LOCAL
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
HerMIsTOnHeraLd.COM • A3
Dorrans will lead 2019 Umatilla County Fair parade
By TAMMY MALGESINI
COMMUNITY EDITOR
With a theme of “Strong
Roots & Cowboy Boots!,”
the Umatilla County Fair
Board is already cultivat-
ing people and plans for the
Aug. 6-10, 2019 event.
Dan and Terri Dorran of
Hermiston were introduced
as the 2019 grand marshals
during Saturday night’s Fair
Appreciation Dinner at East-
ern Oregon Trade and Event
Center. After serving for two
decades, Dan stepped down
from the fair board at the
end of 2017.
A Hermiston native, Dan
said his family have been
longtime supporters of the
fair. His grandfather first
put him to work cleaning
up stalls at the fairgrounds
when he was 7 years old.
Serving on the fair board
isn’t an honorary or ceremo-
nial title, Dan said, it’s hands
on and a lot of hard work.
And, he’s quick to point out
that it’s the sponsors, part-
nerships and people that
contribute to the success of
the Umatilla County Fair.
While Terri downplayed
her role, Don Miller, who
introduced the Dorrans, said
over the years she has taken
care of many last minute
details and sometimes inter-
esting requests.
staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
Terri and Dan Dorran of Hermiston head to the stage after
being introduced as grand marshals of the 2019 Umatilla
County Fair. The Fair Appreciation Dinner, held Saturday at
Eastern Oregon Trade & Event Center, also included several
award presentations.
Kyleigh Sepulveda, 16, and Nive Hamilton,15, both of
Hermiston, and Madison Pryor, 15, of Pendleton were
introduced as the 2019 Umatilla County Fair court Saturday at
Eastern Oregon Trade & Event Center in Hermiston.
Fesler
Wallace
“As a couple, they are
more than deserving,”
Miller said. “Dan and Terri
are valued members of our
team.”
Tears were plentiful as
the 2018 fair court — Laik-
Dennis
lyn Fields, Rebekah Miller,
Bobbie Sharp and Olivia
Warner — said their final
farewells. A video with can-
did and posed shots pro-
vided a glimpse of their role
as ambassadors for the fair
and county.
“The girls do a lot of
traveling and have a lot of
fun,” said Alice Newman,
fair court chaperone. “It’s
also a lot of hard work.”
Newman invited the 2019
court to the stage and each of
the young ladies introduced
themselves and their fami-
lies. They are, Nive Hamil-
ton, 15, and Kyleigh Sepul-
veda, 16, both of Hermiston,
and Madison Pryor, 15, of
Pendleton.
Others recognized during
the event included Terrie
Dennis, who was selected as
female volunteer of the year
for her on-going work in the
sheep barn. David Fesler
received male volunteer of
the year for everything from
his support of the fair court
to helping on the grounds.
The business partner
of the year went to Vel-
asco Used Car Sales. Fair
board chairman Lucas Wag-
ner said for the past handful
of years, Miguel Velasco’s
family-owned business has
been instrumental in sup-
porting Latino Night.
And, Steve Wallace of
Western Ag Improvement
received special recognition
for countless hours provided
to abate dust at the EOTEC
site, as well as other volun-
teer activities. In addition,
he was introduced as one of
the new fair board members
along with Doug Bennett.
The two are replacing out-
going board members Gay
Newman and Don Miller.
Wagner could barely
contain his excitement
about this year’s main stage
entertainers. Since several
have yet to sign contracts,
he could only reveal two of
the acts — Tuesday, Aug.
6 brings Tracy Byrd to the
stage. While his self-titled
debut album reached “gold”
status, people likely will rec-
ognize his chart-topping hit,
“Watermelon Crawl,” which
appeared on “No Ordinary
Man.”
And, Wednesday, Aug. 7
features Jackson Michelson,
an up-and-coming coun-
try musician from Corval-
lis. He has opened shows
for Lee Brice, Blake Shelton
and Zac Brown Band. Gen-
eral admission to the con-
certs is free with fair tick-
ets. The sale of reserved
and premium seats will be
announced.
The Umatilla County Fair
is located at EOTEC, 1705
E. Airport Road, Hermiston.
For more information, con-
tact 541-567-6121, fair@
umatillacounty.net or visit
www.umatillacountyfair.
net.
City charts new course with capital plan
ing on East Theater Lane,
year three will be a hiatus
to build up cash and year
four will be a $1.5 million
realignment of the intersec-
tion of Geer Road, Harper
Road, River Road and the
railroad crossing located
west of Home Depot. Year
five will be the North First
Place project and resurfac-
ing West Theater Lane.
