COMMUNITY
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAy, MARCH 27, 2019
Hermiston city council approves goals for 2019
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
An indoor aquatic cen-
ter, new city hall and pav-
ing Gettman Road are on the
city’s list of goals.
After a goal-setting
retreat in February, the coun-
cil approved a final write-up
of their aspirations on Mon-
day. The 43 different dead-
lines the city set for itself
in the report tied into seven
categories of goals.
In public surveys citi-
zens have named an indoor
aquatic and wellness cen-
ter as one of their top liv-
ability priorities, and the
city plans to have a con-
cept for the center together
by Nov. 1 and put together
a strategy for funding by
the end of 2019. That fund-
ing could include anything
Staff photo by Kathy Aney/
Hermiston city hall is getting overcrowded, and the city hopes
to build a new facility.
from bonds to formation of
a special parks and recre-
ation taxing district.
“This is one of those
goals that’s probably five
years down the road to full
implementation,”
Smith
said of the wellness center.
Another long-term goal
that the city plans to start
taking steps toward is a
new city hall. Overcrowd-
ing at the current facil-
ity on Northeast Second
COLUMN
Practical jokes lead to hilarity
could have been born on
April Fool’s Day.
However, it wouldn’t
have been much fun for
my mom — making me
nearly eight weeks overdue.
Although, given my person-
ality, it would have been fit-
ting for me to be born on
the day that celebrates prac-
tical jokes and hoaxes.
Known for my affin-
ity for tomfoolery, I’ve also
been on the receiving end
of some pretty good pranks.
One of the most memora-
ble is when a number of
my co-workers persuaded
my husband to be involved.
Honestly, I don’t think it
took much convincing for
John to get on board with
pulling one over on me. He
has been on the receiving
end of a number of my gags
over the years.
At the time, I was the res-
idential manager at a facility
for adults with developmen-
tal disabilities. When there
were emergencies, I was
to be called — regardless
of the time of day or night.
I
Given that I have unusual
sleeping patterns, my
co-workers wanted to make
sure that they woke me from
a sound slumber. John was
in contact with Suzanne
Tosten, my “friend” and a
group home manager.
When my phone rang in
the wee hours of the morn-
ing of April 1, my head
didn’t have the ability to
process what the date was.
I don’t recall what Suzanne
said, other than, “I’ll pick
you up.” That didn’t send
up any red flags, as we often
responded to late night calls
in tandem.
What I do remember is
fretting over what to wear
— not that I needed to be
dapperly dressed. How-
ever, wherever I ended
up going, I knew I would
be representing the com-
pany I worked for. So, the
AC-DC “Highway to Hell”
T-shirt I fell asleep in prob-
ably wasn’t the best choice.
And, I reminded myself to
grab a hat — the last time I
ended up in the ER at Good
Shepherd Medical Center
was like a bad hair day on
steroids.
I still had a dazed look
in my eyes as I finally made
my way down the stairs and
out the door. Suddenly, peo-
ple were all around — half
a dozen co-workers were
shooting water pistols at
me. I got soaked. They got
me good — there was no
emergency, it was merely
the first few hours of April
Fool’s Day.
In a follow-up column,
I will share some of my
favorite pranks — including
an elaborate scheme where
I portrayed the Publishers
Clearing House. After weeks
of set-up and planning, it
culminated in “delivering”
a Lincoln Continental to an
unsuspecting friend.
———
Tammy Malgesini is the
community editor. Her col-
umn, Inside my Shoes,
includes general musings
about life. Contact her at
tmalgesini@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4539.
Street has forced the city
to move staff elsewhere,
such as placing parks and
recreation employees at
the Hermiston Community
Center.
This year the city plans
to conduct a comprehen-
sive review of staffing it
will need to accommo-
date growth over the next
decade, including oppor-
tunities for automation,
and the facilities needed to
accommodate that staff.
“Not just city hall, but
do we have adequate space
for the public works yard,
do we have adequate space
for the police department?”
Smith said.
