Umatilla County commissioners Friday approved creation of an intergovernmental agency to oversee the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center in Hermiston.

County Commissioner Bill Hansell said it was an idea thats time had come.

The EOTEC site on 75 acres near the Hermiston airport is the designated site for a new Umatilla County Fair and the Farm City Pro Rodeo.

Nearly all of the approximately 20 people crowded into the small room at Umatilla County Court House, Pendleton, applauded as commissioners voted 3-0 to ratify an ordinance creating the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center Authority.

Luann Garner of Hermiston was the lone voice of dissent. Garner questioned the use of tax dollars to build the facility and expressed concerns about infrastructure, including roads and sewer.

Kim Puzey, general manager of the Port of Umatilla, said private investment follows public investment, from the building of the interstate highway system to phone lines. He said this use of tax dollars would be no different.

Hermiston City Manager Ed Brookshier said the city already owns the land and is focused on developing the site.

The city would develop it anyway as an industrial park, he said. We are developing our economy in this area in the next 30 years.

Hansell pointed out the county will own a recreational vehicle park at the center, and that will qualify the county to receive state RV licensing funds for road improvements, just as it did for Harris Park near Milton-Freewater.

The agreement appoints directors from Umatilla County on the EOTEC Authority:

Commissioner Dennis Doherty, term ends Dec. 31, 2015

Chet Prior, term ends Dec. 31, 2013

Buzz Brazeau, term ends Dec. 31, 2014.

Directors appointed from Hermiston include:

Brookshier, term ends Dec. 31, 2015

Dan Dorran, term ends Dec. 31, 2013

Farm-City Pro Rodeo representative David Bothum, term ends Dec. 31, 2014

Hotel owner Vijay Patel of the West Umatilla County Motel Owners Association, term ends Dec. 31, 2012.

A round of handshakes followed the vote. EOTEC Steering Committee member Brazeau said the real work can begin, finding millions of dollars to make the center a reality.

The event center could cost $22.5 million or $31.5 million, depending on the options. The project has approximately $6.4 million in cash from Oregon lottery funds that become available in May, $3 million from the countys sale of the current fairgrounds, $450,000 from the Umatilla County Fair Moving Fund and $450,000 from a federal grant.

That leaves a gap of $12.5 million for the low end option.

The fairs lease expires expires Dec. 31, 2016. Hermiston City Councilman George Anderson said the five-year window allows for big fundraising and avoiding a mad rush that could lead to mistakes.

The Hermiston City Council previously approved the intergovernmental agency and now must ratify the agreement. Then, Anderson said, the state will have to register the agency as an official body. At some point, he said, the property will be conveyed to the EOTEC Authority.

No one said just when the fair and rodeo would operate at the new site. That will happen, they said, when its right.