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.
According the Thiesies, the
primary reasons for the
closure are:
■ Extreme fire danger.
■ Extended attack fire
resources are not available.
■ Above average recreation
use in the County Forest,
especially camping.
“Please be careful and
responsible with your forest
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