WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2018
Umatilla eyes Corps land
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
Fifty years ago, construc-
tion of the John Day Lock
and Dam east of The Dalles
changed the city of Umatilla
forever.
The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, acting on flood
predictions, acquired the
city’s land along the banks
of the Columbia River,
requiring everyone north
of Fifth Street to move to
higher ground. Much of the
site never did flood, but the
Army Corps of Engineers
still owns hundreds of acres
of land within Umatilla’s
urban growth boundary.
A group of Umatilla cit-
izens believes it’s time to
return the shoreline to local
control.
“The land is just sitting
there idle, and it’s been idle
for 50 years,” Mark Ribich
said. “It’s a major attraction
for the city and they need to
be able to utilize that.”
Ribich has put together
a private group called the
Umatilla Riverfront Advi-
sory Council with two stated
goals: educate the citizens
of Umatilla about the issue,
and lobby for legislation
that would “compel” the
Army Corps of Engineers
to re-convey land within
Umatilla’s urban growth
boundary back to the city of
Umatilla.
So far the advisory coun-
cil’s members include Rib-
ich, Raelynn Gallegos, Mel
Ray, Dave Meade and Kelly
Nobles.
The problem
According to Umatilla
City Planner Brandon Seitz,
about 39 percent of the
6,756 acres within Umatil-
la’s urban growth boundary
are federally owned, with a
majority owned by the Army
Corps of Engineers. Beyond
the roughly 130-acre Old
Town Site, the Corps’ prop-
erty also includes space
along the Umatilla River, a
long stretch of land north of
Third Street and the Uma-
tilla RV Park & Marina,
which the city operates
under a lease from the
Corps.
“It’s a unique challenge,”
City Manager Russ Pel-
leberg said.
Pelleberg said the city
hopes to someday create
a “Central Park” project
along the Corps-owned strip
of land along Third Street,
expanding the current lease
for a community soccer field
there to include permission
for a new four-field softball
complex, picnic shelters and
more. The city has also been
working for years with the
Corps and the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation on try-
ing to craft an agreement
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
LOCAL NEWS
District explains
Battle of the
Books withdrawal
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owns the majority of the riverfront property along the
Columbia River, including the marina, in the city of Umatilla.
that would allow the city to
add trails and interpretive
panels to Old Town Site and
remove some invasive plant
species before opening it to
the public. The site contains
archeological features sig-
nificant to the tribes.
Pelleberg said while the
Army Corps of Engineers
staff are “great to work
with,” as with any federal
agency there are a vast num-
ber of boxes to check for
any project, slowing down
timelines considerably.
That’s complicated by
the fact that the dividing line
between the Army Corps of
Engineers’ Portland District
and Walla Walla District
runs along the Columbia
River bridge, dividing Uma-
tilla in half. The city has to
deal with two completely
different sets of Corps staff
on either side of the line.
Proposed solution
Such complications are
the reason the Umatilla Riv-
erfront Advisory Council
would rather do away with
leases and jump straight to
city ownership.
Ribich was inspired to
pursue that course after
learning about similar
efforts being undertaken by
the Tri-City Development
Council, which has retained
legal counsel to argue that
the addition of six U.S.
dams upstream since then
has negated the Corps’ rea-
son for ownership of those
properties.
Rep. Dan Newhouse
(R-Washington) sponsored
legislation in 2017 requiring
an inventory of shoreline
properties in the McNary
Pool of the Columbia River
and their costs.
“What we need to do now
is ask for the same thing on
the downstream side, in the
John Day pool,” Ribich said.
He said the Corps-owned
land in Umatilla means
“nothing” to the Army Corps
of Engineers but is “vital” to
the city’s growth and devel-
opment. New softball fields
could draw athletic tourism,
re-opening the beachfront to
public access could be a rec-
reational draw and histori-
cal Old Town Site tourism
could bring new dollars into
the city.
Kelly Nobles, one of the
Umatilla residents who has
joined the newly formed
effort, said the Corps also
owns lands along the Uma-
tilla River, near property
owned by the Nobles fam-
ily. Nobles had been pursu-
ing a project that envisions
an eventual pedestrian/bicy-
cle trail from the mouth of
the Umatilla River to the
city of Echo.
“There’s just a lot of
opportunity for future devel-
opment,” he said.
Challenges
Transferring land from
the federal government isn’t
usually a simple or quick
process.
Gina Baltrusch, a spokes-
woman for the Army Corps
of Engineers’ Walla Walla
District, said re-convey-
ance of any of the proper-
ties within Umatilla’s urban
growth boundary would be a
long, complex process.
“When the government
disposes of property it has
to go through all sorts of
inspections,” she said.
Environmental
laws
would still apply, cultural
resources would have to be
protected and the new owner
would still be restricted by
rules about the type of use
and infrastructure allowed
on the property.
A previous act of Con-
gress gave permission for
the Corps to “outgrant”
some properties to munic-
ipal governments, but Bal-
trusch said the Umatilla
properties were not part of
that law, meaning it would
take another act of Con-
gress to get the ball rolling
for Umatilla. And the land
would have to go to the city,
not a private group.
She said the Corps
acquired the property by
using taxpayer dollars to
pay fair market value, and
as a result if a city wanted to
take ownership of land pre-
viously owned by the Army
Corps of Engineers they
would also need to be pre-
pared to pay for it.
“It’s not fair to the Amer-
ican people to put them on
the hook for that,” she said.
