12A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
Port: Preferred choice, Hollander, backs away
Many suitors
Continued from Page 1A
Orr said his group could
take over the hotel today,
using local staff and a new
general manager from Ocean
Shores, Wash. He and Smi-
thart had already worked out
a smooth transition, Orr said,
including transfer of a reser-
vation service and a key lock
system.
Orr said his group is will-
ing to absorb the cost of pre-
paid Groupons, and expects
to open with 97 rooms for
rent. “We think that we’ll be
able to come in and actually
be a caretaker for that prop-
erty,” he said.
Orr and Trabucco’s propos-
al was one of four options on
the table.
Since last summer, Port-
land hotelier Ganesh Sonpatki
has been trying to get the re-
mainder of Smithart’s lease, in
exchange for curing Smithart’s
debts. Sonpatki operates sever-
al budget hotels in and around
Portland through Param Hotel
Group.
The Port voted in June to
transfer the Smithart’s remain-
ing lease to Sonpatki. But the
transfer was never ¿nali]ed,
with both sides accusing the
other of holding up the pro-
cess. Meanwhile, new suitors
like Orr, Trabucco and Mark
Hollander, of Hollander Hos-
pitality, surfaced to compete
for the hotel.
The Port terminated Smi-
thart’s lease in July but kept
him in charge, trying to evict
him but not close the hotel. In
an executive session discus-
sion that later spilled out at a
public meeting, Port commis-
sioners and Executive Direc-
tor Jim Knight talked about
their consensus to go with
Hollander. But as staff devel-
oped an agreement, the Port
Commission voted to open
the process back up to more
suitors.
Sonpatki’s lawyer, Colin
Hunter, has repeatedly stated
Sonpatki’s offer to pay Smi-
thart’s debts, a deal also ex-
tended by Orr and Trabucco.
Koury said he spoke Tues-
day with Hunter, who said he
would recommend Sonpatki
¿le suit against the Port if the
agreed-upon transfer did not
occur.
James Mulloy, owner of
the Comfort Suites Columbia
River in Astoria through Mal-
bco Holdings LLC, presented
a similar short-term proposal
from Hospitality Associates,
a hotel management and de-
velopment company with
lodgings across the West. The
group had several representa-
tives at the meeting Tuesday.
“I am certain, based on my
experience, that our group can
turn around the Riverwalk Inn,
just like we did with the Com-
fort Suites,” said Mulloy, who
bought the Comfort Suites in
bankruptcy court in 2013 and
¿xed it up.
Preferred choice
backs away
Hollander, a well-connect-
ed hotelier from Bellingham,
Wash., presented last week on
his vision to develop the hotel,
bring a Marriott franchise to
Astoria and develop the sur-
rounding neighborhood, in-
cluding a lease on vacant land
near the Maritime Memorial.
Executive Director Jim Knight
has said Hollander wants mul-
tiple hotels in Astoria.
Hollander said he was
not willing to compete in the
open bidding process the Port
staff is developing, although
Koury mentioned Tuesday
Hollander might still be in-
terested in a long-term agree-
ment.
The Port Commission vot-
ed 4-0 to proceed with a short-
term agreement with Orr and
Trabucco. Commissioner Ste-
phen Fulton, whose sister is
married to Orr, recused him-
self from the discussion and
the vote.
Fire: ‘I think everyone knew what was coming’
Continued from Page 1A
to protect homes, allowing
other resources to respond to
the wild¿re in the grassland.
4:45 a.m.: Grant County
Sheriff Glenn Palmer scouts the
¿re.
“Visibility dropped from
several hundred yards to about
]ero real Tuick,” he said. “I’ve
never seen ¿re behavior like this
before.”
5:12 a.m.: Rynearson re-
ceives notice from ¿re¿ghters
near the northern part of the
bla]e that embers are hitting
grassland areas south of Prai-
rie City. He decides to wake
city residents and alert them to
what’s happening.
An ember storm has ignited
grassland south of town, and the
¿re is advancing Tuickly toward
Prairie City.
Sean Ellis/The Eagle
Smoke blanketed Prairie City Saturday as fire approached.
Firefighters were able to stop it 1.5 miles from town.
5:20 a.m.: Rynearson calls
dispatch from his home and
orders the city’s siren to begin
ringing. The siren goes off im-
mediately, and Rynearson or-
ders the alarm to cycle several
more times.
“I wanted everyone to be
wide awake,” he said.
