In a recent edition of the East Oregonian, Pendleton City Councilor Dale Primmer gave residents a comprehensive update on the progress the city has made this last year in its efforts to bring the city’s infrastructure, specifically our streets, up to par, including future plans.

Progress, to say the least, has been slow. Delays have put the completion date months behind schedule and quality is bound to suffer because of the weather. Curing time for concrete and asphalt is significantly degraded by cold weather. It sounds like Pendleton Public Works Director Bob Patterson is taking so much heat over the delays that he’s lost confidence in his own staff and asking the city council to approve hiring an engineering firm to develop the street maintenance program his staff is unable to deliver.

Is it time for the city manager to consider making some overdue staffing changes?

Future plans include spending $14.7 million on streets in the next three years, with the bulk of that provided by the good folks at the Pendleton Development Commission for streets in the Urban Renewal District and financed by loans from Banner Bank. Once repayment begins, over half the PDC budget will be required for debt service and to cover administrative costs.

The big question that everyone should be asking is: What is the city planning to do when the PDC money is exhausted? This was briefly discussed at the last November council meeting, but the consensus of both the mayor and city council was to take a “wait and see” position. Can we really afford to wait?

Here’s an update on those replacement vintage lampposts on Main Street. Homeless individuals will no longer be relegated to city parks to charge their phones and other devices as the new lampposts have outlets added at ground level, kudos to public works.

So, what about an expanded camera system on the Pendleton River Parkway requested by residents? The public works director has deemed the current system obsolete, but a replacement would be pretty expensive. In lieu of that, Charles Denight, Pendleton Urban Renewal associate director, has proposed a comprehensive camera system for Main Street merchants to evaluate their business volumes during promotions sponsored by the Pendleton Downtown Association.

Evidently, they are unable monitor their sales using traditional bookkeeping methods.

Rick Rohde

Pendleton