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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2016)
4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016 School: Open enrollment for academy could start by March 1 Continued from Page 1A the academy’s board can move forward and begin inaliz- ing inancial details, apply for grants, plan for enrollment, prepare the school building and start hiring staff, accord- ing to board President Kel- lye Dewey and board member Barb Knop. In October 2015, the dis- trict’s board approved the charter school’s application with a set of conditions, such as the school would serve at least 44 kindergarten and irst- grade students in its irst year. In March, the district with- drew conditional approval, stating the academy fell short on funding, enrollment and a state-approved English Lan- guage Development program for English language learners. “The bulk of their applica- tion was very well done and thorough, but there were a few things that needed to be addressed,” Superintendent Sheila Roley said. Roley, her staff, the dis- trict’s attorney and the acade- my’s board members worked during the past six months to address the issues that led to the conditional approval being revoked. The academy’s board met with the district’s Finance Committee before the regular district meeting Tuesday and presented the strides the orga- nization has made to meet the requirements for a successful application. For example, the acad- emy decided to use the same English Language Devel- opment program as the dis- trict, as it already is state-ap- proved. The academy clariied certain aspects of its inancial plan, with revenue to be gener- ated primarily through district funding, pledges, fundraising and grants, Knop and Dewey said. Other details of the inan- cial plan will be determined during negotiations over the charter contract, Roley said. Board member Tom Malt- man, who is on the inance committee, said the cohesion between the two groups has solidiied during the past few months, allowing the process to move forward eficiently with clear communication. “They understand where we’re at, we understand where they’re at,” he said. Fellow committee mem- bers Lynn Ulbricht and Patrick Noield agreed. The steps accomplished in the process to this point are “a testament to their board and the people in Cannon Beach that are sustaining this after all the obstacles” they’ve encoun- tered, as well as the prob- lem-solving efforts of Roley and her staff, Noield said. The board unanimously voted in favor of establishing the charter and giving Roley and her staff the authority to negotiate the contract. Moving forward, the acade- my’s board will continue work- ing with the district, with the goal “to have a contract in place by the end of the year,” Knop said. Open enrollment could start by March 1, in prepara- tion for the academy to be oper- ational for the 2017-18 school year. The academy also now can apply for Oregon Department of Education charter school implementation grants that will be available in the spring. Dewey said she is “extremely excited to move forward with the district” and continue growing “a great relationship.” Dam: City Commission, water district could meet in work session Continued from Page 1A Blitz, who has threatened a lawsuit against the water dis- trict or the city’s seizure of the dam, urged the water district to voluntarily give up any own- ership claim so the city would have control and could work as the local partner with the fed- eral or state governments. “What I have put in front of you is a no risk, no liability way to wash your hands of all of this and go back to whatever other ways you’d all be spending your time,” Blitz said at a meet- ing of the water district’s board at the Paciic Grange. The water district’s board voted to seek legal counsel for advice on how to respond to the city. The board also sought a work session with the City Commission to discuss options going forward. The water district has con- ceded that it holds no title to the dam. But the federal gov- ernment said in a 2014 letter — after the dam’s 50-year use- ful life had expired — that the water district was the owner and was free to operate or remove the dam at its discre- tion. Ownership, however, was based on the city easement to use the property as a dam. The board also voted to relock a barricade on a gravel road over the dam that had been unlocked by the city as a precaution for last weekend’s storms. The water district had barricaded the road earlier this year for liability reasons. we’ve provided a nifty little service to operate these things carefully.” Transferring the dam to the city for $1, as Francis has sug- gested in the past, is problem- atic since the water district has no proof of ownership. “The conclusion I’ve come to is that nobody has a title or deed to the structure. So I don’t think that’s a point we should even discuss any further,” Fran- cis said. “I think that now what we need to do is concentrate on each of