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A12
WEATHER
MID-90S IN HOOD RIVER,
HIGH-90S IN THE DALLES
Portable cabins made in Cascade Locks
page A16
Mosier Creek Fire
coverage
pages A3, A15
Columbia Gorge News
HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON
Wednesday,August19,2020 Volume1,Issue20 $1.00
Mosier Creek Fire burns 985 acres
Wildfire burns
36 structures,
threatens more
‘The Grove’
decision
appealed
TD City Council to
review decision
■ By Emily Fitzgerald
Columbia Gorge News
July Maus was driving home
from work around 4:20 p.m. on
Wednesday, Aug. 12, when she
noticed smoke rising roughly 500
yards below her family’s home on
in Mosier.
“I got there and screamed at
everybody to get into the car,” said
Maus, who lived on Carroll Road
with her brother, his wife, her par-
ents, her 88-year-old grandmother,
and the family’s seven dogs. Family
members were able to collect their
birth certificates and the dogs, and
“that was all we had time for,” said
Maus. “We were out of there in
under four minutes.”
At 4:28 p.m., 911 received the
first reports of a fire in Mosier, and
local fire departments, as well as the
Wasco County Sheriff’s Office, were
dispatched.
In less than 24-hours, the fire had
burned nearly 800 acres, destroyed
two structures, endangered nearly
300 more, and caused roughly 900
people to be evacuated.
As of 9 a.m. on Aug. 17 (latest up-
date as of press time), the Incident
Management Team calculated the
fire to be 985 acres in size and 65
■ By Emily Fitzgerald
Columbia Gorge News
The remains of the Maus' homes on
Carroll Road in Mosier is pictured
above. "Pretty much nothing was
saved," said July Maus.
Contributed photo
The Mosier Creek Fire burned and
estimated 500 acres by Wednesday
evening, Aug. 8. At right, the sun
glows red behind a cross on St.
Peters Landmark in downtown The
Dalles, shining through a towering
pillar of smoke.
Mark B. Gibson photo
The Dalles City Council will
review the arguments for and
against a proposed subdivision
at 2845 East 12th St., commonly
referred to as “The Grove,” during
an appeal hearing on Monday,
Aug. 24.
The appeal hearing centers
around The Dalles Community
Development Department’s
decision to approve Legacy
Development Group LLC’s sub-
division application, where the
company proposed to divide one
6.92 acre parcel that is zoned for
high-density housing into 73 par-
cels — 72 “dwelling parcels” be-
tween 2,122 square-feet and 6,095
square-feet each, and one 5,654
square-foot parcel that would be
“dedicated as a ‘community park’
for the development.” The propos-
al has since been modified to 69
“dwelling parcels,” and an 11,724
square-foot community park.
The appellants argue that
because the parcel in question is
See GROVE,page9
See FIRE,page2
‘There is pain coming down the pike’
not yet spent, and a new pot
of money, $250,000 in de-
ferred local Urban Renewal
revenue (agencies includ-
ing the city can only get the
money on a cost reim-
bursement basis, meaning
it is first spent and then the
agency requests the funds
be repaid).
■ By Kirby Neumann-Rea
City Finance Director
Columbia Gorge News
Will
addressed the
Hood River City officials issue Norton
in
the
city
council’s
are taking a longer look at
Aug.
10
regular
meeting.
two sources of funding for
council is expected to
community COVID relief — City
consider
formal action in
one local, one federal — be- either its Aug.
or Sept.
fore determining where and 14 meeting. In 24
April,
with
how to spend the money.
community
COVID
effects
The funds derive from
in mind, city council had
a portion of the federal
approved a proposal to es-
CARES Act money the city
sentially
set aside property
received this spring but has
City of HR looks
at how to spend
two sources of
COVID relief
funding
tax assessments on busi-
nesses and agencies located
in the three Urban Renewal
(UR) districts for one year,
enabling the revenue to be
used as COVID relief fund-
ing for the agencies and on
local needs.
In the UR system, proper-
ty owners in the city’s three
UR districts — Columbia-
Cascade downtown,
waterfront, and Heights
— are assessed taxes that
go into funds for street and
sidewalk improvements
and other capital needs,
with projects determined by
the Urban Renewal Agency
(URA); the Heights UR dis-
trict will receive yet-unde-
termined improvements in
the next few years, following
a planning process that is
now early stages.
(See related story, page
A13.)
The city’s UR portion is
$250,000, and city coun-
cil initially set out a plan
to divide those funds in
three main ways: aid to
non-profits, aid to individ-
uals, and aid to businesses.
The city has worked with
Hood River fundraising
consultant Paul Lindberg,
its liaison to United Way
of the Columbia Gorge,
as conduit for non-profit
aid. For individual aid, the
liaison has been Mid-
Columbia Community
Action Council, and for
assistance to business,
the city has worked with
Chamber of Commerce and
Mid-Columbia Economic
Development Council.
“We are in contact with
Paul Lindberg, and I told
him council wants more
specificity on proposals
for how that money can
be used,” said Norris, who
also serves as assistant city
manager.
The other funding source
is $200,000 in federal
CARES Act money the city
has yet to spent out of its
original $300,000 allot-
ment. This spring, the city
spent $100,000 in direct
See FUNDING,page13
Leading the COVID response
Wasco health
officer on front
lines of pandemic
■ By Neita Cecil
Columbia Gorge News
I
F SHE’S NOT ON A PHONE
call, Dr. Mimi McDonell is
running out the door to admin-
ister a COVID-19 test, or virtually
providing an update to elected
officials and the public about local
response to the pandemic.
McDonell, the health officer
for North Central Public Health
District, is, in the words of Wasco
County Commissioner Kathy
Schwartz, “clearly in charge of this
pandemic locally. She is leading
the response in every way.
“She is really the epicenter of all
the information, the guidance, the
planning. She’s the conduit with
the state and the feds,” Schwartz
said. “I think I can speak for the
whole board, we are really looking
to her to guide us.”
Indeed, after hearing a recent
update from McDonell, Wasco
County Commissioner Scott Hege
said, “As always, an amazing job.
See COVID,page11
Klickitat
County to
remain in
‘phase 2’
■ By Jacob Bertram
Columbia Gorge News
After weeks of uncertainty, state
health officials confirmed Klickitat
County will remain in Phase 2 for
the foreseeable future.
County officials had submitted
the paperwork required for approv-
al to move forward with Phase 3
much earlier in the month of July,
but that was returned to them after
Gov. Jay Inslee first announced a
pause in the state’s “Safe Start” re-
opening plan. Originally, that pause
was meant to last until Aug. 6.
All hopes of a quick turnaround
to Phase 3 were shot after the gov-
ernor announced an extension “in-
definitely” of the state’s reopening
program last week. Klickitat County,
along with 15 other counties in
the state of Washington remain
at Phase 2 for the time being. No
county thus far has made it to
Phase 4, the final stage, of the state’s
reopening plan.
“This has been very frustrating for
See PHASE 2,page10
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Dr. Mimi McDonell is part of the local response to the COVID-19 pandemic as the health officer for North Central Public
Health District. The day the newspaper took this picture, she’d been up at 5 a.m. to transport a person from the hospital to
a local motel for quarantine.
Mark B. Gibson photo