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About Columbia Gorge news. (The Dalles, OR) 2020-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 2020)
B4 Columbia Gorge News Wednesday September 2, 2020 HoodRiverNews.com • TheDallesChronicle.com • WhiteSalmonEnterprise.com White Salmon considering cell tower lease option Bertram ■ Jacob Columbia Gorge News The City of White Salmon is considering leasing land to a U.S. Cellular subsidiary on a city-owned parcel on N.W. Strawberry Mountain Road. If approved, the lease would net the city $900 per month in rent in the first year of the contract. The catch? It would open up the possibility for a cell tower to be installed on the lot. Initially on the agenda for the Aug. 19 city council meeting was a motion for Mayor Marla Keethler to sign a proposed contract leasing parcel #03102427000500 to Oregon RSA#2, a subsidiary of U.S. Cellular, and granting an easement with fees paid by Oregon RSA #2 to the City of White Salmon. A term of 12 months with an option to renew, the contract would net the city $900 in monthly rent and over $1,000 in ad- ministrative fees. City coun- cilors agreed unanimously to table the discussion during the meeting, citing concerns of timing and fairness to concerned parties. The proposal does not interfere with the city’s future plans to construct a larger water reservoir on the site, according to an agenda memo. Neighbors to the property being considered for the lease option wrote into public comment their concerns with the proposal. Chief among them is the concern for the process the proposal has undergone. Homeowners on N.W. Strawberry Mountain Road assert there had been no communication or notifi- cation about the proposal or the meeting that the dis- cussion was to initially take place. They also claim a cell tower installed on the nearby lot would impact their health and lower property values. City staff clarified in response to inaccurate information in the public comment section that the lease would not automatical- ly allow the lessee to install a cell tower on the parcel. A lessee would still have to go through the land use process, which would require a public hearing. “It’s not a lease, it’s an option to lease. It gives the respective lessee an oppor- tunity to secure entitlements, meaning they would have to go through the city’s land use process, including before the planning commission, any of the requirements that the code imposes on this kind of land use still would have to happen,” said City Attorney Ken Woodrich. “All this does at this point is gives the cell tower provider an opportunity to explore whether this is beneficial, but it doesn’t necessarily mean this will happen,” Woodrich continued. Woodrich also said he had concerns about a discussion occurring without an action. “If council is still potentially in the loop to be an appellate body, it would be very potentially prejudicial to the applicant. “We need to be careful about what the record would be if later there is an appeal,” said Woodrich. City staff asked that the agenda item be removed from the meeting due to con- fusion on part of city staff and concerned parties on when the discussion would occur. While Councilor Ashley Post initially argued in favor of keeping the discussion on the table, councilors still voted unanimously to take the agenda item off the table. During the meeting, Keethler suggested that the city will review the land use code related to permitting cell towers. “I think that there is an opportunity for the cur- rent council to review this ordinance as written and determine if this is the type of process and the way that we want this procedure to unfold. Currently it is being followed by the standing code that we have,” Keethler said. By press time, a City Operations Committee meeting had been scheduled for Tuesday, Sept 1 with a dis- cussion on land use related to cell towers on the agenda. A city council meeting agenda for Wednesday, Sept. 2 did not have an agenda item related to the topic. Keethler told Columbia Gorge News that the purpose of the City Ops Committee meeting is to “evaluate, and consider if an alternative approach for such projects on public land should be considered. Specifically, if it is logical to have the lease op- tion as the initial step before the latter steps that actually vet out viability and public sentiment of the project itself.” Keethler acknowledged that the process seemed misleading to residents who mistook the proposal as an ultimate decision to install a cell tower. She said the process outlined in the White Salmon Municipal Code refers to actions taken on private property. “What sets this one apart is the fact that it’s city-owned, public property ... On private property the process as outlined makes more sense, to initiate evaluation by the city and community once the property owner has made their personal decision of considering an arrangement with an entity for a tower,” Keethler said. “Regardless of the code evaluation, it was clear that the city did not effectively communicate the process to the public, which has also been addressed,” Keethler said. Currently, the lease is on hold until the code review is complete, said Keethler. Bingen and White Salmon rallies support Post Office and protest cuts By Joan Chantler ■ Carrying homemade office