City staff plan to iden-
tify a funding structure for
new civic facilities by Sept.
30.
The city also has its eye
on several road projects. It
plans to go out for bid on
improvements to East The-
ater Lane this fall, complete
an overlay of West Hermis-
ton Avenue by Oct. 31 and
pursue and agreement with
Umatilla County on getting
Gettman Road paved. The
city also plans to start look-
ing this year at a location,
design and funding possi-
bilities for a bridge over the
Umatilla River to connect
Hermiston more directly to
Interstate 82.
“We want to do a better
in-depth engineering at the
possible locations,” Smith
said.
To encourage new retail
in Hermiston, Smith said
the city hopes to create an
urban renewal district along
North Highway 395, sim-
ilar to the one currently in
effect downtown. An urban
renewal district freezes rev-
enue from property taxes at
a certain level for a limited
number of years. Any addi-
tional tax collected due to a
rise in property values goes
to the district, which fun-
nels the money into proj-
ects designed to raise prop-
erty values further.
Other goals for the city
for this year include a long
list of water and sewer proj-
ects recently approved in
the capital improvement
plan, such as the new water
tower northeast of town
that will begin construction
this year.
The city council also
hopes to adopt a strategic
plan for the Eastern Ore-
gon Trade and Event Center
by July 1 and create a master
plan for industrial lands.
Inland chorale to present free
concert in Grant County
The Inland Northwest Chorale will
present a free concert in Canyon City.
An ensemble of the Inland Northwest
Musicians, more than half of its members
reside in west Umatilla County. The per-
formance is Saturday, March 30 at 4 p.m.
at the Canyon City Community Center. A
reception will follow the concert.
Under the direction of R. Lee Friese,
the program includes “Gloria” by Anto-
nio Vivaldi. The piece will include solo-
ists RaNiel Dunn and Erin DeCarlow, both
of Hermiston, and Becky Henshaw, Arlene
Thompson and Mary Finney, all of Pend-
leton. In addition, the chorale will present
excerpts of “The Peaceable Kingdom” by
Randall Thompson. The piece was writ-
ten with inspiration from a painting by
Edward Hicks (1780-1849), an American
folk painter and a Quaker minister with the
Society of Friends in Pennsylvania.
The Inland Northwest Musicians are
celebrating their 20th season. A special
celebration reunion concert is planned in
June, which will include a commissioned
orchestral/choral piece. Additional details
will be announced at a future date.
For more information, contact 541-
289-4696, inwm@machmedia.net or visit
www.inlandnorthwestmusicians.com.
Landing Days seeks vendor applications
Organizers are getting
a jump start on the annual
Umatilla Landing Days
festival.
A celebration of Uma-
tilla’s heritage, the event
is June 21-22 — with most
activities taking place at
Umatilla Marina Park. The
Umatilla Chamber of Com-
merce & Visitor Center
is accepting applications
for arts and craft vendors
($40). There also are lim-
ited spots available with
electricity for additional
$10) as well as food ven-
dors ($150-$200). Applica-
tions must be submitted by
June 1.
For more information
or vendor forms, call 541-
922-4825, visit www.
umatillaorchamber.org
or stop by the chamber
office at 100 Cline Ave.,
Umatilla.
Hermiston Elks honor Maxine Rice
Hermiston Elks Lodge
#1845 recently announced
that Maxine Rice, inner
guard, was honored as the
officer of the year by the
Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks.
The Hermiston woman
has served in the capac-
ity for nine years. Rice has
been a member of the Elks
for several years. In addi-
tion, she has been a
member of Herm-
iston Emblem Club
#215 for 30 years,
where she currently
serves as financial
secretary.
“Maxine is a great Rice
member and team
player,” said Teresa Mon-
crief, Emblem Club presi-
dent. “She always goes the
extra mile and par-
ticipates in all areas
of the club.”
An active citizen
in the community,
Rice also has served
with the Good Shep-
herd Medical Cen-
ter Auxiliary since
1998 and is a member of
Grace and Mercy Lutheran
Church.
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