Waite

For the first time in six years, the city of Umatilla is planning to add a new department, according to David Stockdale, Umatilla city manager. Parks & Recreation is set to receive final approval from the Umatilla City Council on June 7 and then begin operations on June 16, Stockdale said.

“This will be fantastic,” the city manager said.

Stockdale said that the department has a human resource budget of $230,000. The new director, Chris Waite, is to receive the lion’s share of this money, $140,000 in salary and benefits. He will oversee two recreation coordinators.

Other costs for the department include $45,000 for programming and $45,000 for community gardens, Stockdale said.

Plans are for the department to occupy space in the same building that houses the Umatilla Police Department.

The new director expresses enthusiasmTalking about the new position Monday, May 23, Waite said he was looking forward to applying his experience to Umatilla parks.

“I have a little background in parks and recreation,” Waite said.

Currently, he works for the city of Billings, Montana, Parks and Recreation as the parks and cemetery supervisor. Prior to that, he was the parks & rec volunteer coordinator for five years. For eight years before that, he was the parks & rec director in the Greybull Recreation District in Greybull, Wyoming.

Growing up in La Grande, he said he is very familiar with the area and has many family members around here.

“It still feels like home,” he said.

The last time he was in Umatilla, according to Waite, was a few weeks ago for his job interview. While in town, he visited the parks.

“I thought there was a lot of incredible potential,” he said. “Some of the parks are in the process of being updated, and then there are a few still to go, but there are definitely a lot of good things happening in the city there.”

Umatilla has major parks projects coming for Hash Park, Nugent Park and Umatilla Marina & RV Park. Waite said he has seen plans for these projects.

“The work that’s been done to build those plans is pretty solid,” he said.

He added that he will assess where the city is in its work, and then he intends to assist where he can. Waite does not, however, expect to alter those plans, he said. Instead, he will work to implement those existing plans, which still will be a challenge.

Another challenge is building this new program, he said, though he added that he was not intimidated by it.

“For each of my career steps, when I was the Greybull Rec director and then when I came here to Billings as the volunteer coordinator, both of those were kind of starting programs from scratch,” he said.

He said he has experience building programs and that he thrives in these situations. It is an opportunity for him to apply his creativity, and he said he welcomes this work in Umatilla.

Setting down rootsMoving from Billings, Montana, Waite is planning to move his family to a new home that is around 700 miles away.

He said he and his wife are putting their home up for sale this week, and they plan to buy a home in Umatilla. Waite added he heard our local housing market is “a little bit tight,” so it might be difficult to find a place for them and their three children, ages 16, 14 and 11.

The benefits of the new position more than compensate for this trouble or others, he said. Yes, he said, it is hard leaving his current friends, but he is looking forward to rejoining his family here and making new friends. Also, he said, he is happy to be part of a community that is growing and making wonderful progress.

“I think it’s an incredible opportunity,” he said.