NORTH COAST
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015
3A
Miles Crossing burglars sentenced
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
The burglar held at gunpoint by
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area south of Astoria in December
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years in prison.
Joseph Lee Cozart, 34, Seaside,
was sentenced to 21 months in pris-
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sop County Circuit Court. On Jan.
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gree burglary, felon in possession of
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owner entered his home Dec. 3,
he was confronted by Cozart, who
Joseph Lee
Cozart
Tamara Denise
Painter
was leaving with a box full of sto-
len items, according to the Clatsop
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The homeowner, who grabbed
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Clatsop enterprise
zone would offer
tax breaks for
new investment
County,
Astoria,
Warrenton,
and the Port
could sponsor
Commissioners and War-
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An enterprise zone
application is due with
the Oregon Business De-
velopment Department in
April.
In other action
At the Astoria City
By DERRICK
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DePLEDGE
councilors authorized the
The Daily Astorian
city to ask the Oregon De-
partment of Environmen-
A Clatsop enterprise tal Quality to extend the
zone could lure new completion date for the
business investment with city’s sewer improvement
property tax breaks.
project to 2028.
Scott Somers, the Clat-
The $40 million to $50
sop County manager, is million project, which
asking Astoria, Warrenton will enable the city to
and the Port of Astoria to meet state and federal
partner with the county on mandates to reduce raw
the idea as an incentive to VHZDJH RYHUÀRZ GXULQJ
attract industry and create heavy rainfall, is now
jobs.
scheduled to end in 2022.
The enterprise zone, Astoria Public Works
which would not amend staff does not believe the
local land use and permit- city can achieve the exist-
ting requirements, could ing time line.
cover Astoria’s down-
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town corridor, the Port, Estes said the six-year
Tongue Point, the North extension may allow the
Coast Business Park and city to lower a surcharge
other parcels in Warren- on water and sewer cus-
ton.
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Businesses could re- the project.
ceive property tax breaks
The City Council
on new plants and equip- chose to accept an agree-
PHQW IRU WKUHH WR ¿YH ment between the city and
years. The businesses the International Associa-
would have to meet min- tion of Fire Fighters Local
imum employment levels 696 for two cost-of-living
and other conditions in DGMXVWPHQWV )LUH¿JKWHUV
return for the tax exemp- will receive a 3 percent
tions.
pay raise retroactive to
“It’s really meant to be last July and a 2.25 per-
another tool in the tool- cent raise retroactive to
box to create investment, January.
to hopefully create jobs,”
Councilors also agreed
Somers told the Astoria to adjust the salary range
City Council during a pre- IRU WKH GHSXW\ ¿UH FKLHI
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who, because of the pay
Councilor Cindy Price UDLVHV IRU ¿UH¿JKWHUV
questioned whether enter- would have made less
prise zones are effective WKDQD¿UHOLHXWHQDQW
beyond helping large ex-
The adjustment sets
isting businesses that are a 7 percent pay differen-
looking to expand.
tial between the deputy
She cited the Geor- ¿UH FKLHI DQG D ¿UH OLHX
JLD3DFL¿F :DXQD 0LOO tenant and a 7 percent pay
which had received prop- differential between the
erty tax breaks for a new GHSXW\ ¿UH FKLHI DQG WKH
paper machine through an ¿UHFKLHI7KHSD\GLIIHU
enterprise zone, was later ential between the deputy
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ing minimum employ- had been 16 percent.
ment requirements, and
A similar pay adjust-
then challenged the mill’s ment was made last year
property tax assessments. for the Police Depart-
The dispute ended in a ment.
$2.5 million settlement
The council also ap-
with Clatsop County and proved a new three-year
other taxing districts in contract between the
2012.
city and the Chauffeurs,
Price said she would Teamsters and Helpers
not want to give up prop- Local 58 that includes 2.5
erty tax revenue “unless it percent annual pay raises
can really be shown that retroactive to last July.
it’s going to do us great
The deal switches
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health insurance coverage
Somers said Asto- to a Teamster health plan
ria could choose not to — workers have been
co-sponsor the initiative. covered through City
“Clatsop County and the County Insurance Ser-
city of Warrenton and the vices — and creates HRA
Port can still move for- 9ROXQWDU\ (PSOR\HHV¶
ward with that,” he said. %HQH¿FLDU\ $VVRFLDWLRQ
“It’s up to the city. The accounts that offer tax-
city doesn’t have to par- IUHHEHQH¿WV
ticipate in this if it doesn’t
The City Council also
want to.”
adopted a new wage and
A public meeting on salary schedule that plac-
the enterprise zone with es the parks and recre-
local taxing districts is ation director in the same
scheduled for late Feb- salary range as the Public
ruary. Resolutions could :RUNVGLUHFWRUDQGWKH¿
be up for consideration nance director, which will
by Astoria, the Port, the give the parks director a
Clatsop County Board of pay raise.
tained Cozart at gunpoint, contacted
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there until deputies arrived about
three minutes later, the Sheriff’s Of-
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Deputies found multiple stolen
items from the residence, including
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Cozart was out on a conditional
release from another second-degree
burglary charge from July, when he
was arrested and booked for the Dec.
3 burglary.
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Cozart’s previous burglary charge, in-
volving a stolen chain saw, is what el-
evated his criminal history to the level
of prison time rather than jail time.
