3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
Consultant suggests improvements to state crisis unit
Unit operates
23 homes for
people with
severe needs
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Feedback from
a consultant hired to assess
safety within the state’s resi-
dential crisis services for peo-
ple with developmental dis-
abilities is “not glowing,”
according to the director of the
state’s Stabilization and Crisis
Unit.
The crisis unit operates 23
homes along the I-5 corridor
between Portland and Eugene,
according to the state Depart-
ment of Human Services.
About 100 people live in these
facilities, which are intended
to help people with severe
needs.
SACU Director Jana
McLellan, in a presentation
Monday to the Client Staff
and Safety Task Force, said the
consultant has tentatively rec-
ommended the unit improve
staff training and take a more
individualized approach to
residents.
The task force was estab-
lished in 2015 and directed
by the Legislature to evaluate
safety and make recommenda-
tions on staff safety, resident
care and the operation of crisis
unit facilities.
Although the task force
was required to provide its rec-
ommendations to the Legisla-
ture by Sept. 15, it determined
then that none were “ready for
submission.”
A consultant, Benchmark
Human Services, Inc., was
brought on this spring to inves-
tigate safety and health issues
of people both working for and
getting services from the cri-
sis unit.
McLellan said Monday she
expects Benchmark’s report
to be complete next month.
The consultancy has reviewed
information provided by the
crisis unit and has conducted
interviews with more than 30
staff, management and other
stakeholders in the system.
McLellan said the consul-
tant’s report will focus on sev-
eral best practice areas, include
staff training, medication man-
agement, access to psychiat-
ric services, residential capac-
ity and using data to inform
policy and programming
decisions. The inal report is
expected to have several com-
ponents, including recommen-
dations on implementing the
indings.
According to early ind-
ings, McLellan said, the crisis
unit is perceived as separate
from and not integrated with
the larger system of services
and care for people with devel-
opmental disabilities; and the
unit may not be adapting to the
changing needs of the popula-
tion it serves.
State Sen. Sara Gelser,
D-Corvallis, who co-chairs the
task force, and Eva Rippeteau,
a task force member and polit-
ical coordinator for the Associ-
ation of Federal, State, County
and Municipal Employees,
said that many of the consul-
tant’s initial indings were not
surprising.
Gelser asked McLellan
what the crisis unit was doing
now to address the issues,
some of which Gelser said did
not require funding to improve.
McLellan, pointing to par-
ticular feedback indicating that
crisis unit residents did not
appear to spend enough time
in “meaningful engagement”
in the community, said the
unit is still trying to get more
information.
McLellan said she believed
on average a crisis unit resi-
dent has 10 hours a month of
“meaningful
engagement,”
which the consultant consid-
ered low and which McLellan
said was not an “acceptable”
number of hours.
It’s possible there are a
variety of reasons for that low
number, McLellan said —
there may not be enough staff
or transportation to support
many community outings, for
example.
A representative from the
consultancy is expected to
attend the next task force meet-
ing to discuss the indings.
McLellan also qualiied her
report to the task force, saying
it was based on her conversa-
tions with the consultant, and
that the recommendations may
look different when compiled
into a inal report.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
Coast River Inn debuts new look with ‘budget boutique’ style
Remodeled
hotel seeks to
ill a niche
By KATHERINE
LACAZE
For The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — Here’s one
boutique hotel geared to be
affordable.
Hotelier Masudur Khan,
managing director of Seaside
Lodging, purchased the Coast
River Inn and adjacent River
View Inn on Holladay Drive
and Avenue G as a package
deal in August 2015. The two
properties and accompanying
buildings were combined to
create the 42-bedroom “bud-
get boutique” hotel, designed
to attract guests in the mid-
scale level, Khan said.
Khan was irst offered the
properties about three years
ago. He declined but changed
his mind after recognizing
potential in the lodging facil-
ities, which were not receiving
adequate use or attention.
“One day I thought,
‘Maybe I’ll take this and see
what happens,’” he said, add-
ing he hoped to improve the
buildings’ aesthetics to appeal
to travelers along Holladay, a
main thoroughfare in Seaside.
“This is a property you can see
right away.”
The Coast River Inn
recently underwent an approx-
imately $400,000 exterior and
interior face-lift after being
acquired by Seaside Lodging.
Submitted Photo
The interior of the 42-bedroom Coast River Inn was re-
modeled in addition to the exterior. The rooms received
new furniture, appliances, bed and bedding.
The Coast River Inn offers
a bike service, which gives
guests use of the bikes for
an hour for free.
updates included new furni-
ture, appliances and bedding,
along with the installation of
complimentary
high-speed
wireless internet.
On the outside, the build-
ings received new cedar stain-
ing, lighting and signage. A
sidewalk was installed to con-
nect the former River View Inn
to the original Coast River Inn
building. The hotel was given
a new logo and orange color
scheme, which was incorpo-
rated into the landscaping.
Guests wanting to tour Sea-
side can use the hotel’s new
complimentary bike rental
service. Management ini-
tially purchased two bikes,
unsure how the service would
be received. Before long, they
were compelled to increase
the stock from two to seven to
meet demand.
“Guests like to explore
Seaside” on the bicycles, said
the Coast River Inn’s rating
among Seaside hotels has
steadily increased during the
past six months. While it for-
merly sat near the bottom, it
was ranked No. 10 on Tri-
pAdvisor recently, although
the ratings can frequently
luctuate.
Under Seaside Lodg-
ing’s ownership, the property
has increased employment
with the addition of eight
to 10 full-time employees.
While previously the proper-
ties housed longer-term ten-
ants for weeks or months at
a time, the Coast River Inn
now focuses on the more tra-
ditional hotel model of guests
staying only a few days,
which contributes a signii-
cant lodging tax increase to
the city. Now that the reno-
vation is inished, Khan said,
“we are expecting higher
occupancy next year.”
