9A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016
Measure: Chief petitioner pushes back on concerns
Continued from Page 1A
Commissioner concerns
In May, the commis-
sion passed the Fair Voting
Ordinance, which ensures
that measures requiring
supermajority or double-ma-
jority voter approval to
change city law or take gov-
ernment action fi rst have to
win voter support by the same
margin.
“That way, you don’t have
20 percent of voters requir-
ing 80 percent of voters in the
future to do something,” Com-
missioner Henry Balensifer
said.
The City Commission
argued that disposing of city
assets is an important part of
the city’s job, and that the mea-
sure could hinder the process.
“We’re elected to be repre-
sentatives, and I think that these
are some of the things we’re
elected to do,” Mayor Mark
Kujala said, “and I think this
would be hamstringing us.”
Commissioner Tom Dyer
said, “I don’t think it’s the right
move for the city, personally.”
Noting that the city would
need to bring the large -asset
disposals before voters, Bal-
ensifer said after the meeting,
“Not only is it expensive to run
elections, but you have to time
it to those elections.”
Balensifer said he appreci-
ates that the Property Protec-
tion Committee is exercising
its right to put a measure on the
ballot.
“I think, if they get enough
signatures, it deserves a vote.
It’s up to the citizens,” he said.
“But, from a policy or opera-
tional perspective, this makes
no sense to me at all.”
Commissioner Rick New-
ton said he hopes the current
commission has earned enough
trust from the public “that they
don’t think that we’re going to
throw things away.”
Kujala agreed to write a let-
ter of opposition on behalf of
the commission and submit it
to local media.
Commissioner Pam Ackley
was absent.
Committee
counterpoints
Ken Yuill, the chief
petitioner who leads the
committee, has pushed back
on the commission’s objec-
tions, saying in a written state-
ment that some of them are
“false and misleading.”
The measure would not
affect the day-to-day operations
of the city, he said, nor restrict
the city from replacing parts for
the water system.
“This is handled through the
city’s budget process. Please
remember this only has to
do with selling, not buying,”
according to the pamphlet’s
argument in favor.
The measure would “not
restrict the sale of surplus equip-
ment,” Yuill wrote, adding that,
normally, when large pieces of
equipment, like fi re trucks and
garbage trucks, reach the end
Port: System simplifi es stormwater monitoring
Continued from Page 1A
shaft, surrounded by metal
sheet piling, to install a man-
hole . Conway Construction
has been punching in another
at the southwestern foot of Pier
2.
Pumps will force storm run-
off to the Port’s new treatment
system . Gokcora said the new
system will eliminate most
locations where the Port’s run-
off can enter the Columbia
River, simplifying the Port’s
stormwater monitoring.
At the foot of Pier 3 is a
large earthen hill, the collec-
tion of sediment dug out of the
pier’s western edge to create 2
acres of ponds, ringed by gravel
access roads. Stormwater from
throughout the Port will fl ow
into in initial reservoir. Once
the water level reaches high
enough, it next travels through
pipes into a settling pond,
during which suspended sol-
ids can settle, and contaminants
leached out of the water by soil
and native vegetation.
The water from the settling
pond will be distributed via a
fl ow-spreader into a series of
parallel, vegetated biofi ltra-
tion swales, using native vege-
tation to leach out silt and pol-
lutants from oil and grease to
wood and other objects. Envi-
ronmental engineer Ada Ban-
asik said the vegetation in the
system will be a mix of estua-
rine plants, including blue wild
rye, red fescue, tufted hairgrass,
western mannagrass and Amer-
ican slough grass.
Also in the swales are
gabion cages fi lled with oyster
shells. The shells contain large
amounts of calcium carbonate,
which can capture and solidify
heavy metals such as copper.
Gokcora estimates the shells
will need replacing depending
on how much stormwater they
handle.
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Civil engineer Cem Gokcora from environmental consultant
Maul Foster Alongi checks progress on the Port of Astoria’s
new stormwater treatment system. The system, located next
to Astoria Forest Products’ log-processing yard, uses gabion
cages filled with oyster shells to filter copper and other met-
als out of storm runoff before it enters the Columbia River.
Gokcora said the entire sys-
tem is built to handle more than
3 inches of rainfall in a day.
Banasik said the swales will be
able to treat 6,800 gallons of
stormwater per minute.
The treated water comes out
of a drain on the west edge of
Pier 3 into the Columbia.
Past due
The stormwater treatment
system is technically more
than three months past due.
The state Department of Envi-
ronmental Protection sent the
Port notice in August 2014 that
by the end of June, they would
have to make the system oper-
ational to prevent an inordinate
amount of copper from enter-
ing the river.
