PENDLETON – The city of Pendleton and Umatilla County are going to work together on the airport arterial project.

The City Council approved an agreement Tuesday outlining the responsibilities between the two entities.

The project, commonly referred to as the Barnhart Road Project, seeks to extend Barnhart from Interstate 84 to the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport. The route would provide a level access to the airport and industrial lands around it.

City Manager Larry Lehman said that through the agreement, the city would benefit from the Washington, D.C., based lobbying firm that Umatilla County had hired. That group had identified some federal transportation dollars that might work for the airport project, he said.

“I think this is a good thing for the city,” Lehman said.

Hopefully the funds will be available in the next year, he added. The city will only have to pay its portion of the lobbying fee if the funding for the road is obtained, he said.

City Council member Phil Houk asked if the landowners along the route had been contacted. Lehman said that while it is too early to start approaching landowners with agreements, the principal landowners had been contacted and indicated a willingness to work with the city.

In other business, the council:

Approved a bid form Extreme Coatings Inc. for concrete repair and sealing work at the Wastewater Treatment Plant not to exceed $44,818. The project will include cleaning, restoring any worn areas with a layer of grout and then an epoxy coating to extend the life of the unit.

Agreed to raise the rates the city charges for street pavement restoration to reflect the cost of the procedure from $2.50 per square foot to $6.50 per square foot.

Agreed to extend the city’s enterprise zone to encompass industrial lands in Pilot Rock.

Approved a lease agreement with the Pendleton School District for property near Washington School.