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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 19, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2016 Stop! City to hold hearing on property sale Debate could reopen old controversy By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian A car stops Monday at the new stop sign at the intersection of Irving Avenue and Eighth Street. The sign, installed Friday, was approved by the Astoria City Council in November after some residents complained the intersection was dangerously confusing. 2UHJRQ/1*FRQ¿UPV end of project funding Reopening a politically sensitive debate over property sales, the Astoria City Coun- cil in early May will con- sider whether to sell city land off Alameda Avenue to Bruce Conner, a travel agency owner and cruise ship marketer. A split City Council voted 3-2 Monday night to hold a public hearing on the sale. But questions were again raised about Steven Weed, the appraiser the city hired to eval- uate the property. Weed valued the 0.32 acres of city land at $47,000. Conner, who approached the city about the sale, has agreed to the price. Some residents have sec- ond-guessed Weed’s apprais- als and have claimed that the city, under former Mayor Willis Van Dusen, sold city land to the well-connected at bargain prices. Shel Cantor, a retired engineer who has served on the city’s budget committee, told the City Council that his analysis suggests the prop- erty off Alameda should be priced closer to $100,000. Cantor questioned whether Weed, either on his own or by “illegitimate direc- tion from someone else,” has based his appraisals on the prospective buyer rather than the property. City Councilor Drew Herzig said residents are not opposed to selling city property, but question a pro- cess that does not involve bidding. Conner, Herzig also noted, is a prominent resident who has been involved with the sister city committee. “And this looks like doing favors, even though it’s not,” Herzig said. “The city needs to avoid the appearance of favoritism in this sort of operation.” Asked by City Councilor Zetty Nemlowill whether Weed is undervaluing the Alameda property, City Manager Brett Estes said: “I DP QRW D FHUWL¿HG DSSUDLVHU QRUDP,DFHUWL¿HGHQJLQHHU So I don’t practice engineer- ing and I don’t practice being a surveyor. “We rely on our profes- sionals to do that work for us, to be able to provide their professional opinion.” Estes took exception to Cantor’s suggestion that someone might have directed WKH DSSUDLVHU ³, ¿QG WKDW highly offensive,” he said of any sort of collusion. Nemlowill, Mayor Arline LaMear and City Councilor Russ Warr voted to schedule a hearing on the property sale to Conner, while Herzig and Councilor Cindy Price voted against the hearing. Dancing with themselves Company has ceased operations By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — Oregon /1*FRQ¿UPHG0RQGD\WKDWD $6 billion terminal and pipeline project on the Skipanon Pen- insula was scrapped because Leucadia National Corp., the New York-based holding com- SDQ\WKDW¿QDQFHGWKHSURMHFW decided to cease funding. “Oregon LNG thanks all those in the project area who supported its 12-year effort to bring good jobs and tax reve- nues to Warrenton and Clatsop &RXQW\E\EXLOGLQJDOLTXH¿HG natural gas terminal and asso- ciated pipeline,” the company said in a statement posted on its website. “Oregon LNG will have no further comment.” Company representatives KDG WROG :DUUHQWRQ FLW\ RI¿- cials Friday that funding was the reason behind the decision to end operations, but the com- pany did not publicly make a formal announcement until Monday. Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Robert Clark, of Astoria, wears a salmon hat during a rally against the Oregon LNG project in Warrenton in Septem- ber. Dick Hellberg, a former Warrenton city commissioner who favored the project, is sorry to see the company go. “I don’t know how many millions of dollars that Leu- cadia put into that project, but that was insanity in itself, to have to put that much money out to go through a dead-end procedure,” he said. “Very dis- appointed in the whole thing.” “Anyway, it is what it is, and I had nothing to gain and, really, nothing to lose — other than, sorry to see the econ- omy of the area go down,” he added. Brett VandenHeuvel, the executive director of Colum- bia Riverkeeper, the Hood River-based environmental group that fought the project, VDLG OLTXH¿HG QDWXUDO JDV LV “the wrong direction and locks us into dirty fuels. “The world is moving more rapidly towards clean energy. The United States and Asia and many other coun- tries are rapidly developing clean energy, and we can’t lock ourselves into these giant terminals that are not moving (us) forward towards clean energy.” CHIP-in event for Earth Day at Tapiola Park on Saturday The Daily Astorian In honor of Earth Day on Fri- day, the next Astoria Parks and Recreation Department Citizens Helping Improve Parks event is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Tapiola Park. This event is also hosted by 62/9( D VWDWHZLGH QRQSUR¿W organization that helps keep Oregon clean and green. The CHIP-in is a fami- ly-friendly event. Volunteers will pick up trash, pull weeds, put in new bark mulch, clean playground equipment and prune shrubs. T-shirts, snacks and tools are provided for volunteers at the park. Those wishing to partici- pate should feel free to stop by any time during CHIP-in to help. For questions, or to volun- teer, email CHIP-in@astoria. or.us or call 503-741-5965. W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian An air dancer waves on the roof of CMH Field’s grandstands. The Astoria School Dis- trict borrowed the concept from the Port of Astoria to help keep seagulls away. The Port has used air dancers to scare sea lions at the East End Mooring Basin. A L i f e R e m e m b e r e d Heaven ’ s Honor Roll February of 2 01 6 1 Clara Lum 96 2 Norman Jefta Koljonen 69 2 Sandra Lee Sarin 72 2 Nancy Jean Miller 63 2 Dennis John Grotz 58 7 Prentice Lloyd Wallace 90 9 Thomas James Hughes 80 16 William Jackson Russell 79 18 Michael Kingsley Beck 60 18 Anthony John Thorne 47 20 Barbara Diane Minard 68 22 William Henry Ojanen 87 22 Larry Glenn Samson 76 22 Dallas Roger Miller 80 23 Jack Dennis Hogan 68 25 Merle Douglas Hall 90 26 Marian Jean Hall 78 28 Dr. Robert Donald Neikes 98 29 Leah Rae Steinke 75 N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A R e m e m b e r e d A L i f e Heaven ’ s Honor Roll March of 2 01 6 2 Lee Ann Jones-Kelly 73 5 Marjorie May Aho 85 6 Freida Ann Piippo 98 8 Grace Frances May 65 8 David Richard King Jr. 66 9 Michael John Meno 70 10 Richard Raymond Davis Sr. 82 10 Jon Alan Aho 65 13 William Junior Middleton 92 14 James Mack Craft 87 15 Carl Iver Asplind 67 19 Steven Walter Escola 68 20 Patricia Ruth Abrahams 86 24 Robert Douglas Lindstrom 54 25 John McKibbin 69 25 Irene Kazuko Mustain 64 27 Michael Thomas Sopko 66 28 Daniel Duane Thompson 37 31 Allen Rayman Shockley Jr. 76 31 Tamie Jean Duyck 57 Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Join Us for a Celebration of Life for Herbert Darnell Saturday April 30 thh 1:30 pm Compassion and respect matter to you and your loved ones... 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