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PAGES 10 & 11A
143rd YEAR, No. 47
COAST WEEKEND
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
ONE DOLLAR
CEASE
FIRE
OVER!
Battles back on
for Civil War
re-enactments
The Daily Astorian
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Protesters use signs to shield themselves from the rain during a rally before the Oregon L N G permit public hearing at the Warrenton
Community Center Wednesday.
LNG opponents turn out in force
Public hearing
to resume
Thursday
See BATTLES, Page 7A
Mays
steps up
Commissioners
select interim
county manager
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
W
ARRENTON — A
crowd of concerned
citizens sporting red an-
ti-LNG shirts and protest buttons
packed the Warrenton Community
Center Wednesday evening to op-
pose Oregon LNG’s plans to de-
velop a pipeline and terminal on
the Skipanon Peninsula.
Before the public hearing on
the company’s land use permits
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asked that several dozen people
leave the room, which is designed
to hold only 135.
The folks who stayed watched
intently as attorneys, consultants
and impassioned locals traded ar-
guments for and against Oregon
LNG’s proposed $6 billion proj-
ect.
The speakers made their case
before Daniel Kearns, a Portland
land use attorney appointed by the
city to decide whether the com-
pany’s permit applications satisfy
the standards outlined in the city
code.
The project design includes
a facility to liquefy natural gas,
two storage tanks, a loading ter-
minal for ocean-borne tankers
and a new 87-mile pipeline that
would connect to an existing nat-
The battles are back on.
The recent lifting of the burn ban
by the Clatsop County Fire Defense
Board has paved the way for the
Northwest Civil War Council Labor
Day weekend re-enactors to re-enact
away.
Jim Munson, an event organizer
and former union battalion com-
mander, said the battles and the
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The re-enactment is the council’s
biggest event and draws on average
600 council members, he said, and
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without a battle in 29 years.
Organizers are hoping they can
regroup council members and get a
good turnout, Munson said, adding
drivers will probably see re-enac-
tors doing road marches along U.S.
Highway 101 to advertise the event.
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
and early November.
Once the city mails Kearns’ de-
cision to parties of record, a two-
week appeal period will begin. If
Kearns’ decision is appealed, the
Warrenton City Commission will
likely hold a public hearing on the
appeal sometime in December.
And, if the commission’s decision
is appealed, the case may come
before the state Land Use Board
of Appeals.
Rich Mays, the former city man-
ager of Cannon Beach, will serve as
interim Clatsop County manager.
The county Board of Commis-
sioners unanimously decided at a
special meeting Wednesday night to
select Mays to steer the county while
commissioners search for a perma-
nent replacement for Scott Somers,
who has resigned to become city
manager in College Park, Md.
Mays will earn $11,500 a month
and has pledged not to seek the top
job, a requirement commissioners
had set for the interim position. He
will start before Somers leaves on
Sept. 18.
“He certainly has the experience
and he knows the players better
than any of the other applicants and
could hit the ground running a little
faster, which is what you need in an
interim, is just somebody holding
steady until you’ve selected who is
going to be your manager,” County
Counsel Heather Reynolds said of
Mays.
See LNG, Page 12A
See MAYS, Page 7A
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
It was standing room only during the Oregon LNG permit public hearing at the Warrenton Community
Center Wednesday. People were asked to leave the building before the hearing because the number of
people attending the hearing exceeded the maximum occupancy .
ural gas pipeline in Washington
state .
Supporters cast the project as
a boon to the city, an opportuni-
ty to provide well-paying jobs,
stimulate the local economy and
increase tax revenues by millions
of dollars. Opponents, on the oth-
er hand, cast it as a hazardous
undertaking that could, among
other problems, hold up traffic,
drive down property values, dis-
rupt fishing activities, pollute
the environment and amplify
the dangers posed by a Cascadia
Subduction Zone earthquake and
tsunami.
Because of the overwhelming
turnout, the public hearing has
been extended to 5 p.m. Thursday.
After the hearing, Kearns will
leave the written record open for
two weeks, then Oregon LNG will
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tal. Kearns will review the staff
report and testimony and issue a
written decision, which is expect-
ed to arrive between late October
Red Building lease changes hands
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
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Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
The Bridgewater Bistro is one of the businesses in the
Red Building.
lease without modifications.
Lommasson had previously
sought a perpetually renew-
ing lease or to buy the prop-
erty from the Port, which
leases it to Union Fish.
See LEASE, Page 12A
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The Port of Astoria Com-
mission on Tuesday vot-
ed to transfer the property
lease for the Red Building
in Uniontown from Union
Fish Properties to Trout-
dale developer Dale Lom-
masson.
Lommasson approached
the Port Commission late
last month and said he was
buying the building for $1.7
million from Mark Cary and
Shawn Helligso, partners in
Union Fish Properties.
Mike Weston, the director
of operations and business
development at the Port,
said the parties had agreed
to transfer the existing
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