NEWS
Wednesday, december 12, 2018
HermIsTOnHeraLd.cOm • A3
Strategic plan maps
out EOTEC’s future
By JADE MCDOWELL
Staff Writer
staff photo by e.J. Harris/east Oregonian
A shipping container is offloaded from a railcar at one of the railroad spurs in May 2015 at the Port of Morrow.
Port or Morrow nets $19 million grant
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
Staff Writer
In the next five years, the Port of
Morrow will see massive railroad
expansions with the hope that new jobs
and industries may soon follow.
The project will be funded by a $19
million federal grant from the U.S.
Department of Transportation’s Bet-
ter Utilizing Investments to Leverage
Developments (BUILD) program.
The money will fund the port’s
Columbia River Barge Terminal
Rail Access Project and will be sup-
plemented by a $6.5 million grant
from the state specifically for rail
improvements.
Lisa Mittelsdorf, the economic
development director for the port,
said this is the third time the port has
applied for the grant (formerly known
as the TIGER grant), but the amount
offered this year was more than in
years past.
She said the federal grant offered
money for rural infrastructure proj-
ects in general, but the port knew right
away they wanted to fund a rail expan-
sion project.
“It will be beneficial to existing
businesses, which will have the avail-
ability to move cargo, whether bulk
movement or containerized,” she said.
According to an application sum-
mary, the project will include con-
structing rail infrastructure to four sep-
arate barge terminals within the port’s
industrial park, road improvements,
bridge construction and improvements
to specific terminal sites.
“It will give us the opportunity to
not only increase existing business, but
add businesses,” Mittlesdorf said.
She said that could include several
types of businesses similar to those at
the port now that transport contained
products, solid waste, ethanol, wood
chips and grain. She said they may
even look into transporting food and
refrigerated containers.
“Those are all things we’ll look at,
but I can’t say there’s a particular proj-
ect,” she said.
The port’s engineers will spend
2019 planning and designing the rail
upgrades and getting permits. The port
will begin the bidding process in 2020,
and construction is planned to last until
2023.
Maps of the proposed expansions
show that there will be two main com-
ponents of the rail project: one will
extend new rail lines from a new track,
adjacent to the Union Pacific mainline,
to three separate marine terminals in
the port’s industrial park.
“It will be a huge construction proj-
ect,” she said. “Right now there is no
rail on the north side of the Union
Pacific mainline.”
Terminal 1, which is a slip owned
by the port, is being dredged of sand so
it can be used more regularly.
The second major expansion will
improve access the Morrow County
Grain Growers terminal, which is
under construction to get five new
additional 200,000-bushel storage
bins, a new bottom-dump rail unload-
ing facility, and conveyor systems.
Most of the expansions for that proj-
ect will be funded by the $6.5 million
state grant.
“That project is set to start construc-
tion very quickly,” Mittlesdorf said.
Mittlesdorf thanked U.S. Rep. Greg
Walden and both of Oregon’s senators,
Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, for their
role in securing the grant.
“They made phone calls, they did
everything to support us,” she said.
She said as of now, they don’t antic-
ipate any costs that will fall outside the
$26 million that the two grants will
cover.
Electric rate increase coming in January
By JADE MCDOWELL
Staff Writer
The Hermiston city coun-
cil voted Monday to raise
electric rates for Hermis-
ton Energy Services by $2
per month. The changes take
effect Dec. 31.
Usage rates per kilowatt
hour will stay the same, but
base rates for residential cus-
tomers will jump from $14
to $16. Small commercial
users will see their rates go
from $35 to $37, and demand
charges for peak usage for all
types of commercial custom-
ers will go from $5.75 to $6.
HES does not currently have
any industrial customers, but
if one does arrive they will
now pay a base charge of
$250 instead of $200.
The council had post-
poned its vote on the issue
from the Nov. 26 meeting,
asking HES general man-
ager Nate Rivera to return
with more detailed infor-
mation about the utility’s
finances. Rivera said 52 per-
cent of HES’s spending is
for wholesale power from
Bonneville Power Adminis-
tration, 17 percent is for its
contract with Umatilla Elec-
tric Cooperative, 11 percent
is for debt service, 9 per-
cent is for materials and ser-
vices, 8 percent is for capi-
tal outlay and 3 percent is for
personnel.
“That still leaves us
with about a $6,000
deficit, and I think
I can get that from
other areas of my
department.”
Nate Rivera,
HES general manager
Increasing costs for
wholesale power and main-
tenance would have put
HES as a $1.2 million deficit
during the current fiscal year,
but Rivera said savings from
a bond refinance and on con-
struction spending last year
have helped bring that down
to a $163,102 deficit. Rivera
said the rate increase would
bring in about $157,000.
“That still leaves us with
about a $6,000 deficit, and
I think I can get that from
other areas of my depart-
ment,” he said.
Rivera said when BPA
raises rates again in Oct.
2019 there is a strong pos-
sibility he will be back
before the council asking
for another rate adjustment,
but he said he didn’t want
to have to raise rates on cus-
tomers any more than nec-
essary. After a 10.95 percent
increase in 2015, the coun-
cil asked that HES try to
break increases into smaller
amounts over time to help
customers transition.
He said the change will
put the average residential
bill for HES at $111, com-
pared to $155 statewide and
$186 nationally.
On Monday Rivera also
shared information with the
council about upcoming
5G technology, which will
enable faster data speeds for
cell phones.
Currently 4G and below
operates on a system of cell
towers that are 75 to 400 feet
tall and cover up to 20 miles.
Cell service providers are
preparing to begin the jump
to 5G, he said, which oper-
ates on 30 to 60 foot tow-
ers that cover up to 750 feet.
Instead of building their own
towers, providers will mostly
use utility poles, street lights
and other existing items to
place their technology.
