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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 22, 2020)
BUSINESS WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7 Some residents still await unemployment benefi ts By NADA SEWIDAN STAFF WRITER Four months since thou- sands of Umatilla County residents fi led for unemploy- ment benefi ts as a result of COVID-19, some say they still haven’t received any money, while others just received months of unpro- cessed payments as of last week. Renee Bousquet of Herm- iston said she racked up 14 weeks of unprocessed unemployment weekly claims before she received a response from the Oregon Employment Department. Bousquet said week after week she fi lled out the paper- work that was sent to her, and week after week, they kept sending the same paperwork for her to mail back. She said it wasn’t until she faxed the paperwork with a cover note attached to it explaining how long it has been since she’s heard back, that they responded. “It took 14 weeks of no information, no one can tell me anything,” she said. Shortly after, the unem- ployment offi ce got in con- tact with her, and once they received the missing infor- mation of why she was let go during the start of the pandemic, they were able to deposit unemployment com- Staff photo by Ben Lonergan A hiring sign taped to the front of Nookie’s restaurant in Hermiston in May is one of many seen around town since restaurants reopened. pensation for 11 out of the 14 unprocessed weeks. “It took a long time for (the unemployment department) to get their stuff together, but they are getting it together,” she said. “At least, it worked for me.” According to data from the unemployment offi ce, as of July 21, a total of 513,300 claims received between March 15 and July 11 were processed in the state of Ore- gon, and approximately 99% of claims to date have been processed. This is compared to data from May 23, when only 61,000 applications were processed and out of those submitted, about 43% had been paid. Bousquet said that although she received her unemployment benefi ts, she knows multiple people who are still waiting on theirs. Travis Hamman of Pend- leton is one of those people. Hamman applied for unemployment toward the end of March and has still not received his unemploy- ment benefi ts, which is nine weeks of benefi ts for a total of $8,000. He said as time goes on, his need for that unem- ployment compensation increases. Hamman said his truck, which he needs to con- duct his business, is at risk of getting repossessed. “I just received an email from reliable credit who fi nanced my truck stat- ing if I didn’t pay them the $1,700 owed to them within 7 days they will repossess my truck,” he said. Hamman said he stopped applying for unemployment in the middle of June once he was able to start up work again. However, he said peo- ple are canceling on proj- ects and work is currently Change in county code could push car dealership development unreliable in terms of fre- quency and pay. Hamman said that this pays some of the bills but still needs his past unprocessed weekly claim payments. “I have told them I am try- ing to get back on track from not getting my unemploy- ment that is owed to me. I have been back to work for almost two months however it started out slow and I am having to play catch up with all of my bills.” Hamman said he hopes he gets his unemployment pro- cessed as soon as possible so he can get his payments back on track. Ariane Holm Le Cheval- lier, communication advi- sor and representative at the employment department, stated in an email that due to the high volume of appli- cations they are still working on processing applications received prior to June 21. “We are cautiously opti- mistic that we will be able to work through remain- ing claims by August 8,” she stated. She also stated that for those who need to still apply for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, that they should expect to wait for at least six weeks from when their initial claim is submitted. Currently, the unemploy- ment rate in Oregon has fallen to 11.2% as of June from 14.6% in March. In Umatilla county, as of May, a total of 2,362 residents remain unemployed. Bousquet said she is still unemployed and will con- tinue to claim weekly, but that she couldn’t believe when she got her unemploy- ment compensation depos- ited and is thankful it is now processed. The Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensa- tion program, which provides an additional $600 a week in unemployment, expires on Saturday, July 25. When asked how it will affect her, Bousquet said for her per- sonally, her husband receives supplementary income, so it won’t affect her as much as others who are sole providers, but that she speculates it will be a signifi cant cut for those who are still unemployed. “For most people, the payment from the pandemic program is more than you’ll receive from the unemploy- ment check,” she said. “For anybody who may be the sole provided, it’s a dramatic cut.” As for other unemploy- ment programs, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program ends on December 26 and the Pandemic Emer- gency Unemployment Com- pensation program ends on December 20. Industrial development? By ALEX CASTLE STAFF WRITER Umatilla County approved an amendment to its development code along the Highway 395 North cor- ridor between Hermiston and Umatilla last week to allow for automobile dealer- ships to be developed