wrench in those.”
Looking ahead to 2018,
Sanders said EOC3 plans to
host monthly luncheons and
build a network of speakers
versed in different aspects of
climate change to promote
a greater knowledge of the
issues.
“The idea is to create a
conversation space for cli-
mate change issues,” she
said.
Dave Powell, vice chair-
man of the EOC3 board and
a retired silviculturist with
the Umatilla National For-
est, gave a climate presen-
tation Tuesday for students
at Weston-McEwen High
School in Athena. Though
his main topic was forestry,
Powell said the impacts kept
coming back to one crucial
element: water.
“When you think about
all of the benefits and eco-
system services that a for-
est provides, it’s becoming
more and more clear to me
that water is the most valu-
able,” Powell said. “The
webs that reach out from that
are huge.”
According to one cli-
mate model from OSU, aver-
age temperatures in the Blue
Mountains could increase
anywhere from 1 to 3
degrees Celsius over the next
75 years. The most obvious
impact, Powell said, will be
more moisture falling in the
form of rain instead of snow.
Lower snowpack, which is
needed to replenish streams
for farms and fish into sum-
mer, means faster runoff at
higher elevations.
Bruce Barnes, EOC3
board member and execu-
tive director of the Pendle-
ton-based nonprofit Flora
ID, said studies show that
peak water flow in the Uma-
tilla River now comes 30
days earlier that it did in the
1980s.
“There are so many dif-
ferent factors to consider,”
Barnes said. “They’re inter-
woven. Each one may affect
several different factors, or
vice-versa.”
Less snow and more rain
has already affected the tim-
ing of timber harvest, Barnes
said, since loggers prefer to
work when the ground is still
frozen.
Don Wysocki, fellow
EOC3 member and exten-
sion soil scientist for OSU
in Umatilla County, said
changes in snowpack and
water availability will drive
changes in local agriculture,
pushing back irrigation sea-
sons and ripening dryland
crops earlier than usual.
“Harvest will occur ear-
lier. Winters will probably
get more heat units, so that
changes the growth cycle
of wheat,” Wysocki said.
“We’ll probably favor wheat
varieties that mature earlier
to try to escape drought or
water shortages.”
There is some debate,
Wysocki said, on how cli-
mate change may affect pre-
cipitation during the growing
season, which could have a
positive or negative effect on
regional production.
“I’ve seen projections
going both ways on that,” he
said. “But I suspect there’s
some evidence that we may
have a little better growing
season precipitation.”
Sanders said she worries
that changes in water avail-
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COMMUNITY
Seventh-day
Adventist Church
Saturdays
Sabbath School........9:30 a.m.
Worship Service......11:00 a.m.
English & Spanish Services
567-8241
855 W. Highland • Hermiston
NEW BEGINNINGS
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
Worship Service 10:30 AM
Sunday School 9:00 AM
Pastor J.C. Barnett
Children’s Church &
Nursery Available
700 West Orchard Avenue
P.O. Box 933
Hermiston, Oregon
541-567-8441
First Christian
Church
“Proclaiming the Message of
Hope, Living the Gospel of Love”
Sunday School 9:15am
Worship Gathering 10:30 am
Children’s Church 10:30 am
567-3013
775 W. Highland Ave., Hermiston
St. Johns
Episcopal Church
Join Us
On Our Journey
With Jesus.
Scripture, Tradition and Reason
Family service 9am Sunday
N.E. Gladys Ave & 7th, Hermiston
t. PH: 567-6672
We are an all inclusive Church
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CHURCH
125 E. Beech Ave. • 567-3232
Pastor David Dever
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Our Lady of Angels
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565 W. HERMISTON AVE.
DAILY MASS: Monday-Friday
...............................English 7:00 am
Thursday...............Spanish 6:00 pm
SATURDAY:.........English 5:00 pm
...............................Spanish 7:00 pm
SUNDAY:..............English 9:00 am
..........................Bilingual 11:00 am
..............................Spanish 1:00 pm
Offi ce..............................567-5812
The Full Gospel
Home Church
235 SW 3rd
Phone 567-7678
Rev. Ed Baker - Rev. Nina Baker
Sunday:
Sunday School........10:00 am
Worship...................11:00 am
Evening Service........7:00 pm
Wednesday Service..7:00 pm
“Casting all your care upon him;
for he careth for you.”
1 Pet. 5:7
Grace Baptist Church
555 SW 11th, Hermiston
567-9497
Nursery provided for all services
Sunday School - 9:30 AM
Worship - 10:45 AM
6:00 PM
Wed Prayer & Worship - 7:00 PM
“Proclaiming God’s word,
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1520 W ORCHARD AVE
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10:30 am Classes for Kids @ 9:15 am
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Phone: (541) 376-8108
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