HERMISTON — The Hermiston City Council approved a franchise agreement during their Monday, March 8, meeting to allow U.S. Cellular to place small cell wireless technology used for 5G cell phone coverage around the city.

Cellphone carriers, internet service providers and other telecommunication companies pay fees known as franchise fees to place their technology on city rights of way. The five-year agreement approved Monday, which will allow a company known as Oregon RSA#2 to place the small cell technology on behalf of U.S. Cellular to bring faster upload and download speeds to customers in the area, is the first for the city for this type of technology.

Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan told the council the city’s legal counsel specializing in telecommunications agreements has been working on the agreement over the past two years. The initial agreement is for placement of 21 receivers, six of which will be placed on existing utility poles instead of new ones.

Morgan said the Federal Communications Commission has created a set of “safe harbor” fees that cities can charge cell phone carriers without worry that pending rulemaking and legal battles will cause their rates to be rolled back by a court case later. That rate means the franchise agreement approved Monday will generate $5,670 in general fund revenues for Hermiston in 2021, and increase by 3% per year after, plus an additional $270 per any additional locations added later.

During their March 8 meeting, the council also heard a presentation from Capt. Travis Eynon of the Hermiston Police Department about the role of school resources officers. The council had previously requested additional information about the program after a bill was introduced in the Oregon Legislature that would ban the practice of designating police officers to schools.

Eynon said Hermiston’s three school resources officers — one for high school, one for the middle schools and one for the elementary schools — are thought of as a combination of informal teacher of safety, an informal counselor and law enforcement officer.

When the city’s school resource officer program started in 1994, Eynon said, trends in policing leaned more toward “zero tolerance.” If two kids were in a fight at school, for example, both would automatically be charged with a crime. Now, the department is willing to let the school district handle it through suspensions and other methods if that seems best for the circumstances, he said.

Another example Eynon used was a diversion program for minor students caught with tobacco or other substances. Students can keep their citation out of the juvenile justice system if they take an anti-drug class and don’t get a second citation in the same school year.

“We don’t necessarily take that zero tolerance approach anymore,” he said.

After the council’s regular meeting, the council readjourned as the Urban Renewal Agency to approve a façade grant for The Pheasant Bar and Grill at 149 E. Main St.

Owner Cherie Bumpaous told the council that the money would be used to replace damaged awnings on the front of the building as well as other cosmetic work, such as repainting the back of the building.

Based on its scoring rubric, the planning commission suggested a 30% match for the $21,300 project. But Bumpaous said that level of match would take longer for the restaurant to finish saving up for the project, leaving up the unsightly metal frame where the awning was taken down. City Planner Clint Spencer noted that some of the additional work beyond the awnings was not originally part of the project when the planning commission scored it.

City Councilor Doug Primmer made a motion that the restaurant be awarded the maximum $10,000 allowable for the project instead of 30%, and the rest of the council also voted in favor of the increased amount.

Mayor David Drotzmann said he feels “terrible” for all that restaurants have gone through in the past year during the pandemic and was glad to see the city helping one out through its façade grant program.

“I’m glad to see you’re still here, I’m glad to see you’re still fighting, I’m glad to see you staying in Hermiston keeping a viable business here,” he said.