in the area. The code change was recommended by Umatilla County Planning Depart- ment staff following a June 25 public hearing and loos- ens the 30-foot maximum setback requirement and caps the irrigated landscap- ing requirement at a half- acre for select businesses. “Buildings related to automobile, truck or motor- cycle sales lots are exempt from the maximum setback requirements when the front of the lot is used for auto- mobile, truck or motorcycle merchandise display,” the amended code states. The amendment was unanimously approved by the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners on July 15 following a public hear- ing that featured no pub- lic input in favor or in opposition. “Our hope is that these changes will help encourage more development and rede- velopment along the corri- dor for businesses like auto- mobile dealerships that want to locate out there,” Uma- tilla County Planning Direc- tor Bob Waldher said during the staff report portion of the hearing. Waldher said these devel- opers should now be able to adequately display vehicles for sale, while larger devel- opments won’t be chal- lenged by having to abide by the original code of 15% of irrigated landscaping per parcel, which was exceed- ing limitations set by the Serving Families with Care and Compassion for Over 70 Years. BURNS MORTUARY of Hermiston & Hermiston Crematory 685 W. Hermiston Ave. Hermiston, Oregon (541) 567-6474 www.burnsmortuaryhermiston.com Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Columbia Development Authority director Greg Smith leads a tour of the former Umatilla Chemical Depot for offi cials from Umatilla and Morrow Counties to discuss industrial development on the site on Tuesday, July 14, 2020. G OOD S HEPHERD C OMMUNITY H EALTH F OUNDATION 2020 FALL GRANTS Staff photo by Ben Lonergan A line of new cars sit in at a dealership along Highway 395 north of Hermiston as traffi c passes by on Tuesday, July 21, 2020. Oregon State Department of Water Resources. The economic devel- opment project has been geared toward improving the aesthetics and economic vitality along the corridor, which includes commer- cial- and industrial-zoned properties between Herm- iston and Umatilla’s urban growth boundaries. Wald- her said development codes were amended in November 2019 that helped establish these design standards. “Since then we’ve actu- ally been able to implement some of those code changes, and back in February we met with a prospective developer for an automobile dealership who was having some trou- ble meeting the design stan- dards,” Waldher said July 15. That developer was con- cerned about being able to display their vehicles and the requirement to include the 1.5 acres of irrigated landscaping that would have been required on their 10-acre parcel. After hearing those con- cerns, Walder and county planning staff met with Highway 395 North Tech- nical Advisory Commit- tee, which agreed the code should be amended to allevi- ate those challenges. Waldher said that, at the behest of the Umatilla County Planning Commis- sion, county planning staff also determined the relaxed standards will apply to agri- cultural equipment dealer- ships also. But the exemptions will only apply for those select businesses, and Walder said the amended development requirements should still achieve the project’s goals. “We’re really trying to limit huge parking lots out in front of businesses if we can sometimes locate them to the side or rear of the busi- ness,” Waldher said. “That can have a better aesthetic effect as well as improved walkability and things like that.” PET OF THE Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation awards Fall Grants annually to qualified organizations for the betterment of health needs within our local service communities. The deadline to submit a Fall Grant application is July 31st, 2020. Applications can be made online at gshealth.org/foundation/awards or call the Foundation office at 541-667-3419 for further information. WHAT IS MY PROPERTY WORTH? Call us today for a FREE COMPARABLE MARKET ANALYSIS PROPERTIES - HERMISTON, LLC W EEK Shaela is a 12 year old female lab. She is timid, but very sweet, she does not like to be cornered. Shaela needs to be around another dog to follow around. She is good with dogs, cats and farm animals. Small and Large Animal Care Mon: 8-6 Tue - Fri: 8-5 Sat: 8-12 Emergency Service 541.567.1138 80489 Hwy 395 N Hermiston www.oregontrailvet.com TAMI REBMAN Principal Broker GRI, Owner 541-720-2020 realtorart@centurytel.net Principal Broker 541-720-1758 tami.rebman@gmail.com Principal Broker GRI 541-561-8615 Bolles@gmail.com SHERYL NEWTON ELVA PINTO Broker CRS, GRI, ABR 541-571-4141 sherylnewton@msn.com Broker 541-571-6476 pintoe23@gmail.com Servicio en Español ROXANNA HUNTSINGER MEET SHAELA Mark Sargent, DVM • Brent Barton, DVM Eugenio Mannucci, DVM, cVMA • Jana von Borstel, DVM, cVMA CHERYL BOLLES ART KEGLER Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, animal shelters need our help more than ever. Please donate to your local shelter, or offer to foster an animal in need. If interested please go to fuzzballrescue.com and fill out an application. 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 WE’RE OPEN! Broker 541-272-1022 huntsinger58@yahoo.com DEAN KEGLER MIKE BOYLAN Broker 541-377-6402 dkegler2002@yahoo.com Broker 541-561-7017 mikesboylan@gmail.com 320 South Hwy 395 Hermiston, OR 541-564-0888 Oregon Licensed Realtors WWW.AMWESTPROP.COM
