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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 2015)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015 Dam: Structure was built in early 1960s Continued from Page 1A GDP ² KDYH VXJJHVWHG WKH project is part of an “anti-de- velopment agenda.” Taking a step back Last April, the Warrenton City Commission approved an agreement with CREST to remove the dam and con- struct a bridge. But over the past month, the commission ² ZLWK .XMDOD UHFXVHG EH FDXVHRIDFRQÀLFWRILQWHUHVW ² KDV WZLFH GHOD\HG DFWLRQ on amending the agreement to formally add the Water Con- trol District. A special meeting has been FDOOHGIRU$SULOWRPDNHD¿ nal decision. “I think one of the rea- sons why we took a little ELW PRUH WLPH ² WKHUH ZHUH citizens who felt like they weren’t heard. And our job is to listen,” Commission- er Tom Dyer said Tuesday night during a discussion on the project. “And we had a problem with our city before where we weren’t as transpar- ent as we should be.” With $200,000 already spent on a feasibility study and engineering, and con- struction planned for this summer, CREST and the Wa- ter Control District want the commission to move forward. Matt Van Ess, a habitat restoration coordinator for CREST, described the project as complicated and expen- sive, but “for the community, as well as the salmon, entirely worth doing.” Daily Astorian file Josh Holowatz, a fish biologist with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, prepares to tag a salmon caught using a purse seine net in an experi- mental fishery on the Columbia River in 2009. JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian The Eighth Street Dam was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, part of three water control structures built along the river in the early 1960s. According to the Oregon Water Resources Department after an inspection in 2012, it may no longer be capable of flood control. A 2013 report for CREST done by Tetra Tech Inc., an HQJLQHHULQJ ¿UP LQ 3RUWODQG found that it is unlikely that ÀRRGFRQGLWLRQVZRXOGZRUV en upstream if the dam were removed. “We own the dam. We don’t need a dam anymore. We want to take it out,” Tes- sa James Scheller, the chair- woman of the Skipanon Water Control District, told the com- mission. CREST and the district al- ready consider the bridge as- pect of the project a compro- mise. At one point, the Water Control District had offered to transfer the dam to the city Since the ’60s for a nominal cost, but the city The Eighth Street Dam was declined. When talk turned VSRQVRUHGE\WKH86'HSDUW toward removing the dam, ment of Agriculture’s Natural the city sought to preserve Resources Conservation Ser- emergency access through a vice, one of three water con- bridge. trol structures built along the But Dyer and other com- river in the early 1960s. The missioners asked CREST dam was apparently built to and the Water Control Dis- KDQGOH D \HDU ÀRRG EXW trict to continue discussions according to the Oregon Wa- with property owners over the ter Resources Department next few weeks to see wheth- after an inspection in 2012, er further compromise on the it may have only been useful bridge is possible. LQDWZR\HDUÀRRGHYHQWDQG Building a bridge may no longer be capable of The project involves a ÀRRGFRQWURO 54-foot span over the river with a single lane that would be about 14-feet wide with guardrails. Property owners, includ- LQJ -XG\ .XMDOD WKH PD\RU¶V mother, have told the commis- sion they believe the bridge should be wider. 3DXO.XMDODDFRPPHUFLDO ¿VKHUPDQ DQG WKH PD\RU¶V brother, said the project pro- motes what he believes is the “anti-development agenda” of the Water Control District. “I really don’t see what the city is getting out of this,” he said. -DVRQ 3DOPEHUJ D ¿VKHU man and contractor whose family owns property near the dam, has suggested that a wider bridge or alternative ac- cess road would help with the future growth of the city. “I think everybody can come out ahead and winning in this project if everybody takes a step back, time out, have some conversations with HYHU\ERG\¶V LVVXHV ² RU SR WHQWLDOLVVXHV²LIWKH\H[LVW´ he said. Mark Mead, the owner of Cascade Yacht Works, threat- ened to sue the city if the bridge is not built wider. He said some boats under con- struction at his shop would not clear the proposed bridge because of the guardrails. “If we can’t get them out of the shop,” Mead said. “It’s a little tough on the business.” Dyer suggested that per- haps adjustable guardrails could be installed on the bridge as an alternative. Stephen Fulton, who works on land development and wetland mitigation for Warrenton Fiber and serves as a commissioner for the Port of Astoria, urged the commission to delay the agreement. Decision coming Fulton recommended that the dam removal project go WKURXJK D PRUH DUGXRXV 86 Army Corps of Engineers re- YLHZ²NQRZQDVD³6HFWLRQ ´ IRU LWV IHGHUDO FRGH ² and that the city learn exactly how much salmon recovery is expected. But Dyer indicated the City Commission would rule at the special meeting. “I do think we owe it to the people who worked so hard on this project to make a decision in two weeks, period,” he