NORTH COAST
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015
3A
Astoria superintendent takes medical leave
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
The Astoria School Dis-
trict Board of Directors on
Wednesday unanimously ap-
proYed an inde¿nite leaYe of
absence for Superintendent
Craig Hoppes, who was not
at the meeting. They also ap-
proved Hoppes’ recommen-
dation to make Curriculum
Director Melissa Linder the
interim superintendent in the
short term.
“Last week, Craig put in
a request at the advice of his
physician to take inde¿nite
medical leave,” School Board
Chairman Martin Dursse said.
“I’ve talked to Craig a couple
times. He’s not comfortable
sharing the exact reason for
that request.”
Dursse said that in the next
couple of days, he’d talk to
Hoppes and see whether he
wants to disclose his situation.
Board member Shawn
Helligso supported the mo-
tion but asked what the “short
term” means.
“To me, the short term
is until at least next month,”
Dursse said, adding that
along with Hoppes, he’s been
talking to the Oregon School
Boards Association and the
Northwest Regional Educa-
tion Service District to ¿gure
out what sort of support they
can provide, if the district
needs to seek a longer-term
interim superintendent.
Linder said district admin-
istrators met Monday, adding
that if she didn’t have their
support, the decision wouldn’t
have been as easy to ¿ll Hop-
pes’ shoes. Linder was hired
last year as the curriculum
director.
Craig Hoppes
Melissa Linder
Electronic devices
reproducing and/or displaying
information and data.”
“If the district imple-
ments a curriculum that uses
technology, students may
be allowed to use their own
personal electronic devices
to access the curriculum,”
reads the ¿rst policy. “Stu-
The Astoria School Board
passed two policies regarding
the use of personal electronic
devices by students and facul-
ty. The policies de¿ne devices
as capable of “electronically
communicating, sending, re-
ceiving, storing, recording,
dents who are allowed to use
their own devices to access
the curriculum will be grant-
ed access to any application
or electronic materials when
they are available to students
who do not use their own
devices, or provided free of
charge to students who do
not use their own devices for
curriculum.”
The policy also created an
appeal process if a student
isn’t allowed to use their de-
vice, and releases the district
from liability for any damage
to personal devices.
The second of the two pol-
icies governs staff use, includ-
ing keeping devices silenced
during work; not taking pic-
tures or video of district fa-
cilities, staff, students, volun-
teers or parents without prior
authorization; discouraging
communication between staff
and students on nonschool-re-
lated matters; and prohibit-
ing such communication at
school.
“Staff actions on social
media websites, public web-
sites and blogs, while on or
off duty, which disrupt the
school environment, are sub-
ject to disciplinary action up
to and including dismissal,”
the second policy reads.
In other news:
• Dursse proclaimed May
4 to 8 Teacher Appreciation
Week.
• The Astoria High
School Pizazz Dance Team,
which recently swept the
Oregon School Activities
Association’s state dance/
drill team competition in the
4A/3A/2A/1A Small division,
received more than $6,500 in
cash gifts from local business-
es and individuals.
Warrenton City Commission approves agreement on dam removal
Would enhance
¿sh passage,
preserve access
ney, said the agreement with
CREST and the Skipanon
Water Control District is
not a land use decision, so
the notice requirements did
not apply. Land use issues
related to the dam removal
will first be addressed by
the Planning Commission,
and could be appealed to the
City Commission.
City staff instructed com-
missioners not to consid-
er the bridge or other land
use details before voting
on the agreement Wednes-
day night, even though the
bridge had been the crux
of the debate for the past
month.
The vote was 4-0 to ap-
prove the agreement. Mayor
Mark Kujala recused him-
self because he and his fam-
ily own property near the
river and the dam.
City
Manager
Kurt
Fritsch, asked afterward
about the convoluted pro-
cess, said commissioners
wanted to give proper-
ty owners the freedom to
speak. “We erred on the side
of hearing more public com-
ment,” he said.
By DERRICK
DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — The
Warrenton City Commission
voted Wednesday night to
again approve an agreement
to remove the aging Eighth
Street Dam, a decision com-
plicated by the width of a
single-lane bridge over the
Skipanon River that would
replace a gravel road on the
dam.
The agreement between
the city, the Columbia Riv-
er Estuary Study Taskforce
and the Skipanon Water
Control District to demolish
the dam could improve fish
passage and water quality.
The city would also main-
tain emergency access over
the river through a 54-foot
bridge.
The $1.2 million project
would be financed by the
Bonneville Power Adminis-
tration to help restore salm-
on habitat.
The city had initially
approved the agreement
with CREST last year. But
a routine vote to amend the
agreement to formally add
the Skipanon Water Con-
trol District, which owns
the 52-year-old dam, was
delayed twice over the past
month after nearby property
owners complained that the
bridge was too narrow and
could disrupt business and
limit future development.
Matt Van Ess, a habitat
restoration coordinator for
CREST, told the City Com-
mission at a special meet-
ing on the issue Wednesday
night that adjustable guard-
rails could be installed on
the bridge to expand the
width of the travel lane to
16 feet, up from 14 feet.
ALEX PAJUNAS — The Daily Astorian
The Eighth Street Dam on the Skipanon River in Warrenton was built for flood control.
Property owners who
have been discussing the
bridge with CREST support
the revision, but remain dis-
appointed with the process
and might raise other objec-
tions when the Warrenton
Planning Commission re-
views the land use details of
the project tonight.
City commissioners had
chosen to extend the debate
on the agreement so proper-
ty owners could be heard.
But the delay has compli-
cated the deal and ruffled
the partnership with the Ski-
panon Water Control Dis-
trict, which signed off on
the agreement in February.
John Nygaard, a Port-
land attorney whose family
owns Warrenton Fiber, has
questioned whether the city
provided adequate notice to
property owners as required
for land use matters un-
der the city’s development
code.
A private engineering
W A NTED
firm working with CREST
found that removing the
dam would likely not wors-
en flood conditions up-
stream. The Oregon Water
Resources Department has
also described the dam as
a significant hazard that
may no longer be capable of
flood control.
But in a letter to the
City Commission Tuesday,
Nygaard argued that the
removal of the dam would
I
A R
I
S
N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A
Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500
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Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
B arbie is retiring
B
B
“unequivocally affect real
property landowners in this
flood plain.”
Two weeks ago, Stephen
Fulton, who works on land
development and wetland
mitigation for Warrenton
Fiber and serves as a com-
missioner for the Port of
Astoria, had recommended
that the dam removal proj-
ect go through a more thor-
ough U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers review and that
6
3- M
P
Ba rb ie Jen kin s ha s
b een a n o p ticia n fo r
the p a s t 20 yea rs
here in As to ria . S he
s ta rted her ca reer
w ith Dr. K u m p u la in 1994,
co n tin u ed o n a s it b eca m e No rth
Co a s t Vis io n Cen ter, a n d s in ce
2011 ha s b een vita l in help in g
Co a s ta l E ye Ca re b eco m e the
thrivin g clin ic it is to d a y! As the
p ra ctice cha n ged ha n d s s evera l
tim es o ver the yea rs Ba rb ie ha s
rem a in ed the co n s ta n t fo rce.
S he ha s b een d ed ica ted to
her p a tien ts fo r a ll this tim e w ith
her co m p a s s io n a te w a ys a n d
s tea d fa s t s ervice.
Barbie will be greatly missed.
the city learn how much
salmon recovery is antici-
pated.
Hal Snow, the city attor-
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