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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2020)
NEWS A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2020 Year in Review: HONORABLE MENTIONS Continued from Page A1 hamstringing the economic opportunities and stability of the entire region.” They wrote that growers and other shippers in the area had already been complaining of major issues with Union Pacific after their first round of layoffs, and cited safety concerns that ex-employees had expressed to the Herm- iston Herald. The community responded by offering up services for families that had lost their income and putting together an emergency job fair to encourage people to stay in the community. 2) Water rate increases anger residents After the City of Hermis- ton’s restructure of its water rates kicked in on March 1, anger built among residents of the city who had seen their bill go up significantly in the wake of the new rates. The updated rates were based more heavily on usage, with any water over 15,000 gallons a month increasing from 50 cents to $3.50 per 1,000 gallons. While some residents saw minimal increases, others took to social media and an August city council meeting to testify that their bill had doubled or more. They said they had stopped watering their lawns or taking daily showers to afford their bill. Despite pushback, the city council kept the rates the same, stating that the reve- nue was needed for projects to protect the integrity of the city’s water system and keep it running, including replac- ing crumbling, century-old pipes. 3) Voters pass $82.7 bond for Hermiston School District An $82.7 million bond passed by voters in Novem- ber will ring in the replace- ment of the Hermiston School District’s oldest ele- mentary school, Rocky Heights, and add a new ele- mentary school on Theater Lane. It will also fund an annex to increase capacity at the high school, elementary school site improvements and purchase of new prop- erty for future growth. The changes will eventu- ally result in a redrawing of elementary school boundar- ies to ease crowding. The passage of the bond resulted from an election that kept supporters and dis- senters alike on the edges of their seats until late into the night. Eventually, the mea- sure was approved by 52.4% of Hermiston voters. That success was the first of its kind in over a decade and followed a failed mea- sure in 2017, for a $104 mil- lion bond which aimed to replace Rocky Heights and Highland Hills, among other projects. This year, adminis- trators and board members acknowledged that the bond was too big an ask for the community. It was the first bond to pass under Superinten- dent Tricia Mooney’s lead- ership. It was also the first time that the political action committee, Yes for Herm- DONATIONS: Continued from Page A1 she said. “It’s a good feeling. For Eastern Oregon Mission’s Agape House in Hermiston, the story is a lit- tle different. “November and Decem- ber are our biggest months for people to give,” said Cathy Putnam, interim director of the organization. Each year, Agape House is the site of Christmas Express, a program put on by city employees to pro- vide people in need with gifts and food. Usually, the event reaches 500 fami- lies. Putnam said this year, the event served fewer than 400, and the organization is not sure why. Putnam said Agape House is in awe of how gen- erous the community is in providing support to the organization. HH file photo A man speaks to the Hermiston city council Aug. 26 about frustrations with a March water rate increase. The audience for the meeting filled the seats in the council chambers and spilled over into the lobby. City builds new water tower Union Club opens Fiesta Foods closes City launches food truck pod “Watermelon king” Skip Walchli dies Hermiston sees record-breaking February snows Major drug bust puts strain on local foster care system Maxwell Pavilion opens Former city manager Tom Harper dies Riverfront Park damaged by floods Hermiston Chamber of Commerce gets new director Chamber of Commerce purchases land for new building Hermiston woman killed in unsolved hit and run Two boaters drown in Columbia River Walker’s Farm Kitchen closes Chuckwagon closes Lifeways prepares to open Aspen Springs psychiatric facility Boiler fire closes city hall for more than a month Panda Express opens Woman arrested for DUII after fatal crash Cities plan Umatilla River Trail Hermiston residents file for county commissioner HH file photo Agape House Executive Director Dave Hughes poses for a portrait at his desk. HH file photo iston Schools sought cam- paign management from a third party, Pac/West Communications. 