Hundreds wrestle at Ilwaco camp Summer on the land SPORTS • 4A COAST WEEKEND THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015 143rd YEAR, No. 12 ONE DOLLAR Johnson’s bill helps Warrenton tackle FEMA 6%SURYLGHV¿QDQFLDODLGWRJHWOHYHHVUHSDLUHGFHUWL¿HG By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — When state Sen. Betsy Johnson needed a “des- ignated hitter” to tell Salem why her Senate Bill 306 would help small coastal communities, she turned to Warrenton Mayor Mark Kujala. For nearly a decade, Warrenton has have been forced to pay skyrock- eting rates. struggled to leap through all of the bu- levees do not exist. “Some people are paying more reaucratic hoops needed to show the “It’s a bad situation,” Kujala said. IRU WKHLU ÀRRG LQVXUDQFH WKDQ IRU city’s levee system can protect against This means that property owners their mortgage on a monthly ba- WKH\HDUÀRRGWKUHDWSRVHGE\WKH living and laboring behind Warren- sis,” Paul Levesque, Tillamook Columbia River — all to no avail. WRQ¶VOHYHHVDUHIRUÀRRGLQVXUDQFH County’s chief of staff, said. :LWKRXW WKLV FHUWL¿FDWLRQ WKH OH- SXUSRVHV FRQVLGHUHG LQ WKH ÀRRG .XMDODVDZKLVKRPHÀRRGLQ- vees may be ineligible for accred- SODLQ $QG DV IHGHUDO ÀRRG LQVXU- surance rates increase from $400 a itation by the Federal Emergency ance subsidies have gradually disap- year to $2,400 a year, he said. Management Agency. And without peared in the wake of hurricanes Ka- See FEMA, Page 10A accreditation, in FEMA’s eyes, the trina and Sandy, many policyholders GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF HERITAGE SQUARE Sen. Betsy Johnson Mark Kujala Inmates attempt to Àee Men use shower drain grate to shatter window By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the City of Astoria a $400,000 Brownfields Multipurpose Pilot Grant in 2012 for the Heritage Square site. The city is testing the site for the degree of soil contamination before the site is cleared for redevelopment. New round of tests help Astoria prepare hole for redevelopment By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian T he unsightly pit at Heritage Square, a riddle for city plan- ners, might take a little longer to solve. The state Department of Environ- mental Quality has asked for more tests to better identify the extent of contamination in the soil and other material on the former Safeway lot. Astoria wants to cleanse the block to make Heritage Square more en- ticing for redevelopment. The City Council is exploring a new public library and housing in a mixed-use project, presuming the troublesome hole will eventually be ready to fill. “I understand and recognize the impatience,” City Manager Brett Es- tes said. “I understand it. However, these redevelopment projects take a lot of time and, more specifically, en- vironmental cleanup sites take even more.” Metals and petroleum byproducts Lead and polycyclic aromatic hy- drocarbons — or byproducts of petro- leum — have been found in soil that was unearthed during construction of the Garden of Surging Waves and in material under a parking lot in the northeast corner of the block. Poly- chlorinated biphenyls — or PCBs — are also in some of the soil. Before Safeway, the property was used for a printing press, auto repair and Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian See HOLE, Page 10A A sign outside of the Heritage Square site explains the history of the site as well as future steps going forward. City, property owner resolve straw squabble Landscaping bales coming back in batches “I think that Ted Ames and Jeff Har- rington proved to be very solid men of integrity,” Reitman said, reserving harsh- er descriptions for others at the city. 7KH FLW\ FRQ¿VFDWHG ZKDW $PHV called a “mountain” of straw in late -XQH DIWHU WKH ¿UH FKLHI GHWHUPLQHG WKH EDOHV SRVHG D ¿UH ULVN LQ XQVWDEOH weather. The city’s Public Works De- partment also found that the straw was in a public right-of-way. week that she was considering legal action. Reitman said she intends to brief the City Council Monday night on By DERRICK DePLEDGE the progress. She said City Council- The Daily Astorian or Drew Herzig, who represents her neighborhood, even helped return The city has signed off on a retired some of the straw. physician’s plan to use 9 tons of straw “I’m just going to say how well for a landscaping project off Niagara everything ended up,” she said. “And Avenue, ending a dispute that kindled just to point out that I think that, in the TXHVWLRQVDERXW¿UHULVNDQG future, if something property rights. like this happens again ‘I’m just going to say how Jean Reitman, who with another resident, well everything ended up.’ bought the straw to stabilize just to be sure — re- a slope she had cleared of ally sure — to follow Jean Reitman invasive Himalayan black- due process.” berry, met with Fire Chief Harrington de- Ted Ames Friday and the pair agreed Reitman and the city reached an scribed the landscaping project as “a the straw would be returned to her agreement soon after that the bales very well thought-out plan.” As long home in batches. would be returned in small batches. as Reitman follows the steps, he said, Jeff Harrington, the city engineer, But the two sides were back to impasse the bales will be brought back in in- also approved Reitman’s landscaping after Reitman wanted larger quantities. crements and “everything should be plan. She had warned the City Council last ¿QH´ A Seaside man accused of at- tempted murder in a hammer at- tack and another inmate attempted to escape from Clatsop County Jail early Sunday morning. Kevin Michael Burnham and Anthony Craig Osborne broke off a shower drain grate, tied it to a bedsheet and swung it against a window until the window shat- tered. The inmates WKHQ ÀRRGHG a toilet in the cellblock and added soap to PDNH WKH ÀRRU slippery for any responding corrections of- ¿FHUV Their plan Kevin Michael was foiled once Burnham a corrections RI¿FHU VWDUW- ed hearing the PXIÀHGWKXPS- ing sound of the grate hitting the window. “They put soapy water all RYHU WKH ÀRRU´ Clatsop Coun- ty Sheriff Tom Anthony Craig Bergin said. Osborne “Had the cor- UHFWLRQV RI¿FHUV JRQH LQ WKH\ FRXOG have slipped and fell. Our correc- tions officers are smart enough not to rush into something like that.” 7KH RI¿FHUV GHWDLQHG %XUQKDP and Osborne at about 1 a.m. Sunday and placed them back into a different part of the jail. They are both being FKDUJHG ZLWK ¿UVWGHJUHH DWWHPSWHG HVFDSHDQG¿UVWGHJUHHFULPLQDOPLV- chief. Burnham, 25, of Seaside, is in custody for attempted murder after allegedly assaulting another man with a hammer in February. His de- fense attorney and the prosecution are trying to reach a plea deal on the case. Prosecutor Dawn Buzzard said she is not budging from her offer of 70 months, or about six years, in prison for Burnham to plead to a lesser charge of second-degree rob- bery. %XUQKDPUHSRUWHGO\WROGRI¿FHUV the reason he tried to escape was be- FDXVH WKH 'LVWULFW$WWRUQH\¶V 2I¿FH gave him such a bad deal on the at- tempted murder case. Osborne, 24, of Seaside, is in custody on theft, burglary and drug charges. The new charges could add about 30 months, or more than two years, to their sentences. “They conceived a scheme to break out and fortunately the staff was far too attentive for that to occur,” Bergin said. The two inmates shared a cellblock with 13 other inmates when they made the attempted escape. The other inmates had to See ESCAPE, Page 10A