WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
NEWS
97 percent of curb ramps on state
highways not ADA-compliant
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
Ninety-seven
percent
of curb ramps on Oregon’s
state highways are not com-
pliant with Americans with
Disabilities Act standards,
according to a recent inven-
tory, and Umatilla County is
no exception to that lack of
accessibility.
While Hermiston still
has many that are not com-
pliant, it does have some of
the state’s few curb ramps
that do meet specifications
thanks to upgrades that hap-
pened along Highway 395
two years ago.
Pendleton, on the other
hand, has a long list of cor-
ners along its own stretch of
Highway 395 that are miss-
ing ramps to allow wheel-
chair users to access the
sidewalk. The city was one
of several places in Oregon
singled out in a report by
advocacy group Disability
Rights Oregon.
“I was very concerned
about Umatilla County in
particular and highlighted
Pendleton because I thought
it had the most egregious
problems, but there were
many areas that were con-
cerning,” said Tom Stenson,
litigation attorney with Dis-
ability Rights Oregon.
The Americans with Dis-
abilities Act was passed in
1991 to create federal stan-
dards for accessibility,
including laws that pedes-
trian walkways must include
a ramp where they cross a
curb. A settlement between
disability rights advocates
and the Oregon Department
of Transportation approved
by a federal judge in March
2017 committed ODOT to
creating an audit of all cross-
ings, completing curb ramp
upgrades at 30 percent of the
locations by the end of 2022,
completing upgrades at 75
percent by the end of 2027
and fixing all of the curb
ramp locations by Decem-
ber 31, 2032.
The audit, completed
about a month ago, rated
only 3 percent of the curb
ramps on state highways as
“good.” Some were rated
“fair” but most of the rest
were rated “poor.” In 20 per-
cent of cases, there was no
ramp of any kind. In others,
the ramp was at too steep of
an angle, blocked by a utility
pole, in a place that required
going out of the crosswalk
PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
The Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center, a joint
venture between Umatilla County and the city of
Hermiston, may be taken over by Hermiston in March.
Umatilla County,
Hermiston in
negotiations over
EOTEC split
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
A semi-trailer passes in front of an ADA-compliant wheelchair ramp crossing Highway 395 in
Hermiston.
“I was very concerned about Umatilla County in
particular and highlighted Pendleton because
I thought it had the most egregious problems, but there
were many areas that were concerning.”
Tom Stenson, litigation attorney with Disability Rights Oregon
and into oncoming traffic to
access it, or lacking a set of
bumps for vision-impaired
pedestrians to know they are
stepping out into a roadway.
Tom Strandberg, pub-
lic information officer for
ODOT’s Region 5, said
ODOT has been fixing curb
ramps as it completes other
work. When the depart-
ment installed new traf-
fic control cameras along
Highway 395 in Hermis-
ton in 2015, ADA-compli-
ant curbs marked with yel-
low bumps were installed,
giving Hermiston some of
Oregon’s curb ramps clas-
sified as “good.” More of
those ramps will be installed
later this year on Northwest
11th Street (Highway 205)
when ODOT partners with
the city of Hermiston to add
traffic signals to its intersec-
tions with Orchard and Elm
avenues.
Due to the settlement
agreement, ODOT has also
set some money aside to do
projects specifically focused
on ADA compliance.
“Obviously they can’t all
be done at once,” Strandberg
said.
They might not be able
to all be done at once, but
having 883 crossings out of
26,225 compliant since 1991
is not moving fast enough in
the view of Disability Rights
Oregon.
“If you’re only manag-
ing to complete 3 percent
of ramps in 27 years, your
progress is not adequate,”
Stenson said.
He said creating proper
curb ramps on state high-
ways is not just about fol-
lowing the law, it’s about
allowing people with dis-
abilities to fully and safely
participate in their commu-
nity. Stenson said he has
seen people have to move
out into oncoming traffic to
access a sidewalk and has
one client who showed him
how she had to turn around
and back up too-steep ramps
to avoid tipping over in her
wheelchair.
