Youth sports field lease tabled for fine tuning

By Terry Murry on Thursday, October 13th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

HERMISTON – The Hermiston City Council has tabled approving a lease agreement with Made to Thrive, the nonprofit organization offering to build youth sports fields on the grounds of the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center. Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan said there was no objection to the lease, just one council member wanted the wording to be more specific.

“One of the councilors questioned that it didn’t specifically state in the lease that EOTEC could use that space for parking during the fair,” he said. “Just for clarity, the council just decided to table that until the next meeting and make sure we get that language inserted into the release.”

The lease is a short-term obligation. Made to Thrive will complete the fields and then turn the property back over to the city of Hermiston. Morgan said nonprofits are able to use sweat equity in completing projects while municipalities are not.

“They can control that site,” Morgan said. “They can go out, construct all the improvements helped by volunteers and then turn those facilities over to the city.”

Once the fields are complete, they will be maintained by the Hermiston Parks and Recreation Department.