10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015
Boatyard: ‘It
almost feels
like we’re
rushing into it’
Continued from Page 1A
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Leroy Dunn, left, talks with Astoria City Councilor Cindy Price, right, during a meeting at the Ocean View Cemetery.
Dunn, who has family in the cemetery, is not happy with the current state.
Cemetery: Councilors ask
whether property can be sold
Continued from Page 1A
But the City Council did
not appear enthusiastic about
restoring Ocean View to the
manicured splendor of de-
cades past, when interest from
the irreducible fund provided
healthy returns that could be
used for upkeep.
Interest from the fund
— which now has about
$828,000 to tend to the cem-
etery for eternity — has only
produced marginal returns
during the past few years.
Even if fees are increased
and the returns eventually im-
prove, the money will likely
not be enough to make Ocean
View the cemetery old-timers
remember.
“I don’t see making this
a golf course,” said LaMear,
who has a plot at the ceme-
tery. “I really don’t.”
The city projects that the
100-acre cemetery, which
dates to 1897 and has more
than 16,000 plots, could reach
its current development ca-
pacity in about three years and
would need to expand into its
remaining 50 acres.
City Councilor Drew Her-
zig asked city staff to research
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Jonah Dart-McLean, maintenance supervisor with Astoria Parks and Recreation, pauses
at headstones during the City Council tour through the Ocean View Cemetery. The head-
stones were uncovered by volunteer Carl Hagnas.
whether the cemetery could
be sold to a private owner.
Councilor Zetty Nemlowill
suggested that the city could
sell the undeveloped 50 acres
to a private developer and use
the revenue to help maintain
the existing plots. She, like
LaMear, would also prefer
that the city not have to subsi-
dize cemetery operations.
Nemlowill believes many
in Astoria are probably un-
aware the city owns a ceme-
tery in Warrenton.
“I want to get back to
the idea, though, of whether
or not we should be in the
business of cemeteries,” she
said. “And I know that we’ve
made promises and we have
contracts for the existing
plots, but what about the fu-
ture?”
Harvest:3XEOLFZDVQRWJLYHQFKDQFHWRFRPPHQW
on the project before the motion was approved
from Dreyer, the board voted
unanimously to approve taking
/RJJLQJ FUHZV KDYH ¿Q- the project to bid. The project
LVKHGDERXWDFUHVDQG3XEOLF was not taken to bid, however.
Works Director Neal Wallace $GPLQLVWUDWLYH $VVLVWDQW .LP
told the council there would be -RUGDQ VDLG WKH PRWLRQ ZDV
costs associated with not mov- misstated, and the City Council
ing forward. The city invested “knew at that meeting there was
about $12,000 in seedlings to not going to be a bid.”
replant in the clearcut areas, and
5DWKHU -RUGDQ VDLG WKH
the logging crew also expects a council meant to only approve
certain volume of trees as part of the project. Councilor Don
its payment.
-RKQVRQZKRPDGHWKHPRWLRQ
“If we put this on hold for agreed that the council “intend-
right now, this job is pretty much ed” to authorize city staff to pro-
done,” Wallace said. The log- ceed with the project.
ging company, Berlog, of Clats-
If the project had gone to bid,
kanie, and forester Mark Dreyer, it would have been proposed by
owner of Lone Cedar Consult- resolution, which would have re-
ing and the city’s consulting quired a public comment period.
forester since 2006, would not
When asked why the project
wait a month while a discussion did not have to go to bid, Wal-
occurred, Wallace said.
lace responded, “When we hired
the forest manager we turned
Project concerns
over the operation to him.
At the council’s meeting
“He reviews the logger’s
Feb. 9, the Necanicum Water- information and makes the deci-
shed Council also asked the City sion/recommendation on behalf
Council to reconsider approving of the city,” Wallace said. “The
the project. Melyssa Graeper, council approved the forester’s
coordinator for the council, read recommendation.”
a letter from the organization.
There is no record of the
Noting that the watershed council approving the recom-
council has contributed over $2 PHQGDWLRQWRKLUH%HUORJRQO\
million in conservation funds to Dreyer’s initial description of
the community to address envi- the project is on the record.
ronmental and other issues, the
In addition, the public was
letter expressed concern that the not given an opportunity at the
city, “a designated ‘Tree City, December meeting to comment
USA,’ is quickly moving ahead on the project before the motion
on a timber harvest in the water- was approved.
shed with little public process,
The North Coast Land Con-
including allowing the water- servancy was not offered the
shed council to provide the input opportunity either, Executive
it was asked for.”
