MORROW COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2022
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
County wants to avoid ‘stubbed toe’ with Amazon
Morrow County commissioners
seek help in negotiations over
new data centers
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Morrow County is looking to
hire an attorney for negotiations
with Amazon as the company read-
ies for a $12 billion investment in
fi ve new data centers.
Amazon intends to build these
fi ve new data centers in the county,
adding to its existing four centers,
as part of a $12-billion project.
This project stands to create hun-
dreds of jobs in the area, but there
are some questions about taxes to
which Amazon is subject.
The topic came up in a Wednes-
day, May 4, Morrow County
Board of Commissioners meeting.
Commissioners Jim Doherty and
Melissa Lindsay spoke of the need
to “get it right” when negotiating
with Amazon. They said they have
begun looking for attorneys for
less than $10,000 worth of services
to review agreements and consider
options.
District Attorney Justin Nel-
son pulls double duty as the county
counsel. He made suggestions for
potential attorneys, including law-
yers who have experience represent-
ing Oregon counties against large
tech companies Google and Intel.
The vote to seek and retain
counsel was 2-0, with Commis-
sioner Don Russell recusing him-
self and abstaining due to a confl ict
of interest.
Amazon makes $11M gift after
county errs
The day after the board meet-
ing, Doherty and Lindsay dis-
cussed the matter further.
“We embarked on a negotiation
on a $12 billion project, frankly
one of the largest in Oregon,”
Doherty said.
He added he and Lindsay real-
ized then this was a “colossal
undertaking.”
Looking back at previous nego-
tiations, he said, commissioners
realized the county had “an $11
million oops” — the county had
not collected $11 million it could
have if it had forged a better deal
with Amazon.
For its part, Doherty said, Ama-
zon made an $11-million gift pay-
ment to the county.
“They didn’t certainly have
to (make the gift payment), so I
appreciate that they did,” he said.
He added that Amazon, with all
of its economists and lawyers, has
a superior understanding of deals
with the county.
“They have a fl eet of attor-
neys,” he said.
Meanwhile, he added, Nel-
son’s primary responsibilities do
not include dealings with Ama-
zon. And Nelson is the lone pros-
ecutor in the county after his dep-
uty, Richard Tovey, left to become
Hermiston’s city attorney.
With the lack of representation,
the county was at a disadvantage,
Doherty said, and it was conceiv-
able Morrow County would “stub
our toe” in a new deal.
“The potential for a colossal
mistake is out there,” he said.
Nelson agreed his offi ce has
been overworked lately, due to his
missing deputy. As such, he said,
he has not been handling as many
county counsel duties as he had in
the past.
He said that a new attorney,
contracted for a specifi c job, can
step in and help, where needed.
It will represent the county apart
from a local enterprise, which
includes Boardman and the Port of
Morrow, and has its own counsel.
Doherty said the expense of a
new lawyer is worth the $10,000
or less the county would be spend-
ing. He posited this money could
pay for up to 20 hours of work
from a good attorney.
If it turns out the $10,000 is
not enough, Morrow County will
undertake a competitive bid pro-
cess, he said.
Lindsay said Morrow County
is capable. This is not, she said, a
“David-versus-Goliath situation”
in which a tiny entity is battling an
overwhelmingly larger one. With
the right counsel, she said, Mor-
row County can hold its own.
Nor is this a matter of Mor-
row County “lawyering up,”
she said. The county’s dealings
with Amazon, she said, are not
confrontational.
“When you say ‘lawyering up,’
it sounds like doors start to slam,
conversations stop happening,”
she said. “It sounds like a bat-
tle. This isn’t, in my mind, a bat-
tle where we’re lawyering up.
It’s a situation where they have
high-powered economists and
lawyers analyzing with their best
interests in mind, and I think that
we have to do the same so that
we come to a similar place at the
negotiation table.”
She said by May 12 she and Nel-
son will have selected an attorney.
And she has reached out to Oregon
economists for additional analysis
and advice. These two moves, she
said, puts Morrow County in a bet-
ter position with Amazon.
A question of bonds
Doherty said he would like to
get more out of Amazon in future
deals. Amazon, he said, is not con-
tributing to local bonds, thanks to
agreements put into contracts since
2017. As such, school, fi re and
water bonds have missed Amazon
contributions.
“I always thought they should
have paid into them,” Doherty
said.
This Election Day, Morrow
County voters are weighing a $138
million school bond. According to
the United States Securities And
Exchange Commission, Amazon
for 2021 reported total revenue of
$469.8 billion.
Boardman Fire Rescue District breaks ground on a new building
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Construction of a new
fi re station is underway for
the Boardman Fire Rescue
District, and it cannot come
soon enough for Fire Chief
Mike Hughes.
“I want to thank our com-
munities, industries, busi-
nesses and community lead-
ers for supporting us and
making this project able to
happen,” Hughes said.
