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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 2016)
‘DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER’ HOMETOWN REPORT COAST WEEKEND • INSIDE SPORTS • 7A DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 144TH YEAR, NO. 65 ONE DOLLAR Warrenton may seek $2 million bond Schools struggle to accommodate growing numbers By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — The Warren- ton-Hammond School Board will vote next month on whether to take out a $2 million general obligation bond, as the district tries to accommo- date a glut of new students and ind a long-term solution. Superintendent Mark Jeffery led the school board on a tour of the Tetris-like remodeling that staffers have been playing to it ever-increas- ing numbers of students into War- renton Grade School, where enroll- ment has increased by a third over the past few years. He recommended the board approve the bond. Jeffery warned the board that in about ive years, the district would need more than short-term ixes. Growing enrollment In the 2012-13 school year, the K-8 Warrenton Grade School had 640 students. Board Chairwoman Deb- bie Morrow said the school is at more than 760 students. While Astoria has seen its enroll- ment continually drop, Warrenton’s enrollment has been growing pre- cipitously, with a glut of elementa- ry-schoolers. Warrenton High School See WARRENTON, Page 10A County dissolves Arch Cape committee BUILDING ‘FISH HOTELS’ T U C A L L A W E H T N O Design review falls to county planning staff By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian David Plechl/EO Media Group Caitlin Alcott, an ecologist with Inter-Fluve, the firm that is providing the engineering and design for the Wallacut River resto- ration project, stands near a recently restored tidal channel. Once completely breached, the channel will provide essential rear- ing habitat for a range of salmonoid species. Land trust leads project to restore tidal estuary By DAVID PLECHL EO Media Group I LWACO, Wash. — For most people, watching the slow trickle of water into a newly breached tidal channel is not exactly cause for celebration. But for Columbia Land Trust Stewardship Director Ian Sinks, it’s something pretty close to that. “A fundamental enjoyment for me is watching water low into these areas. … What’s it going to do? Where’s it going to go? It’s just satisfy- ing,” said Sinks, who is overseeing the nonproit conservation group’s effort to restore a critical piece of ish habitat at the mouth of the Wal- lacut River. The trust purchased 113 acres of forested wetland at the spot where the Wallacut enters Baker Bay, in 2012. This scenic stretch of tidal estu- ary should be high-quality habitat for several species of juvenile ish, but it’s not, because a “push-up levee” has cut the river off from four chan- nels that historically allowed tidal waters to low in and out. Now, the group is in the midst of a restoration project that will remove the bulk of the levee. Project leaders say that while the main goal is to cre- ate better salmon habitat, improvements to the estuary, channels and sur- rounding wetlands should also beneit a range of ish species, and other animals. Over time, the restoration work should provide some lood-con- trol and water quality improvements too. The $170,000 project is paid for with Bonneville Power Administration salmon conservation funds. Arch Cape residents interested in local land use issues will have to ind another outlet. The Clatsop County Board of Com- missioners unanimously voted Wednesday to dissolve the Arch Cape Design Review Committee, a citizen group that made recom- mendations on development within the unin- corporated town south of Cannon Beach. In February, the commissioners originally discontinued the Arch Cape committee, call- ing the group unnecessary, time-consuming, expensive and a potential legal liability. Former interim County Manager Rich Mays accused the committee of harassing a county employee about her disability. Despite her requests, Mays claims, the group voted to move its meetings to a building that is not a federal Americans with Disabilities Act-ap- proved facility. After supporters challenged the decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals, the county went through a new public process that led to the board’s decision Wednesday. “This is an issue that I have not taken lightly, and staff has not taken lightly,” Scott Lee, the commission’s chairman, said. “We are doing what I believe is best for the county.” Commissioner Dirk Rohne said it is a fair outcome for all county residents. No other part of the county has a design review committee. Other residents bring proposals directly to the county planning staff, without having to seek input from a local committee. Rohne said all county residents, including in Arch Cape, have opportunities for citizen involvement. One proposal for Arch Cape is applicant-neighborhood meetings for projects such as subdivisions or rezoning requests. “No public process is being shortchanged,” Rohne said. Supporters of the Arch Cape Design Review Committee, also known as the South- west Coastal Citizens Advisory Committee, could try to appeal the board’s decision again. More than 50 people signed a petition in sup- port of retaining the group. Damian Mulinix/For EO Media Group See WALLACUT, Page 10A The Wallacut River runs toward Ilwaco from the Stringtown area. See COMMITTEE, Page 10A Legal clash looms over Eighth Street Dam Warrenton gives water district until Tuesday By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — The city on Wednesday warned the Ski- panon Water Control District that it could take legal action unless the district surrenders any ownership interest in the Eighth Street Dam. In a letter to the water dis- trict’s board, Akin Blitz, a Port- land attorney representing the city, demanded that the district immediately give up owner- ship rights, remove woman of the water a barricade from a district’s board, gravel road over the could not imme- dam, and turn over diately be reached tide gates and main- for comment on the tenance records. city’s demands. She The city gave the has said, however, water district until that the water dis- Tuesday to respond trict wants to remove in writing or face the dam as a hazard a potential lawsuit and to improve ish Tessa to settle title or the passage on the Ski- Scheller city’s seizure of the panon River. dam. The water district has “No documentation sup- described the dam as a liabil- ports the district having owner- ity. But Scheller said earlier this ship interest in the Eighth Street week that the dam should be Dam or the underlying land,” removed, rather than just trans- Blitz wrote in a letter autho- ferred so the city assumes the rized by the City Commission. Tessa Scheller, the chair- See DAM, Page 10A Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian A legal showdown between the city and the Skipanon Wa- ter Control District is pending over the Eighth Street Dam.
