Hermiston herald., October 16, 2019, Page 39, Image 39

LOCAL
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2019
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
Amazon off ered a 15-year tax break
In exchange for
$40 million on
Hermiston project
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
The Hermiston City
Council agreed Monday
to give Amazon a 15-year
tax break on a planned
new development, but they
won’t be walking away
empty-handed.
If the Umatilla County
Board of Commission-
ers agrees to the same deal
during their Wednesday
morning meeting, Ama-
zon is expected to pay up
to $40 million over 15
years directly to the Greater
Hermiston Enterprise Zone,
a partnership between the
city and county, in lieu of
property taxes.
The two government enti-
ties have yet to fi nalize a mem-
orandum of understanding
on how the money would be
split, but city manager Byron
Smith said they planned to
channel some of the money to
Umatilla County Fire District
1 and other taxing districts,
and have discussed using the
windfall to fund projects of
mutual interest, such as pav-
ing and extending Gettman
Road.
“In the course of the his-
tory of the city, very rarely
do opportunities like this
come along,” said coun-
cilor John Kirwan, who was
leading the meeting in the
absence of Mayor David
Drotzmann and council
president Rod Hardin.
As part of the deal, Ama-
zon has promised to invest
at least $200 million into
Photo contributed by James Thomas
The Amazon data center in Umatilla is one of four sites in Umatilla and Morrow counties that
have been completed since 2010, with at least two more on the way.
developments in the enter-
prise zone and pay workers
there at least 130% of Uma-
tilla County’s average wage.
Some citizens present at
the meeting questioned why
a company valued at $1 tril-
lion shouldn’t be asked to
pay the same property taxes
as everyone else. Jackie
Linton said she understood
the company was bring-
ing in jobs it would likely
take elsewhere if it wasn’t
offered the incentive, but it
was still frustrating to see a
deal offered to a company
with so much money.
“I think they can do with
one less yacht or mansion,”
she said.
Another
commenter
pointed out that the resolu-
tion before the council stated
that Amazon must pay a cer-
tain wage, but did not spec-
ify how many jobs they
had to provide. Companies
are becoming more auto-
mated all the time, he said,
and there was no guarantee
that Amazon wouldn’t soon
come up with a way to auto-
mate the jobs they were sup-
posed to bring.
Ric Sherman, chair of
the UCFD fi re board, said
the deal was “another exam-
ple of the city keeping taxes
from other districts.” He
said he was grateful the city
and county intended to set
aside some money for pub-
lic safety, but the amount
they were discussing was
less than 2% of the fi re dis-
trict’s budget.
“This is a very hard pill
to swallow and could hurt us
very much,” he said.
Kirwan said he didn’t
see the deal as the city “giv-
ing up” anything to Ama-
zon, because companies of
that size don’t build in cit-
ies where they’re not given
a tax incentive.
“We’re giving away zero,
because if we don’t do this,
Amazon will go somewhere
else and some other city will
embrace that $40 million
and run with it,” he said.
Councilor Roy Bar-
ron also voiced his sup-
port for the deal, which was
approved unanimously 6-0.
“We’ll be able to diver-
sify our workforce,” he said.
“Right now we’re heav-
ily agricultural, and that’s
awesome, but if something
were to happen to that sec-
tor, that’s a blow to our
economy.”
It was notable that Ama-
zon was discussed by name
in the meeting — area gov-
ernments dealing with the
company in the past have
generally been bound by
nondisclosure agreements
that have them referring
to the company as a “large
developer” or by its subsid-
iary Vadata.
Since Amazon doesn’t
share details with the media
on its data centers, it can be
hard to pin down how many
jobs it has provided Uma-
tilla and Morrow coun-
ties so far with its data cen-
ters in Boardman, Umatilla,
and off Westland Road in
Hermiston.
A September 2017 memo
by Business Oregon stated
that Amazon was directly
employing 230 people in
Oregon at the time, 130
of which were in Uma-
tilla County, but it had an
approximately
1,000-job
year-round workforce in
the state when contractors
and other indirect employ-
ees were counted. The
memo stated that the com-
pany planned to hire another
100 full-time employees for
a new fi ve-building project
planned for outside Hermis-
ton and Umatilla.
That project — which
included buildings off
of Lind Road and Beach
Access Road in Umatilla
and Westland Road outside
Hermiston — used the Stra-
tegic Investment Program
instead of an enterprise zone
to gain a 15-year tax break.
The company agreed to
pay $4 million per year to
Umatilla County in lieu of
taxes. The county elected
to use a formula that allot-
ted about $1 million to the
city of Umatilla, resulting
in a months-long argument
in which the city unsuccess-
fully tried to persuade the
county it deserved half.
In this case, Uma-
tilla County and the city of
OTHER BUSINESS
The city council also
voted Monday to begin
the process to vacate an
undeveloped right of
way behind the former
Hermiston Foods.
City planner Clint
Spencer said the portion
of Southeast 10th be-
tween Penney Avenue
and Feedville Road “is
completely unimproved
and exists only on paper
at this point.”
He said a “large eco-
nomic development
project” is planning to
build a development on
the undeveloped proper-
ty that is bisected by the
right of way and asked
that the city consider va-
cating it. He said no one
would be landlocked out
of their property if the
right of way was given to
the property owner for
development.