Darren Umbarger of
Clearview Mediation and
Disability Resource Center
in Pendleton said things like
that can be dangerous.
“People will get mad
because here’s someone rid-
ing down the bicycle lane in
a wheelchair. ... Sometimes
it’s easier to go down a bicy-
cle lane and sometimes it’s
not, but sometimes there’s
no choice,” he said.
Umbarger
said
ADA-compliant
ramps
aren’t just for people in
wheelchairs — they can
make things easier for senior
citizens with walkers, par-
ents pushing baby strollers
or delivery people pushing
dollies.
In 2017 ODOT published
the Americans with Dis-
abilities Act Title II Transi-
tion Plan Update detailing
a game plan for becom-
ing fully ADA-compliant,
including making all of its
buildings more accessible
and aggressively moving to
fix curb ramps.
“ODOT is committed to
improving the accessibility
of the transportation system
and its facilities. ... ODOT
has made significant prog-
ress in reducing the number
of missing and non-com-
pliant curb ramps in recent
years, and a commitment
to ongoing resources will
address remaining short-
comings,” the report says.
STDs on the rise in Umatilla County
By KATHY ANEY
STAFF WRITER
What’s going on with
gonorrhea?
The sexually transmit-
ted disease, known colloqui-
ally as “the clap,” is surg-
ing in Oregon and around
the nation. Umatilla County
reported 71 new cases of
gonorrhea last year and 88
cases in 2016 — up from just
four in 2012.
Two other STDs, syphilis
and chlamydia, are also on
the rise in the United States.
Ruth Helsley, of the Ore-
gon Health Authority, man-
ages the state’s HIV/STD
prevention program.
“STDs are having a big-
time comeback,” Helsley
said. “Oregon is not unique
— it’s happening all over the
country.”
From 1975 to 1997, gon-
orrhea rates plummeted,
stayed steady for a decade,
then began rising again.
Syphilis had an even
more dramatic rise from the
ashes.
“In the ’90s, we thought
syphilis was gone,” Helsley
said.
Now both STDs are back
— in spades.
Helsley offered an expla-
nation. People are taking
more sexual risks because
they are less afraid of con-
tracting HIV.
“At this point in his-
tory, the fear of HIV as a
lethal diagnosis is going
away,” she said. “Now, it is
treatable.”
She said people are more
relaxed about engaging in
risky sexual behavior. But
just because HIV treatments
provide a better prognosis
and even protect partners,
she said, doesn’t mean they
combat gonorrhea, syphilis
or chlamydia.
With the threat of fatal
HIV lifted, “obviously
what’s causing a rise in
STDs is unprotected sexual
activity.”
The Umatilla County
Public Health Department is
dealing with the gonorrhea
epidemic by frank discus-
sions with clients and mes-
saging to the public about the
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importance of protected sex.
A poster greets those enter-
ing the Pendleton clinic.
“Half of all sexually
active young people will get
an STD before the age of
25,” it says in block print.
Jim Setzer, the county’s
public health administrator,
isn’t shy about the subject
of STDs or how people get
them.
“People don’t get gonor-
rhea by someone sneezing
in line at Safeway,” Setzer
said. “They don’t get this by
themselves.”
That’s why tracking
down sexual partners is so
important. He understands
the hesitancy of those asked
to divulge names, but it’s
necessary.
“You know the old
adage,” Setzer said. “You’re
not just sleeping with that
person. You’re sleeping with
every person they’ve slept
with.”
To those working to stop
the epidemic, it seems like
the public health version of
Whack-a-Mole.
Last year (in 2017), Uma-
tilla County had the dubi-
ous distinction of having the
third highest rate in the state.
