BOARDMAN — The Columbia Development Authority Board continues to be divided on the issue of which entities should be in control of certain land spreading across the jurisdictional lines between Morrow and Umatilla counties.
Board member John Shafer, Umatilla County commissioner, during the CDA’s meeting Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 26, sought to allocate the CDA property — which the board’s March vote gave to the ports — back to the CDA but authorize the entities within each county to decide what to do with the land in their county.
The motion failed 3-2, with Chair Kim Puzey, general manager of the the Port of Umatilla, voting against, alongside Port of Morrow Commissioner Joe Taylor and Morrow County Commissioner Jeff Wenholz.
Shafer and J.D. Tovey, representing the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, who seconded it, were again in the minority.
Repeating history
This is the same split as the March vote that initially created the tension and eventually led to Umatilla County suing the development authority, Morrow County and both ports over breach of contract. Since then, Puzey has asked the county repeatedly to withdraw the suit, which Shafer has refused unless the board rescinds the vote.
The proposal would have rescinded the board’s March decision, Shafer said, “with the added caveat that we don’t meddle in what happens on the Morrow County side of the line. They don’t need us telling them how to divide up the land on their side of the line.”
The motions also required Umatilla County to drop its lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it could not bring it back.
But Puzey had no interest in Shafer’s proposal.
“Commissioner, we voted on this,” he said to Shafer. “We reaffirmed the vote. What do you think the likelihood of us doing the same thing three times is?”
Shafer said the motion is a compromise for everyone in the room, but Puzey disagreed.
“Morrow County respects the responsibilities of the Port of Morrow, the way the Port of Umatilla would expect from Umatilla County,” he said. “But we don’t get that same respect.”
“You used to,” Shafer responded.
Puzey said he would not vote for the motion without the support of the Port of Umatilla commissioners, though he also said he made the initial vote without their direction, but based on “30 years of history and precedent and expectation” from the port.
However, at the time of the March vote, Puzey said, “I’m here, authorized by my board, to vote the way I’m intending to vote.”
After the Nov. 26 meeting, Puzey explained he never had official, direct authorization, but given his decades of history with the port and how his board understood the eventual plans for the land, he had the authority to vote as he did.
Back to the board(s)
Two Port of Umatilla commissioners who attended the November meeting offered their input.
Commissioner Jerry Simpson said because of the lawsuit, the taxpayers of Umatilla County are paying for both sides, as the county and port are public entities. Puzey reiterated this after the meeting ended, saying the lawsuit is a “wasteful use of public resources” like he’s never before seen.
“I assumed that your proposal would have some solutions to the land distribution, which basically you’re saying rescind the vote and you’re going to drop the lawsuit,” said Robert Blanc, a port commissioner and its CDA alternate. “There’s nothing in between here to figure out how the land would be divided up.”
Blanc wanted to bring the motion back to his board and return with feedback or a counterproposal, but Puzey told Shafer he had “no idea” if the motion would come back before the CDA board, which Shafer said is why he made the motion despite Puzey’s warnings the outcome was unlikely to be different.
After Shafer’s motion failed, Taylor and Wenholz each said they’d bring the proposal back to their respective boards to get their input, then Tovey motioned for all CDA board members to take Shafer’s idea to their boards and return to the December CDA meeting with feedback. The board unanimously approved Tovey’s motion. That meeting will be Dec. 11 at 1 p.m.
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” Shafer said about the decision after the meeting. “I honestly don’t know why it wouldn’t pass. It gives everybody what they want. It takes us back to where we’re all working together as one big happy family.”
