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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2020)
NEWS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2020 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 John Kirwan Funding for Hermiston City Hall hits speed bump resigns from Hermiston City Council By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR A new city hall for Hermiston could take lon- ger than originally planned, after one of the city’s fund- ing sources was impacted by COVID-19. After a heating system fi re and smoke damaged Hermiston City Hall in December, the city council agreed in February to pur- sue a $9 million project to build a new city hall on the same site and remodel the basement of the Hermiston Public Library. The council added a caveat that they would only go through with the project if funding was available, however, including money the city expected to have from a “major” but yet-un- named enterprise zone project being planned for Hermiston. On Monday, City Man- ager Byron Smith told the city council that the com- pany involved had put all new capital projects on hold for the time being, in light of COVID-19. “At this point, the COVID impact on that company has been too severe, so they’ve put all investment on hold,” he said. “But the other com- pany, Amazon, looks to be moving more quickly on their projects, so we’re hopeful that will move forward.” He also said the gov- ernment agency wishing to pay to lease part of the new city hall was still inter- ested, and staff are still working on other sources of funding. The announcement came at the end of a 2-1/2 hour city council meeting and hourlong work session. During the lengthy meeting, the council also voted to initiate proceed- ings to vacate a 526-foot undeveloped portion of East Ridgeway Avenue between Northeast Eighth Street and East Diagonal Boulevard. The action came at the request of Santiago Com- munities, the develop- ers for a 199-space manu- factured home park there that the city’s planning commission approved in December. The vacation would give them extra space to provide required setbacks for homes. City Planner Clint Spen- cer said the property is cur- rently “just a goat trail” Seven-year veteran of the council is moving away from Hermiston HH fi le photo Members of the public and city offi cials tour the damaged Hermiston City Hall in February. One of the funding sources that was planned to pay for a new city hall on the site has been put on hold. “AT THIS POINT, THE COVID IMPACT ON THAT COMPANY HAS BEEN TOO SEVERE, SO THEY’VE PUT ALL INVESTMENT ON HOLD. BUT THE OTHER COMPANY, AMAZON, LOOKS TO BE MOVING MORE QUICKLY ON THEIR PROJECTS, SO WE’RE HOPEFUL THAT WILL MOVE FORWARD.” Hermiston City Manager Byron Smith and the city had no plans to ever develop it into a road after traffi c engineers determined it would not intersect with Diagonal Boulevard at a safe angle. On Monday, Smith noti- fi ed the council that the city had acquired a 0.8 acre parcel of land at the inter- section of Geer and Harper roads, where the city plans to create a realignment of where the two roads intersect with Umatilla River Road and the rail- road tracks. The council had previously authorized staff to acquire the land, using eminent domain if necessary. Instead, the owner, listed as Tommy Huxoll on tax records, agreed to sell the land for $95,000. Smith said the land was appraised at $65,000 but the city could easily have spent $30,000 in legal fees going the eminent domain route. Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan said it will take longer than expected to gather state gas tax rev- enue to pay for the project, because “no one is driving right now.” Other actions on Mon- day night included: • The council passed a $1.3 million supple- mental budget to adjust for unexpected revenue and expenses through- out the 2019-20 fi s- cal year before the year ends. • The council approved changes to the code of ordinance, creating a single appeals process for code violation deci- sions, instead of multi- ple processes depending on what section of the code is violated. • They also approved a new chapter creating an “administrative war- rant” that allows a code enforcement offi cer to request a non-criminal warrant from a judge that would allow them to enter a property to inspect a code violation. • The council autho- rized staff to apply for money from the Federal Aviation Administration to complete design work to rebuild the Hermis- ton Municipal Airport’s apron, and to pursue the $69,000 available to the city for airport operations through the CARES Act. • The council approved a letter of support for the League of Oregon Cities to cre- ate a People of Color Caucus that would “leverage collective strength to inform, edu- cate, and empower peo- ple of color to serve as a resource to local gov- ernment and state lead- ers and community organizations on issues and polices affecting people of color, and to serve in positions of leadership in local and state government.” hand in our campaigns.” Kirwan and Drotzmann ran against each other for the mayor’s seat in the 2012 primaries before each By JADE MCDOWELL ended up in their current NEWS EDITOR roles. “You were always a Hermiston City Coun- thoughtful person who put cilor John Kirwan tendered a lot of work and effort his resignation at the end and education into your of Monday night’s council research and comments, meeting. and that will be missed” he Kirwan, who said before leading works for Union a standing ovation for Kirwan. Pacifi c Rail- Other council- road, said he had ors were also com- accepted a pro- plimentary of Kir- motion within the wan on Monday. company and is Doug Primmer leaving Hermiston Kirwan said Kirwan’s was to take it. a voice he always “Serving the city has been one of the plea- valued, and Roy Barron sures of my life and some- said he admired Kirwan’s thing I will always cher- outspokenness. “From the very get-go ish for the remainder of my life on this Earth,” he said. I’ve appreciated and Kirwan has lived in respected your assertive- Hermiston for 20 years, ness in being able to stand and served on the city for what you believed council for more than in no matter what, even seven of them. He said he if the rest of the council enjoyed being a part of the disagreed,” Barron said. city’s growth during that “I’ve always known your time period, and encour- heart’s been in the right aged others “willing to spot.” Kirwan’s position is one step forward and make a difference” to put up their of the four at-large council name for consideration as seats up for reelection in the city council appoints November. All candidates someone to fi ll the at-large who fi le will run against each other, with the top council seat. Mayor David Drotz- four vote-getters taking the mann said he had enjoyed four seats. The council will getting to know Kirwan be able to appoint someone over the past eight years, to fi ll Kirwan’s seat in the “however we ran before- interim. 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