Within ¿ve minutes, mutual
aid sirens in nearby cities, in-
cluding John Day and Canyon
City, are also going off, alerting
local volunteer ¿re¿ghters to
what’s happening. They begin
to rush toward Prairie City.
“We started waking up state,
volunteer and our own resources
to try to get them out there Tuick-
ly,” said Jeff Surber, a Great Ba-
sin Incident Management Team
operations section chief.
Prairie City resident Tammy
Winton heard the siren.
“As soon as I heard the ¿re
alarm, I jumped out of bed,
shaking, and grabbed up the
kids,” she said. “I left my mon-
ey, wallet and everything else in
the house and just got the kids
and ran.”
“You could feel the heat of
the ¿re and smell the smoke,”
said Pat Shull, whose home is at
the very southern edge of Prairie
City. “You could feel it closing
in.”
5: 30 a.m.: Palmer has al-
ready begun ordering parts of
Prairie City to be evacuated, and
the rest of town is on a Level 2
“be ready to leave at a moment’s
notice” order.
Palmer said the evacuation
was orderly.
“Neighbors helped neigh-
bors. I think everyone knew
what was coming.”
5: 45 a.m.: Local ¿re¿ght-
ers begin assisting Great Basin
night shift resources that are bat-
tling the ¿re.
5:50 to 6 a.m.: The ¿re¿ght-
ers’ morning shift-change brief-
ing starts early, and additional
crew members from base camp
in John Day skip breakfast and
head toward Prairie City.
A convoy of evacuated Prai-
rie City residents makes its way
west, as ¿re¿ghters stream east
into the city.
7 a.m.: By this time, a large
amount of resources, including
volunteer ¿re¿ghters from near-
by cities, are on the front lines,
battling hard to save the town.
Nervous residents on a Level
2 evacuation order prepare for
the signal to leave immediately.
“I have one foot out the door.
I’m ready to go if they tell me
to,” said local resident Steve
Smith.
10 a.m.: Rynearson is con-
¿dent ¿re¿ghters have blunted
the ¿re’s advance on Prairie
City. He pulls local resources in
for lunch and a brie¿ng at 1130
a.m. and then sends four units
back out to assist in creating a
safety ]one for the town.
4 p.m.: Rynearson and
Palmer begin notifying residents
they can return to their homes,
and the entire city is placed on a
Level 2 evacuation order.
Evacuation Level 2 is ex-
pected to remain in Prairie City
until the ¿re is out, possibly until
the ¿rst snow falls.
LNG: Army Corps has held easement to deposit since 1957
Continued from Page 1A
The energy company sued
the Army Corps in federal
court last year, alleging the
Army Corps had no right to
the land beneath the water
on the Skipanon Peninsula.
The company also wanted the
court to ¿nd that the compa-
ny had the right to access the
property for the terminal.
Judge Acosta, the magis-
trate judge, ruled in July that
Oregon LNG’s lawsuit came
outside the 12-year statute
of limitations to bring such a
claim under federal law.
In property title disputes,
the federal statute of lim-
itations starts to run when a
complainant knew or should
have known that the United
States claimed an interest.
The Army Corps has
held the easement to depos-
it dredge spoils since 1957
but has not deposited spoils
since 1992. The judge found
that the state and the Port of
Astoria — which has leased
the property to Oregon LNG
since 2004 — knew or should
C on v e rsa t ion
G ood food
In spira t ion
From dirt to
delicious:
When the media
becomes the story
Farms, produce, markets
Nigel Duara
October 15
Teresa Retzlaff
September 15
have known of the easement.
But Oregon LNG told the
court that the company had not
been aware of the Army Corps
interest in the property until a
2009 interagency meeting.
In the energy company’s
motion to amend the com-
plaint, ¿led in August, the
company alleges the Army
Corps either abandoned or
apparently abandoned a claim
on the property until 2009,
restarting the 12-year statute
of limitations to bring a legal
claim.
Other arguments
Opponents will also likely
contend that Clatsop County’s
refusal in 2013 to grant a per-
mit for a portion of the pipe-
line is also fatal to the project.
The state Land Use Board of
Appeals upheld the county’s
decision earlier this year.
Oregon LNG has coun-
tered that it does not need the
local approval, since the fed-
eral government — and the
state — has primary oversight
responsibility over liTue¿ed
natural gas projects.
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Outlook for the
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in 2016
Joe Cortright
November 3
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