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
The Hermiston City
Council doesn’t think very
many people will read this
article.
They commented Mon-
day that the joint capi-
tal improvement plan they
adopted would not make
waves in the press the way
some city council meetings
do. But the document —
which creates a coordinated
game plan for accomplish-
ing a multi-million dollar list
of water, sewer and street
improvements over the next
five years — is one of the
most important things they
will accomplish during their
career on the council, Mayor
David Droztmann said.
He said the last thing
he wants is for Hermiston
to become “the next Flint,
Michigan” and experience
a public health crisis due to
failing infrastructure.
“Infrastructure is not
the super sexy thing every-
one wants to talk about, but
it’s so important,” councilor
Roy Barron added.
The public works capi-
tal improvement plan sched-
ules out about $19 million in
projects over the next five
to six years, with an addi-
tional $20 million in projects
listed in the appendices to be
used as funding becomes
available. The city hopes to
update the plan every two
years.
“We want an inventory,
instead of just reacting to
when things break,” assis-
tant city manager Mark
HH file photo
Reconfiguring the intersection of Geer, Harper and Umatilla
River Road is one of Hermiston’s top street priorities in the
next five years.
Morgan said.
Morgan said the city has
created capital improvement
plans in the past for vari-
ous departments, but put-
ting everything together in
one coordinated document
would increase efficiency.
The plan schedules a major
water line replacement
under North First Place the
same year as a major road
improvement project on
North First Place, for exam-
ple, to prevent contractors
from tearing up work that
the city had just completed.
Streets
The city is getting an
additional $300,000 per year
for street projects from an
increase in franchise fees
(paid for by cable and inter-
net companies using the
city’s right of way for their
equipment) it enacted in late
2017.
It is also getting about
$200,000 per year from the
legislature’s 2017 trans-
portation package, set to
increase to $350,000 over
the next five years. The
North First Place proj-
ect, which will widen and
improve the road parallel to
Highway 395 in the hopes
of drawing more local traf-
fic off the highway, will be
paid for by a $4.5 million
earmark in the transporta-
tion package.
The city has already
accepted a bid for the first
road project on the plan,
which will replace a box
culvert on South First Street
that is falling apart and is too
narrow to support increasing
traffic south of town. In the
next year the city also plans
to do an overlay on Hermis-
ton Avenue from Northwest
11th Street to First Street.
Year two will bring pav-
The city also wants to
add a new coat of paint and
cathodic protection to the
city water tank behind Sun-
set Park to extend its life,
replace a chlorination struc-
ture and expand a water line
down Geer Road. There are
also plans to replace several
steel water mains through-
out town that were built in
the 1920s.
Water
Sewer
To pay for water and
sewer projects, the city
recently restructured and
increased its water and
sewer rates. The new rates
go into effect March 1.
Projects on the list for
water include an upgrade to
Well #6, which serves “crit-
ical customers” such as the
Wal-Mart Distribution Cen-
ter and Pioneer Seed, Mor-
gan said.
The city also plans to
replace the “system-wide
brain” that has run the city’s
water system since 1999.
“I don’t know how many
of you have a 20-year-old
computer, but that’s basi-
cally what we have running
our system,” Morgan said.
On Monday the city
approved a bid from Sineco
Construction of Hermis-
ton for its first sewer proj-
ect on the capital improve-
ment plan, which will
replace a narrow sewer line
along Southeast Seventh
Street that has been creat-
ing a “bottleneck” and caus-
ing concerns about possible
overflow in the event of an
equipment failure.
“We’ve been holding our
breath and crossing our fin-
gers every time we have the
fair up at EOTEC,” Morgan
said.
Other projects in the $6.5
million in recycled water
spending for the next five
years include two lift station
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reconstructions.
Most of the rest of the
money will be put in reserve
for 2024. The city’s recycled
water treatment plant was
built in 2014, and Morgan
said several expensive com-
ponents have an expected
shelf life of about 10 years.
City staff are good at extend-
ing the life of capital assets,
he said, but the city needs to
be prepared in case things
start breaking in 2024.
City councilors praised
staff and the public infra-
structure committee for their
work on the capital improve-
ment plan. Drotzmann said
the League of Oregon Cit-
ies estimates cities around
the state have a combined
$7 billion in needed water
and sewer infrastructure
projects.
“I think this is huge, and
I’m excited and proud of the
city for doing it,” he said.
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