us putting forward what they would like to see happen with the structure.” Francis, the board’s vice chairman, said he wants an agreement with the city to remove the dam and clarify the water district’s boundaries. He said the city should receive any wetlands mitigation credits for taking out the aging structure. He said it “seems to me that the structure has outlived its Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian The Skipanon Water Control District wants to remove the Eighth Street Dam as obsolete and a hazard. Warrenton, however, wants to take control of the structure over the Skipanon River. usefulness and that the system needs to be decommissioned.” Charles Switzer, another water district board member, said he is disappointed with Warrenton. He said the water district was blindsided by the city’s about-face on the dam and the legal threats “and, to me, it’s almost a form of bul- Tessa Scheller, the water district’s chairwoman, repeated her doubts that the dam ever provided adequate lood con- trol. She said the structure is obsolete and should be removed as a hazard. Tak- ing out the dam, she believes, would also improve water qual- ity and salmon habitat on the river. Scheller stood by an engi- neering plan approved by the water district this year that found that removing the dam would not increase lood risk. A city technical review ques- tioned whether the engineer- ing plan accurately modeled the lood plain, while oppo- nents of removing the dam — including the Nygaard family, which owns Warrenton Fiber, and Mayor Mark Kujala’s fam- ily, which owns property near the dam — have warned of the potential for looding. “This is our intention,” Scheller said. “To remove an unsafe, obsolete dam that causes problems with water quality, ish passage, recreation and more.” No title Levee system Blitz said his understand- ing now is that the Eighth Street Dam is part of Warren- ton’s levee system — an idea disputed by the water district seek to remove it later in return for wetlands mitigation credits on a development project. The City Commission could justify taking control of the dam as potentially necessary for levee certiication, which has been a contentious issue with the federal government. But the city might also have to explain the public-policy ratio- nale for assuming legal respon- sibility for a dam that could be obsolete and a safety haz- ard. If the dam were to fail, or if a driver were to crash off the gravel road into the river, the city could be liable. The city could also have to pay to remove the dam in the future. The federal Bonneville Power Administration had pre- viously agreed to inance the $1.2 million deal to remove the dam and install a single-lane bridge as part of its com- mitment to improve salmon habitat. OCT 19 – NOV 1, 2016* Obsolete and a hazard Scheller acknowledged pre- viously that the water district does not hold title to the dam, but she has been skeptical about the city’s aggressive move to gain control after 53 years. The water district, the Colum- bia River Estuary Study Task- force and the city had an agree- ment to install a single-lane bridge for the city over the river after the dam was removed, but it fell apart this year when the City Commission declined to renew the deal. Two other water district board members — Robert Strickland and Bruce Francis — said unequivocally Tuesday that the water district does not own the dam. “We don’t own anything, never have owned any land,” Strickland said of the dam and two other lood-control struc- tures on the river built with the federal government. “It hasn’t been our function. For 50 years, lying. And no transparency in the city government. And those things sort of bother me.” and, at one point, Kurt Fritsch, who resigned as city manager in June amid questions over the dam. Removing the tide gates or taking out the structure, Blitz argues, should fall under a more stringent U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permitting process. The changes, he said, would also require approval from the city as the local sponsor of the levee system. Blitz, in a draft agreement offered to the water district Tuesday, claims the city has “superior interest” in the dam because of the levees. The lan- guage is softer than a Sep- tember letter where the attor- ney asserted that the record demonstrated the city owns the dam. The attorney has said the city, if it takes control of the dam, could install tide gates and operate the dam for lood control. The city could also pre- serve the dam as an asset and 99¢ lb. $ 1.39 /lb. ORGANIC VALENCIA ORANGES Great Deal! ORGANIC APPLES Fuji and Jonagold Save $1.60 per lb. Save $1.00 per lb. $ 1.69 /lb. 99¢ lb. ORGANIC STARKRIMSON PEARS Northwest-grown ORGANIC GREEN CABBAGE Oregon-grown Save $1.30 per lb. Save 40¢ per lb. $ 2.00 off DECK FAMILY FARM SAUSAGE Great Deal! $10 OFF your purchase of $50 or more at Astoria Co-op Grocery 1355 Exchange Street Valid Oct. 19 – Nov. 1, 2016. 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