The Hermiston City Council adopted the city’s 2014-15 budget during Monday night’s meeting and passed a pair of ordinances amending both the city’s Transportation System Plan and Comprehensive Plan.
The council voted unanimously to adopt the city’s $46,891,774 budget for fiscal year 2014-15. The budget approved Monday night is about $4.5 million smaller than the current budget, due primarily to a decrease in the Wastewater Treatment Plant Construction Fund appropriation. The new budget includes $50,000 to remodel the council chambers and Hermiston City Hall lobby.
The full budget can be found on the city’s website. http://www.hermiston.or.us/finance/budget
The council also passed an ordinance amending the city’s Transportation System Plan, which is routinely updated as traffic needs change. The intent of the plan is to identify potential deficiencies in the city’s road infrastructure. A total of 33 intersections within the city limits were studied. Five of those intersections have recently been identified as having potential deficiencies in the future. Those five are:
• E. Elm and N.W. 11th Street
• Highway 395 and Theater Lane
• Highway 395 and Elm Avenue
• Diagonal and N.E. 10th Street
• E. Main and Seventh Street
According to Hermiston City Planner Clint Spencer, the list is based on a number of factors, including current and projected traffic volumes and accident rates.
The updated plan calls for recommended improvements to each of the five intersections. The plan recommends adding signalization to E. Elm and N.W. 11th Street intersection as well as adding turn pockets.
For the Highway 395 and Theater Lane intersection, turn pockets are recommended as well as revising the signal timing. For Highway 395 and Elm Avenue, recommendations include adding turn lanes and through lanes. For the Diagonal-N.E. 10th Street and E. Main-Seventh Street intersections, the plan recommends signalization or installing roundabouts.
The improvements are not necessarily short-term projects, but ones that the plan identifies as needing to be done over the next 20 years.
The council also passed an ordinance Monday night incorporating its 2013 Public Facilities Plan (PFP) into its Comprehensive Plan. The PFP is similar to the transportation plan in that it outlines broad goals for public facilities by looking at existing demand and future growth.
In other business Monday night:
• The council proclaimed June to be Small Cities Month.
• The May 20 elections results were certified.
• The council approved two street closures. The first, set for July 12 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., closes off W. Orchard Avenue between First Avenue and S.W. Third Street for a car show in conjunction with the Hermiston Saturday Market. The second will close off a portion of Main Street and Hurlburt for the 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Main Street, from Highway 395 to Fourth Street, and Hurlburt, from Fifth Street to Sixth Street, will be closed off from 7 p.m., Friday, July 18 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 20.
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