sent notices of concern to the states that ballots may signs, a dozen or so peaceful be delayed enough to not be counted. demonstrators gathered at Roger Gadway carried a the White Salmon Post Office Aug. 25 to lend their support “Support our Post Office, Protect our Vote-Urgent” sign to the beleaguered institu- and explained his reasons for tion and to protest recent being there: “Because we’ve changes that have slowed got to save the post office. It mail delivery. The rally then is being destroyed and taken moved to the Bingen Post over. It takes our ballots in Office, where, with a single and delivers our ballots. exception, the protesters It’s kind of important,” he were greeted with friendly concluded as an obvious honks and waves. Bea Lackaff organized the understatement. When asked about the fact the Post Office rally and carried a “Support is losing money he replied, our Post Office, NOT for “Yes, so is the Army.” sale” sign. She explained, “It’s about service. It’s “You have to do something to stop the destruction of our not the United States postal business; it’s the United democracy and our postal States Postal Service,” Chris service. We’ve been racking Connolly explained. “They our brains asking, “What can we do? We happened to have a hard time because, unlike any other government hear on the radio about this national day of action to save agency or any business the Post Office has to fund their the post office. Here’s our retirement system for 75 chance to get involved.” A sign board explained that years in advance. That’s cra- 671 mail sorting machines zy.” She further stated “I think have been removed since we need the post office more June. Those machines were than anything. It is even men- each capable of sorting tioned in the constitution.” 30,000 pieces of mail an hour, (Article 1, Section 8 states adding up to millions a day. that “The Congress shall have Hundreds of the familiar blue the power to establish Post mail drop boxes have been Offices and Post Roads.”) removed and other changes “Protect our vote,” was add to the slowdown. Due Terry Anderson’s message. to the pandemic many more She explained, “We all know people will be voting by mail they are getting rid of the and absentee ballot. The post machines that sort the mail and they are trying to get rid of vote by mail which a lot of states have been doing successfully for many years now, including Washington and Oregon. Monday the Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, was called before Congress to explain his actions. Although DeJoy defends sorting machine removal as cost cutting and efficiency mea- sures, many fear he may be attempting to sabotage the institution for political rea- sons and/or personal gain. DeJoy is a Trump appointee and major campaign donor. Trump said on Fox and Friends that with widespread vote by mail, “You’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” Both states have had vote by mail for nearly 20 years and have elected numerous Republicans. According to USA Today, DeJoy and his wife reported between at least $30 million to just over $75 million in assets from competitors with the US Postal Service, and so may gave an interest is seeing the post office privatized. In last week’s Congressional hearing Post Master DeJoy agreed to stop further actions against the Post Office operations. However, DeJoy refused to re-commission the already dismantled sorting machines. We in Washington and Oregon are fortunate to al- ready have a well-established vote by mail system in place. Unfortunately, most states don’t. Let’s hope with postal service cuts and slowdowns that they are able to continue to do a good job and get the ballots in on time. Remember to vote early and drop your ballot in one of the collection boxes if you can, and especially if you are near the deadline. City of The Dalles hires interim planner The City of The Dalles has hired Alice Cannon as interim community Alice devel- Cannon opment director. Cannon will be filling the vacancy made by the retire- ment of Steve Harris, who has served as community development director of the city for four years. Her first day will be Aug. 24. Cannon comes to the city with more than 25 years of planning and economic development experience in both public and private sectors. She has been a leader in Oregon local govern- ment for twenty years and holds a Master’s degree in Urban-Regional Planning from University of Colorado at Denver and a Bachelor of Science in Planning, Public Policy and Management from the University of Oregon. Cannon is a Certified Planner through the American Institute of Certified Planners, and said she is excited to join the team and plans to be active in the community. HRC forest enacts night closures Due to extreme fire danger, Hood River County Forest, Forest Roads and Trails are temporarily closed to recre- ational use, including camp- ing, between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. The order was effective Aug. 27, and continues until further notice. “This action will help protect our Forest Resources which are valuable for County Timber Revenue and Recreation,” said use during this time of high County Forest Manager fire danger,” said Thiesies. Doug Thiesies in an email announcing the closure. 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