OFF PAGE ONE
A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2019
Trails
He noted most of the
project would take place on
public lands.
“There have been some
private landowners who
have come up to us and
expressed an interest in
using their land,” he said.
Kelly Nobles of Umatilla
has offered for the county to
develop some of his family’s
property for the Umatilla
to Hermiston portion of the
trail. A route plan involving
his land would use a bridge
to cross the Umatilla River
and eventually connect with
Hermiston’s Oxbow Trail
system.
At the meetings last
week, people were also
invited to suggest what
kind of trail material should
line the paths— pavement,
gravel, a dual surface or a
‘natural’ unpaved surface—
as well as what sort of inter-
pretive opportunities might
line the trails. Some peo-
ple suggested the trail pro-
vide information about local
history.
Waldher said that the
county has also been in con-
versation with the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation Board of
Trustees about the project.
“The Native Americans
have had trails throughout
our region for thousands of
years,” he said. “The (con-
federated tribes) will prob-
ably play a role when it
comes to permitting if they
have environmental con-
cerns. When we get into that
phase, a consultation will
need to occur with them,” he
said.
Waldher, Elfering and
Stephanie
Stroud—
a
National Park Service tech-
nical expert from Seattle,
who is helping initiate the
project— all emphasized
the same idea at Thursday’s
meeting in Hermiston: it
shouldn’t cost residents a
dime.
“What we don’t want to
do is raise taxes,” Stroud
said.
For the planners, this
means coming up with dif-
ferent ways to secure grant
funding and support. Accen-
tuating the health benefi ts
of a recreational trail, for
instance, or providing inter-
pretive information along it
about wildlife and key polli-
nators, could attract funding.
Waldher noted that main-
tenance costs could be
curbed with the help of area
volunteers and other types
of grant funding. He said
that at some of the open
house workshops, people
expressed concerns about
transient people coming
through the trail areas or
about people leaving behind
trash.
“Our hope would be that
by opening these areas up,
people would take pride and
ownership and not be tres-
passing,” he said. “I think
some of the folks in the
smaller towns see this as an
opportunity to increase busi-
ness and tourism.”
He said that using the
input from the four meet-
ings, the county will put
together a concept plan by
late winter in 2020 or early
spring. The county also cur-
rently has an online sur-
vey available to residents at
https://www.surveymonkey.
com/r/NZFF7RM.
“My hope is that we use
the concept plan to be able
to acquire those funds. If
we don’t access them, other
people will,” Waldher said.
Tamra Mabbott, commu-
nity development director at
the City of Umatilla, noted
number of Hispanic com-
munity members reached
out and encouraged him to
run. He said he sees the His-
panic and youth communi-
ties increasingly tuning into
national politics and that is
fi ltering down to the local
level.
“They’re beginning to
see how their vote can make
a difference,” Lopez said.
Maier is the fi rst woman
to enter the contest, and fi led
Thursday.
She is the owner and
operator of the limited lia-
bility company 1-A Con-
struction & Fire. According
to her fi ling, she has a back-
ground that includes work-
ing as an administrator for
Northwest Pipeline, former
director of United Way of
Umatilla and Morrow Coun-
ties and working in Butler
County, Kansas, as an assis-
tant to the superintendent of
schools.
Elfering, also of Herm-
iston, said he anticipates
the fi eld of candidates will
grow by the fi ling dead-
line of March 10, 2020. He
also said he has no plans
to endorse any candidates
for the time being. Rather,
he said, he and the public
should have the opportunity
to hear from all the candi-
dates about what they want
to do as commissioner.
Umatilla County com-
missioners make $94,448 a
year plus benefi ts. The job
is full time. County coun-
sel Doug Olsen said noth-
ing in the county charter
prohibits commissioners
from serving on outside
public boards and commit-
tees. State law, however, he
said, prohibits elected offi -
cials from serving in more
than one lucrative offi ce at
a time.
Olsen said volunteer
positions on school boards,
advisory committees and
the like probably would not
qualify as lucrative.
The charter, however,
prohibits county employees
from also serving as com-
missioners. Commissioner
John Shafter, for example,
resigned his position with
the sheriff’s offi ce before
stepping onto the board.
Commissioners
also
cannot serve on the Charter
Review Committee. Olsen
said that committee has to
operate independent of the
county board.
Dorran and Gomol-
ski have both served on
that committee since 2018.
The group recommended
county
commissioners
should focus on policymak-
ing and advocacy and hire
a manager for handling the
daily administrative duties
of county government.
The county commis-
sioners in April consid-
ered that recommendation
Continued from Page A1
irrigation canals.
Planners hope the trail
system will attract tourists to
the western Umatilla County
area, increase river access
and promote exercise.
One option for the Uma-
tilla to Hermiston portion of
the trail system, for instance,
would connect the down-
town districts of the two cit-
ies with a trail between the
railroad tracks and Umatilla
River Road.
In another, the Hermiston
to Stanfi eld trail would be
routed south of downtown
Hermiston, and later adja-
cent to the south side of the
Feed Canal where it would
open up downtown Stan-
fi eld. Others would utilize
pre-existing trails like the
ones at Hermiston’s River-
front Park.
Railroad right-of-ways
are owned by Union Pacifi c
and other areas like the Feed
Canal are owned by the
U.S. Bureau of Reclama-
tions. Umatilla County plan-
ning director, Robert Wald-
her, said that conversations
are ongoing between both
entities.
“Cost may weigh on our
decision when it comes to
preferred route,” Waldher
said at Thursday’s meeting.
Race
Continued from Page A1
Learning Center, Hermis-
ton. He listed multiple past
occupations on his candi-
dacy paperwork, including
pastor, fi refi ghter/EMT and
executive assistant. But he
said this is his fi rst foray into
seeking public offi ce, and
the county commissioner
role would allow him to
fulfi ll his desire to help the
community.
Lopez said his family has
put down its roots in Herm-
iston and has grown to love
the community. He said he
is a member of the Apostolic
Church and claimed a large
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Jacob Foutz, an associate planner with the City of Umatilla, follows Kelly Nobles and City of
Umatilla Development and Recreation Manager Esmeralda Horn on four-wheelers along a
proposed section of trail on Noble’s property in Umatilla.
that the city is working on
its own city-wide trail proj-
ect currently, some of which
may eventually be utilized
in the regional River Trail
project.
“Hermiston has a won-
derful trail system already,”
she said. “I would love for
people to remember that
different trails and parts of
this project will be devel-
oped over time as funding is
available.”
She noted that the city
has plans to improve other
recreational sites, like the
marina, and possibly incor-
porate a new vendor and
events, which could be a
draw for people traversing
the regional trail system.
“I think this could impact
the city in a positive way,”
she said. “It’s symbiotic.”
In 2018, the county
received a technical assis-
tance grant from the National
Park Service, administered
by the Rivers, Trails and
Conservation
Assistance
program. The grant is fund-
ing Stroud’s expertise for the
project.
The plan will have to be
adopted by all four cities
before the county can apply
for funding needed to engi-
neer the project.
for the ballot. Elfering and
Commissioner John Shafer
voted it down, while Com-
missioner George Murdock
voted in favor.
But the three commis-
sioners approved the char-
ter committee’s two other
proposals for a vote of the
people in November — one
would simplify the elec-
tions of commissioners and
the other would update lan-
guage and duties regarding
the sheriff’s offi ce.
Recent
commissioner
races have drawn as many
as six candidates. The cut-
off for running in the May
primary is March 10, 2020,
leaving plenty of time for
the fi eld to grow.
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