WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
LOCAL
HART gives 2,723 free rides in first year
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
R
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston residents can download an app on their
smartphones to monitor their water usage via the new
“smart meters” installed by the city.
New tech gives
utility customers
more knowledge
new meter was installed,
but that is because the
new meters chart usage
12 months out of the
year. Under the old sys-
tem, where meters had to
be read by hand instead
of the meter sending data
remotely, the city just esti-
mated water usage for win-
ter months and then once
the meter was read in the
spring added any extra
usage on to the next bill.
Anyone who feels like
their December bill was
higher than last Decem-
ber’s will likely have a
smaller March or April bill
than usual, he said.
To view their detailed
water usage information,
customers can create a
login on eyeonwater.com
after inputting the account
number found on their bill.
Hermiston Energy Ser-
vices customers will be
able to keep closer track of
their electricity usage soon,
too. Allegiant Energy Ser-
vices, on behalf of HES,
is installing new “smart”
meters between now and
the end of March. Once a
customer receives a new
meter their SmartHub pay-
ment portal they now use
to pay bills and check their
monthly usage will feature
new data including usage
by the day and by the hour.
HES general manager
Nate Rivera said people
will be able to spot patterns
about what times of day
their home uses the most
electricity, although tem-
perature outside does tend
to have a large impact by
determining how much the
heating system or air con-
ditioning runs.
Information has been
sent out to HES custom-
ers about installation, and
Rivera said when meters
are installed in a neigh-
borhood someone will go
door to door to explain the
installation to residents,
and that there will be a few
minutes without power
during the switch.
Customers with ques-
tions about the new elec-
trical meters can call
541-289-2000.
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
New meters installed by
the city of Hermiston will
help residents be smarter
consumers of water and
power.
While the city is just
beginning to install new
electrical meters around
town, installation of new
water meters is finished
and customers can now
track their water usage by
the day, by the hour or even
in 15 minute increments.
Assistant city manager
Mark Morgan said while
some customers might
not care about monitor-
ing their water usage more
carefully, others may find
it helpful to look at where
their water is going. For
example, when he did a
test run of the app a few
months ago, he was able to
experiment with the timing
of how he watered his lawn
and reduce his bill.
“For those custom-
ers who are really sensi-
tive to rate increases, this
gives them the ability to
track what they can do to
decrease their own bills,”
he said.
Customers will be able
to create a variety of charts
and graphs after logging
into their account, such as
a line graph showing daily
water usage compared
with the temperature for
those days.
Morgan said the app
can also help people spot
potential leaks — if they
notice all of the sudden
they’re using three gal-
lons of water per hour
even when they’re asleep
or not home, for exam-
ple. Customers can set up
their account to alert them
to possible leaks or a pipe
bursting, and city staff
will also keep an eye out
for irregularities and can
potentially contact custom-
ers if it looks like some-
thing is wrong.
“It can’t hurt to have
more data,” he said.
Morgan said some peo-
ple might feel like their
bill has gone up since their
idership on Hermiston’s
new bus system did not
grow as quickly as antici-
pated during its first year of
service, but it still fulfilled
its purpose of providing free
transportation to residents.
“Overall I’m really happy
with it,” said Susan John-
son, manager of Kayak Pub-
lic Transit.
The HART began in Jan-
uary 2017 as a free pub-
lic bus system run by the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion under a contract with
the city of Hermiston. Rid-
ership numbers for its first
year of operation show an
average of 11.1 riders per
day for the first nine months
of 2017, which jumped to
11.8 riders per day after the
city adjusted the route on
Oct. 1 to make it more user-
friendly. In all, it gave 2,723
rides in 2017.
The system’s best month
was November, when 283
rides were given over 19
service days. Assistant city
manager Mark Morgan had
told the East Oregonian in
March 2017 he expected rid-
ership to grow to 600 people
per month that year.
Morgan said last week
By ANTONIO SIERRA
STAFF WRITER
Photo feature
For more photos from the event,
See A17
The Umatilla County
Fair appreciation dinner cel-
ebrated the fair’s first year
in its new home, but speak-
ers reminisced about history
that went back much farther.
Introducing Rep. Greg
Smith and wife Sherri
Smith as the fair’s 2018
grand marshals, retiring fair
board member Dan Dorran
remembered meeting with
the Heppner Republican in
2001, when both were still
fresh to their respective gov-
erning bodies.
It was a tough year for
county fairs across the state
as the legislature eliminated
funding for fairground main-
tenance in the state budget,
but Smith helped pass a bill
that permanently allocated
money from the state lottery
fund to county fairs.
Smith would spend his
ensuing years in the state
House of Representatives
lobbying on behalf of the
fair, whether it was fighting
further cuts to fair funding
or helping secure a $6.4 mil-
lion lottery grant to build the
Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center, where Satur-
day’s dinner was held.
Smith wasn’t the only
one remembered for his con-
tribution to the fair. The fair
board said goodbye to Dor-
ran, who spent many years
on the board.
One by one, fair board
members praised Dorran for
his work ethic, his indefati-
gable spirit and his commit-
ment to the fair, even as they
razzed him for overusing
words like “incredible” and
“awesome.”