Don Frank Photography
Submitted Photo
This image from Seaside Lodging compares the Coast
River Inn before its renovation, started last fall, and after.
The renovation began last fall,
as the tourist season began to
wane. Khan did not want the
project to interrupt summer
business, he said. Even then,
the renovation focused on one
building irst, followed by the
other, so the hotel could con-
tinue functioning throughout
the remodel.
“We didn’t actually shut
down the whole hotel,” Khan
said.
About 80 percent of the
renovation was completed by
March, with just a few cus-
tom-made orders outstanding.
While most of the renova-
tion took place on the exterior
of the buildings, some interior
Kaarina Vera, the sales, mar-
keting and revenue manager.
With the addition of the
Coast River Inn, Seaside
Lodging’s portfolio of inde-
pendent hotels grew to four,
including the Inn at Seaside,
the River Inn at Seaside and
the City Center Motel. Each
lodging facility is targeted
toward a different market
segment, from economy to
upper midscale.
With a fairly central loca-
tion but few amenities, such
as a swimming pool or com-
plimentary breakfast, Khan
said the Coast River Inn
appeals to a younger, modern
crowd looking for something
new in Seaside that is reason-
ably priced for the market.
“They’re getting good
rooms,” Khan added. “It’s not
too crowded and it’s quiet.”
Under new management
and with the renovation,
City Council gives the nod to design work on trestle repairs
Work needed
for trolley to
run next year
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
The city has set in motion
the trestle repairs necessary
for the Astoria Riverfront
Trolley to operate next year.
The City Council on Mon-
day night approved more than
$23,000 for design services
on a construction project esti-
mated to cost $319,500. The
city will use tourism money
in the Promote Astoria fund to
inance the project.
The city will focus on
the 3 miles of track and four
trestles used by the trolley
between Portway Street and
39th Street. Councilors sepa-
rately approved about $14,500
for repairs to the trestle along
the Astoria Riverwalk near
Alderbrook.
“If the trolley is going to
run this next summer, this
work has to happen,” City
Manager Brett Estes said.
Annual maintenance costs
will approach about $276,000
over the next decade. The city
is in talks with the trolley asso-
ciation about sharing the costs.
“Well this is deinitely a
tough pill to swallow,” City
Councilor Zetty Nemlow-
ill said. “It’s not the irst time
we’ve heard about it, but the
Riverwalk is of utmost prior-
ity in Astoria, so I don’t see
that we have any other choice
but to award this contract
tonight.”
The city is also doing about
$206,000 in emergency repair
work to wooden bridges on the
Recreational marijuana sales reach $160 million this year
Associated Press
EUGENE — Marijuana
dispensaries have sold more
than $160 million worth of
recreational marijuana so far
this year.
The
Register-Guard
reported that according to
sales tax igures released Mon-
day by the state Department
of Revenue, more than $160
million worth of pot was sold
in the irst nine months of the
year, bringing in $40.2 million
in sales tax payments.
State-regulated
medical
marijuana dispensaries charge
a 25 percent sales tax to cus-
tomers for recreational mari-
juana products.
The igures come weeks
W A NTED
A der and Map e Saw Logs & Stand ng T mber
ort w e t H rdw ood • Lo gv ew , A
Con ac S eve Ax e • 360 430 0885 o John Ande on • 360 269 2500
In Loving Memory of our
Beloved Don McComber
who passed away August 29, 2016. He
was very special to all his family and
many friends. He will be greatly missed
for the loving, caring family man he
was. We could always count on him to
be there for us. May he rest in peace
with our Lord and Saviour.
Love, The Family
after the Oregon Liquor Con-
trol Commission licensed the
irst retailers in its recreational
marijuana program. Those
retailers charge a 17 percent
state sales tax for all recre-
ational marijuana products.
Medical dispensaries must
become licensed with the
OLCC if they want to continue
to sell recreational pot in 2017.
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north ends of Sixth through
11th streets near the River-
walk. The work is a temporary
ix while the city moves for-
ward with a $12 million proj-
ect to replace the short, street-
end bridges over the next few
years.
In other business Monday
night:
• The City Council updated
a legal services contract with
City Attorney Blair Hennings-
gaard. The agreement includes
a $3,000 pay raise, from
$84,000 to $87,000 a year. The
rate Henningsgaard charges to
handle nonroutine city matters
will also go up by $10 an hour,
from $180 to $190 an hour.
Re-elect
Deborah
Boone
State Representative
HD 32, Democrat
Native Oregonian
Rural homeowner in HD 32 since 1974
“TheendorsementofRepresentativeDeborah
Boone is the result of careful consideration
bytheSheriffsofOregon.Weareconident
Deborah will promote laws designed to
betterprotectOregoniansandtheirfamilies
bymakinglawenforcementmoreeffective.”
— Sheriffs of oregon PAC
DeBORahiSaLSOenDORSeDBy:
Oregon Nurseries PAC
Cultural Advocacy Coalition
American Federation of
Oregon State Building &
Teachers–Oregon (AFT-Oregon)
Constructions Trades Council
Sen. Ron Wyden
Oregon State Fireighters Council
Sen. Jeff Merkley
Oregon State Council
for Retired Citizens
Oregon School Employees Assn.
National Electrical Contractors Assn. Basic Rights Oregon Equality PAC
Stand for Children Oregon
Oregon AFSCME Council 75
Oregon Coalition of Police & Sheriffs
Humane Oregon
Working Hard for YoU in HD 32
BooneforStateRep.org
Paid for by: Boone for State Representative P.O. Box 637, Cannon Beach, OR 97110
