COMMUNITY
A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2020
City council votes to continue with city hall plans
Methodists to
resume Open Table
meal service
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
The city of Hermiston will
continue to move forward
with design work for a new
city hall, councilors agreed
during their Tuesday, May 26
meeting.
City Manager Byron
Smith painted an optimistic
picture of Hermiston’s eco-
nomic outlook at the meet-
ing as he made the case to the
city council that it was worth
continuing down that path for
now, while interest rates are
low.
“If the bids all come back
way too high we could back
off,” he said.
The pandemic has put one
private project on hold that
the city hoped would provide
enterprise funds for the new
city hall, but Smith reminded
the council that Amazon is
still planning its project that
will result in $40 million in
payments to local taxing dis-
tricts over 15 years. He said
there are other companies
that continue to express inter-
est in building in Hermiston.
Smith pointed to the recent
completion of the West Proj-
ect, an irrigation project that
will open up about 30,000
acres of land for high value
irrigated crops, as another
boost to the economy that
will increase agricultural out-
put. He said he expects the
increased production to spur
more investments from the
food processing industry as
well.
He said Umatilla and
Morrow counties’ diversi-
fi ed economies have resulted
in lower unemployment rates
from the pandemic than the
state as a whole, and state
economists predict a similar
pattern to the 2008 recession,
when unemployment levels
in the area stayed lower than
the metro areas.
“Our economy is not
based on those things that
have been most affected by
the virus,” he said.
Smith also revealed that
Umatilla County is “will-
ing to bring $3 million to the
table for this project and also
be a partner in ... revitalizing
downtown Hermiston.”
While Smith had previ-
IN BRIEF
HERMISTON — For
almost 40 years, mem-
bers of the Hermiston
First United Methodist
Church, 191 E. Gladys
Ave., served a meal at
the church each Thurs-
day. With the onset of
COVID-19, the church
suspended the meal in
order to protect the guests
and workers from spread-
ing the virus.
On Thursdays, the
meal, in the form of a
sack lunch for now, will
once again be available
to anyone from 11 a.m. to
12:15 p.m.
More
informa-
tion is available at her-
fumc@outlook.com or
541-567-3022.
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
A sign marks the old Carnegie Library in Hermiston as a temporary city hall, after a fi re in the HVAC system and smoke damaged
the previous city hall.
ously stated that a govern-
ment entity was willing to
lease space in the new city
hall to help pay for it, Com-
missioner George Murdock
told the East Oregonian that
the plan was not for a straight-
forward lease, but rather that
the county would help fund
construction of the building
upfront and in return be given
use of about 5,000 square
feet of space. The poten-
tial arrangement would also
include the county contribut-
ing some money for utilities
and janitorial services.
Currently some county
staff from departments, such
as alcohol and drug or pub-
lic health, are located at the
Cook building at 435 E.
Newport Ave. Murdock said
they could be moved into the
new city hall.
The county and city are
getting $500,000 apiece in
enterprise zone funds each
year for 15 years from Lamb
Weston’s 2019 expansion,
and they partnered to use
the fi rst $4 million to build a
new water tower in Hermis-
ton. Murdock said the county
plans to continue using enter-
prise zone funds for capital
projects in the communities
where the funds were gener-
ated, and the new city hall fi ts
that plan.
“That’s what the money is
for, to invest in the communi-
ties where we get it from,” he
said. “We were very pleased
with the water tower project.
We’re already starting to see
benefi ts from that.”
The city’s estimate for the
total city hall project is $9
million. The money would
buy a new three-story build-
ing where the current city
hall, which was damaged by
smoke and a fi re in the HVAC
system in December 2019,
sits. It would also pay for a
renovation of the basement of
the Hermiston Public Library,
which would fi rst serve as a
temporary city hall and after-
ward as an expansion of the
library’s collections.
“Right now, we’re all
spread apart, and it’s not very
effi cient,” Smith said of the
city staff who were moved
to other locations after the
fi re. “We’ll still need a place
to operate the city for a year,
year and a half probably, for
construction.”
New city councilor
During their meeting
councilors also approved
appointment of David McCa-
rthy to the city council. He
will be sworn in at their next
meeting.
McCarthy, who was the
only applicant, will serve out
the remainder of John Kir-
wan’s term during 2020 and
said he plans to run for a new
term in November. Kirwan
resigned his seat in April to
pursue a career opportunity.
McCarthy is the sales
manager for KOHU/The Q
radio station, president of the
Hermiston Kiwanis Club,
and a foster parent along with
his wife. In response to ques-
tions from councilors, he said
he moved to Hermiston from
Spokane in 2016. He said
in Spokane he was heavily
involved in theater produc-
tions, which took up most of
his time, but now he is more
interested in serving in lead-
ership and volunteer roles.
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WORSHIP
COMMUNITY
LANDMARK BAPTIST CHURCH
125 E. Beech Ave. • 567-3232
Pastor David Dever
Sun. Bible Classes...................10:00am
Sun. Worship Service..............11:00am
Sun. Evening Worship..............6:00pm
Wed. Prayer & Bible Study......6:00pm
www.hermistonlmbc.com
Our Lady of Angels
Catholic Church
565 W. HERMISTON AVE.
DAILY MASS: Monday-Friday
...............................English 7:00 am
Thursday...............Spanish 6:00 pm
SATURDAY:.........English 5:00 pm
...............................Spanish 7:00 pm
SUNDAY:..............English 9:00 am
..........................Bilingual 11:00 am
..............................Spanish 1:00 pm
Office..............................567-5812
St. Johns
Episcopal Church
Join Us
On Our Journey
With Jesus.
Scripture, Tradition and Reason
Family service 9am Sunday
N.E. Gladys Ave & 7th, Hermiston
t. PH: 567-6672
We are an all inclusive Church
who welcomes all.
First Christian Church
“Proclaiming the Message of
Hope, Living the Gospel of Love”
Sunday School...9:15 am
Worship Service...10:30 am
Children’s Church 10:45 am
567-3013
775 W. Highland Ave., Hermiston
NEW BEGINNINGS
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
Worship Service 10:30 AM
Sunday School 9:00 AM
Pastor J.C. Barnett
Children’s Church &
Nursery Available
700 West Orchard Avenue
P.O. Box 933
Hermiston, Oregon
541-289-4774
Seventh-day
Adventist Church
Saturdays
Sabbath School........9:30 a.m.
Worship Service......11:00 a.m.
English & Spanish Services
567-8241
Hermiston Jr. Academy
1300 NW Academy Lane, • Hermiston
To share your
worship times call
541-278-2678