“Dan is the guy you go to
when you want to get things
done,” board Vice-Chair-
man Mel Keely said.
When it was his turn to
speak, Dorran shared some
STAFF PHOTO BY ANTONIO SIERRA
From left to right, Laiklyn Fields, Bobbie Sharp, Rebekah
Miller and Olivia Warner introduce themselves as the
2018 Umatilla County Fair Court at an appreciation dinner
Saturday.
2018 fair concerts
to include big names
Fair supporters got a glimpse of the line-up for the
2018 Umatilla County Fair’s entertainment at Satur-
day’s fair appreciation dinner.
Board member Lucas Wagner was responsible
for the big reveal. Bouncing along as the act’s music
played over EOTEC’s loudspeakers, Wagner said
country music band Sawyer Brown will open up the
fair on Tuesday.
Wednesday will see country band Brewer’s Grade
of The Dalles open up for another country act, Ned
LeDoux. LeDoux will sing some of his own music
along with hits by his late father, country singer Chris
LeDoux, and some of his father’s previously un-re-
leased music.
Wagner said he wasn’t able to announce the acts
for Thursday and Friday nights because the fair is still
working to confirm them, although he did tease the
audience about the identity of the Thursday act.
“It should be a crowd pleaser if you’re into late
‘80s, early ‘90s hair metal bands,” he said.
Friday’s bands will fit in with the Latino Night
theme.
Saturday will be capped off with 90s rock band
Blues Traveler, which Wagner introduced with a clip
from their hit song “Run-Around.”
of the things he took pride in,
like the growth in the num-
ber of food vendors and the
successful launch of Latino
Night after a few false starts.
One of his most vivid
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memories was watching
Future Farmers of Amer-
ica students tear up as they
washed their livestock one
last time before the animals
were auctioned off.
The theme of the 2018
fair is “Let’s stirrup some
fun,” and the night’s hon-
orees tried to stick to that
theme by mixing levity with
sincerity.
As he accepted his mar-
shal badge, Smith said he
recently visited Hermis-
ton High School, where he
was mistaken twice by a
staff member, first for for-
mer U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith
and then for U.S. Rep. Greg
Walden.
“I told that story because
we feel like a mistake has
been made,” Smith said
after the audience laugh-
ter died down. “Each of you
are more deserving than we
are.”
Smith and Dorran weren’t
the only people honored Sat-
urday night.
Alice Dyer was honored
as the female volunteer of
the year for her work help-
ing out in the small animal
area. Steve Kelsoe, a “jack-
of-all-trades” who handles
everything from hauling hay
for livestock to welding, was
honored as the male volun-
teer of the year.
A-1 Industrial Hose &
Supply won the business
partner of the year award.
A new fair court was
announced, with Bobbie
Sharp, 17, of Echo, Olivia
Warner, 17, of Pilot Rock,
Laiklyn Fields, 15, of Herm-
iston, and Rebekah Miller,
15 of Hermiston taking the
stage after the 2017 court
was honored.
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also changed from a contin-
uous loop in one direction to
one that reversed direction
after every stop at Herm-
iston Plaza. Johnson said
before there was about an
hour and fifteen minute wait
between each time the bus
stopped at a location. Now
there are some waits that are
as short as 20 minutes and
others that stretch almost
two hours, allowing people
to plan short or long errands
and appointments.
“We try and have a little
bit of time in the schedule
for everybody,” she said.
The city started an online
advertising campaign in
October, and has given
printed advertising and bus
schedules to the Umatilla
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that routing was “a chal-
lenge” during the first nine
months of the year but he
expects to see the ridership
curve hit its stride now that
the faster route is in place.
“We hope more peo-
ple will realize it is a good,
usable system that they can
utilize,” he said.
When the HART first
began in January 2017, it
made four loops per day
through town, stopping
about 30 times each loop.
In October a new schedule
was adopted that pruned the
number of stops to 20 with
six passes per day. Follow-
ing feedback from riders
who complained having to
wait too long for the bus to
pick them up, the route was
County fair supporters ‘stirrup some fun’
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STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
The HART shuttle leaves the bus stop at Walmart on
Wednesday in Hermiston.
County Housing Author-
ity, which has agreed to dis-
seminate the information
to residents of their proper-
ties. The hospital’s Healthy
Communities Coalition has
also been helping spread the
word. Johnson said bus dis-
patcher Katherine Palmer
participated in the Third
Annual Special Education
Linkage Fair.
HART’s most popular
stops have been at Herm-
iston Plaza, Walmart, and
Southeast Columbia Drive
located near the Stafford
Hansell Government Center,
Eastern Oregon Higher Edu-
cation Center and Depart-
ment of Human Services.
Near the end of 2017 the
city purchased some Plexi-
glas bus shelters and last week
installed one at the Third and
Orchard stop, which is also
where Kayak Public Tran-
sit’s Hermiston Hopper picks
up riders to transport them
to Stanfield and Pendleton.
Morgan said other possible
locations for shelters include
Victory Square Park and
Columbia Drive.
A schedule for the HART
can be found online at ctuir.
org/hermiston-hart and a
dispatcher is available from
4 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday
through Friday at 541-429-
7519 to answer questions.
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