“The Burglary 2 is what made
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Cracken said.
An 18-month probation sentence
for the second-degree burglary was
revoked as part of his 21-month pris-
on sentence for the new charges.
Tamara Denise Painter, 29, Sea-
side, who was arrested along with
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burglary was sentenced to 30 days
in jail and 18 months probation on
Jan. 31.
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theft and methamphetamine posses-
sion.
Before encountering Cozart, the
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Painter in a van in his rural driveway.
She quickly drove off, when contact-
ed by the homeowner.
While Cozart was held at gun-
point, Painter passed through the
area in her red van and was stopped
by an OSP trooper who recognized
the van from the homeowner’s de-
scription.
Painter had two young children
in the van with her, one child was 2
years old and the other child was 3,
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A DHS Children’s Services case-
worker responded to the scene to
assist with the children, who were
removed and eventually given to a
grandparent.
Chinese principal visits Astoria
Zhang Yonghe, princi-
pal of the Xi’an University
of Science and Technology
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China’s Shaanxi Province,
recently visited the Clatsop
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rine and Environmental Re-
search and Training Station
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about workforce training pro-
grams.
Yonghe toured the col-
lege’s Fire Response and Re-
search Center, observing an
ongoing class of high school
students. He was also able to
see the college’s new Elec-
tronic Chart Display and In-
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for navigation in operation
on its vessel the Forerunner.
Rainier School District
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ter hosted Yonghe as part of a
two-week cultural exchange
that brought 12 Chinese
school administrators to Ore-
gon. While spending the day
in Astoria, Yonghe and Carter
also toured the Astoria Col-
umn and the Columbia River
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Submitted photo
Chinese principal Zhang Yonghe and Superintendent Michael Carter of the Rainier School
District toured Clatsop Community College’s Fire Response and Research Center at its
Marine and Environmental Research and Training Station (MERTS) campus.
“We were proud to wel-
come Principal Zhang Yong-
he to Clatsop Communi-
ty College,” said Kristen
Wilkin, dean of workforce
education and training at
CCC.
“He was sincerely inter-
ested in the training Clatsop
Community College provides
to our students and commu-
nity.”
Health enrollment assistance offered
A Health Insurance En-
rollment and Re-Enrollment
Event is being held in two
locations this week, offering
assistance from a certified
community partner or agent
to apply or reapply for the
Oregon Health Plan or for
a plan through the federal
marketplace. No appoint-
ment is needed at either lo-
cation.
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10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday in
the Coho Room at the Columbia
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Astoria; the second is from 8:30
a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Providence
Seaside Hospital Education
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hanna Road in Seaside.
Those attending either
event should bring the follow-
ing information: letters or no-
tices received from the Oregon
Health Authority; birth dates
and Social Security numbers
for anyone applying for cover-
age; employer and income in-
formation, including self-em-
ployment deductions; policy
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for any current health insur-
ance; information about health
coverage available through
an employer; and if possible,
email accounts and passwords.
For information, call 503-
884-1175.
Bus to stop at Senior Center, Astoria Recreation Center
The Sunset Empire Trans-
portation District has an-
nounced a new bus stop loca-
tion in Astoria, starting today, at
the Astoria Recreation Center
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ria Senior Center, both located
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ROG\DFKWFOXEORFDWLRQ
“Adding this stop was dis-
cussed at our last board of
commissioners meeting,” said
SETD Executive Director Jeff
Hazen, “and the board ex-
pressed their desire to make it a
priority to provide this new bus
Reserve booth for
upcoming Rotary sale
SEASIDE — The Rotary Club of Seaside is sponsoring its
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and Convention Center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 14, and from
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 15, and opportunities to reserve a spot to
sell items at the event are available.
Booths can be secured for $30 each, and will be assigned;
adding electrical power is an additional $20, if needed. Each
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up from 7 to 9 a.m. Feb. 13 or 14.
To reserve a booth, call 503-440-9357. Reservations will be
FRQ¿UPHGIROORZLQJSD\PHQWWRWKH6HDVLGH5RWDU\32%R[
6HDVLGH25&RQ¿UPDWLRQDORQJZLWKERRWKQXP
ber or numbers, will be made by email or phone.
For information or questions, contact Alan Evans at 503-
440-9357 or a.evans@helpinghandsreentry.org
Visit us online at
www.DailyAstorian.com
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Astoria’s Premier Bed & Bath Store
1004 Commercial St.,
Astoria, OR 97103
503-325-4400
FIN E L IN E N S A N D SO M U C H M O R E !
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stop to assist all those wanting
to utilize these needed local ser-
vices.”
The new stop will be add-
ed to the Route 10 bus, which
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through Friday, and will pro-
vide hourly drop off and pick
up services at the combined fa-
cility. Fare cost will depend on
each rider’s pick up and drop
off zone.
For information, see all
SETD route schedules at www.
ridethebus.org or contact Elisa-
beth Pietila at 503-861-5372.
Collin Raye featured
at Column fundraiser
A concert featuring coun-
try singer Collin Raye is be-
ing held at 3 p.m. Sunday at
the home of Eric Paulson,
195 W. Kensington Ave.
Tickets cost $100 per person,
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the Astoria Column.
For information, or to
buy tickets, contact Grant
North at Lektro at 503-
861-2288. Checks should
be made payable to Friends
of the Column.
Collin Raye