The council’s vote
Monday started off the
process by setting a pub-
lic hearing on possible
vacation for Oct. 28 at
7 p.m. at city hall, 180 NE
Second St.
Hermiston are co-sponsors
of the Greater Hermiston
Enterprise Zone, meaning
they will have to both agree
on how to split the approx-
imately $40 million in fees
paid to the zone. A memo-
randum of understanding
had been added to Monday’s
city council agenda, but
Smith told the council that
the agreement had not been
fi nalized yet and would be
presented for their vote at a
later date.
With harvest in full swing, safety key point of concern
By BEN LONERGAN
STAFF WRITER
As farm trucks carry-
ing onions, corn and other
produce fi ll highways and
heavy equipment plows
fi elds throughout rural Ore-
gon, agricultural safety
becomes a key point of con-
cern for farming operations.
Alan Cleaver, who owns
Columbia Basin Onion
and several other agricul-
tural operations in Herm-
iston, said recently he had
one of his truck drivers get
rear-ended by a car as he
was coming up to speed on
an on-ramp. Cleaver said
the driver of the car was on
their cellphone and failed to
notice the onion truck com-
ing up to speed.
While he is thankful that
no one was killed, Cleaver
was once again reminded of
the dangers that face agri-
culture workers, especially
during harvest season.
“Safety takes a lot of time
to instill in your employees
and it takes them believing
that you are looking out for
them,” he said. “With all of
the new people during har-
vest time, we have to take
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
A Shuknecht onion harvester harvests in one of Alan Cleaver’s
fi elds near Umatilla on Tuesday afternoon.
the time to instill that belief
into everyone.”
Cleaver said the required
safety trainings and meet-
ings are an important part
of the process, however,
the biggest aspect is getting
employees to look out for
one another and for those
out on the roads to keep
their eyes open as well.
“We have mostly miti-
gated the safety concerns
around the farms,” he said.
“But we have 50 or more
trucks out on the highway
and that’s outside of our
farms. We just can’t control
what happens there.”
Jared Gutierrez, general
manager at Columbia Basin
Onion, explained in order
to get people to look out for
one another, the company
elects safety teams that meet
once a month. These teams
are made up of employ-
ees who work on the plant
fl oor and are able to see
the chronic issues or safety
concerns that may come up
within the processing cen-
We Hear You!
You deserve total audiological care.
Professional. Experienced. Local.
ter. Safety team members
serve for six months to a
year before being swapped
out for other employees.
“People become more
aware when they take pride
in their facility,” Gutiier-
rez said. “We strive for
safety and it helps to cre-
ate a healthier and safer
workforce.”
Oregon
Occupational
Health and Safety Admin-
istration puts in place reg-
ulations to help keep work-
ers safe through regulations
surrounding
sanitation,
fi re protection and equip-
ment use, as well as numer-
ous others. Aaron Corvin,
a spokesperson for Oregon
OSHA, said resources such
as the “Cultivate a Safe Ag
Workplace” guide can help
employers and employees
to better understand the reg-
ulations in place.
The guide, which covers
identifying and controlling
hazards as well as employee
education, is published by
Oregon OSHA as a guide to
the workplace safety rules
that directly apply to agri-
cultural operations.
“Cultivating safe farm
practices requires knowl-
edge and commitment,”
Corvin said. “When we
talk about knowledge and
commitment we’re talking
about building the capac-
ity to identify hazards, elim-
inate or control hazards,
and to ensure that everyone
knows how to work safely
and applies that knowledge
on the job.”
In addition to OSHA
requirements,
Pacifi c
Power warns about safety
issues working and oper-
ating equipment around
power lines and other elec-
priorities
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PET OF THE
W EEK
Gladys is a sweet young dog who loves her people
and wants to always be with them. She has a bit
of separation anxiety. She does not like to be in
a crate unless to eat. She is working on her potty
training. She loves to cuddle and be in your lap.
She does well with other dogs but is afraid of cats.
Her ideal home would be one where she won’t be left
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vaccinated.
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Administrative Assistant
Mark Sargent, DVM • Brent Barton, DVM
Eugenio Mannucci, DVM, cVMA • Jana von Borstel, DVM, cVMA
Small and Large Animal Care
541-276-5053
www.renataanderson.com
Mon: 8-6
Tue - Fri: 8-5
Sat: 8-12
Emergency Service
541.567.1138
MEET
GLADYS
Pam Wagenaar,
2237 SW Court, Pendleton
trical infrastructure. Pacifi c
Power advises that equip-
ment operators should be
aware of the height and
width of their equipment
when operating in close
proximity to electrical lines
to avoid snagging overhead
lines or poles.
Additional
electrical
safety guidelines include the
use of three-hole, grounded
outlets with face plates,
lockout switches for spe-
cifi c sites and using licensed
electricians to inspect any
suspect wiring.
80489 Hwy 395 N
Hermiston
www.oregontrailvet.com
PLACE
YOUR AD
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Contact Audra at
541.564.4538
Today!
If interested please go to fuzzballrescue.com and fill out an application.
If you are not able to adopt, but would like to foster or donate, visit fuzzballrescue.com
or you can mail in donations to Fuzz Ball Animal Rescue, PO Box 580, Hermiston, OR 97838