The industry success-
fully lobbied the FCC to
greatly restrict cities’ abil-
ity to regulate that practice,
he said, including limits on
how much a city can charge
the companies to place their
equipment the public right of
way.
“They took away a big
area of local control,” Rivera
said.
While revenue was one
concern, Rivera said he was
more concerned about safety.
He worried about telecom-
munications
employees
without proper safety train-
ing accessing equipment
so close to live wires, and
asked what would happen
if a vehicle hit a pole and
there wasn’t anyone local
who was able to service the
5G equipment. Without local
agreements in place, Rivera
said, a company might be
able to abandon broken or
outdated equipment on the
city’s poles.
Mayor David Drotz-
mann said the League of
Oregon Cities was aware of
the problem and is working
with other states to lobby for
more local control of public
rights of way.
Farm-City Pro Rodeo
board members attended
Hermiston’s city council
meeting Monday night to
voice concern about a plan
to move the Eastern Ore-
gon Trade and Event Cen-
ter’s RV park.
The
city
recently
awarded Knerr Construc-
tion a contract to build
new offices for the Uma-
tilla County Fair and add
hook-ups and other needed
finishes to the RV park.
The park, currently
unfinished, lies in the
northwest corner of the
property behind the event
center. On Monday, rodeo
board member Dennis
Barnett told the council
the rodeo had been notified
only two weeks earlier that
the city was “fast-track-
ing” a plan to move the RV
park next to the rodeo are-
na’s east side, potentially
taking away 10 acres of
parking for the rodeo.
He said on Friday and
Saturday nights of the
rodeo, parking has been
full even with the arena
only about 60 percent full.
Both he and board member
David Bothum said they
felt the decision had been
rushed, and more due dili-
gence was needed.
City manager Byron
Smith said the RV park
and fair office projects
have been on a fast track
because of the urgency
to get them constructed
before the 2019 fair and
rodeo. He admitted that
more notice could have
been given to the rodeo
board, but said they had
been consulted, and he
didn’t feel the city’s top
priority should be the “two
nights a year” when that
parking was at capacity.
“One of the reasons the
RV park has been a prior-
ity is because of its poten-
tial to generate revenue,”
he said.
Councilor John Kir-
wan backed Smith up on
that point, saying that
with the proper ameni-
ties the city could get
$300 a month per space
from the RV park to help
keep EOTEC financially
solvent. He said the city
needed to look at EOTEC
as more than “replacement
fairgrounds.”
Moving the RV park
made sense, he said,
because if people were
going to be living in the
RV park long term, they
needed access that didn’t
require driving through the
middle of EOTEC.
Smith said the coun-
cil would see a proposal
during their next meet-
ing, on Jan. 14, for a price
and plan for the upgrades
Knerr Construction has
been hired to build.
On Monday the coun-
cil also discussed a draft
of a strategic plan for
EOTEC, put together by
the city’s EOTEC advi-
sory committee, city staff
and SSW Consulting.
Mayor David Drotzmann,
who sits on the commit-
tee, said the draft showed
recommendations consol-
idated from a survey and
focus groups, but the com-
mittee hoped the council
would now help prioritize
and put timelines to those
recommendations.
“This is a living docu-
ment,” he said.
The 32-page version
presented Monday out-
lines 28 different broad
recommendations for the
city moving forward, bro-
ken down into smaller
steps. Under “improve
landscaping and overall
beautification of the site,”
for example, the report
recommends developing a
landscaping plan, working
with Farm-City Pro Rodeo
to finalize arena landscap-
ing, ensuring proper irri-
gation infrastructure is in
place and budgeting for
ongoing maintenance of
landscaping.
Other facility improve-
ments
recommended
include improving access
roads, improving parking,
providing a space for nurs-
ing mothers, implement-
ing noise mitigation mea-
sures, improving security
and securing water rights
to the site.
The report recommends
the addition of larger fea-
tures to EOTEC as well. A
multi-sports practice facil-
ity could provide addi-
tional athletic fields to the
community, the report sug-
gests, and an indoor arena/
pavilion could provide a
home for more equestrian
events. An amphitheater
was also suggested, as well
as expanding and improv-
ing current facilities, such
as barns and restrooms.
On the operations
side, the report suggests
improvements to market-
ing and customer service.
Those suggestions include
creation of a marketing
plan, hiring a marketing
and sales position, creating
an “EOTEC brand,” devel-
oping partnerships in tour-
ism and creating a strong
social media presence.
The report also has
some practical advice
about reviewing event pol-
icies, establishing vendor
contracts and clarifying
leadership roles.
Using feedback from
an online survey and focus
groups, the report suggests
24 different types of events
that might be a good fit for
EOTEC.
The United Methodist Church presents
12/12
Cineplex Show Times
$5 Classic Movie
Today • 12pm
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
The 26th Annual
Living Nativity
CREED II (PG13)
4:00 7:00 10:00
Saturday, Dec 15th • 6-8pm
Sunday, Dec 16th • 4-6pm
RALPH BREAKS THE
INTERNET (PG)
4:50 7:20 9:50
191 E Gladys Ave • Hermiston, Oregon
FANTASTIC BEASTS:
THE CRIMES
OF GRINDELWALD (PG13)
3:40* 6:40 9:40
INSTANT FAMILY (PG13)
4:10 6:50 9:30
DR. SEUSS' THE GRINCH (PG)
4:40 7:10 9:20
* Matinee Pricing
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
This adventure will take you through a beautiful
setting featuring live animals and characters so you
can experience first hand the birth of our Savior.
Then come inside for warm drinks and cookies.
Please bring your friends and family and enjoy this special event.
Christmas Eve Worship is at 6:30pm