Members of the Columbia Development Authority said commercial developers looking to launch their next big enterprise on or near the former Army Chemical Depot near Hermiston have expressed concern about the five landlords that have not agreed how to divide the property.
“I’ve heard from several developers who are very disappointed with how this is being dealt with,” Umatilla County Commissioner John Shafer said. “They all thought it was going along just fine until March 26, and then it kind of went off the rails.”
That was the date the CDA voted 3-2 to give the commercially developable land under its stewardship to the ports of Morrow and Umatilla. Morrow County side with the two ports, and Umatilla County and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation got leftovers. Dave Tovey, executive director of the tribes’ Nixyaawii Community Financial Services called the division “nothing short of a land grab.”
County wants 20%
Shafer agreed with Tovey the county and CTUIR should each own 20% of all CDA lands. Shafer and Tovey are representatives on the CDA Board, and they voted against the March 26 decision.
CDA Board Chairman Kim Puzey has not been willing to reconsider that vote.
Unsatisfied with that stance, the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners voted to refer the matter for legal representation, and the county hired the law firm of Best Best and Krieger, of Bend, to communicate the county’s displeasure to the CDA board and its attorney, Elizabeth Howard of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC, of Portland.
Best Best and Krieger attorney Josh Newton on May 22 sent a letter to Howard.
“The Port of Morrow’s property division request is premature and creates unnecessary risk and uncertainty for the CDA,” Newton’s letter asserts, “which threatens the CDA’s compliance with its Jan. 3, 2023, agreement with the U.S. Department of the Army for the ‘Economic Development Conveyance of a Portion of the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Hermiston.'”
Newton also states the vote breached the intergovernmental agreement between the CDA entities, which requires the board to seek consensus on all decisions, and board action requires a majority vote. Umatilla County also disputes the bare description of “Port of Morrow Request for Property Division” in the March 26 meeting agenda contains sufficient written notice of the action the Port of Morrow proposed.
The letter repeated the county’s demand for the CDA to rescind the vote until the board “has a reasonable opportunity to discuss, reach consensus and adopt a reasonable and prudent ‘Depot Property Transition Program,’ in accordance with the Intergovernmental Agreement.”
Avoid the judge
Shafer told the CDA board at its April 23 meeting it would be “cheaper for all of us involved” to rescind the vote rather than having a judge give that order.
Shafer said CDA Executive Director Greg Smith in an email May 23 confirmed he received the county’s letter and added the matter to the CDA’s upcoming meeting, per Shafer’s request.
“I thanked him,” Shafer said. “Then two hours later they canceled the May 28 meeting.”
Smith appeared via Zoom at the June 5 meeting of the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners and he was first on the agenda.
“As staff to the Columbia Development Authority … we feel like children caught in the middle of a divorce,” Smith told the gathering.
Smith unreeled a chapter history of events in front and back of the March 26 meeting.
“I had never seen the motion and never read the motion until, gosh, 90 seconds before the conversation occurred,” he said.
Smith said he has not been able to advance discussions with developers interested in the CDA property due to the internal squabble.
Opportunities arise
“We have five very legitimate business opportunities,” Smith said. “There’s a natural resource manufacturing company, a large utility company that’s looking at solar and other energy opportunities, we have alternative energy companies, we have data center inquiries … and we’re sitting here in this unique situation trying to determine how to proceed.”
Smith said it appears he is looking at a stop order from Umatilla County and lamented the CDA has operating expenses it is responsible for paying whether the parties are cooperating with each other or not.
“These deadlines need to be met,” he told the Umatilla County board. “Should we not meet them, we fully anticipate the Office of Economic Justice and the folks who fund us will not fund this in the future. So this is the situation we’re facing.”
Smith said he has asked Howard to communicate regularly, openly and transparently with each of the attorneys of the five board members. He reminded the county commissioners there was an energy company prepared to purchase 100 acres that transferred to a lease option, then back to a purchase option.
“That company is ready to proceed very shortly, and it’s putting staff in a unique situation because we want to make sure we have five board members,” Smith said. “We do not know how to proceed at this point.”