'LUHFWRU.DWLH9RHONHVDLG
The project was listed on
“When we heard of the plan,
the agenda for the Dec. 8 City we approached the city to offer
Council meeting under new our services,” she said, adding that
business and solely as a pre- she learned of the project from a
sentation by Wallace. After a -DQXDU\QHZVSDSHUDUWLFOH
roughly 10-minute presenta-
“Watershed-based land ac-
tion, which included comments quisition is the charitable service
Continued from Page 1A
was lacking controls and it
was lacking the energy and
boatyard. In an Aug. 8 let- effort of all parties,” said
WHULWQRWL¿HGWKH3RUWWKDW .QLJKW³%RDWRZQHUV3RUW
it was under more stringent staff — all of us to some
Tier II monitoring require- extent, are participants in
ments, following two years this issue, in that we to-
of testing that revealed JHWKHUKDYHQRWGH¿QHGWKH
high hits of copper coming sources.”
out of drains near piers 1
Rushing in
and 3.
“It almost feels like
In the letter, the DEQ
mandated that by Dec. 30, we’re rushing into it, and
WKH 3RUW ZRUN ZLWK D FHU- once it’s closed, it’s hard
WL¿HG HQJLQHHU WR GHYLVH WR UHRSHQ LW´ VDLG -HUHP\
a plan to reduce storm- 'DYLV FKLHI ¿QDQFLDO RI-
water pollution and sub- ¿FHU IRU (QJOXQG 0DULQH
mit it. But it wasn’t until and Industrial Supply, be-
mid-December that the IRUHTXHU\LQJ.QLJKW:K\
agency contracted with April 1?
.QLJKW UHVSRQGHG WKDW
Ada Banasik, an engineer
with Maul Foster Alongi, it’s an arbitrary date the
WRVSHFL¿FDOO\ZRUNRQWKH 3RUW¶V VKRRWLQJ IRU LQ RU-
der to build momentum
Tier II response plan.
7KH 3RUW VXEPLWWHG D and show some actions to
plan to DEQ to reroute DEQ, again invoking the
VWRUPZDWHU WR D ELR¿O- 3RUW¶VUHVSRQVLELOLW\WRWKH
WUDWLRQ V\VWHP RQ 3LHU environment.
.XUW (QJOXQG SUHVL-
The DEQ has given the
3RUW XQWLO -XQH dent of Englund Marine,
to implement the plan. mentioned the Chinook
If sampling after that is Observer article in which
above benchmarks, said 0LNH :HVWRQ WKH 3RUW¶V
WKH '(4¶V OHWWHU WKH 3RUW director of business de-
would need to submit a velopment and operations,
Tier II Benchmark Ex- VDLGWKH3RUWPDGH
ceedance report evaluating to $100,000 gross prof-
whether the measures were it a year on the boatyard.
properly, installed, main- +H DVNHG .QLJKW WR FODU-
ify whether the boatyard
tained and implemented.
There was no mention makes or loses money.
.QLJKWZKRPHQWLRQHG
LQ WKH OHWWHU RI ¿QHV RU
VKXWWLQJ GRZQ 3RUW RSHUD- the boatyard Thursday
as a losing operation that
tions.
hasn’t charged enough
/DFNRIVSHFL¿FV
in fees, said he doesn’t
7KH 3RUW KDVQ¶W SURYHG know where Weston got
conclusively that the boat- the number he reported to
yard is the primary source, WKH QHZVSDSHU -LP *UH\
and there’s been no talk of WKH 3RUW¶V QHZ ¿QDQFH GL-
shutting down log opera- rector, added that he didn’t
tions to help stem pollu- either.
tion.
Bornstein asked how
“If I recollect correctly, PXFKLWZRXOGFRVWWKH3RUW
before the boatyard was to come into compliance
there, there were issues with the new stormwater
with copper in the storm- UHTXLUHPHQWV 7KH 3RUW¶V
water,” said Greg Morrill, permit and project manag-
president of Bergerson er, Robert Evert, guessed it
Construction, which stores was “north of $3 million.”
materials near the boat- .QLJKWKDVHVWLPDWHGDERXW
yard. He encouraged the $5 million to build a new,
3RUW WR ORRN DW WKH KLVWRU\ modernized boatyard.
