The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current, May 25, 2016, Page 7A, Image 7

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    7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2016
Dam: Mayor Kujala recused himself from the vote
Continued from Page 1A
Deal outlined
The city had approached
the water district several
years ago about preserving
a bridge over the dam if the
dam were taken down. Under
an agreement irst supported
by the City Commission in
2014 and revised last year,
the Columbia River Estuary
Study Taskforce would use
$1.2 million from the Bonne-
ville Power Administration to
remove the dam and improve
water quality and ish passage
on the river. The city would
get a 54-foot-long, 16-foot-
wide, single-lane bridge to
replace a gravel road over the
dam.
Last year, after objec-
tions from the Kujala fam-
ily, Warrenton Fiber and oth-
ers, CREST pulled a permit
application for the project
that was before the Planning
Commission.
Over the past year, politi-
cal pressure quietly mounted.
The agreement between the
city, the water district and
CREST expired at the end of
December.
The City Commission voted
2-2 Tuesday night against
renewing the agreement. Com-
missioners Henry Balensifer
and Tom Dyer voted for the
renewal, while Commissioners
Pam Ackley and Rick Newton
voted against the deal. Ackley
and Newton had voted for the
agreement last year.
Ackley said afterward that
she switched her vote after
having more time to study the
issue.
Newton said he reversed
his vote because he felt the
water district was too rigid and
did not address concerns about
the project.
“They just gave us a ‘take it
or leave it,’ and I don’t do very
well with that,” he said.
and help with future growth.
The Kujala family claimed
the water district had an
“anti-development agenda”
in refusing to support a wider
bridge.
Stephen Fulton, who works
on wetlands issues for War-
renton Fiber and serves as a
commissioner for the Port of
Astoria, and John Nygaard,
an attorney, had raised con-
cerns about whether removing
the dam would inluence water
levels.
An aligned message
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Mayor recused himself
Mayor Kujala recused him-
self from the vote, like he did
last year, because his family
owns land near the dam.
In an email Tuesday,
Kujala acknowledged that the
Nygaard family came to him
with questions about the dam.
The mayor said he called City
Attorney Hal Snow because
they were legal questions
involving the city.
“I recused myself in the
The Eighth Street Dam was constructed by the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Ser-
vice, part of three water control structures built along the
Skipanon River in the early 1960s. According to the Oregon
Water Resources Department after an inspection in 2012,
the dam may no longer be capable of flood control.
abundance of caution that this
project my have an economic
impact on my home and busi-
ness,” Kujala wrote. “My
mother also owns property
upstream of the Eighth Street
Dam.”
Last year, Norm and Judy
Kujala, the mayor’s father and
mother, and Paul Kujala, the
mayor’s brother, had mostly
been urging the city to back a
wider, two-lane bridge over the
river that would meet city code
This year, however, the
Kujala family and Warrenton
Fiber were in alignment. They
both raised lood-related issues
and urged the city to consider
taking control of the dam from
the water district.
Nygaard told city commis-
sioners that the dam may be
critical in the city’s ongoing
ight with the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency
and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
over lood maps. “What are
you going to say to all of your
citizens if you later discover
that maintaining the Eighth
Street Dam was the only eco-
nomical pathway to save our
city from FEMA and NOAA’s
nondevelopment zones, and
we voted to remove it without
knowing these actual costs or
options?” he asked.
Paul Kujala, a commer-
cial isherman, said the project
would adversely impact pri-
vate property and jeopardize
the city’s levee certiication. “I
do not support this project,” he
said.
The dam, built by the fed-
eral government in 1963, had
a 50-year life span that expired
in 2013. The Oregon Water
Resources Department found
after a 2012 inspection that the
dam was likely a signiicant
hazard and may no longer be
capable of lood control.
An updated engineering
report requested by the city
found that dam removal and
the new bridge would not
worsen lood conditions in the
river basin.
City Manager Kurt Fritsch
said the dam is not part of the
city’s levee system or an inte-
gral part of lood control.
“It’s disingenuous to throw
that into the argument here,”
he said of the lood map tussle
with the federal government.
Complaint: This isn’t the irst time Arnold’s irm, Marquis have interacted
Continued from Page 1A
“I would submit these many
comments were made for pre-
cisely that reason,” Marquis
wrote in his appeal. “As repel-
lent as the idea that much of
this grandstanding is simply a
play for publicity to increase
the coffers of his law irm, that
conduct has been determined
to be part of an attorney’s First
Amendment rights. The sole
basis of my complaint is the
issue of inluencing potential
jurors, who will be triers of
fact.”
Bundy and other militants
are facing federal conspiracy
charges for the armed occupa-
tion of the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge in Harney
County. The 41-day stand-
off between protesters and the
federal government received
national attention and stoked
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP
District Attorney Josh Marquis has appealed a decision by
the state bar to dismiss his ethics complaint against the
attorneys for Ammon Bundy, who was behind the armed
occupation at a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon this year.
Mike Arnold, an attorney for Ammon Bundy, outside feder-
al court in Portland in February.
a debate over ranching on fed-
eral land.
Arnold said that had the
Oregon State Bar given seri-
ous consideration to Mar-
quis’ complaint, it would have
had “profound constitutional
implications for attorneys and
citizens alike.
“We have a right to defend
our clients against the full
weight of the government,
and sometimes that requires
us to state things publicly —
especially when a legal mat-
ter becomes a matter of public
interest,” he said in an email.
“Obviously, that makes
Josh Marquis uncomfort-
able, but we are not going to
change the way we defend
our clients. What should
make people uncomfortable
is someone who prosecutes
citizens while attempting
to silence those that defend
them.”
Arnold’s irm and Marquis
had interacted before, when
Marquis stood up for Patricia
Perlow, a prosecutor appointed
by Gov. Kate Brown as Lane
County district attorney last
year. An attorney at Arnold’s
irm had been publicly critical
of Perlow.
Arnold described Marquis
as a “narcissist” and a “unique
publicity hound” after the dis-
trict attorney iled the state bar
complaint in February.
Marquis
had
sting-
ing words for Arnold in his
appeal. “Mr. Arnold rep-
resents the worst caricature of
the ambulance-chasing law-
yer all too willing to try his
cases using hyperbole on the
steps of the courthouse,” he
wrote.
THE
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ASTORIAN
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20 Freebies
FREE!
Excellent Condition 1 full size bed &
bedding, Antique Oak Dresser,
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Household Goods.
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253-951-2624
35 Lost & Found
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1 year old female Shih Tzu.
$500 cash reward.
No questions asked.
503-791-8753
Money found downtown Cannon
Beach. 503-436-2811 to identify.
45 Public Notices
Mechanic Needed! - EOE
Bayview Transit Mix, Inc. is
looking for a Mechanic.
Must have 3-5 years mechanic
experience with knowledge
of ODOT truck regulations; must
have a valid driver's license, a
CDL w/endorsement a plus;
computer knowledge; and
safety oriented.
*FT w/benefits
*Competitive wage
*Pre-employment drug test is
required
Apply at Bayview Transit Mix, Inc.
1399 Oster Rd;
Gearhart, OR 97138
P-503.738.5466 Fax-503.738.9517
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