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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2015)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015 142nd YEAR, No. 186 ONE DOLLAR Pier 3 Boatyard lands a reprieve Port sets up committee ‘It’s never too late to make the right to explore options By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian EDWARD STRATTON — The Daily Astorian The audience, mostly in attendance to hear about the Pier 3 boatyard, packed Tuesday’s Port of Astoria Commission meeting room and bled into the surrounding hallways. They included Englund Marine & Industrial Supply Presi- dent Kurt Englund, standing. The crowds at the Port of Astoria Commission meeting to discuss the Pier %RDW\DUG¿OOHGDOOWKHVHDWVLQWKHPHHW ing room and spilled into the surrounding hallways. Before taking public comment, Port Executive Director Jim Knight an- nounced that, following a meeting with state agencies, he was canceling the im- pending boatyard closure. “It’s never too late to make the right decision,” Knight said, apologizing for missteps on the handling of the potential decision.’ — Jim Knight executive director of the Port of Astoria apologizing for missteps on the handling of the potential closure closure, adding that if people can’t trust the Port, it will have problems. In August, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality notified the Port it would have to adhere to Tier II Corrective Action requirements after two years of sampling revealed unac- ceptable levels of copper coming from its stormwater drains near piers 1 and DIRT TO DELICIOUS 3. It mandated that by Dec. 30, the Port turn in a treatment plan, which it did; and that by June 30, 2016, it install treatment. On Monday, Knight said he met with the North Coast Regional Solutions Team, a collection of state agencies meant to streamline the response to lo- cal issues, and it became clear the Port GRHVQ¶W IDFH LPPLQHQW ¿QHV IURP WKH boatyard’s operation. Knight said the Port would create an ad hoc committee to look at how to im- prove the operation of the boatyard, up- dates, where it would best be located and how large it should be, before coming to the Port Commission with a recommen- dation. See BOATYARD, Page 12A Court of Appeals rejects gillnet lawsuit By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Teresa Retzlaff, outreach director of North Coast Food Web, waters lettuce sampler “plant starts” in her greenhouse at 46 North Farm. Retzlaff helped found the North Coast Food Web in 2010. The plant starts will be sold to local farmers who want to grow their own plants. North Coast Food Web aims to grow it, sell it, then serve it By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian M uch like other businesses, farms in Clatsop County are largely a collec- tion of small entities, loosely woven together by organizations such as chambers of commerce. In food’s case, the binding agent is the North Coast Food Web. “It’s a different kind of farming than what you think of when you think of farms,” said Teresa Retzlaff, a co-owner of 46 North Farm See FOOD WEB, Page 12A MORE INSIDE Celebrate National Ag Day with Oregon farm facts and resources on Pages 10A and 11A. JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Chefs, including Harald Gruetzmacher, of Wet Dog Cafe, left, and Gehrett Billinger, of Asto- ria Golf and Country Club, mingle with local farmers during the Farmer-Chef Connect event at Cannery Pier Hotel Monday. A lawsuit challenging changes to the lower Columbia River gillnet poli- cy was rejected Wednesday morning by the Oregon Court of Appeals. Steve Fick, owner of Fishhawk Fisheries, and Salmon for All President Jim Wells sued the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife over the process of rule-making regarding a proposed gill- net policy. The policy, created by former Gov. John Kitzhaber in August 2012, orders that gillnetting be phased out on the Co- lumbia River’s main stem. Fick said he plans to review the court’s decision with his lawyer and review his options moving forward, in- cluding possibly appealing the decision to the Oregon Supreme Court. “The state can continue to imple- ment their plan and we have to look at our options to either modify or stop it,” Fick said. In addition, Fick said, he plans to reach out to newly appointed Gov. Kate Brown. “The hope is Gov. Brown will take the time to review this and have more transparency,” Fick said. “This was essentially designed for the friends of -RKQ .LW]KDEHU WR JHW VSHFLDO EHQH¿WV of the state’s salmon resources.” In the meantime, the policy is still in effect, slowly removing gillnetters off the lower Columbia River. In two years, Fick said, there may not be any gillnetters on the river where they have been since the mid-1880s. Wells and Fick, a Salmon for All board member, are attempting to not let that happen. Salmon for All, a pro-commercial ¿VKHUPHQ DVVRFLDWLRQ LV VWULYLQJ WR return gillnet policies to the way they were before the former governor’s plan went into place in 2012. :LWKRXWORFDOJLOOQHWWHUVWKH¿VKLQJ economy will shift to urban guides and out-of-state, out-of-county tackle man- ufacturers, Fick said. ³7KRVHDUHWKHSHRSOHZKREHQH¿W at the expense of the rural community,” Fick said. This is a spring chicken Small farms make way with new rules By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian In their day jobs, Kelly Huckestein and Sam Seulean work at the Astoria Coop Gro- cery. At home, they’re trying to join the new wave of small- scale egg and poultry farmers. At their small plot of land near Knappa, the couple are in the process of starting Spring Up Farm to grow produce and provide eggs and poul- try. They run an assortment of about 20 leghorn, Amer- aucana, Ancona. silver-laced Wyandotte and pioneer chick- ens, which is down because of a recent wild mink attack. In April, they are taking on 50 more, half for breeding and laying and half for meat production. The two met at the Uni- versity or Oregon and worked on organic farms in Central America and Eugene before moving to Clatsop County, where Huckestein has fami- ly, to start their farm. Seulean said the eggs were originally meant for personal use, but they’ve found quite the de- mand for them locally. New laws “What we’re really tak- ing advantage of is the di- rect-to-consumer laws that have been passed,” Seule- an said, adding that he and Huckestein will test the wa- ters with selling chickens directly to consumers to see what sort of price they can charge. They’ve been helped by recent Oregon laws to ease regulations on poultry farm- ers slaughtering fewer than 1,000 chickens per year, along with laws like the Farm-Direct Bill, exempting sellers of certain agricultural products directly to consum- ers from state laws regulating produce dealers and restau- rants. In the Oregon Senate Com- mittee on Environment and Natural Resources is Senate JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Chickens walk the yard at the Spring Up Farm in Knappa. Kelly Huckestein and Sam Seulean have several different breeds of chickens on the farm including leghorn, Amerau- cana, Ancona, silver-laced Wyandotte and pioneer chickens. Bill 320, which would allow a “food establishment located within residential dwelling to produce limited amounts of certain foods for sale to pub- lic without being regulated by State Department of Agricul- ture.” See FARMERS, Page 10A