Copper can stunt the navi-
gation skills and olfactory sys-
tem of salmon and other marine
life.
By not building stormwater
treatment, the Port could lose
its federal stormwater permit
and its ability to conduct busi-
ness. But Jim Knight, the Port’s
executive director, said the state
has held off on any enforce-
ment as long as the Port shows
satisfactory progress.
The Port Commission
recently authorized the agency
to borrow up to $1.6 million to
pay for the project . Staff have
been working on a plan to split
the cost with tenants based on
how much land each entity
owns in the area where storm-
water will be treated.
Federal aid
Knight said he is waiting
to approach tenants with exact
fi gures on the cost of the treat-
ment system, because the Fed-
eral Emergency Management
Agency could pay for the col-
lection of stormwater off of
Pier 2, which is not currently a
part of the project.
“FEMA has entered the pic-
ture because of the storm dam-
age in the area,” Knight said.
The Port experienced heavy
damage throughout the cen-
tral waterfront during storms
in December. Since then, the
Port and other local agen-
cies have been taking steps to
secure funding from the fed-
eral agency, which can pay
up to 75 percent of the cost of
repairs.
Knight said the agency
might be willing to pay for
rerouting of stormwater off
Pier 2 to the new treatment
system. He said it will likely
take a couple of months to get
a project proposal to the fed-
eral agency’s desk, and another
couple of months before the
project might be approved.
But Knight said he still
expects the stormwater treat-
ment project to wrap up by
the end of November. From
the Astoria Riveralk on Pier
3, the public will get a full
view of the entire system. As
part of the ability to rent the
land for the system for $750
a year from the state, the Port
is required to build an inter-
pretive display along the walk
showing how the entire system
works.
of their useful life, “the value
is only a few thousand dollars.”
The measure, he said, would
also not restrict the commission
from listening to or bargain-
ing with sellers, or having open
meetings on the sale of city-
owned tangible assets.
“The Commission would
still need to vote on these mat-
ters to send the question to the
voters for their approval,” he
wrote. “This would be similar
to what the Commission does
when they want to present to the
voters a bond measure request.
This would make the whole
process more transparent.”
Firefighter David
Norris and Can-
non Beach Police
Officer Matthew
Nunnally along with
firefighter Shaunna
White work to sta-
bilize surfer Joseph
Tanner after he was
attacked by a shark.
Cannon Beach Fire
and Rescue
Shark: There have been
20 attacks off the Oregon
Coast in the past 25 years
Continued from Page 1A
Emanuel Medical Cen-
ter in Portland with serious
injuries.
Cannon Beach Rural Fire
Protection District Chief Matt
Benedict said it looked like
the shark had sunk its teeth in.
“You have some big arter-
ies in your leg so if you cut
one, you could lose a lot of
blood,” Benedict said.
In the aftermath of Mon-
day’s attack, Indian Beach
within Ecola State Park
remains open, but advisory
signs warn of shark danger.
The Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department rec-
ommended that people using
the ocean offshore, especially
surfers, consult fellow surf-
ers and experts with organi-
zations such as the Surfrider
Foundation.
In past years, surfers at
the Seaside Cove, Oswald
West State Park, Tillamook
Head and Short Sand Beach
have reported shark inju-
ries, according to the Shark
Research Institute. The last
reported shark incident at
Indian Beach occurred in
1988.
In 1979, a surfer reported
being injured by a shark at
Haystack Rock in Cannon
Beach.
The online Global Shark
Attack File database shows
there have been 20 attacks
off the Oregon coast during
the past 25 years, all involv-
ing surfers who survived.
The most recent happened
three years ago, off Gleneden
Beach in Lincoln County.
Investigators have yet to
determine what type of shark
bit Tanner.
The Associated Press con-
tributed to this report.
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Dam: Water district doesn’t have title to dam
Continued from Page 1A
The water district has oper-
ated the dam since it was built
with the help of the federal
government in 1963. The fed-
eral government said in 2014
that the water district was the
owner and could freely operate
or decommission the structure,
which had reached its 50-year
useful life.
But the water district
does not have title to
the dam. The district
obtained an easement from
the city in 1962 to operate the
structure.
Blitz has argued that the
water district has forfeited the
city easement by removing the
tide gates.
The attorney has said the
city should take control of the
dam and determine whether it
should be operated for fl ood
control. The city could also
hold the dam as an asset and
remove it later as wetlands
mitigation for a development
project.
Francis has previously
said the water district should
consider shifting the dam to
the city for $1 to avoid any
liability.
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