Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 2016)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2016 Dam: CREST was the source of $1 million in federal money to inance the project Continued from Page 1A Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Bruce Francis, chairman of the Clatsop County Planning Commission, listens during deliberation on the proposed Miles Crossing project Tuesday in Astoria. Complex: Krueger is expected to appeal Continued from Page 1A Commissioners Mryna Pat- rick and Thomas Merrell said, even with reducing the project to 48 units, they were troubled allowing multi-family units in a rural area. “I’m still not comfort- able with the trafic study and police and local schools as far as adding the multi-units to that area,” Merrell said. “Per- sonally, based on that criteria alone I couldn’t see a zoning change.” Neighbors were especially concerned about whether the region has enough water and sewer capacity long term for the development. “We don’t want this apart- ment complex in our neigh- borhood,” Cynthia Johnson, a neighbor, wrote in a letter to the county. “We already carry a heavy burden with the cur- rent sewer system.” The sewer and water dis- tricts indicated they have the capacity. A condition of approval was for Krueger to Commissioner Christopher Farrar speaks during the Clat- sop County Planning Commission’s deliberation on the proposed Miles Crossing project Tuesday in Astoria. provide proof that the Miles Crossing Sanitary Sewer Dis- trict Board approve connection to the system. Commissioner Chris- topher Farrar pointed to a recent letter from the sewer district board retracting their approval. The sewer board sent a previous letter of sup- port last month, but it was sent without formal approval from the board. “You need something deinitive from the various utility districts,” Farrar said. “I have not seen that. I have seen the opposite.” Despite the sewer board’s procedures, county counsel noted, the math is the same and the sewer and water dis- tricts could handle the new development. “If you look at it, you can still build single family homes,” Hansen said. “It’s the timing of the sewer district let- ter that messed things up.” Krueger previously built the Edgewater at Mill Pond apartments in Uppertown and the Yacht Club Apartments at the northern end of the Old Youngs Bay Bridge. Letters of support for the Bella Ridge Apartments came from Astoria Mayor Arline LaMear, Astoria School Dis- trict Superintendent Craig Hoppes, Astoria-Warrenton Chamber of Commerce Exec- utive Director Skip Hauke and Leahy. In addition, the Oregon Department of Transportation and Clatsop County Public Works signed off on the work. Krueger’s lawyer, David Noren, said he expects Krueger to appeal the Plan- ning Commission’s decision to the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners. Food carts: ‘It’s a really big convenience’ Continued from Page 1A “I’ve got quite a few reg- ulars. Some come every day. I’ve got a couple that are here twice a day, breakfast and lunch. And then I have some that come two or three times a week,” said Robert Rip- ley, who owns the cart with Cheryl Stoffelsen. The code amendment would also apply to the North Coast Business Park and Warrenton’s other industrial developments. A while back, the Port of Astoria, which owns the air- port, approached the city about private food cart ven- dors, including The Lunch Wagon. The Planning Commis- sion had a “lengthy and ani- mated” discussion on the issue, according to Urling, but didn’t take action. A motion to support the code amendment failed for lack of a second. Some Planning Commis- sion members feared that food carts would proliferate and degrade the aesthetics in the industrial zones. They were also concerned that mobile food outlets not only offer few employment opportunities, but, with such low overhead, have an unfair advantage over brick-and- mortar businesses that pay rent, mortgages and taxes. In addition, several Plan- ning Commission members “simply didn’t like the emerg- ing concept of mobile food vendors,” Urling’s staff report reads. ‘Really big convenience’ City staff, however, sup- ports the idea of food carts in industrial zones. “These units are becom- ing more and more popular across the country” and ben- eit employees whose work- places are too remote to allow them to patronize traditional restaurants, Urling wrote. “They also are especially pop- ular with the millennial demo- graphic which is a growing cohort of the population.” Gary Kobes, the Port of Astoria’s airport manager, said, “It’s a really big conve- nience, for the aviation com- munity, to have food on the ield.” He added that the presence of such vendors may gradu- ally draw more attention to the area and increase revenue over the long run. Paul Davis, Lektro’s direc- tor of operations, said the company’s half- The city char- hour lunch breaks ter outlines a don’t give employ- four-month win- ees enough time to dow to make the leave the airport, appointment. grab a meal, drive “I’m not sure back and eat. that we can appoint Retired Coast a new, perma- Guard Capt. Dan nent, full-time city Travers and Com- manager in four mand Master Chief months,” Engbret- Gary Karl Keyes said son said, adding that Kobes that having a food the hiring procedure cart like The Lunch Wagon is highly involved and needs on-site improves opera- to be handled publicly so the tions and boosts morale for community can weigh in. servicemembers. In the meantime, commis- The City Commission sioners also gave Engbretson will hold a inal reading on the authority to preside over the code change at the next personnel