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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2015
Lawsuits: Port of Astoria partnership has soured
Continued from Page 1A
properties in the partner-
ship; usurped Westerlund
Log Handlers’ assets, oper-
ations and business; and de-
nied the two access to any
records or accounting of the
partnership.
The two demand a trial
by jury, in which they seek at
least $30 million each for lost
business assets, opportunities,
compensation and pro¿ ts; $1
million each for emotional dis-
tress; and $10 million for West-
erlund Log Handlers from the
log-handling agreement. They
also seek an accounting of their
partnership with Murphy, an
injunction preventing Murphy
from copying Westerlund’s
proprietary log-tracking soft-
ware and a declaration that they
are partners with Murphy in the
log-exporting operation.
Discovery in the case is to
be complete by Nov. 12, with
a deadline of Dec. 11 to order
a pretrial or reach a settlement.
Murphy’s beef
Murphy Overseas’ suit al-
leges Astoria Forest Products
covered expenses on behalf of
Westerlund for its log-handling,
vendors, stevedores, employees,
legal fees with China National,
rent on Westerlund’s Lewis and
Clark log yard, a deÀ occulating
plant on the log yard and past-
due payments to the Port.
To secure payments made
on behalf of Westerlund Log
Handlers, Murphy’s case al-
leges, it entered into a co-tenan-
cy agreement with Westerlund
and the Port. The suit alleges
the Port later terminated West-
erlund’s lease and transferred
it to Astoria Forest Products, in
exchange for the company pay-
ing Westerlund’s past-due bills.
Murphy’s suit seeks more
than $5.5 million in damages
from alleged breaches of con-
tract and Westerlund’s inability
to process logs as part of the
parties’ contract.
Not so friendly
neighbors
In yet another federal case
¿ led last month, Dennis Mur-
phy is suing David Westerlund
and his wife, Lori, over nonpay-
ment of more than $400,000 he
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Astoria Forest Products continues processing logs on Pier 3 and exporting them off Pier 1 at the Port of Astoria.
Dennis Murphy Sr.
loaned the Westerlunds to ¿ -
nance the building of a house.
Murphy’s suit alleges the
Westerlunds breached the loan
agreement in April by not re-
paying the $407,000 they bor-
rowed. He seeks more than
$433,000 for the loan and ac-
crued interest as of June 11,
along with $250 a day in inter-
est until the total amount is paid
back.
Astoria Forest Products Yard Manager Dave Daggett stands
in front of the Pier 3 log yard the company started in Octo-
ber after acquiring Westerlund Log Handlers’ operations.
Daily Astorian File
Crisis: ‘We are not providing the crisis services we need to’
Continued from Page 1A
The district attorney is
hopeful about a crisis re-
spite center being planned
for Warrenton, a possible
alternative to jail or hospi-
talization, but said there are
few options for psychiatric
care or secure beds.
“We are in crisis in this
community,” Marquis said.
“And we are not providing
the crisis services we need
to.”
The county contracts
with Clatsop Behavior-
al Healthcare for men-
tal health services, using
money that comes from the
state and federal govern-
ments.
Marquis recommended
the county spend additional
money to hire mental health
workers. The district attor-
ney said the county needs
“skin in the game” for the
situation to improve.
“Unfortunately,” Mar-
quis said, “the
buck stops here.”
Emotional
appeals
she was evaluated
by Clatsop Behav-
ioral
Healthcare
and released after
two hours.
A retired Wyo-
ming police of¿ cer
and Barnhart’s fam-
ily have publicly
pressured the Board
of Commissioners
for answers.
County Man-
ager Scott Somers
invited
Clat-
sop
Behavioral
Healthcare to ap-
pear at the work
Sumuer
session after emo-
Watkins
tional appeals to
the county over the past few Confidence in services
Somers framed the work
months to respond to poten-
tial gaps in mental health session Wednesday around
whether the county can feel
treatment.
Carrie
Barnhart,
a confident in Clatsop Behav-
54-year-old mother of six ioral Healthcare’s services,
who had battled mental but the discussion turned
health issues, jumped off the into a description of the
Astoria Bridge in April. As- broader challenges in treat-
toria Police had responded to ing the mentally ill, not on
suicidal warnings from Barn- Clatsop Behavioral Health-
hart four times in the months care’s performance.
Oregon, like many other
before her death. Police had
pulled her from the bridge a states, has struggled to care
week before her death and for the mentally ill as the
had taken her to Columbia treatment model has moved
Memorial Hospital, where away from institutionaliza-
‘The goal now is to catch
people before they’re
going into crisis.’
— Sumuer Watkins
executive director at Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare
tion toward a more commu-
nity-based approach.
Social-service advocates
argue that the federal and
state governments do not
provide enough money to
adequately treat mental ill-
ness, leaving counties and
cities with insufficient re-
sources to handle people
with complex problems.