RISROOXWLRQIURP3LHU
“I think this is bogus,
Andrew
Bornstein, IUDQNO\ -LP , MXVW FDQ¶W
co-owner of Bornstein buy it,” said Dave Dens-
Seafoods,
questioned PRUH D FRPPHUFLDO ¿VK-
whether brake pads from erman based in Astoria. “I
DOO WKH WUXFN WUDI¿F FRXOG helped design that whole
be a source of contami- UHJLRQDO PDVWHU SODQ ,
nants, and whether closing don’t know if you’ve seen
the boatyard is a false give it. But it was a good plan
to DEQ while surrendering that would have paid for
a community asset.
updates, if it would have
$OO WKH 3RUW¶V DFWLYLWLHV been carried through. In-
DQG WUDI¿F VDLG .QLJKW stead, it’s been killed off
contribute to stormwater and starved down to where
SROOXWLRQ 7KH 3RUW KDV we don’t have a damn
challenged the source of thing there now, hardly.
copper and whether testing
“And I put that right
for it was appropriate af- back at the commission,
ter a long dry spell during EHFDXVH WKH 3RUW FRP-
which copper could have missioners, they sold that
accumulated before dump- boatyard out as far as I’m
ing into the system.
concerned.”
“If you’ve ever looked
Coming Tuesday: What
at the boatyard to see how the Port’s master plans en-
owners are actually prep- visioned for Pier 3; how
ping the sites and contain- logs came but the marine
ing the work that they’re industrial cluster petered
doing, I think you come to out; and how ports like
the same conclusion that 7ROHGRDUHEHQH¿WLQJIURP
I come to, that DEQ has boatyards while the Port
certainly come to, that it looks to close its.
Because the timber harvest-
ing project is underway, Graeper
and Voelke said their organiza-
tions want to help the city devel-
op a comprehensive watershed
protection plan to guide future
decisions.
The watershed council,
Graeper said, could offer the city
technical assistance and possibly
funds to create a comprehensive
watershed protection plan. At
today’s City Council meeting,
both organizations will propose
Protecting the watershed how, through partnerships, the
The watershed council also city and various stakeholders
asked the City Council to revis- might go through a watershed
it its forest management plan. protection planning process.
At the December City Council
“Regardless of what is hap-
meeting, when Councilor Don pening now, that’s still a really
-RKQVRQ DVNHG LI WKH WLPEHU good idea,” Voelke said. “We
KDUYHVW ¿WV ZLWKLQ WKH IRUHVW just want to support the city’s
management plan, Wallace said ability to make decisions about
the plan was “very loosely put the watershed in the context of
together” and only existed to the big picture.”
manage the watershed and water
quality and production.
Wallace said later he was re-
MEMBER APPRECIATION
ferring to the water conservation
and management plan because
he and several other city staff
members were not aware a for-
SEPTEMBER 12–19, 2015
est, or rather timber, manage-
ment plan existed until Wallace
Roundtrip from Seattle starting at $899
searched the archives recently.
7-DAY ALASKAN EXPLORER VIA GLACIER BAY
The city’s timber management
Join us on this AAA Hosted Cruise, sailing
plan has not been updated since
out of Seattle’s scenic Puget Sound aboard
1983.
Holland America’s classic ms Westerdam.
The watershed council’s
Enjoy up to $75 shipboard credit per
letter admonished the city for
stateroom, an onboard social reception
its lack of attention to the man-
and other AAA surprises!
agement plan. It should not be a
CALL DEBBIE SCHINDLER AT
“one-time thought,” but a living
SODQZLWKVSHFL¿FVKRUWWHUPDF-
AAA TRAVEL: 503.861.3118
tivities leading to well thought
135 S Highway 101, Warrenton
out, long-term goals, the letter
said.
“To know that decisions are
being made based on an old and
loosely put together plan is dis-
All pricing is per person, double occupancy, cruise only, and subject to change and availability. Air, transfers, fuel
heartening to say the least,” the
surcharges, government taxes and fees are additional. Shipboard credit is up to $37.50 per person for a maximum
of $75 per stateroom. Ships’ Registry: The Netherlands.
letter added.
that we provide as a land trust,”
Voelke said. If the city creates a
stewardship plan, it’s possible to
receive grants to purchase more
land, she added.
Graeper said the situation
has raised some questions about
the public process regarding city
projects and where there is room
in the system for feedback.
“Moving forward I want to
understand the city’s process
and be a part of it,” she said.