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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2018)
A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM FARMERS Continued from Page A1 “Here, everything works,” he said. “In Brazil, you have to work a lot to do a little.” He said he was interested in seeing how the pump sta- tions used here are differ- ent than in Brazil, and he wanted to study the system further to see if it could be adapted well in the region where he grows crops. Before the group set out for a second day of tours on Wednesday, Ziari hosted an informal question-and-an- swer session with one of the bilingual group members translating. One grower asked how much of the world was using the advanced precision irri- PROJECT Continued from Page A1 provide a safer route to school for students who walk along First Place to get to Hermiston High School and Rocky Heights Elemen- tary School. The city won’t get the funds for the project until 2022. Revenue for the trans- portation package will come in over time, so the state had to spread the earmarks. Mor- gan said it would be pru- dent to lay some ground- work now, however, on the off chance Hermiston has a chance to move up the list. The agreement with ODOT puts some “meat on the bones” for what was a sin- gle line in the legislative package. He said he knew some people in town would prob- ably have opinions about where they thought the money should be spent instead, but the city pitched $39 million in projects to the legislature’s transporta- tion committee and this is the one the legislature chose to fund. Drotzmann said he was a little disappointed that the earmark in the legislation WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2018 FROM A1 gation technology that they had seen at Herb Stahl’s farm during their tour. Ziari said worldwide, irrigation is at about 30 percent effi- ciency, but Stahl’s farm achieves about 90 percent efficiency. “I think that it is a global model for efficiency, but we have large areas, many hect- ares in the United States that are not that efficient, that need to be brought up. But we are progressing fast,” he said. Other questions were about the growth of agricul- ture in the United States, and whether the Eastern Oregon region could support more crops. Ziari said growth is limited in the United States not so much by land avail- ability but by political issues. In 1900, 50 percent of Amer- icans were involved in farm- ing, he said, and now it’s less than three percent due to the technological advances that have made farming more efficient, and large corpora- tions who are now operating many of them.. “Because we are now 2 percent of the population, politicians are ignoring the needs of agriculture,” he said. He told the group that investment in new projects was needed for Brazil’s agri- cultural economy to grow, and the investment commu- nity was interested. Olivira said Brazil was ready. And if the govern- ment stabilized, the coun- try’s agriculture could reach the level of technology used in the United States “very fast.” specifically said North First Place, when the example he had given the transporta- tion committee was the need to redesign the intersection of South First Place and Orchard Avenue, where cars get backed up and block fire trucks and ambulances from getting through. Since the line in the legislation speci- fies North, the city can’t use any of the money for proj- ects south of Hermiston Ave- nue, including the Orchard intersection. However, he said the city was still very grateful for the money and it would be helpful in clearing up Highway 395 congestion when complete. “Any time the state wants to give us $4.5 million, it’s a good project,” he said. Hermiston Energy Services Before its regular meet- ing Monday, the council participated in a work ses- sion with Nate Rivera, gen- eral manager of Hermiston Energy Services. Rivera said HES, the city-owned utility that serves 63 percent of Herm- iston, recently completed a full inventory of its infra- structure. They found a few issues — including six miles of outdated con- centric neutral distribution cables underground that need replaced with newer technology — and 134 util- ity poles that need replaced soon. “Any time the state wants to give us $4.5 million, it’s a good project.” David Drotzmann, Hermiston Mayor Eighty-nine of the poles are roadside, but 45 are in back yards, where they are more expensive and time-consuming to replace. That brings up a third issue, which Rivera said was back- yard overhead distribution of power that often brings lines through yards with trees and has a “high pro- pensity for outages.” To address all of those problems, Rivera said he was looking at a two-year construction plan that would include replacing some lines around town, replacing poles PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY FRED ZIARI Herb Stahl from the Stanfield Hutterian Brethren farm shows the FieldNet Wireless pivot control to a group of farmers visiting from Brazil. and doing a 67-lot pilot proj- ect near Hermiston High School to bring some distri- bution lines underground. The work plan Rivera presented would include $536,750 for pole replace- ment, $615,000 to replace underground cable, $325,000 to “re-conductor” some lines and $335,000 for the pilot project, in addi- tion to the utility’s regular yearly maintenance sched- ule, for a total of $3,321,750 during 2018-2020. He said the city had budgeted about $812,000 for HES for the upcoming fiscal year and he assumed it would be a simi- lar rate for 2019-2020. That, combined with $1.5 million that HES was able to save during recent construction projects such as replacing meters, would leave HES about $200,000 short. The city would likely need to have a conversation about raising rates to cover that, Rivera said. But in return, customers would get increased reliability, which HES has “struggled a little bit with” this year. Rivera said he had wanted to get feedback from the council before coming back with a completed, offi- cial proposal for a vote later. First large grassfire sparks HERMISTON HERALD A fire in Stanfield burned for several hours Monday afternoon on some property near the Hinkle Railyard. Umatilla County Fire District 1 Battalion Chief J.W. Roberts said the cause of the fire was unknown, but it started shortly after 1:30 p.m. on Hoosier Lane, near a composting area where people can drop off yard debris. He said other than a few fence posts, no structures were affected. Roberts said the wind was making the fire hard to extinguish, but there was no threat to any buildings nearby. On Tuesday afternoon a brush fire also swept through the Joy Lane and Alpine Drive area behind Wal-Mart. Structures were threatened but the fire dis- trict managed to keep the nearby buildings safe. You hear with your brain, not your ears. Studies show that individuals with hearing loss experience a 30-40 percent accelerated rate of cognitive decline * . This decrease in brain stimulation may contribute to brain atrophy * . The greater the rate of hearing loss the faster the decline of memory and thinking * . 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Asking an aging parent to hand over their keys can be a difficult and emotional conversation, even when safety is the main concern. • How do I start the conversation? • When is the right time to bring it up? • How will they react? This could be one of the most challenging talks you’ll have with your loved one. We’re here to help. Visit TheyDeserveTheBest.com to learn more about transitioning your loved one from driver to passenger. McKay Creek Estates 1601 Southgate Pl. Pendleton, OR 97801 (541) 704-7146 www.PrestigeCare.com