Sumuer Watkins, the
executive director at Clat-
sop Behavioral Healthcare,
said the private contractor
has increased the number
of staff performing crisis
services. The contractor has
also worked to provide out-
reach to people in the com-
munity who are reluctant to
seek help, in part because of
the stigma of mental illness.
“The goal now is to catch
people before they’re going
into crisis,” Watkins said.
Gov. Kate Brown signed a
bill into law in June that ex-
pands the de¿ nition of mental
illness for civil commitment.
The law now covers people
who are unable to meet the
basic personal needs neces-
sary to avoid serious phys-
ical harm in the near future
and are not receiving care to
avoid such harm.
Performance
measures
While Clatsop Behav-
ioral Healthcare is already
subject to state and county
oversight, Scott Lee, the
chairman of the Board of
Commissioners, urged the
contractor to also provide
quarterly reports to the
board on performance mea-
sures.
Astoria City Councilor
Drew Herzig, who attended
the work session, suggested
independent evaluations to
help ensure accountability.
“It’s very hard for the agen-
cy to report on itself and be
believed, at this point, be-
cause there is a climate of
distrust,” he said.
Lee said afterward that
he has confidence in Clat-
sop Behavioral Health-
care.
“I never lost confidence
in CBH,” he said, adding he
was pleased with the con-
tractor’s report at the work
session. “I think that it’s
important that CBH gets out
there and does some mes-
saging.”
Brewery: New location will primarly be used for research, development
Continued from Page 1A
Pelican’s plans involve
demolishing the former
Dooger’s Seafood and Grill
at 1371 South Hemlock St. ,
which has been vacant since
2011.
“We did start out think-
ing we’d add to the existing
building,” David Vonada
of Tolovana Architect said.
“When we started contem-
plating redesigning it, it
turned out we were going to
be adding onto it in about 40
directions. So at some point,
we threw our hands up and
said, ‘Let’s just replace it.’”
The brewpub will be Pel-
ican’s third location. Peli-
can first opened in Pacific
City in 1996, and a site in
Tillamook was added in
2013. Co-owner Mary Jones
said they “love being on the
coast” and had contemplat-
ed this location for a num-
ber of years.
“It’s just a beautiful,
vibrant community with
a strong economy and re-
ally we feel like our brand
fits well,” Pelican’s other
co-owner, Jeff Schons, add-
ed.
Cannon Beach’s site will
feature brewery tours and
be similar to Paci¿ c City’s
menu-wise. John Newman
was named Pelican’s new
corporate chef and will de-
velop and maintain menu cre-
ations at all three locations.
Newman, owner of Newmans
at 988, was one of Pelican’s
chefs when the company ¿ rst
opened in 1996.
The 11,422-square-foot
building will seat 160 inside
and feature outdoor seating
for 40 on the sunset side
of the building, with a fire
table to keep patrons warm
during chilly days.
Walls on the brewery
side will be designed to give
visitors a peek at operations
as staff work a seven-bar-
rel brewing system, making
about 600 barrels per year,
Pelican CEO Jim Prinzing
said.
He added that Cannon
Beach’s location will be
primarily utilized for re-
search and development,
collaborating with chefs
and brewers from areas
such as Portland. They’ll
be “fun, one-off type of
beers.”
He noted that production
of core brands, such as Ki-
wanda Cream Ale, will re-
main at Tillamook.
Pelican has also acquired
the Sunset Inn that sits next
door. Prinzing said there are
“no definitive plans for that
property yet,” but that they
are exploring the possibili-
ty of making it a “Pelican’s
Nest” with pelican-themed
rooms and a “beer-centric
hotel experience” similar to
that of the Dogfish Inn in
Delaware.
Surrounded by pine trees,
grasses and perennials, the
building’s landscaping has
been designed to make it
look like a “landscaped
dune,” Rita Frailey with
Cannon Beach Landscape
Services said.
Design Review Board
members objected to the
removal of the property’s
cherry trees, however, not-
ing they were unique to
the city, and negotiated the
planting of three healthy
ones in a T-shaped zone in
the parking lot.
While the exterior design
is now complete, Prinzing
said they still have the in-
terior and brewery to work
on. He doesn’t have any
cost estimates yet for those.
He added they’ll begin
the hiring process in De-
cember, and that Cannon
Beach’s managers will like-
ly start in Pacific City for
training.
During peak season, he
said they expect to have a
staff of about 60 to 70 peo-
ple. In the off-season, there
will be 40 to 50 employees.
Vonada said they’re
“counting on a heavy traffic
flow,” and that he expects
the new brewpub to draw
more people to midtown.
Schons noted they may
be “overly optimistic” about
starting the brewpub con-
struction in September and
opening March 1.
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