said. Flag:7UDQVIHUZDVD¿UVWLQWKH86 Continued from Page 1A Over the years, the American soldiers and their families discovered their souvenirs, known as Yose- gaki Hinomaru, are actually personal items belonging to Japanese families. On Monday, five flags were returned to the Asto- ria-based nonprofit OBON 2015, created by local historian and author Rex =LDN DQG KLV ZLIH .HLNR OBON 2015 will then at- tempt to locate the families in Japan. “All the people who cared about that person, all the people who thought about him, were going to war with him,” Rex Ziak told the audience about the flags. OBON and members of the 41st Infantry Division ² 1DWLRQDO *XDUG XQLWV from the Northwest that VHUYHG LQ :RUOG :DU ,, ² hosted the ceremony. The ceremony was the first official public transfer of the flags in America. A Yosegaki Hinomaru is put up on a board during the OBON 2015 Returning Ceremony at the Bar- bey Center Monday. LEFT: Hiroshi Furusawa, Consul General of Japan to Portland, bows to veterans and their families after they returned Yosegaki Hinomarus during the OBON 2015 Re- turning Ceremony. Japanese soldiers carried these Yo- segaki Hinomarus — flags covered in well-wishes from family and friends— into battle during WWII. The flags were common war trophies taken by American soldiers. Now, 70 years later, veterans and their families are trying to make sure these flags return back to Japan. Gillnets: Oregon FRXOGWHVWDÀRDWLQJ ¿VKZKHHOWKLV\HDU Continued from Page 1A answer questions,” North said. Such numbers are “key components in calcu- lating anything and if one of them is in question, you really don’t know the an- swer.” )RURWKHU¿VKHULHV1RUWK said managers have years of harvest rates and other such numbers and calculations to draw from. “We don’t have that stuff for seines yet,” he VDLG/DVW\HDUZDVWKH¿UVW ¿VKHUPHQXVHGVHLQHVLQWKH FRQWH[WRID¿VKHU\DOEHLWD small, highly-managed one ZLWKIHZ¿VKLQJGD\V “We don’t know if we put 10 guys, 20 guys, 30 guys, what’s the power of WKDW¿VKHU\"´1RUWKVDLG Pilot project Last year, Washing- ton and Oregon operated D SLORW VHLQH JHDU ¿VKHU\ on the lower part of the ULYHU7KRVH¿VKHUPHQ selected by lottery, used “research impacts.” The ¿VKWKH\FDXJKWEXWFRXOG not keep did not count against the other commer- cial boats. That policy of not FRXQWLQJ VHLQHFDXJKW ¿VK has won the two state Fish and Wildlife commissions few friends among local FRPPHUFLDO JLOOQHW ¿VKHU PHQ 7KHVH ¿VKHUPHQ DUH critical of seine gear, say- ing the gear is not as selec- tive as the sized mesh of the gillnets and will have a far greater impact on salm- on populations. But the states are working under “adaptive management” and plan to continue testing a variety of gear and tweaking the existing seines. To seines, they have added “pretty much any feasible tool,” North said. This year Oregon could HYHQ SRVVLEO\ WHVW D ÀRDW LQJ ¿VK ZKHHO ² KLVWRU LFDOO\ ¿VK ZKHHOV ZHUH massive structures built on the river side or on barges. “It was on our list,” North said. Visit us online at www.DailyAstorian.com The March edition available at a newsstand near you crbizjou rn a l.com Photos by JOSHUA BESSEX The Daily Astorian O u r cu sto m ers experien ce so m e o f T life’ s grea test a ssists o ff the co u rt. Tru st yo u r lo ca l S ta te Fa rm ® a gen t fo r help fin d in g the right co vera ge a n d sa vin gs o n yo u r in su ra n ce so yo u ca n en jo y m o re o f w ha t yo u lo ve. Ford site: Dealership move GHSHQGVRQZHWODQG¿OOSHUPLW Continued from Page 1A CONTACT A LOCAL AGENT TODAY. W E EX IST TO ASSIST. &KHYUROHW DQG /XP¶V $XWR &HQWHU PRYHG WR Warrenton. Heading to Warrenton Gouge is trying to relo- cate Astoria Ford to the North Coast Retail Center at the cor- ner of 19th Street and Ensign Lane, just across from Costco and down the lane from where Walmart is going in. Late last year, North Coast Retail LLC applied for a wetland ¿OOSHUPLWDWWKHVLWHZLWKWKH86 Army Corps of Engineers, which is readying for an Endangered Species Act consultation. Jaimee Davis, the project manager from the Corps on the ZHWODQG¿OOSHUPLWVDLGLW¶VSODQ ning an informal ESA consul- EDWARD STRATTON — The Daily Astorian Ray and Ruth Birdwell are selling three lots along Marine Drive for $3.5 million. They lease the property to Dane Gouge’s Astoria Ford. tation, which would mean that Astoria Ford is unlikely to have VLJQL¿FDQW LPSDFW RQ VSHFLHV Davis said the informal consul- tation would take about 30 days, as opposed to 135 with a formal consultation. The consultation’s status is dependent upon ap- proval from the National Marine Fisheries Service, she said. North Coast Retail seeks to buy mitigation credits for the project through the Corps-ap- proved Oregon Department of State Lands Lower Columbia In Lieu Fee Program. North Coast Retail must buy mitigation cred- its to offset the impact of the DFUHVLWLQWHQGVWR¿OOIRUWKH dealership’s new location. R ick Berezay, A g en t 653 W est M arine D rive A storia, O R 97103 503-325-5920 w w w .rickberezay.com M arcia H arper In s A g cy In c M arcy H arper, A gent 936 E H arbor D rive W arrenton, O R 97146 503-861-3276 M arcyharper.com Jerem y R yan M ills, A g en t 815 S H ollad ay D rive Seasid e, O R 97138 503-738-6100 w w w .jm illsinsu rance.com