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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2016)
12A THE DAILY ASTORIAN TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2016 RV park: Residents notice antipathy toward the park protesting out front, he said, he and Millagp have faced retalia- tion from management. Park manager Susan Hart and other residents have cast Smith and Millagp as trouble- makers, saying the park has provided a safe and necessary source of low-income hous- ing for people with disabili- ties, veterans and others with nowhere else to go. Shannon Watkins said she and partner Mitch Wilson moved in almost a year ago after coming back from Mich- igan and ¿nding themselves homeless. Hart took them in, Watkins said, starting them out in a tent before getting them into a trailer. “I’m on disability,” said Tommy Kelley, who has lived at the park since 2009. “This is what I could afford. Every- body that is here are here because they have to” be. Without the park, Kelley said, he and many of the other residents would be home- less. “I feel like we’re Israel, just surrounded by everybody who hates us,” he said of the antipathy toward the park by neighbors. Hart, who had managed the park from 2006 to 2011 and returned in November 2013, said she came back at the request of the owners to an overcrowded park with a lot of issues. “We cleaned this place up,” she said, noting she has evicted 30 to 50 people since coming back, including families with children. Instead of nearby neighbors and others com- plaining about the park, she said, they should donate and help make it a better place. Continued from Page 1A Resources Northwest, which uses a third-party septic company to gather the statis- tics being reported to the state, appeaOed the most recent ¿ne and held an informal hearing last week with the Department of Environmental Quality. Kevin Luby, the attorney for Resources Northwest, said the park has several issues, including tenants using more than the park anticipated. “We’ve made efforts to shut down the laundry facil- ities at the park,” Luby said, adding the park is installing meters to track usage. A county thorn While the state is trying to lower the sewage Àow, the park faces a continuing lawsuit with Clatsop County, which would like to remove Hick as owner and replace him with a receiver, a person appointed to hold in trust and administer property under litigation. According to county staff, Hick’s ownership of the park has been marred by issues of overcrowding, sewage over- Àows, gray water leaking into Sunset Lake, a lack of emer- gency vehicle access, run-ins with police and illegal utility hookups. “The neighbors have been dealing with this for years … and they’re pretty cynical over the ability of the government to help out there,” said interim County Manager Rich Mays. A petition by about 60 neighbors of the park prompted the county to begin enforce- ment action, resulting in a 2011 Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian Tommy Kelley, who has lived at the Sunset Lake Resort & RV Park since 2009, said the park offers people with no other place to go a safe, inexpensive living option. Shannon Hopkins and partner Mitch Wilson (not pictured) said the Sunset Lake Resort & RV Park provided them an inexpensive place to live when they faced homelessness. compliance order to lower the number of permanent units at the park from 60 to 43, includ- ing 18 mobile homes and 25 RVs, along with 38 spots for visitors. Nearly three years ago, the county sued Hick in an effort to enforce the linger- ing code violations. The case is scheduled for trial in June. Bart Catching, a code com- pliance specialist with the county, said the park was still four or ¿ve RVs over the per- ple moving from unit to unit,” he said. Luby said while many peo- ple at the county have been good to work with, some staff- ers higher in the agency have been slow to act in good faith while the park tries to make improvements. manent resident limit as of February, but is having res- idents move between RVs within a 30-day time limit to appear temporary. “I have nothing against the park’s right to exist,” Catch- ing said. “It just needs to meet (codes).” Luby said that after one more eviction, the park will be down to the proper amount of units. “I’m not aware of any situation where we have peo- Energy bills: Senate Bill 1547 has more momentum Residents react Anthony Smith, who with ¿ancpe Whitney Millagp, moved into the park in October Recall: Neuwirth hopes recall election won’t be needed Continued from Page 1A House lawmakers already voted 39-20 to pass House Bill differences between the 4036, in mid-February. After bills including caps on how news reports that Gov. Kate much the utilities can raise Brown’s administration had rates each year to cover their told public utility commission- costs, including a pro¿t on ers not to go public with their new renewable energy facili- concerns about the bill, a Sen- ties. The ¿rst bill, House Bill ate committee added language 4036, calls for the Oregon to the bill to protect consumers Public Utility Commission to and ensure utilities use compet- adopt regulations that encour- itive bidding to acquire cost-ef- age competitive bidding and ¿cient new sources of renew- diverse owner- able energy. ship of renewable Next, Repub- energy facilities, ‘... this licans in the Sen- something not ate, who oppose required under the bill enjoys the bill, brought second bill, Sen- a standstill support it by to requesting ate Bill 1547. That that second bill also from clear lawyers draft a includes incen- minority report. tives to boost majorities There is no dead- wood-burning line to produce the in both report, so the move power plants. Senate Bill to pre- the House threatened 1547 has more vent the measure momentum, thanks from coming to a and to support from vote before the end Senate.’ of the session. environmental groups and the two Supporters of Brad Reed investor-owned the bill, including utilities. Brad spokesman for the politi- Democrats in both Reed, a spokesman cally active nonprofit Re- chambers and Rep. Oregon, speaking for the politically new Mark Johnson, of Senate Bill 1547 active nonpro¿t R-Hood River, Renew Oregon responded with which represents environmental a plan on Thursday to insert and renewable energy groups, a new version of the renew- said Senate Bill 1547 appears to able energy mandate legisla- have the clearest path forward. tion into a different bill, Sen- “And this bill enjoys support ate Bill 1547, that had already from clear majorities in both the passed in the Senate. Lawmak- House and Senate,” Reed wrote ers negotiated that legislation in an email Monday afternoon. in closed-door meetings with Utility representatives have representatives of the utilities, also said they dislike the 3 per- environmental and renewable cent annual cap on renewable energy groups. energy rate increases in the ¿rst Although two representa- bill, and they would prefer the tives of the Public Utility Com- 4 percent cap on renewable rate mission attended the negotia- increases in the second bill. The tions, none of the public utility utilities can request the renew- commissioners were involved able energy rate increases on nor did they testify last week top of broader periodic rate when a House committee voted increases. to insert the negotiated lan- Continued from Page 1A guage into Senate Bill 1547. Members of the Public Utility Commission have said an ear- lier version of the legislation would be costly for consum- ers but do little to reduce green- house gas emissions from coal plants. Many House Republicans also oppose the bill and they decided to try the same delay tactic as their Senate colleagues by requesting a minority report. However, it did not buy much time because of different rules in the House. The minority report would make several changes to Senate Bill 1547, including making it easier for cities to start new municipal utilities by giving them three years to meet the renewable energy mandate, according to House Republican Of¿ce com- munications director Preston Mann. By Monday, Senate Repub- licans had decided to withdraw their minority report, allowing House Bill 4036 to be sched- uled for a vote Wednesday. Caitie Butler, communica- tions director for the Oregon Senate Republicans, wrote in an email Monday that Repub- licans withdrew the request “because (House lawmakers) stripped most of the ratepayer protections out of the stuffed Senate bill ...” Butler wrote that Senate Republicans still do not support either bill. Senate Bill 1547 is scheduled for a House Àoor vote on Tuesday, which means it could also go to the Senate for a ¿nal up or down vote Wednesday. House Bill 4036 would have to go back to the House for a ¿nal up or down vote. The Capital Bureau is a col- laboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Hillary Borrud can be reached at 503-364-4431 or hborrud@eomediagroup.com. and faces eviction March 9, has been protesting at the cor- ner of Sunset Lane and Lewis Road over what he says is a retaliation for reporting unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Smith has been posting pic- tures on Facebook of what he says are trailers at the park with holes in the Àoors and ceilings from rain getting in, sewage leaking out of pipes and unsafe utility hookups. After posting the photos on Facebook and The directors have not yet announced their intentions, and released a statement Friday defending their actions in dis- missing the former chief. “Mike was let go when the majority of the direc- tors, elected by district voters, became concerned about his ability to perform the admin- istrative skills required of the head of a public agency,” the directors wrote. Not political, ’til now Neuwirth said she had never been “a political per- son” before. “In fact, I even registered to vote in order to ¿le this petition,” she said. “I didn’t know Mike or the people involved,” Neu- wirth said. “I talked to people who had been affected by it. The unanimous opinion was the board does not treat volun- teers with any respect and they never treated the chief with any respect.” Neuwirth attended a November ¿re district meeting in which members of the com- munity faced the board. “They told them how angry they were at the board for treating some- one of Mike’s caliber in such a despicable manner,” she said. Neuwirth launched the recall petition drive in January. “I realized we could sit around and be appalled, or we could exercise our right,” she said. In seeking to gather the minimum 125 signatures required in Clatsop County to force a recall election, Neu- wirth said she “never forced, and never coerced” residents to sign the petition. Neuwirth said ¿re¿ghters and residents alike appreciated Balzer’s contribu- tions to the community. “The ¿re¿ghters told me they’d rather be in the ¿eld with Mike than anyone they’ve ever been with,” Neuwirth said. Neuwirth said she is “stay- ing away” from a separate law- suit ¿eld by Balzer seeking his job back and damages. Balzer ¿led a civil suit in Clatsop County Court against the ¿re district, claiming the ¿r- ing was motivated by “personal animus and did not constitute the good faith suf¿cient cause under the employment agree- ment.” He seeks more than $677,000 in damages and relief. “I stayed away from the lawsuit because they’re sep- arate issues,” Neuwirth said. “Mike has every right to do what he needs to do, but as far as I’m concerned, this is for the community, I’m doing it for the ¿re¿ghters. They thank me daily.” Time to step up? Their decision could cre- ate an immediate vacancy or vacancies to ¿ll. If Beck-Swee- ney, Smith or Clyde ¿ght the recall, they will face an elec- tion challenge. Will Neuwirth run for the of¿ce" “I would hope other people would step up, but if I needed to I would gladly step up,” she said. “It is one of the most important boards in this town.” She said she hopes a recall election won’t be needed. “If they resign, they will save the district a lot of money, and if Mike is reinstated, the portion that would affect the district, as far as the lawsuit, would go away,” Neuwirth said. “This is not about the money.” If the directors do not resign by Wednesday night, the Clerk’s Of¿ce anticipates a recall election on April 5 for voters within the ¿re district. The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. www.eomediagroup.com Dispatchers: There are seven Continued from Page 1A recognize the dispatchers for their service with donations of “something special” — a night out at a restaurant, gift card, hotel room or relaxation package — to show their appreciation. There are seven dispatch- ers, Brown said at a Seaside Chamber of Commerce break- fast Friday. “On Feb. 5, I’m thankful two of our more senior dis- patchers were on duty,” she said. “They were very pro- fessional and able to han- dle it. But on the other hand, they knew Jason well. I’m impressed at their composure and how they got through and did the job they were hired to do and waited till later to break down. It’s just impressive the level of professionalism and what they had to endure. And they did it.” Along with grief for a co-worker, they also lost a friend, Brown said. “Seaside Police Department is close-knit,” she said. “Even dispatch. It’s like one large fam- ily you work with. It was devas- tating for everyone.” “I’m not picky, but I think they deserve something special,” Brown added about donations. Columbia Memorial Hospital tXXXDPMVNCJBNFNPSJBMPSH
