FROM A1
A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
BTW
HOMES
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
said Neal was very deserving of the
award, calling him “the best port
manager in the United States.
Lindsay joined the Port of Mor-
row’s commission in 1967, nine years
after it started. He expressed appre-
ciation to the people of Morrow
County for supporting the dream and
vision of the port.
Special Districts Association of
Oregon represents more than 900 spe-
cial districts across the state, assisting
them in providing cost-effective and
efficient public services to the people
of Oregon. To view videos of award
recipients, visit www.sdao.com/S4/
Programs/Awards.aspx.
• • •
Good Shepherd Health Care Sys-
tem walked away with five awards at
the HealthCare Service Excellence
Conference.
The awards committee reviewed
233 nominations from 23 different
healthcare organizations spanning 11
states before handing out 55 Pinna-
cle Awards, and 15 of those Pinna-
cle achievers also received Summit
Awards.
Peppa Stark of Good Shepherd
was named a Pinnacle Achiever for
being an exceptional nurse, Mar-
tha Tibbs received one for being an
empowering manager, Nick Beja-
rano received one for being an
inspirational administrator, Good
Shepherd Medical Group Rural
Pediatrics received a Pinnacle Award
and Summit Award for being a medi-
cal clinic of choice.
• • •
The regular monthly fundraising
breakfast of the Irrigon Multicul-
tural Arts Center is this weekend.
A hearty meal will be available
Saturday from 7:30-10:30 a.m. at
Stokes Landing Senior Center, 150
Columbia Lane, Irrigon. The cost is
$4.50 per person.
The group is dedicated to the pres-
ervation of Irrigon’s 1921 school
building and developing a regional
art venue. For more information, call
Peggy Price at 541-567-3806.
• • •
The Harkenrider Senior Activ-
ity Center menu for Feb. 21 is pork
chops, dressing with gravy, vegeta-
bles and dessert. The menu for Feb.
26 is clam chowder, half sandwich,
salad and dessert.
———
You can submit items for our weekly
By The Way column by emailing your
tips to editor@hermistonherald.com.
While some housing growth in
Hermiston is linked to the city’s
continued growth in general,
Spencer said some of the city’s
recent initiatives have also helped
projects pencil out for developers.
For example, in September 2017
the city decreased the required
size of lots, increased the percent-
age of the property a residence is
allowed to cover and decreased
how far houses are required to be
set back from the sidewalk.
“Almost every house (built
since) is taking advantage of
that,” Spencer said.
The city also created an infill
program meant to encourage
development on long-empty lots
in the middle of neighborhoods.
A property owner can apply for
a cheaper, more streamlined pro-
cess to receive variances if they
can show that barriers such as
an unusually-shaped lot preclude
them from building a home with-
out being granted some excep-
AIRPORT
Continued from Page A1
Gorge Aviation Ser-
vices is trying to do its
part to entice the younger
generation to look into
aviation careers. The air-
port just took on its first
high school intern, and
is hosting activities for
teens to learn airplane
repair skills.
Saige
Melson,
a
senior at Hermiston High
School, started her intern-
ship in January. She said
she wants to be a pilot
someday.
So far Melson has got-
ten a wide range of expe-
rience, from working with
the mechanics to helping
out in the offices. But her
favorite so far has been
getting to try out the flight
simulator. She said it was
harder than she thought
it would be, particularly
using the pedals that steer
the plane while it is on the
ground.
“The landing ... that
was ... I may have run
into a building,” she said
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2019
tions to the city’s planning code.
Spencer said the city has had
two infill applications so far.
In May 2018 the city rezoned
a 52-acre triangle off Diagonal
Road, between Northeast Eighth
Street and Northeast 10th Street,
for residential use. Spencer said
a new water project will put even
more land into circulation for pos-
sible housing development on the
northeast side of town.
The joint Hermiston-Umatilla
County project, paid for by enter-
prise zone payments from a new
Lamb Weston expansion, will
bring new water pipes and a new
one million gallon water tank to
the northeast part of town.
“That opens up about 200
acres for development, and yes,
it has absolutely generated inter-
est,” Spencer said.
Umatilla
While Hermiston’s housing
growth has increased steadily in
recent years, Umatilla saw a dra-
matic spike in 2018.
The city issued nine permits
sheepishly.
After getting to check
out what day-to-day life at
a small municipal airport
is like and asking ques-
tions of the pilots who
land there, Melson said
she still wants to head to
college and study aviation
after she graduates.
“If
anything,
it’s
opened my eyes to more
things I could do,” she
said.
Melson isn’t the only
teen getting experience
with aviation. The air-
port’s repair hangar opens
its doors to any interested
teenagers every Thursday
from 6-9 p.m.
Soon Umatilla School
District will start bus-
sing kids to the airport on
Thursday nights as part
of its after-school STEM
program, and Leirvik
said he is working with
Hermiston High School
to set up something sim-
ilar. Students who partici-
pate in the Thursday night
sessions will learn how to
take apart and rebuild an
airplane engine, among
for new homes in 2014, 11 in
2015, 14 in 2016, 17 in 2017 and
56 permits in 2018. No permits
for multi-family dwellings have
been issued in the past five years.
City manager David Stockdale
said based on the current market
and conversations with develop-
ers, he believes 2018’s boom is
only the beginning. He predicts
Umatilla will issue twice as many
permits in 2019 and that 2020 and
2021 will see similar numbers to
2019.