matters, including meeting. the hiring of two new positions listed in the iscal year bud- City manager search get: a sergeant for the Police In other business, the City Department and a full-time Commission passed a reso- marina worker. lution declaring its intent to appoint a city manager. The previous city manager, Kurt Fritsch, resigned in June after ive years amid a contro- versy surrounding the Eighth Street Dam. City Recorder Linda Engbretson was appointed interim city manager. Her sal- ary is now $95,000 per year — Fritsch’s starting salary — retroactive to the day she stepped into the position. Tax plan: Critics say the measure takes no account of a corporation’s proits Continued from Page 1A It also found that the tax would act as a consumption tax, spiking prices for con- sumers by about $613 per year for a household with median income of $51,075. Critics of the tax say the measure takes no account of a corporation’s profits, tax- ing instead its gross receipts. High volume, low-margin businesses, such as Pow- ell’s Books, might owe taxes exceeding their actual profits. Supporters of the mea- sure, backed by public employee unions, say the tax will primarily hit out-of- state corporations that they say don’t pay their fair share. Proponents say the tax will help support education, health care and senior ser- vices. However, nothing in the measure restricts the use of the revenue to those pur- poses, and lawmakers have wide latitude to alter the tax. Gov. Kate Brown already has proposed several fixes to help soften the blow of tax on certain businesses and industries. “We can all make prog- ress working together as part- ners for our shared commu- nity beneit,” Scheller wrote. Some at the water dis- trict have talked about turn- ing the dam over to the city for $1 to get rid of the liabil- ity. The city has not publicly expressed an interest in tak- ing ownership of the dam, although, privately, Mayor Mark Kujala and others have discussed the possibility, along with whether the city already has a legal stake in ownership. Kujala’s family, who own property near the dam, and the Nygaard family, who own Warrenton Fiber, have urged the city to take con- trol of the dam for lood con- trol reasons, even though the water district insists the dam provides no demonstrated lood control. “This is about discovery. We need to know exactly what has happened here,” Kujala said before the City Commission voted 5-0 Tues- day night to authorize the outside legal review. Kujala acknowledged his family’s property inter- est near the dam before par- ticipating in the discussion Tuesday night. The mayor has recused himself from votes related to the dam in the past because of a conlict. Contentious issue The scope of work for the legal review describes what has become a contentious issue for the city, citing dis- trust with information that has been made public and uncertainty about other infor- mation that may be available. Kurt Fritsch resigned as city manager in June after critics of the dam’s removal claimed he withheld tech- nical reviews on the dam. Fritsch had said the reviews were prepared for the Plan- ning Commission, so it would have been inappro- priate to share the informa- tion with the City Commis- sion, which might have had to hear a land-use question on appeal. Some residents warned the City Commission Tues- day night about the risk of looding if the dam is not properly operated or removed, echoing informa- tion that had been circulating privately by critics to inlu- ence the commission before Fritsch resigned. Bert Little, who used to serve with the water district, said looding issues would be reduced if the dam is oper- ated properly. The water dis- trict made a policy choice to leave the tide gates open year-round in 2012 and removed the gates entirely last fall. “With the doors up, all the properties will always be sat- urated with water,” Little said. “That’s just the way it is.” Built in 1963 The Eighth Street Dam was built by the federal gov- ernment in 1963 for lood control. The water district took possession of the dam after the structure exceeded its 50-year life span. An engineering plan adopted by the water dis- trict concludes that there is no increased risk of lood- ing if the dam is removed. A technical review by a city consultant, however, ques- tions whether engineers for the water district accurately modeled the lood plain. The City Commission twice voted for a $1.2 million agreement with the water dis- trict and CREST that would have provided the city with a single-lane bridge over the river to replace a gravel road once the dam is removed. The commission, under pres- sure from the Kujala and Nygaard families, voted 2-2 in May against renewing the agreement. The water district and CREST decided to move for- ward with dam removal by the end of 2018 without pro- viding the city with a bridge. The water district also bar- ricaded the gravel road because of safety concerns. CREST, however, has pulled out. The agency’s participation was critical because it was the source of $1 million in federal Bonne- ville Power Administration money to inance the project. “Given everything that’s been going on, we thought that it would be best if we backed out and allowed the city and the district to work things out,” said Denise Lofman, CREST’s direc- tor. “At this point, we’re not involved at all.” Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian The city has ordered a legal review into the Eighth Street Dam over the Skipanon River. 12 th Ave. & hwy. 101 SeASide, Or 503.717.1603 SeASideOutletS.cOm - Open - mon-Sat 10-8 & Sun 10-6 Grand Opening! y l u J nd 22 Suite #328
