LOCAL
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAy, JANuARy 23, 2019
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Todd Perkins is one of the owners of Five Star Car Wash,
which just opened on Southwest 11th Street and Highland
Avenue.
EO File Photo
The Stanfield City Council has talked about ways to preserve the historic water tower in the center of town.
Stanfield survey shows opposition to dispensaries
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
tanfield residents sup-
port keeping their
landmark water tower
but are still against letting
marijuana dispensaries into
town, according to a survey
conducted by the city.
The wide-ranging survey
asked for citizens’ opinions
on everything from auto-
matic payments for utilities
to Main Street upgrades. It
got responses from 266 res-
idents, representing about
12 percent of Stanfield’s
population.
City Manager Blair
Larsen said the impetus
for the survey was the old
water tower that stands tall
over the city. The tower was
built in 1920, but taken out
of service in the early 2000s
due to leaks. At about one-
tenth of the capacity of each
of the city’s other water
storage tanks, it wasn’t
worth the cost to put it back
in commission, Larsen said.
“The only function it
serves now is as a land-
mark,” he said.
The tower’s condition is
deteriorating, and last year
S
Larsen asked the city coun-
cil if he should put money
into the 2018-19 budget for
refurbishing it or tearing it
down. He said an estimate
from a company that could
repaint and repair the tower
put the costs at roughly
$180,000. Due to lead paint
in the tower, demolition
would cost only slightly
less, but would eliminate
future maintenance costs.
The council was divided
on what should be done,
so Larsen put the money in
reserve for a year and posed
the question to residents.
Sixty-seven percent of
respondents said they pre-
ferred to use city funds to
refurbish the landmark. He
said he will take that infor-
mation back to the coun-
cil during budgeting discus-
sions for the next fiscal year.
Larsen also added a
question about whether the
city should maintain its ban
on marijuana dispensaries.
“We had a couple of
business folks come to the
city and say, ‘We know
you’ve got a ban, but we’re
really interested in bringing
a dispensary into the city,’”
he said.
Larsen said under cur-
rent state law, in order to
lift their ban the city would
have to put the question to
the voters during a Novem-
ber election in an even-num-
bered year — 2020 at the
earliest. And given the fact
that 57 percent of residents
surveyed supported keep-
ing the ban, Larsen said for
now the city has no plans
to place the question on the
ballot.
Another question asked
residents about changes to
Main Street to slow out-
of-town traffic as it speeds
through Stanfield on High-
way 395. While Larsen said
there wasn’t an immediate
funding source available,
the Oregon Department of
Transportation is planning
a repaving project along
that corridor and there could
possibly be some money
available for related work.
Thirty-nine percent of
respondents supported hav-
ing the same number of
travel lanes with bumped-
out curbs and landscaping
to make the road feel nar-
rower. Only 20 percent sup-
ported reducing the num-
ber of travel lanes, while the
rest supported no changes
or tactics such as increased
enforcement.
The final question of
the survey was an open-
ended chance for citizens
to express other thoughts.
Nine percent of responses
included references to the
odor coming from the 3D
IdaPro Solutions dehydra-
tion plant, which has drawn
complaints for more than
a year. Overall, however,
Larsen said he was pleased
to see that question provide
mostly constructive sugges-
tions for the city instead of a
“rant-fest.”
Some suggestions were
unaffordable or out of the
city’s control. But Larsen
said the answers are some-
thing city staff and city
councilors are taking seri-
ously as they look to Stan-
field’s future, and his door
is always open for further
discussion.
“We’re not all-powerful,
we have constraints, and
those constraints are there
for a reason,” he said. “But
we’re not opposed to chang-
ing things if they were put
in place based on someone’s
opinion.”
Good Shepherd welcomes new speech therapy manager
release from Good Shep-
Good Shepherd Health herd, Roberts has a partic-
Care System’s speech-lan- ular passion for working
guage
pathology
with children with
department has a
autism.
new manager.
“There is noth-
Heidii Roberts,
ing more rewarding
speech-language
for me than getting
pathologist,
will
silly and teaching
head up the depart-
them about social
ment. She comes
skills and how to
Roberts
from the Portland
be flexible,” she
metro area, where
said in a statement.
she has run her own prac- “I also care for individuals
tice for the past 10 years.
with tongue thrust and lisp-
According to a news ing articulation, and I plan
By HERMISTON HERALD
to contribute my experience
with Orofacial Myofunc-
tional Therapy (OMT).”
OMT is used to treat indi-
viduals with orofacial myo-
functional disorders, which
interfere with the develop-
ment of bones and muscles
around the face and mouth,
in some cases causing prob-
lems with speech.
Roberts and her hus-
band have two daughters,
who also work in the med-
ical field. Roberts said she
applied for the Hermis-
The most valuable and respected
source of local news, advertising and
information for our communities.
ton position because she
was ready for a change of
scenery, and she enjoys
the friendliness of Eastern
Oregon.
Speech-Language Ther-
apy, at 600 N.W. 11th St.,
Suite E-25, is accepting
referrals. For more informa-
tion call 541-667-3635.
Five Star Car Wash opens
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
The owners of a Herm-
iston car wash have started
a second one on the oppo-
site side of town. Five Star
Car Wash is now open,
and is located at the corner
of Southwest 11th Street
and West Highland Ave-
nue, near a cluster of new
businesses.
Todd Perkins, who
owns the business with
Hermiston native Russ
Greene, said they had been
looking to expand for a
few months. They run the
Five Star Auto Wash, near
Hermiston’s Wal-Mart on
the northeast side of town.
“This side of town
doesn’t have much,” he
said.
The car wash officially
opened on Jan. 16, and Per-
kins said as of now, they
are open from 8 a.m. to
5 p.m. Hours will expand
as the days get longer.
Heppner council fires city manager
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Six of Heppner’s seven
city councilors voted on
Friday, Jan. 11 to fire the
city manager, citing issues
with budget management.
Edie Ball’s firing was
effective immediately, and
the mayor has appointed
Kim Cutsforth, Ball’s pre-
decessor, as the interim
city manager while the
council conducts a nation-
wide search for a new
manager.
The city’s contract with
Ball states that they were
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required to give her 30
days’ notice, but since they
let her go immediately,
they paid her for 30 days’
worth of service upon
termination.
The Hermiston Herald
attempted to contact Ball,
but was not able to reach
her for comment.
Council president Corey
Sweeney said they hope
the new manager will be
more of a project manager.
He said the council
had a list of concerns with
Ball, including that bud-
get issues were slow to be
addressed, if at all.
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M
A
K
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O
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P
Perkins said the car
wash has some new ame-
nities that aren’t avail-
able at their other loca-
tion. Customers using
the self-wash station now
have access to dryers and
“triple-shine” conditioner,
which gives the car a col-
orful shine.
The tunnel car wash
also has some new LED
lights that create a show as
cars get washed.
“It looks like a curtain
of lava,” Perkins said.
Perkins said he and
Greene previously owned
Five Star Auto Sales,
which they recently sold
to Toyota.
“We always needed
to wash our cars, and we
would always see the
land (by Wal-Mart),” he
said. “The location was so
good, we decided to start
washing them.”
The new business is
located at 1180 West High-
land Ave.
541-567-8229
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