HERMISTON — An indoor wellness and recreation center is one of the top priorities in a 20-year master plan for the city of Hermiston’s parks and recreation department.

Consultants from the planning firm Cameron McCarthy presented a draft of the plan to the city council during a work session on Monday, July 13. They compiled the plan over the past year using feedback from focus groups, pop-up booths at community events and an online survey that got more than 700 responses.

“I’m very, very pleased with the work they have done for us,” parks and recreation director Larry Fetter said. “The quality of this work is exceptional.”

Colin McArthur, a principal at the firm, told the council that at 4.6 acres of park land per 1,000 residents Hermiston has a lower-than-average ratio of parks per capita for a city of its size. Looking at projected growth for Hermiston, the city would need to add 22.5 new acres of parks just to maintain the current ratio, McArthur said.

The draft plan suggests and prioritizes 22 projects, including a 67,000-square-foot “health and wellness” center that would include an indoor pool. McArthur said that was the highest priority expressed in feedback from residents. The preferred location for the facility would be on the old fairgrounds behind Hermiston High School.

Other major projects on the list include a regional sports complex where the disc golf course on Northwest 11th Street currently sits, a dog park added to Butte Park, a new skate park, a new neighborhood park on Gettman Road, a “natural” park and trail around the wetlands off Diagonal Road, expansion of the Field of Dreams and improvements to current parks.

Fetter said does not allocate money for the projects outlined or set anything in stone. It is merely meant to be a guide, based on the community’s priorities.

“It’s very comprehensive in its presentation, but there will be other opportunities that will arise,” he said.

During its regular business meeting, the council decided Hermiston’s food truck pod will make its permanent home at its current location on the corner of Southwest Third Street and Orchard Avenue.

They had previously studied possible sites at Butte Park and Newport Park, but voted unanimously July 13 that Orchard Avenue was the best option due to its lower cost and prominent location across from the Hermiston Post Office and McKenzie Park.

“Everybody knows where it is right now,” councilor Doug Primmer said.

Now that the council has decided to keep it there permanently, the city plans to add water and sewer hookups, similar to campsites at an RV park, along with shade and other amenities.

City Planner Clint Spencer told the council that Patrick Hunt, who currently manages the pod for the city, had been working with five or six other vendors who had expressed interest in participating in the pod. He said some of them had been held back by the health department not approving new licenses for food trucks during the pandemic, while others had said they would be interested if water and sewer hookups were made available.

On Monday, the city council also voted to join other cities around the country in a lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission for restrictions it recently placed on cities regarding their ability to control their rights-of-way.

In the past, cities have been able to set fees for telecommunications companies to place devices on power poles, and set rules about how they look. The FCC’s change in rules sets a cap on how much cities can charge and restricts them from creating rules about aesthetics.

Mayor David Drotzmann said the change was meant to pave the way for companies to be able to roll out 5G technology faster, but it would hurt taxpayers.

“Now they’ve made it a point that we can hardly charge anything, and potentially it will cost us money to engage with these projects, and so the taxpayers will eventually end up paying additional fees rather than these big corporations paying fees,” he said.

Hermiston School District Superintendent Tricia Mooney gave her monthly update to the council, saying that with COVID-19 numbers as high as they are in Umatilla County, school won’t be able to reopen completely with all children back to school every day in the fall.

She said parents can expect a hybrid version of school with some online learning and some in-person interactions. The district will then be prepared for fully online learning during temporary closures sparked by outbreaks.

She said it won’t be ideal, but it is the reality the district is working with.

“I’m heartbroken for our kids that lost what they lost in the spring with an abrupt closure,” she said. “I’m heartbroken for the kids that are going to lose what they’re going to lose next year when we can’t have our kids back the way that we need to have our kids back.”

Drotzmann said the city has several large facilities at its disposal, and that he would be interested in seeing the city offer up use of those facilities if it can help provide more socially distanced classroom space for the district to work with. Other councilors said they liked that idea, even if it involved some sacrifices on the city’s part.

“The school district has been, in recent years, very good about what we can do with (their facilities), and I think it’s time for us to pay it back,” councilor Jackie Myers said.