4) Funland playground burns down On May 10, Hermiston lost a treasured piece of the community when the Fun- land playground at Butte Park burned down in the early morning hours. The large wooden struc- ture was originally built by volunteers in 1996, then rebuilt with an even larger community effort in 2001 after arson destroyed it. After the fire in May, the city put together a commit- tee of citizens and city coun- cilors to choose a company to build a new playground. They unveiled designs for a “bigger, better and stron- ger” playground in Decem- ber that would be made out of fire-resistant recycled plastic with an ADA-acces- sible rubber ground cover- ing, broken up into themes such as Wild West and agri- culture. They plan to begin fundraising as much as $810,000 before attempting to complete the new play- ground by Sept. 2020. 5) Amazon offers $40 million in lieu of taxes for Hermiston project In October, the Hermis- ton City Council and Uma- tilla County Board of Com- missioners agreed to give Amazon a 15-year property tax break for a new devel- opment the tech giant has planned for southeastern Hermiston. In exchange for not pay- ing property taxes, Amazon promised to pay $40 mil- lion over the course of the 15 years, spread between the city, county and other local taxing districts such as Hermiston School Dis- trict and Umatilla County Fire District 1. The city and county have not made final decisions on how their por- tion will be spent, but have discussed using it for mutu- ally beneficial projects such as paving Gettman Road in Hermiston. The decision caused dis- cussion in the community about the role of such tax breaks. While some pointed out that $40 million is much more than the taxing dis- tricts get each year from the bare ground currently there, others questioned why a trillion-dollar company shouldn’t pay its full share of local property taxes. 6) Hermiston Foods plant purchased for CBD processing NORPAC’s closure of the Hermiston Foods vegetable processing plant was one of the top stories of 2017, but in 2019 the facility finally found a buyer in local farmer Alan Cleaver. Cleaver, who owns Columbia Basin Onion and related companies in Herm- iston, announced in May that he was purchasing the plant in order to use it to extract CBD oil from hemp for pharmaceutical purposes, under the name Columbia Basin Extraction. Since the federal gov- ernment legalized indus- trial hemp — which does not contain the high-induc- ing THC that its cousin mar- ijuana does — last year, Cleaver has been growing the new crop to be used for medicinal purposes. He ret- rofitted the former Hermis- ton Foods building to extract CBD from dried hemp pel- Hermiston Parks and Recreation director Larry Fetter (right) assists Kayla Sandlyn and Dylan Duke earlier this year in locating a wooden fence board carved with the name of Dylan’s father Scott Duke, who passed away several years ago. “We’re just stewards of what is given to us,” she said. Putnam added that Agape House’s needs are often greatest, not during the holi- days, but during fall. “At the beginning of the school year, we’re really in need of school clothes,” she said. “A lot of times parents won’t have the furniture they need when they’re new to town.” And when the organi- zation is accepting larger items like furniture, Putnam said, they’ve been increas- ingly careful about what they accept. “We’re trying to be good stewards; if it’s not usable, we have to pay to get it taken away,” she said. “We’re ask- ing people to think about if it’s something they would still use.” Marilyn Johnson, who coordinates the Outreach Food Pantry in Pendleton, said this winter the Pendle- ton School District donated nearly 4,000 pounds of food to the organization. “We get these massive inflows,” she said. “But this community always has donated food throughout the year. We get donations almost daily.” She added that monthly shipments from the Ore- gon Food Bank branch at CAPECO helps bolster the rise and fall of seasonal donations. “That’s the one depend- able shipment we know we’re going to get,” she said. It’s not all human needs organizations that see upticks in giving during the holidays. Michelle Glynn, manager at Pendleton Animal Wel- fare Shelter, noted Decem- ber is a time of heavy dona- tions to the organization. “I’ve seen quite an increase during the holi- days. We need all the dona- tions we can get, and espe- cially during the spring,” she said. Each spring, PAWS espe- cially needs cat litter due to an influx of kittens. And while the donations flow freely during winter, she said the adoption and surrender rates stay roughly the same. Fuzzball Animal Rescue in Hermiston has received a few calls about people looking to surrender their pets, and the organiza- tion has picked up a few strays near Christmastime, too, board member Robin Barker said. But adoptions are slow. “People are looking for puppies and kittens at Christmas, and most of our rescues are older than that,” she said. “We’re terribly over- loaded. The community is very supportive of us, but people don’t want to adopt (animals).” lets using a cold extraction method with denatured eth- anol, and told the Herm- iston Herald in May that he planned to hire 30 to 40 employees. 