Ribich said the Uma-
tilla group, which officially
formed April 25, hasn’t got-
ten that far yet. They have
yet to sit down with the
Corps or a variety of stake-
holders such as the Port of
Umatilla.
Ribich is no longer on the
city council after abruptly
resigning in April, and he
declined to give his reason
for leaving. But he said the
city would need to sign onto
the effort at some point.
Pelleberg said if a pri-
vate group wanted to under-
take laying the groundwork
for possible reconveyance,
he would be supportive of
that, but in the meantime the
city would continue to work
on leases and easements it is
pursuing.
Hermiston School Dis-
trict administrators said
their decision to pull their
youngest students from a
statewide reading competi-
tion had nothing to do with
the transgender topic of
one of the books, but rather
the graphic nature of por-
tions of the story.
The principals of all five
elementary schools sent
a letter home to parents
recently, stating that one of
the books, “George,” was
incompatible with the dis-
trict’s human growth and
development curriculum.
The book by Alex Gino
tells the story of a child,
born male and known to
all as George, who identi-
fies as female and prefers
the name Melissa. Through
the story, the child explains
this to her best friend and
others with the help of a
school play.
Tricia Mooney, the dis-
trict’s interim superin-
tendent, said she read the
book and the school prin-
cipals had all reviewed
portions of it. She noted
that the book has not been
banned, and is available at
the middle school libraries.
“We just didn’t feel it
was appropriate for ele-
mentary schoolers,” she
said. “In reading the book,
there are scenes where the
content is more mature, if
you will, than what we feel
is appropriate at that grade
level.”
Mooney said they felt
some scenes in the book
were too graphic. In one,
George’s older brother
comes into the bathroom
and makes a comment
about having a dirty mag-
azine, assuring George that
he won’t tell their mother.
In another scene, Mooney
said, a transgender woman
says that what’s between
her legs is nobody’s busi-
ness but hers and her
boyfriend’s.
“This has nothing to do
with George the character,
or the transgender issue,”
Mooney said. “But with
some of the things we feel
are too graphic.”
She said the issue was
first brought to a build-
ing principal’s attention by
a teacher. The principals
then reviewed the book
SCHOLASTIC CORPORATION
“George” by Alex Gino is
the story of a transgender
girl and part of the Oregon
Battle of the Books
curriculum for 2018-19.
The Hermiston School
District has opted to not
participate in the statewide
competition because of the
subject matter.
and brought their concerns
to the attention of the state
Battle of the Books com-
mittee, who chose to keep
the book on the list.
Mooney said the Bat-
tle of the Books board said
students wouldn’t be asked
questions of a graphic
nature.
“But they’d still have to
read (the book),” Mooney
said.
Mooney said deciding
to pull out of the competi-
tion was an administrative
decision, made by both her
and the building principals.
Vickie Read, a member
of the Pendleton chapter of
Parents and Friends of Les-
bians and Gays (PFLAG),
said she had not read the
book yet but was disap-
pointed in the decision.
“I think it sends a huge
statement to any family
or child in the Hermiston
School District that’s trans-
gender that they’re invis-
ible,” Read said, noting
some children may already
know a transgender child.
Read said she disagreed
with the district’s claim
that the book was just not
appropriate for that age
group.
“Children who read a
lot have a real strong foun-
dation of knowledge, that
kind of surprises us in the
older generation,” she said.
The Cascade School
District, near Salem, also
decided to pull their ele-
mentary schoolers out of
the statewide competition
last week.
Happy Mothers Day!
Jewelry • Purses • Clothing
Candles • Unique Gift s
& So Much More!
Put a smile
on the heart
with the power of flowers.
HWY 395, HERMISTON
541-567-4305
Mon-Sat 8am-6pm • Sun 12pm-5am
www.cottagefl owersonline.com
Pergolas · PaƟo Covers · Awnings
Sunrooms · PaƟo/Solar Shades
Screens & More!
Proudly Serving
Eastern Oregon
With Quality
Outdoor Living
FREE Estimates!
Products Since
2009 !
www.mybackyardbydesign.com
541-720-0772
102 E Columbia Dr. Kennewick WA 99336
License #188965
MOFE HD CHANNELS,
FASTEF INTEFNET AND
UNLIMITED VOICE.
Online registration & race information at
WWW.BUTTECHALLENGE.COM
• Speeds up to 60Mbps
• Unlimited data – no data caps
SPECTFUM INTEFNET™
AS LOW AS
29
$
DRAWINGS FOR PRIZES
FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
99
/per mo.
for 12 mos
when bundled*
Blazing fast Internet is available and can be yours with Spectrum Internet™ With speeds starting at 60 Mbps
125+ CHANNELS
SPECTRUM TRIPLE PLAY TM
TV, INTERNET AND VOICE
UP TO 60MBPS
UNLIMITED CALLING
89
$
from
97
/mo each
for 12 mos
when bundled*
CONTACT YOUR LOCAL AUTHORIZED RETAILER
855-613-2321
*Bundle price for TV Select, Internet and Voice is $89.97/mo. for year 1; standard rates apply after year 1. Available Internet speeds may vary by
address. WiFi: Equipment, activation and installation fees apply. Services subject to all applicable service terms and conditions, subject to change.
Services not available in all areas. Restrictions apply. All Rights Reserved. ©2017 Charter Communications.
All proceeds benefit THE HERMISTON CROSS COUNTRY PROGRAM
Thank you for your support!