WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022
HermistonHerald.com
EasternOregonMarketplace.com
Irrigon creating one-person police department
By PHIL WRIGHT AND ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Irrigon is not renewing its con-
tract with the Morrow County
Sheriff ’s Offi ce for law enforce-
ment services.
The city council at its meeting
March 15 voted instead for the city
to establish a one-person police
department.
City Manager Aaron Palmquist
in a memo to the council explained
this has been a topic of discussion
in the town.
“As Irrigon grows and may
Umatilla River
Trails Project
moves forward
By JOHN TILLMAN
Hermiston Herald
The Umatilla River Trails Proj-
ect is a system of paths connect-
ing Umatilla, Hermiston, Stanfi eld
and Echo to increase recreational
opportunities and community liva-
bility. The project is on the way to
becoming a reality.
“We’ve been working on the
project for seven years,” said for-
mer Umatilla County Commis-
sioner Bill Elfering, chair of the
trails committee. “Now we have
the fi rst segment pretty well settled
from the Columbia River to Herm-
iston. It’s about 7 miles, with views
of the river most of the way. The
stretch from Hermiston to Stan-
fi eld to Echo is still in the works.”
Public input was received
through a survey and a meeting in
October 2019. The plan then was
to select one of fi ve routes in 2020.
“COVID put us behind sched-
ule,” Elfering said. “And the fl ood.
But we’ve narrowed it down to
three routes.”
He explained the trail, as much
as possible, uses public rights of
way, such as county roads and irri-
gation ditch embankments.
“We want as little impact on pri-
vate property as possible,” Elfer-
ing said. “We won’t condemn any
at all. Some private landowners are
welcoming. Others not so much.”
And the project needs grant
searchers and writers to help with
funding, and Elfering said there is
money available for bicycle paths.
But applications must wait for the
engineering report by Anderson
Perry. He also said the Umatilla
County Planning Department has
been involved from the beginning.
“They got us a $250,000 grant,
which helped with matching
funds,” Elfering said.
“Umatilla and Hermiston have a
lot of existing infrastructure which
we can connect,” Umatilla County
Planning Director Robert Waldher
said. “Hermiston’s parks will be
incorporated into the trails, as the
terminus of Phase I of the project.”
Stanfi eld and Echo are grow-
ing rapidly and developing infra-
structure that can also be part of
the project.
“Echo had over 400 people at its
Red to Red cross-country moun-
tain bike event,” Waldher said.
“That has a big economic impact.”
Longer term, Waldher said, the
stretch from Hermiston to Stan-
fi eld will be more of a challenge.
“It’s subject to constraints, with
industrial areas, the railroad and
Highway 395,” he explained. “But
momentum is building. We have
gotten technical assistance from
the National Park Service and
other federal agencies.”
The 2020 fl oods washed out the
pedestrian bridge over the Uma-
tilla River, but that is in the process
of rebuilding. Still, Waldher said,
the project is looking at sites for
another footbridge over the Uma-
tilla River
“The river isn’t accessible on
public land all along its length, so
we need to cross over it,” he said.
See, Trails/Page A7
INSIDE
desire to take charge of their des-
tiny, should they continue down
the road of contracting or begin
the step in moving in the direction
of having their own law enforce-
ment,” according to the memo.
He said Mayor Margaret Ander-
son wanted the council to address
the issue because “we are at a
good time for all parties to make
any adjustments if needed and
desired.”
The Irrigon City Council voted
unanimously not to renew.
The small town on the Colum-
bia River has been paying the
Morrow County Sheriff ’s Offi ce
more than $95,000 a year to con-
tract services, plus the purchase
of a vehicle for the sheriff ’s offi ce
every three years, which the sher-
iff ’s offi ce returned to the city after
three years.
Irrigon now is searching for a
new chief, who will be the only
offi cer in the department. The city
also will purchase a new car and
renovate an offi ce in city hall for
the new department.
Under the plan, there will not be
24/7 police coverage for the town
of more than 1,800 people, but per
Oregon law, the county still will
have to provide some services.
Code enforcement and complaints,
however, would be solely the city’s
responsibility.
“This may be an opportunity for
Irrigon as we continue to grow and
become more resilient,” Palmquist
told the council in the memo.
Additionally, he continued,
the Irrigon Municipal Court “has
been a good addition and is work-
ing through to strengthen lrri-
gon’s presence and strength in the
region.”
In a phone call with EO Media
on, Palmquist explained that the
sheriff would not be responsible
for daily patrols, unless that offi ce
decided otherwise.
Code enforcement by the sher-
iff for Irrigon, “was minimal any-
way,” Palmquist said, and he
expressed confi dence it could be
done by a new Irrigon offi cer.
In addition, he said he was dis-
mayed by the price of this change.
