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HermistonHerald.com
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2019
HERMISTON
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Alternate trail routes for the portion of the project linking
Hermiston to Stanfield. County and city planners will
formulate a concept plan by early 2020.
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Hermiston
Feedville Road
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State route
Interstate
Umatilla River
City limits
Road
Proposed trails
Alternative A
Alternative B
Alternative C
Alternative D
Alternative E
F e ed
U matilla River
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Legend
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When the board of
directors for the League of
Oregon Cities convenes
in 2020, it will include
a representative from
Hermiston.
The league announced
last week that Hermis-
ton city manager Byron
Smith has been elected to
its board of directors by the
general membership.
Smith joins Pendle-
ton city councilor Paul
Chalmers on the 15-seat
board, which is comprised
of municipal elected offi -
cials and city administra-
tors from across the state.
• • •
Good
Shepherd
Health Care System has
hired geriatrician and inter-
nal medicine physician Nu
Nwe Tun, MD.
Tun is the third inter-
nist to join Good Shep-
herd’s Medical Group divi-
sion, with two more hires
planned for the near future.
She is from Myanmar, a
country in southeast Asia.
“I grew up with my
godmother, a family med-
icine physician, who ran
a clinic out of her home,”
she said in a news release.
“I learned much from her
knowledge and experience
which ultimately inspired
me to pursue internal med-
icine. The experience also
instilled a passion in me
for geriatric care and being
a strong advocate for this
age group.”
Source: Umatilla
County Department
of Land Use
Planning
Powerline Road
Smith elected
to LOC board
Umatilla River Trails Project, Hermiston to Stanfield
ty 1 2 7
Coun
BY THE WAY
THE FLOW
Ro
Amazon will pay $40
million to the Greater
Hermiston Enterprise Zone
instead of property taxes,
according to a recent deal.
Page A3
nd
TAX BREAK
GOING WITH
tla
Tips to keep your home
and family safe from fi re,
photos of area fi refi ghters
and more in a special sec-
tion honoring fi refi ghters.
Inside
County planners are working with National Parks
Service to plan system of trails from Umatilla to Echo
We
s
SPECIAL SECTION
207
Alan Kenaga/
EO Media Group
1 mile
Kelly Nobles indicates to Esmeralda Horn, the development and recreation manager for
the City of Umatilla, a section of the Umatilla River where he hopes the City of Umatilla
will consider installing a bridge and using a section of his riverfront property for a trail.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
P
lans for the Umatilla River
Trails Project are beginning to
take shape.
“With the support that has come
along for it, we’re moving. This thing’s
got legs,” Umatilla County commis-
sioner Bill Elfering said.
The project would connect Uma-
tilla, Hermiston, Stanfi eld and Echo
through a network of recreational
trails, which the county released possi-
ble routes for at four open house work-
shops last week. They hope to develop
a concept plan early next year.
Using colored stickers, attendees
were able to place unoffi cial votes for
the different options.
“Nothing is set in concrete yet; we
know some of these routes won’t be
possible,” Elfering said at the Herm-
iston open house, which took place
Thursday at the Hermiston Commu-
nity Center.
The county is hoping to keep the
string of trails as close to the river
as possible, but some of the different
route alternatives offer other possibil-
ities, including trails that would run
parallel with train tracks, highways or
See Trails, Page A14
See BTW, Page A2
Four people in the race for county commissioner
By PHIL WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
8
08805 93294
2
Flags fl y outside of the Umatilla County Courthouse in
Pendleton last week.
Four Hermiston residents are the early con-
tenders in the primary race for the Umatilla
County Board of Commissioners.
Dan Dorran, Mark Gomolski, Jonathan
Lopez and Patricia Maier look to serve in
place of Commissioner Bill Elfering, who is
not seeking re-election to the Position 3 seat
on the county board.
Dorran is a long-established local fi gure,
having served on the county fair board for 20
years until he stepped down in 2017. He also
served on the state County Fair Commission
from 2014 to 2018 and on the board of direc-
tors for Hermiston’s Eastern Oregon Trade
and Event Center from 2011 to 2017.
He dove back into county business with
a stint on the county’s Charter Review
Committee.
When he fi led in September he told the
Hermiston Herald that he didn’t plan to start
an offi cial campaign until after the November
election, but he felt humbled that people in the
county had asked him to consider running.
Gomolski, too, served on the charter review
committee. He also is in his fi rst term as a
member of the Hermiston School Board and
has served on Hermiston’s Hispanic Advisory
Committee since 2016.
He managed Elfering’s campaign for com-
missioner four years ago, and the two remain
friends. Gomolski said he wants to take the
reins from Elfering.
“I know Bill has a lot of economic devel-
opment plans in the works, and I would like
to make sure those things come to fruition,”
Gomolski said.
Lopez also is on the Hispanic Advisory
Committee and is a member of the Latino
Business Network.
He and his wife, Jazmin Lopez, in January
opened the student tutoring service Einstein
See Race, Page A14