From left, Umatilla County Commissioners Cindy Timmons, John Shafer and Dan Dorran receive community input on the transfer of Gettman Road to Hermiston Nov. 6, 2024, during a regular board meeting in Pendleton.

PENDLETON — Umatilla County is illuminating the exteriors of its buildings in green lights until Veterans Day to honor local veterans.

The county’s Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday, Nov. 6, during its regular meeting to participate in Operation Green Light for Veterans. Operation Green Light is a national county-led movement to show support for veterans and raise awareness of available veteran services.

Green signifies the military, said Commission Chair John Shafer, adding the county wants veterans to know the community appreciates their service.

“It’s really important for us that we honor our veterans who give us the freedoms that we get to enjoy,” he said. “The open elections we saw (Nov. 5) — that only happens because of our veterans.”

County transfers road to city

In other action, the county voted unanimously to transfer jurisdiction of Gettman Road to the city of Hermiston. The city is working on a road development project connecting Highway 207 through South First Street to Highway 395.

This has been a planned transfer as part of the city’s efforts, and the county decision did not deviate from the plan. The vote occurred after a brief public hearing in which one resident who lives on Gettman Road, Jessica Blakeman, spoke in favor of the transfer.

She said she’s excited about the transfer, but is worried about cars speeding on the road as they do now. She said she hopes the development of the road and oversight from the city will discourage speeding, which could be dangerous for pedestrians and children who live on Gettman.

“People do tend to exercise a little more caution on roads that do have sidewalks and more signage and things (and when it) doesn’t look as rural,” she said. “I do think that alone will help a little bit.”

Hermiston paved and chip sealed West Gettman Road in 2022, but the city plans to extend the road and add curbs and a bike lane, developing it further.

“This makes perfect sense for the city to take Gettman Road,” Shafer said. “Us commissioners, we want to hear from the public, that’s what we did in public hearing today, and the only voice we heard was in support of it, so it made our decision real easy to say yes.”

Drones to bring county into new era

The commissioners also acted on a request for two drones for the Weed Control Program within the county’s weed department. The county had sent out a request for proposals and received two — one from Advanced Drone based in Pendleton and another from Agri Spray Drones in Milton-Freewater. Shafer recused himself from the vote because his son was an employee of one of the drone companies.

Although both companies had similar proposals, Agri Spray Drones proposed the lower bid by about $320, at $30,625. Therefore, Theodore Orr, with the county Road Department, recommended the commissioners authorize the contract for purchase with Agri Spray.

“We’re trying to upgrade to the 20th century with drones,” he said.

The drones — a Mavic 3 Multispectral and a DJI Agras T25 — will be able to map, identify and spray weeds, using the same type of precision agriculture technology that farms often do to more accurately identify and target fast-spreading weeds.

“It’s very precise,” Shafer said, “and one, it’ll save money on chemicals, and two, it’s going to save on time.”

Right now, he said, the county completes weed control by hand, so he expects the drones will have a significant impact for the department.