The county made inroads
by sending a communica-
ble disease nurse and a dis-
ease intervention special-
ist into the field for several
months to make home visits
to partners of patients diag-
nosed with gonorrhea. Often
the nurse, Riann Roggiero,
tested for gonorrhea on the
spot. If positive, she admin-
istered an intramuscular
injection of ceftriaxone and
another drug by mouth.
Gonorrhea
symptoms
usually appear within two
weeks,
but
sometimes
symptoms aren’t immedi-
ately noticeable. Men might
notice pain urinating, along
with swelling, discharge
and sore throat. Women
may experience similar, but
milder symptoms.
But, Setzer said, “Many
people are asymptomatic.”
Untreated infections can
lead to scarring, infertility,
arthritis, heart valve damage
or inflammation in the lining
of the brain.
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By PHIL WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER
Umatilla County has
spent more than $4.8 mil-
lion to create and operate
the Eastern Oregon Event
and Trade Center since
its inception, and plans to
spend almost $1.2 million
more in the next five years
if Hermiston takes over full
control of the event center.
The county’s single
biggest contribution to
EOTEC was the roughly
$3 million it earned from
selling the fairgrounds in
2013. The county provided
an additional $1,050,000
in 2015-16 for construc-
tion, and along the way
more than $136,000 for
operational support.
A proposal by the
county to give Herm-
iston full ownership of
EOTEC Hermiston had
listed March 1 as the take-
over date, but commission-
ers voted to push that to
March 12 when Hermiston
City Council meets. While
both entities voted Jan.
22 to begin negotiations
for a deal, a final decision
must still be approved by
both, which have partnered
in the project since the
beginning.
Larry Givens, county
commissioner, and Byron
Smith, Hermiston city
manager, said the deal is
about cutting down on the
number of governments
involved in EOTEC, akin
to having the correct num-
ber of cooks in the kitchen.
“That’s what we’re hop-
ing,” Smith said.
Smith and Givens said
the delay allows more time
to work out details to the
deal. That includes lan-
guage requiring the city to
construct a new building at
EOTEC to serve as year-
round office and storage
space for the county fair.
Smith said the city and
county agree on the need
for the building but have
yet to decide how to pay
for it.
The deal also would
have the county pay
$105,000 to cover half
of EOTEC’s construc-
tion overrun and $595,000
for its half of the equip-
ment, storage and other
needs requested by Venu-
Works, the company hired
to oversee EOTEC. The
county also agreed to pay
$375,000 in the next five
years to cover operations,
plus $85,175 in 2018 and
$75,399 in 2019 to cover
operational overruns as
currently estimated by
VenuWorks.
Givens said handing
over EOTEC to the city
without ongoing fiscal
support would not have
been fair, and VenuWorks
reported it needs three
years to break even.
“Still, the goal of
EOTEC is be a self-sus-
taining facility,” Givens
said.
All told, the county
finance
department
reported the total contribu-
tions through 2022 would
come to more than $6 mil-
lion but that could change
if the city and county don’t
reach a deal.That seems
unlikely, Givens and Smith
said, as both sides want to
reach an agreement.
One piece of the pro-
posal that might need more
time to come together is
the county handing control
of Airport and Ott roads
— which lead to EOTEC
— to the city. Givens said
the county is waiting on
about $1.1 million from
the Oregon Department
of Transportation before
it upgrades the roads. He
said it could be June before
the county gets that check.
The primary project
would add a center turn
lane on Airport Road,
making it three lanes wide.
That’s a tight construction
timeline before August,
when the county fair is
underway at EOTEC.
“We don’t want the
roads torn up when we’re
having to do the fair,” Giv-
ens said. “So timing it
critical.”
He also said the state
funds may not be enough
to cover those costs and
improve Ott Road, which
is unpaved, so this could
go into multiple budget
cycles.
Smith said the city
wants the roads, but this
would not hold up the deal.
The city and county, he
said, would just come to an
agreement to work out the
roads as the funding comes
through.
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