“The cost for service is compa-
rable,” Palmquist said. He stated
that a new police department for
See, Irrigon/Page A7
Seeking the cause
Investigation set to conclude at end of the week
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Forty people are trying to fi gure out
why a boiler exploded at Hermiston Shear-
er’s Foods plant on Feb. 22, causing a fi re
that destroyed the building and put 231
people out of work.
Scott Goff , Umatilla County Fire Dis-
trict No. 1 investigator, said on Tues-
day, April 5, the examination of the site
has been delayed. First, there was trouble
because the rubble was so great it was dif-
fi cult to sort through it. Also, it took time to
bring together involved parties. In the past
couple of days, big winds pushed back the
investigation, which was the latest delay.
The examination of the destroyed
Hermiston plant, which once employed
231 people, has brought people from the
fi re district, Shearer’s, insurance carriers
and representatives of involved equipment
and contractors, according to Goff .
Speculation on the cause
Though the direct cause of the explo-
sion is yet unknown, one former Shear-
er’s Foods employee claims lax safety
measures might have contributed to the
explosion.
“I saw a lot of things,” Stephen Dean
said. “I spoke with several peers that I had
that no longer work there about how many
conversations I had about that place being
a time bomb.”
According to Dean, when he heard of
the explosion and the resulting fi re, the fi rst
words that came out of his mouth were, “I
told you so.”
He said he was surprised the fi re, which
destroyed the building, sent a handful of
people to the hospital and left 231 people
out of work, was not worse. After all, no
one died.
He said he was plant safety manager,
working directly with the management
team. He said he “provided safety culture
and infl uence and direct safety policy and
procedure” for about one year, from early
2018 to early 2019.
The Hermiston Herald contacted
the Shearer’s corporate offi ce to ver-
ify Dean’s employment. Shearer’s man-
agement, though, stated the company
would not share employment informa-
tion out of respect for employees and their
confi dentiality.
Dean, however, was able to present a
letter of hire and his own resignation letter
as evidence he had worked there.
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Equipment was in place to remove sections of debris from the destroyed Shearer’s Foods
plant in Hermiston on Monday, April 4, 2022.
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Big winds beat down on the Hermiston Shearer’s site on Monday, April 4, 2022. Investigators
had to pause their examination as a result.
Early in his employment, he said, he
did some in-depth looks into the facility to
identify risks and hazards and found some
he deemed as “high risk” and “high con-
sequence.” He was particularly worried
about oil fi res, he said.
While he was at the plant, Dean said,
there were “a bunch of mini-fi res,” which
were the result of material building up
in ovens. In policies and procedures, he
said, workers were supposed to rake out
the ovens when in a safe state. Accord-
ing to Dean, procedures changed so work-
ers were using compressed air to clean the
ovens instead.
“You don’t put compressed air onto
fi res,” he said.
He said this is just one example of the
See, Shearer’s/Page A7
Stanfi eld city manager fi nalist for Warrenton job
By ETHAN MYERS
EO Media Group
Stanfi eld City Manager Ben
Burgener is a fi nalist for the job of
Warrenton city manager.
The city of Warrenton last week
announced Burgener made the cut.
He is set to be interviewed and
evaluated by city staff , city com-
missioners and residents in the
coming weeks.
Prior to being city manager in
Stanfi eld, Burgener was the city
administrator in Ada, Minnesota,
and the fi nance manager and admin-
A3  Hermiston principal plucked
as Pendleton schools boss
istrative services manager
nently later that year.
for the Utah Department of
Jensen Strategies, a
Transportation.
Portland consulting fi rm
Warrenton’s next city
that specializes in local
manager will take over for
government administra-
Linda Engbretson, who
tion, was hired to search for
announced her retirement
and vet applicants.
Burgener
last year but agreed to work
The consultant received
on an interim basis until her
applications from nine peo-
replacement is hired.
ple, said Erik Jensen, the founder of
Engbretson has spent over 25 Jensen Strategies.
years with the city, including time
“This is a candidate’s mar-
as the city recorder. She took the ket,” Jensen said. “There are a
city manager job on an interim basis lot of positions open and it has
in 2016 after Kurt Fritsch resigned, made it very competitive for
but was off ered the position perma- employers.”
A4  Youth programs benefi t kids
and community
A6  Brothers Osborne to headline
Frontier Days
The pool was narrowed down to
two, but the other candidate with-
drew, Jensen said.
The consultant lists compensa-
tion for the position at $110,000
to $140,000 a year. Jensen Strate-
gies also is helping Seaside in a city
manager search to replace Mark
Winstanley, who is retiring.
While there is no certainty on
the timeline in Warrenton, Mayor
Henry Balensifer said he hopes to
have the next city manager hired
before June.
A community panel is being
formed to assist with the evaluation.
A8  Hermiston High School high-
lights student achievers