While Umatilla hasn’t made
the same adjustments to its code
as Hermiston, Stockdale said
the city has become proactive in
encouraging developers to ask
the planning commission for a
variance when they run into bar-
riers. Several developers, who
built homes in Umatilla in 2018,
received variances.
“The planning commission has
been very good to work with,” he
said.
The city also rezoned a long-
empty section of McNary from
commercial to residential, paving
other skills.
Some area middle
schools have already
taken field trips out to the
airport in recent months.
Adults can also check out
the airport and learn more
about aviation at the air-
port’s monthly breakfasts,
where pilots and others
with an interest in avia-
tion are invited to gather
at 8:30 a.m. on the last
Saturday of every month.
Mike Martin is the
breakfasts’ “head pan-
cake maker.” Martin has
a plane and hangar in
Hermiston and has served
on the city’s Airport Advi-
sory Committee for about
10 years. He is excited
about what Gorge Avia-
tion Services has accom-
plished so far.
Martin said in the
1980s Hermiston had
city leaders, such as
Tom Harper, who were
passionate about avia-
tion. Once those leaders
moved on, however, the
airport was “forgotten”
for decades and not living
up to its potential.
the way for the Virginia’s Place
subdivision. They have also been
willing to help developers out by
allowing them to delay fee pay-
ments to the city if needed to help
with cash flow.
Stockdale said city leaders
know Umatilla needs housing
at “all economic levels” and are
planning to look into what has
prevented developers from build-
ing any apartments in the last five
years.
“We don’t know specifically
what those hurdles are, so we
need to do our homework and fig-
ure that out and take it to the plan-
ning commission,” he said.
Umatilla, Stanfield and Echo
are partnering for a west Uma-
tilla County housing study, made
possible by a federal grant, that
will help them prepare for future
growth. The community is invited
to an open house that will feature
a draft inventory of buildable resi-
dential land and a residential land
needs assessment on March 13
at 7 p.m. at the Stafford Hansell
Government Center in Hermiston.
“The airport needs to
grow with the city,” he
said.
Martin said assistant
city manager Mark Mor-
gan has been a “god-
send” for the airport in
recent years as he has
worked hard to bring in
millions of dollars in Fed-
eral Aviation Administra-
tion grants. Those grants
have paid for a taxiway
realignment, pavement
overlays, new lighting
and moving and expand-
ing the fuel station. Now
Gorge Aviation is helping
create a 180-degree turn-
around on the operations
side with new programs
and services.
“I want the commu-
nity to know these things
are available to them,
because a lot of people
don’t know all they need
to do is go there and ask,”
he said.
Previously, for exam-
ple, people who wanted
to get their pilot’s license
had to go up to the
Tri-Cities for lessons.
That’s where Martin’s
wife learned, and he said
the commute increased
the time commitment.
Now that instructors are
available in Hermiston,
Martin is taking lessons
for instrument flying, or
flying through no-visibil-
ity conditions.
“It makes you a better
pilot ... I wouldn’t have
thought about it if I had
to drive up to the Tri-Cit-
ies,” he said.
Leirvik said there are
five or six beginners tak-
ing lessons right now,
another five who are
refreshing
themselves
after years of not flying,
and a handful of experi-
enced pilots taking the
instrument flying classes.
In addition to having
flying instructors avail-
able, Martin said he also
appreciated the addition
of the mechanic shop.
There is a serious short-
age of qualified aviation
mechanics in the country,
he said, and “you don’t
want just any Tom, Dick
or Harry working on your
plane.”
ALL WITH STANDARD TOYOTA SAFET Y SENSE!
NEW 2019 TOYOTA
NOW
ONLY
$
COROLLA SE
198
/MO
Up to 36 months.
On approved credit.
Stk. #19H068. New 2019 Toyota Corolla SE . MSRP $21,714. Sale price $20,623 after $1700.00 TFS rebate. 36-month
lease for $198/month. 12,000 miles/year. $1579 cash down. GFV $11,074. No security deposit required. On approved
credit. Plus tax, title and $75 dealer doc fee. See dealer for details. Expires 02/28/19.
$
RAV4 LE AWD
NEW 2019 TOYOTA
298
/MO
Up to 36 months. On approved credit.
**Stk. #19H350. New 2019 Toyota Rav4 LE AWD . MSRP $28,854. Sale price $27,560 after Rogers discount. 36-month lease for $298/
month. 12,000 miles/year. $1999.00 cash down. GFV $17,889. No security deposit required. On approved credit. Plus tax, title and $75
dealer doc fee. See dealer for details. Expires 02/28/19.
NEW 2019 TOYOTA TACOMA SR5 DBL CAB 4X4
LEASE NOW
FOR ONLY
$
298
/MO
Up to 36 months.
On approved credit.
Stk. #19H245. New 2019 Toyota Tacoma SR5 Double Cab 4WD . MSRP $35,983. Sale price $34,162 after $1000 TFS rebate; excludes TRD
Pro. 36-month lease for $298/month. 12,000 miles/year. $1699.00 cash down. GFV $25,547.93. No security deposit required. On approved
credit. Plus tax, title and $75 dealer doc fee. See dealer for details. Expires 02/28/19.