Hermiston herald., April 29, 2020, Page 12, Image 12

NEWS
A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2020
Housing
Continued from Page A1
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Free books sit on the front windowsill of Neighborhood Books & Gifts in Hermiston on
Monday afternoon. The sole proprietorship was among those businesses left out of
the initial iteration of the Paycheck Protection Program.
Tough
Continued from Page A1
nonessential businesses, but the Gorm-
leys closed along with neighboring stores
on Main Street selling furniture, jewelry
and other goods that were named in the
order. Gormley said they felt that they
fi t within the spirit of the order for peo-
ple to only leave their house for essen-
tial reasons, they didn’t want to aid in
the spread of COVID-19, and she and
her husband fall into a senior age cate-
gory that put them at additional risk.
She said they are lucky to have retire-
ment money to live on, “but as far as the
business goes, there’s nothing to pay the
insurance and utilities and rent.”
They’ll put their personal stimulus
checks into the business to supplement
whatever isn’t covered by the county’s
$1,000 grant, including safety upgrades
to reduce contact with customers during
transactions when they reopen sometime
in the future.
“We’re covering that on our own, but
we feel it’s worth it,” she said.
Bonnie and Glenn Greiner have
been doing a little bit of work for their
upholstery side business at home, but
their retail shop, Wild Goose Design in
Hermiston, had to close its doors under
the March 23 executive order.
Bonnie said she has been posting pic-
tures of items to the Wild Goose Design
social media pages, along with a phone
number people can call for delivery or
curbside pickup, but so far they’ve only
sold two items that way.
“I’ve been posting on Facebook and
Instagram, but I don’t have a big follow-
ing, and when you don’t have money it’s
hard to buy ads on TV or radio or in the
paper,” she said.
She said it’s been “really kind of
a challenge” trying to fi nd grants that
business owners without employees
can apply for to cover a shop’s rent and
other costs that still pile up even with
the doors closed. Self-employment can
also make it diffi cult for people to qual-
ify for benefi ts, such as unemployment
and health insurance.
Still, she said she was optimistic that
“this too shall pass,” and she wouldn’t
want to say that her situation was worse
than anyone else’s.
“I know it’s a challenge for every-
one,” she said. “Everyone’s having to
deal with something. I’m glad I don’t
have small children at home.”
Not all small businesses will survive
the challenges presented by COVID-19.
Cynthia Traner, who runs Her Shabby
Shed in Hermiston, said the vintage
shop is done for good.
“This was the fi nal cherry on the cup-
cake for me,” she said. “I’m not open-
ing again.”
She said she hadn’t been making
enough money from the business to
draw a paycheck before the pandemic
hit, and she knew she wasn’t going
to be a good candidate for loans and
other help for the business in that situ-
ation. She still has plenty of inventory
left over that she hopes to take on the
road at some point in the future once big
vendor shows like Junk Barn Girls start
happening again.
Traner said it was frustrating to see
entire families crowding into large
stores like Walmart, and yet the hair styl-
ist across the street who serves one cus-
tomer at a time is ordered to close.
“I see it both ways,” she said. “My
heart really aches for people who have
lost loved ones, and my heart goes out
to fi rst responders and hospital workers
on the front lines, but it seems (the gov-
ernment) could do something to let these
little mom and pop shops reopen.”
because they would have to be
in close quarters with someone
they don’t like. Those people
could stay in the privacy of
their own space.
Lloyd said anyone staying
in one of the huts would be
required to abide by a set of
rules to keep their spot. They
would be able be inside the
fenced-in camp from 7 p.m.
to 7 a.m. and would not be let
back in a second time if they
left during the night. They
would be required to clean out
their hut and surrounding area
each morning and place all
personal items in a locked box
for the day.
Volunteers would han-
dle check-ins and morning
inspections, and a paid secu-
rity guard would supervise the
site overnight, aided by secu-
rity cameras.
Once the sleep center is
up and running, Lloyd said
the second phase would be an
“exit homelessness” program
that would require people to
earn credits to continue stay-
ing at the center. Those cred-
its could be earned through
efforts, such as working, vol-
unteering, pursuing education,
getting counseling or complet-
ing a drug rehab program.
Council concerns
In answer to a question
from Mayor David Drotz-
mann about whether the shel-
ter would draw more transient
residents to Hermiston, Lloyd
said in her study of various
shelter projects, the ones that
become that “magnet” are the
ones that don’t place require-
ments about volunteer work or
other efforts.