The station is made pos-
sible by a November 2020
$8.475 million bond, which
also is covering the cost of
new equipment, the chief
said.
Costs, he added, have
pushed the budget over the
bond amount, which has
caused the district to cut out
certain “niceties” and search
for sponsorships. The cur-
rent price tag of the build-
ing, being built at the corner
of Southwest Willow Fork
Drive and Tatone Street,
Boardman, is $7.1 million.
The Port of Morrow is
among the sponsors, Hughes
said, as it has helped with
“dirt work,” preparing for
construction. Other organi-
zations have assisted, too, he
said.
“Anyone who is inter-
ested in being part of the fi re
station, we’re going to wel-
come them,” he said.
He said the new station
will replace a 50-year-old
station that was built for vol-
unteer service. Now, he said,
a professional, full-time set
Former Boardman
mayor remembered
for his service
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Ed Glenn, former Board-
man mayor and city coun-
cilor, died April 24, at 81.
The city of Boardman’s
website
memorial-
ized Glenn
as “a strong
community
supporter
who called
Glenn
the city of
Boardman
home.” It stated that he was
on the council 2003 to 2005.
He was mayor 2005 to 2008.
“The city of Boardman is
grateful for his service, and
send our sympathies to his
family,” the website added.
Paul Keefer, Boardman’s
current mayor, said Glenn
“will be greatly missed in
Boardman.”
“He was a man of great
integrity and called it as it
was,” Keefer said. “He was
a straight shooter and you
always knew that Boardman
was a very special place for
him and his family.”
Keefer stated that he
met Glenn in 2000, and
he remembers Glenn as
having
been
“actively
engaged in Boardman’s city
government.”
“His example and leader-
ship are a constant reminder
for me as I work to be mayor
of Boardman,” Keefer said.
“Ed set the example for me
and others to be involved
within your community.”
He added that he will
“truly miss this great man
who I am honored to call my
friend.”
Early comments to his
obituary, posted at burns-
mortuaryhermiston.
com, were positive. They
included statements about
Glenn’s professionalism and
goodness. One person said
she enjoyed time with him
at League of Oregon Cit-
ies, others stated that they lit
candles in remembrance.
“We had many ups and
downs over the years, but Ed
was certainly never afraid to
ask the diffi cult questions
and was steadfastly support-
ive of the city of Boardman,”
stated another response,
credited to Ray and Carol
Michael of San Luis Obispo,
California.
Glenn’s obituary calls
him a “Boardman propo-
nent,” born in 1941 in Enter-
prise, and described him as
a “modern-day Renaissance
man,” who was a public
defender, trial lawyer, com-
mercial wine producer and
more.
According to his obit-
uary, he is survived by his
wife, Francis Glenn, as well
as children, grandchildren
and other loved ones.
South Morrow County
plans yard sales
Hermiston Herald
The fi rst of two commu-
nity-wide yard sales is this
weekend in South Morrow
County.
People can head to Hep-
pner, Ione and Lexington for
an opportunity to fi nd bar-
gains and treasures. The offi -
cial event is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
on Friday, May 13, and Sat-
urday, May 14. Fliers with
locations of sales will be
available in businesses in
the three towns. In addition,
many participants will erect
signage about their sales.
The second event is
planned for June 10-11.
For more information,
search www.facebook.com/
groups/734380197273578
or contact Whitney Hague-
wood
via
Facebook/
Messenger.
of fi refi ghters works there,
and they need something
better.
“This new station is going
to be our headquarter station,
so it’s going to house all the
apparatus, the fi refi ghters 24
hours a day, the administra-
tive offi ces and a community
room.”
He said the plan is for the
community room to serve as
a training room and board
meeting space. Plans also
include using the community
room as a public classroom.
Hughes added that the dis-
trict plans to maintain own-
ership of the current building
for service and maintenance
on district vehicles, then
lease part of the building to
another tenant. He said that it
makes sense to hold onto the
building, located at 300 Wil-
son Road, Boardman, even
after it is replaced.
“I believe in years to
come, as Boardman con-
tinues to grow at the rate
it is, we’ll end up putting
our administrative offices
back into those build-
ings,” he said.
Boardman Fire Rescue District/Contributed Photo
An artist’s rendition of a fi re station shows what is in the
works for the Boardman Fire Rescue District. It is seeking
sponsorships to help pay for it.
HIV isn’t
just a big city issue.
More than half of Oregonians with HIV
live outside of Portland, often in suburbs and
small towns like this one.
Good neighbors chip in to get the job done. And we’ve got
work to do on HIV prevention. People in rural Oregon are
more likely to get a late-stage diagnosis, and a lack of HIV
treatment may harm your health, or your partner’s. Detected
early, HIV is more easily managed and you can live a long,
healthy life. Getting tested is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Learn more and find free testing at endhivoregon.org