HERMISTON — Hermiston Energy Services will raise its rates in January and again in October in 2021.

The Hermiston City Council approved a rate increase during their Monday, Nov. 9, meeting by a 4-2 vote.

Overall, rates will go up by 6.98% in January 2021 and another 6.9% in October 2021, but the effect to each customer’s bill will depend on the class they fall under and how much energy they use. The average residential user would climb from $111 a month now to $117 in January and $124 in October, according to Hermiston Energy Services General Manager Nate Rivera.

City councilors said raising costs on things is the least favorite part of their job, but it’s their job to keep the city running as its own costs rise.

“Sometimes we need to realize we have to make these hard decisions, and sometimes it’s no fun because we’re going to raise the electricity, but if we want to survive, we have to do that,” Councilor Manuel Gutierrez said before making the motion to accept HES’s recommendation.

Before the vote, Rivera told the council that HES has been pulling $85,000 a month from its reserves and has delayed maintenance in order to put off the rate increase for as long as possible during the pandemic, but even with that strategy, HES projected to have a more than $1 million deficit for the 2020-21 fiscal year, mostly driven by increases in the cost of the power that HES purchases from Bonneville Power Administration.

Three Hermiston residents testified at the meeting, asking the council to consider ways to reduce the burden on residents. Renata Morgan said she would rather see more frequent 1.5% increases than having the city wait until it needs a 7% increase.

“I understand what you’re saying here about this, but what I don’t understand why you let it get so far,” she said.

Rivera had previously highlighted ways that residents struggling to pay their bills can get help. Those include HES’s online “smart hub” where customers can track their usage, rebates on energy-efficient appliances, free energy audits and the HEAT fund available to help pay low-income customers’ bills.

“The main key is really to start that conversation with them and let them know there is help available; they just need to work with us, and as long as a customer is willing to work with us, we’re not in a situation where we’ve ever tried to shut them off. As long as they’re making the best effort they can, we’ll work with them,” he said.

New councilor

During the meeting, the council also rounded off its 2021 roster by appointing local attorney Phillip Spicerkuhn to the Ward IV seat, which was recently vacated after Doug Smith resigned.

Spicerkuhn applied for the position along with incumbent David McCarthy, who the week before had lost his reelection bid for his at-large seat. Because there is more than two years left in the term for the Ward IV seat, the appointment is only for the interim until a special election is held.

Both McCarthy and Spicerkuhn told the council they intend to run in that March 9, 2021 special election, but from December to March, the council chose Spicerkuhn to hold the seat in a 4-1 vote.

“Both of you guys are extremely impressive and it’s a really hard decision to make but I hope both of you do run for the special election and I think it’s great that both of you will now have council experience as well,” Councilor Roy Barron told them.

Spicerkuhn said he has lived in Hermiston for 10 years now as an adult, but was also born in Hermiston and raised in Eastern Oregon. He is an attorney for Kuhn Law Offices, a past Lions Club president, on the board of directors for the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce and also a board member for Umatilla Morrow Head Start.

He said he brings a passion for serving the community, leadership experience and knowledge from his work at Kuhn Law Offices, which provides representation for several small cities in the area.

“I feel that being a member on the city council is the next step in being able to serve the community of Hermiston and being a part of this community, helping guide it moving forward,” he said.

The Hermiston City Council also approved annexation of an 11.5-acre property at 455 E. Elm Ave., behind Walmart, owned by Steve Richards of Eastern Oregon Development LLC.

Richards owns Highland Mini Storage in Hermiston, and previously tried to build another set of storage units on Highway 395 near Rogers Toyota, before the council denied his zoning request in October 2019. City Planner Clint Spencer said it was his understanding that Richards planned to add a similar storage development to part of the Elm property and use the rest for new retail space.

The council also approved change to the comprehensive plan map for a 1.9-acre set of properties on the north side of West Theater Lane. Developer John Ucney of UK Properties submitted the application to change the seven existing lots from multi-structure residential to outlying commercial, and Spencer said Ucney plans to market the property for commercial development.

The council also approved Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston to sign a mutual aid agreement and a document known as the Umatilla County Deadly Physical Force Plan on behalf of the city.

The physical force plan was created after the Oregon Legislature mandated in 2007 that all counties create such a plan. Umatilla County’s was last updated by local law enforcement agencies in 2008, and Edmiston said, given the increased scrutiny on police use of force this year, he suggested the agencies review the plan.

City Manager Byron Smith told the council there were no significant changes made to the 12-page plan during the review process, and the council approved it without further discussion beyond clarifying which agencies the plan covers.

The mutual aid agreement between Hermiston and neighboring law enforcement agencies in Umatilla and Morrow counties comes into play almost every day, Edmiston told the council, as members of the different agencies assist each other. That agreement also outlines the structure of the Major Crimes Team, which is made up of detectives from multiple agencies and is mobilized in the event of a homicide or other serious crime. There were no significant changes to that plan either.