“Those who want a place to
sleep can have one for a short
time, but if they’re not willing
to move on to Phase Two, they
will have to move along,” she
said.
Drotzmann said he has got-
ten “several earfuls” from
neighbors to the site who are
concerned about an increase of
crime and other problems the
project might bring. He said
Hermiston defi nitely needs
more shelter for its home-
less residents, but he wants to
make sure that any project that
goes forward also addresses
those concerns.
“I think we want to make
sure we’re sympathetic to
those neighbors, too, and
addressing their concerns and
alleviating those fears when
we’re talking about this proj-
ect,” he said.
Atikinson said the center
would not be a “24-hour hang-
out,” and residents would be
required to check in and check
out each day, which should
help.
Drotzmann and several city
councilors also voiced con-
cerns about fi nancing for the
project. Stepping Stones’ pro-
posal on Monday included an
$85,000 initial outlay from the
city, and then $40,000 toward
operating costs on an annual
basis.
The group said the rest of
the funding would be raised by
the nonprofi t, through grants
and fundraising. Lloyd said
without advertising the project
to the wider public, they had
already received private com-
mitments of about $65,000 in
cash and in-kind donations.
Councilor Roy Barron said
he had “a few too many con-
cerns” to feel confi dent about
approve the project yet, with-
out the group doing more
fundraising and showing
exactly how they planned to
keep it going.
“I think all of us are very
supportive of the general idea,
it’s just the presentation and
sustainability we’re having a
hard time with,” he said.
Councilor Doug Primmer
said he would want to see the
project have a plan for becom-
ing self-sustainable after a cer-
tain number of years. Man-
uel Gutierrez said he wanted
to see the organization pursue
grants now. John Kirwan said
he thought they were being
too optimistic about the cost of
hiring a security guard.
Public feedback
Cathy Putnam, interim
director of the Agape House,
called into the council meet-
ing to express the support of
the project. She said the Agape
House board had been skepti-
cal at fi rst, but were supportive
after “glowing reports” from a
board member who made an
unannounced visit to the Walla
Walla project.
Nathan Crowther, owner of
Northwest Farm Supply along
with the Lloyds, said since
COVID-19 hit he has seen a
“major uptick” in shoplifting
at the store, indicating eco-
nomic need in the community.
“I think that the concept is
something we all have respon-
sibility for in some form,” he
said. “I like the idea of hav-
ing the council consider, make
some decisions based on how
do we help with the project
without it being something
that’s going to be a long-term
burden on the city or on the
community collectively.”
Dean Hackett, pastor of
Living Faith Church, said
from a clergy standpoint, he
saw a great need for more ser-
vices for the homeless, but
from a community resident
standpoint, he worried about
an increase in panhandlers
and other problems he felt the
project had not adequately
addressed yet.
City Manager Byron Smith
said he thought the group had
done a lot of good work on a
project the city needs, but he
also thought the money they
were asking for was “a lit-
tle bit high.” He said the city
could more comfortably pro-
vide $60,000 in seed money
and $30,000 per year.
“I think this project is
something that our community
needs; in my mind the ques-
tion it’s a discussion of how
much can we afford to pay,”
he said.
He did ask if the council
would be willing to save the
group time and money by hav-
ing the city initiate the work
now to create rules that would
allow the project to apply for
a conditional use permit later.
The zoning change process
would also create publicly
noticed hearings that would
allow people in the commu-
nity to voice their concerns.
The city council agreed,
and asked the group to con-
tinue working to fi nd addi-
tional funding and other solu-
tions and return with updated
information at a later date.
HARVEST SAFETY TIPS FOR
FARMWORKERS
• Maintain a 10-foot clearance
around all utility equipment in all
directions.
• Use a spotter and deployed flags to
maintain safe distances from power
lines and other equipment when
doing field work.
• If your equipment makes contact
with an energized or downed
power line, contact us immediately
by phone and remain inside the
vehicle until the power line is de-
energized. In case of smoke or fire,
exit the cab by making a solid jump
out of the cab, without touching it
at the same time, and hop away to
safety.
• Consider equipment and cargo
extensions of your vehicle. Lumber,
hay, tree limbs, irrigation pipe and
even bulk materials can conduct
electricity, so keep them out of
contact with electrical equipment.
Source: Safe Electricity
Hermiston Office
750 W. Elm Ave.
Hermiston, OR 97838
(541) 567-6414
Boardman Office
400 N.E. Eldrige Drive
Boardman, OR 97818
(541) 481-2220
www.UmatillaElectric.com