Harris Park opens for day use and overnight stays with new guidelines
Published 10:16 am Wednesday, May 20, 2020
- An excavation company in early April 2020 works near the entrance to Harris Memorial Park in rural Umatilla County outside of Milton-Freewater. Flooding in February that year damaged the bridge at the county's public park. The county board of commissioners voted Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, to approve a $239,361 contract to replace the bridge.
UMATILLA COUNTY — Harris Park is back open to the public with some new guidelines in place due to COVID-19.
The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners formally adopted new guidelines for the park Wednesday that include limiting overnight stays to Umatilla County residents, increasing sanitation protocols and implementing remote paying options.
According to the guidelines, the park will be open for both day use and overnight camping, though reservations will be restricted to Umatilla County residents only for the time being.
“No such residency requirement shall be in place for day use although travel regulations remain in effect in the State of Oregon,” the new guidelines stated.
Those attending the park are encouraged to continue practicing social distancing throughout the park and along its trails, and group contact sports are discouraged. The park’s playground equipment will also be unavailable for use.
Park staff will be cleaning and sanitizing campsites after each use, and bathrooms will be cleaned and sanitized at least twice per day with plans to increase efforts during the weekends when more people are expected at the park.
Campers will need to bring food, personal hygiene products and chairs of their own because the county won’t make any of these items available at the park, and staff have been encouraged to implement a remote pay station rather than handling transactions by hand.
Harris park suffered severe damages during February’s historic flooding and was initially expected to be a longer renovation project, but repairs came along faster than anticipated and staff have been preparing the park to ensure its water and electrical systems are ready to go.
Staff have also been directed to inspect that the park is better equipped for some rises in the river, which is especially prudent after the National Weather Service in Pendleton issued a flood watch for the region through Wednesday night.
“Where possible staff were also asked to help assure that campsites along the River have new levels of protection from potential overflows that might contaminate the park,” the guidelines stated.
