NEWS
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
City will negotiate for land
at Geer/Harper intersection
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
ONLINE
City staff have a green
light on pursuing property
at the intersection of Geer,
Harper and River roads in
Hermiston in order to make
the intersection easier to
navigate.
The city council discussed
the proposed $1.5 million
project Monday. Assistant
City Manager Mark Morgan
said the Y-shaped intersec-
tion is confusing and has had
at least nine reported crashes
since 2004, but the biggest
problem is there is not much
room for cars to “stack” up
when the intersection gets
busy, particularly if multi-
ple people want to turn onto
River Road.
“You can fi t one, maybe
two vehicles between the
intersection and the railroad
tracks,” he said.
City engineers Ander-
son Perry & Associates con-
ducted a traffi c study and
found a mix of semi trucks
visiting places like Home
Depot and Marlette, plus
personal vehicles coming
in from Umatilla or vis-
iting Theater Lane-area
neighborhoods.
They devised several dif-
ferent options for realigning
the intersection, each with
pros and cons.
See this story at Hermis-
tonHerald.com for a map
of the intersection.
A single-lane round-
about would keep cars fl ow-
ing smoothly in and out but
would be completely shut
down any time a train came
through.
Moving the railroad
crossing down to Theater
Lane would untangle the
traffi c at the current intersec-
tion but is much more expen-
sive and would put people
trying to turn from River
Road onto Theater Lane at
risk of being rear-ended by
drivers coming around a
corner at high speeds.
The preferred option,
Morgan said, is the con-
fi guration labeled Figure
5, which involves multiple
turn lanes and “slip lanes” to
keep traffi c fl owing and cre-
ate more room for vehicles
to “stack” while waiting to
turn.
“This serves peak traffi c
best,” Morgan said.
That option, like all of the
options that keep the cross-
ing where it currently lies,
would necessitate expanding
into property on the east side
of the intersection. The two
parcels needed total about
0.8 acres and was appraised
at $65,000. County prop-
erty tax records list the
owner as Tommy Huxoll of
Hermiston.
The ordinance before the
council on Monday declares
that privately-owned prop-
erty a necessity for the proj-
ect and allows staff to begin
negotiations on purchasing
the property. If the property
owner does not voluntarily
accept an offer, the ordi-
nance would allow the city
to consider using eminent
domain to compel a sale at
fair market value.
Councilor Manuel Guti-
errez was the only vote
against the ordinance, which
passed 6-1.
On Monday city manager
Byron Smith told the council
that the city planned to put
out an online survey soon in
order to gauge public opin-
ion on options for city hall.
The current city hall
building had a fi re in
December that caused about
$100,000 worth of damage
to the building itself. The
council had previously been
discussing building a larger,
wheelchair-accessible city
hall in a few years, and now
needs to decide whether to
put the insurance money into
repairing the old building or
press ahead with building a
new city hall now.
Smith said staff have
been researching costs and
other information related
to a rebuild versus repair,
and plan to present their
fi ndings at the Feb. 10 city
council meeting. Sometime
between then and their Feb.
24 meeting the city would
hold a public outreach meet-
ing to gather more feedback,
with the hopes that council-
ors would get any fi nal ques-
tions answered and make a
decision on Feb. 24.
Parks and recreation man-
ager Larry Fetter also gave
the council an update about
a major city project on Mon-
day. He has been overseeing
efforts to rebuild Funland
playground, which burned
to the ground last May.
Fetter presented some
design options for the play-
ground to the council in
December, created by a cit-
izens committee working
with a playground-design
company. Much of the feed-
back he received from the
council centered on cultural
elements of the playground.
Councilors said they wished
there was more represen-
tation of Hermiston’s His-
panic population, and said
they were only comfortable
with including proposed
American Indian elements if
local tribes approved.
DEQ fi nes
Lamb Weston
for wastewater
violations
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Lamb Weston was
among several compa-
nies that the Depart-
ment of Environmental
Quality issued fi nes to in
December.
DEQ sent out a news
release on Wednesday
announcing 17 fi nes,
including two for alleged
wastewater violations at
Lamb Weston’s Hermiston
operation.
In the fi rst, DEQ issued
a $10,000 civil penalty for
unauthorized modifi cation
of their wastewater permit.
According to the notice,
in June 2018 Lamb Weston
connected
a
sanitary
sewer line to their indus-
trial wastewater process-
ing facility that is “not
designed to, or capable
of, treating domestic sew-
age and abating the threats
posed by the bacteria and
human disease patho-
gens found in domestic
sewage.”
That mixed wastewater
was then applied to land
where crops were grown
for human consumption,
until the line was discov-
ered and disconnected in
June 2019.
DEQ issued a second
fi ne of $6,800 to Lamb
Weston. According to the
complaint, on May 14,
2019, a surge in Lamb
Weston’s wastewater treat-
ment and disposal sys-
tem caused the system to
overfl ow, sending approx-
imately 6,500 gallons of
industrial wastewater into
the Umatilla River.
