Hermiston council to vote on AWS water agreement
Published 1:00 pm Monday, September 28, 2026
By Michael Kane | Hermiston Herald
(Michael Kane/Hermiston Herald/File)
HERMISTON — The Hermiston City Council will pick up Monday, Sept. 28, where it left off two weeks ago when the meeting was canceled due to a lack of a quorum.
The council votes on an agreement with Amazon Web Services related to wastewater and domestic water supply.
The council in the fall of 2025 approved plans to expand the city’s urban growth boundary and annex approximately 800 acres of industrial land south of Feedville Road. The UGB expansion and annexation became official in January.
In March, the council was presented with a wastewater project that would install a new sewer main in Feedville Road and Highway 207. The council approved the project with 73.6% of the project funding coming from AWS, and the remainder coming from the city with state financing.
The council at the meeting will considers finalizing the terms of the arrangement.
Council to address petition matter
The council also consider an ordinance to amend the city’s code to establish a residency requirement for people filing initiative or referendum petitions for city measures.
Chapter 33 of the code does not expressly identify who is qualified to file an initiative or referendum for a city measure.
State law requires that a petitioner must file a prospective petition with the city elections officer prior to circulating a petition. The law designates chief petitioners but does not specify residency or other qualifications for the person filing the prospective petition.
According to the city, requiring a person filing an initiative petition or referendum petition for a city measure to be a resident of Hermiston promotes local accountability and ensures that those seeking to place measures on the city ballot have a direct stake in the outcome of such measures. The proposed residency requirement would apply only to the person filing the petition and not petition circulators or signers.
Annexation ordinance on agenda
Also on the agenda is an ordinance to annex 3.72 acres into the city limits. Michael and Kelly Thomas submitted an application to annex the property at 1250 SE Fourth St. to subdivide it for residential development.
The council also hears an update on revisions to the city’s transportation system plan prior adoption hearings in October.