7) New housing announced Hermiston’s housing market got set to grow this year, as new subdivisions broke ground or passed through initial hurdles such as annexation or rezoning. In April, the city coun- cil annexed 11 acres on the northwest corner of West Theater Lane and North- west Geer Road for Monte Vista Homes, which planned to build 53 single-family houses and one multi-fam- ily project on the property. The same month, Northwest Housing Alternatives broke ground on a 48-unit apart- ment complex on Southeast Sixth Street. In May, the council approved another annex- ation, this time 9.35 acres on Elm Avenue across from the Oxbow Trail entrance, where FDM Development plans to build 39 new homes. In July, the council approved the final plat for the eighth and ninth phase of the Highland Summit subdivision, which includes another 40 lots. In November, the city annexed 36 acres at the intersection of Elm Avenue and Diagonal Road, where Lloyd and Lois Piercy plan to build 25 acres of “mod- erate” single family homes and a selection of duplexes and triplexes containing approximately 45 accessible units designed for residents age 55 and older. In December, after add- ing dozens of townhomes to the first phase of the Cim- maron Terrace subdivision, VestCapital broke ground on the second phase, which will begin with 38 new single family homes and include a new 7-acre public park. 8) City considers pos- sible sale of Hermiston Community Center It was the news that didn’t actually happen: city man- ager Byron Smith confirmed to the Hermiston Herald in October that a poten- tial buyer for the Hermis- ton Community Center had come forward and was in the process of doing due dili- gence on the property before making an unsolicited offer. The plan back then was for the person or company, who the city declined to name, to present a proposal to the city council at a date in the near future, but by the end of 2019 the mys- tery buyer had yet to step forward. If the sale did take place, it would be big news for Hermiston. The city pur- chased the former Safeway and surrounding property for $544,000 in 1994 and the community raised another $665,000 for its renovation, according to the Hermis- ton Herald archives. It has since been used regularly for community and private events, and currently houses the offices of the city’s parks and recreation department. 9) Ranch & Home opens Many businesses opened and closed in Hermiston during 2019, but likely the most anticipated opening was Ranch & Home, a large retailer based in the Tri-Cit- ies that offers western cloth- ing, tools, hunting and fish- ing supplies, barbecue grills, lawn care supplies and other outdoor-related items. The retailer announced plans for a Hermiston store in early 2016, planning to open by the end of 2017. The store’s actual opening date was April 19. 10) Dave Hughes retires from Agape House After more than 15 years at the helm of Hermiston’s food bank and social ser- vices organization, Dave Hughes retired from the Agape House (run under Eastern Oregon Mission, along with family shelter Martha’s House), in October and loaded up an RV with his wife Jodene. The pair headed straight to Globe, Arizona. Hughes, 73, took the director position at the orga- nization back in 2002. Under his leadership, Agape House headed to its current location on West Harper Road, and developed new ways of helping North- eastern Oregon’s vulnerable populations— including ini- tiating a backpack program for food insecure elementary schoolers Umatilla and Mor- row Counties. Until the Eastern Oregon Mission board selects a new director, Cathy Putnam of Hermiston is currently serv- ing as interim director of Agape House. BTW: Continued from Page A1 information can be found at www.saif.com/agseminars. • • • The Hermiston Herald offices will close at noon on Tuesday and all day on Wednesday in honor of the New Year’s holiday. After this week the Herald will resume its normal schedule of releasing a print edition on Wednesday.s • • • Tickets are now on sale for the Melonville Comedy Festival. In its 27th year, the event will be held Friday, Jan. 24 at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Cen- ter, Hermiston. The tickets are $35 if purchased in advance ($40 at the door) and are available online at www.melonvillecome- dyfestival.com or from Last Chance Tavern or Midway Bar & Grill. Also, tables of 10 are available for $300. See next week’s Hermiston Herald for a full story. • • • The Harkenrider Senior Activity Center is closed for New Year’s on Wednesday. The menu for Thursday is scrambled eggs with ham, hash brown patties and bis- cuits with sausage gravy. Friday is cube steak sandwich, salad and dessert. — You can submit items for our weekly By The Way column by emailing your tips to editor@ hermistonherald.com.