The Hermiston Herald
contacted Lamb Weston
for comment last Wednes-
day but the company had
not submitted any informa-
tion as of Tuesday.
Other companies fi ned
by DEQ in December
included operations in the
Portland metro area, the
Bend area, Medford and
Newport.
So far the agency has
announced one fi ne for
the month of January,
of $1,296,885 to Hydro
Extrusion USA in The
Dalles. The aluminum
recycling facility was
fi ned for “multiple fl a-
grant air quality permit
violations.”
Hermiston plans wayfi nding project
Gordmans to hold hiring event
for new Hermiston location
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
A Hermiston retailer is
holding a hiring event as it
prepares to switch brands.
Stage, the parent com-
pany for the Bealls cloth-
ing store in Hermiston,
plans to convert the store
into a Gordmans depart-
ment store on March 31.
The company is holding
a job fair for positions at
the new Gordmans on Feb.
4 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
at the current Bealls,
Visitors to Hermiston
will have an easier time fi nd-
ing their way around town in
the future.
The city is working on
a “wayfi nding” project that
will provide a coordinated
effort to direct people to
what consultant Glen Swan-
tak calls “Hermiston’s little
jewels” through signs, maps
and other features.
“Think of it also as mar-
keting,” Swantak, of the
wayfi nding consulting fi rm
MERJE, told attendees
of a public meeting about
the project on Wednesday.
“Maybe people aren’t going
to it then, but they might
drive by a sign for the farm-
er’s market and say, ‘I didn’t
know they have a farmer’s
market.’”
Hermiston
Planning
Director Clint Spencer said
the project started out as an
idea for the urban renewal
district to use its funds
to create matching signs
downtown pointing to fea-
tures, such as the library and
senior center.
“As we started working
we realized we really need a
comprehensive design plan
for the whole city,” he said.
The project would use a
mixture of elements. Cur-
rent, mismatched signs at
features, such as city parks,
would be replaced. New
signs for motorists would
point the way to attractions
ranging from schools to
trails to government build-
Thank you to everyone who sent cards,
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
A poster shows examples of potential designs for wayfi nding signs in Hermiston.
ings, such as the courthouse
or DMV. Maps and kiosks
would be posted to orient
pedestrians. Arches or other
decorative features would
beckon people to a clearly
defi ned downtown district,
and the city’s seven munic-
ipal parking lots in the dis-
trict would be numbered
and clearly marked.
“Currently, they have
nothing,” Swantak said of
the parking lots. “I don’t
even know if I’m allowed
to park there. So, we will
label them as public park-
ing and include any regula-
tory information.”
The signs would all fi t
the same decorative theme.
Swantak presented three
potential design themes —
one inspired by the city’s
“Where Life is Sweet”
logo on the water tower,
one with a more historical
feel and one with an out-
door theme that uses natu-
ral elements, such as stone
and wood.
Beyond signs, MERJE
would also help the city
create a more coordinated
effort to help visitors fi nd
their way around Hermiston
through other means, such
as providing user-friendly,
up-to-date maps on web-
sites and at the chamber of
commerce.
“When you talk about
wayfi nding, people always
talk about signage, but it
starts before people get
there,” Swantak said, add-
PET OF THE
Troubles is a senior Doxie/Lab mix
(about 12-14 years old). She weighs
around 25 pounds and is considered
obese. She is very sweet, gets along
with dogs and cats, is house trained and
happy. As of now, we are unaware of any
health issues.
MaryJo Robinson and family
all daughters
eat
1/2
off
DADDY DAUGHTER DANCE SPECIAL
February 8 | Reservations starting at 5pm
541.278.1100 / Corner of Court & Main.
Some exclusions may apply.
REMA FLEENER
love you Rita Walker & the class of 1958 - HHS
MEET
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ing he wanted messages to
visitors “all talking in the
same language.”
Swantak said the goal
for the project will be to
come up with a comprehen-
sive list of what attractions
need highlighted, where
signs for those attractions
need to be located and
which type of sign should
be used. The list can then be
presented to the city council
for a vote, and the city can
prioritize that list.
Spencer said he had
money in the urban renewal
budget for signs in the urban
renewal district, but other
signs will need to be phased
in over time as the city fi nds
money through grants, dona-
tions or the general fund.
flowers or donations for MIKE ROBINSON
and for all that came to the gathering.
A special thank you to Ken Huber of Burns Mortuary
and the doctors and nurses who cared for Mike.
HAPPY 104 BIRTHDAY
W EEK
Mon: 8-6
Tue - Fri: 8-5
Sat: 8-12
Emergency Service
930 S. Highway 395, in
Hermiston.
Applicants are encour-
aged to fi ll out an applica-
tion online at gordmans.
com/careers before stop-
ping by the event.
Full-time, part-time and
temporary positions are
available.
The Bealls stores in La
Grande and Hood River
are also converting to
Gordmans in March.
80489 Hwy 395 N
Hermiston
www.oregontrailvet.com
PLACE
YOUR AD
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Contact Audra at
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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