7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2016
Veterans: Next stop for group is a reserve on Whidbey Island
Continued from Page 1A
“We want to take veterans
who have transitioned from the
military, and we want to focus
that leadership and that can-do
attitude and that take-no-pris-
oners attitude, and refocus it
from a military perspective
to a community perspective,”
Pfeffer said. “We find that a lot
of the skills that veterans bring
to the table from their service
in the military translates very
well to the community impact
projects.”
Common ground
The Mission Continues
found a partner in the National
Parks Conservation Associ-
ation, a nonprofit focused on
improving national parks.
“What better place than
a national park,” said Rob
Smith, the group’s regional
director in Seattle. “Everybody
agrees that this is the common
ground that we all share.”
The partners found a proj-
ect site at Otter Point, where
33 acres of parkland were
reconnected to tidal influence
from the adjacent Lewis and
Clark River in 2012.
Contractors dug trenches
through 70-year-old dredge
spoil deposits to recreate
off-channel salmon habitat.
They built a new dike around
the inland side of the project,
and breached an existing dike
fronting the Lewis and Clark.
Alicia Todd, a specialist
with the U.S. National Guard’s
181st Brigade Support Battal-
ion in Seattle, has been volun-
teering with The Mission Con-
tinues for a year and a half.
“I regain my faith in
humanity when I’m out here
on projects,” she said, shovel
in hand after planting several
Sitka spruce. Todd also vol-
unteers with Team Rubicon,
another veterans service orga-
nization that dispatches disas-
ter responders.
Park in need
Last year, the National Park
Service reported nearly $12 bil-
lion in deferred maintenance.
Matt Shaefer, the chief of
facility maintenance at Lewis
and Clark, said the park relies
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
ABOVE: Scott Whisler digs a hole for a plant during The
Mission Continues restoration project at Otter Point on
Saturday at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in
Astoria. RIGHT: Alicia Todd, a specialist in the U.S. Army
National Guard, helps move trees to be planted during a
restoration project at Otter Point on Saturday.
mostly on contractors for its
major projects. The Otter Point
project was overseen for the
park by Columbia River Estu-
ary Study Taskforce, and paid
for by the Bonneville Power
Administration.
Handling general mainte-
nance are a mixture of park
staff and part-time seasonal
workers from the pathways
program, which provides fed-
eral internships for students
on break. Last year, 410 vol-
unteers contributed more than
9,200 hours of service at the
park. The park values each
donated hour at $23.56.
“That’s really huge for us,”
Shaefer said.
There isn’t as much fanfare
for returning post-911 veterans
as there was after World War
II, Pfeffer said. “Programs like
this really enable citizens that
don’t have a lot of contact with
the military to all of a sudden
get out there and do something
with our veterans.”
The group next heads to
Ebey’s Landing National His-
toric Reserve on Whidbey
Island. Pfeffer said anyone —
civilian or veteran — inter-
ested in volunteering with The
Mission Continues can contact
him at dpfeffer@missioncon-
tinues.org
CLOSED
Thanksgiv
ing
Monument: ‘We don’t have the resources’
Continued from Page 1A
The city has had diffi-
culty maintaining existing
parks and is under pressure
to cut costs or shed programs.
Without a commitment from
the heritage association, the
new monument would reduce
resources for maintaining
other parks.
“It is a great project, but
we don’t have the resources
to maintain our current park
sites and amenities,” said
Angela Cosby, the director
of the Parks and Recreation
Department. “We’re strug-
gling to keep those in opera-
ble condition, so adding addi-
tional park sites or amenities
further increases that burden.
“If the resources can be
made available, it completely
fixes the problem.”
The Parks and Recreation
Board in June had recom-
mended the new monument
with the understanding that
the heritage association would
adopt the park and help with
maintenance, similar to other
agreements with advocates
for the Astoria Column and
the Maritime Memorial Park.
A parks master plan
approved this year empha-
sizes maintaining existing
parks.
But the City Coun-
cil in August was reluctant
to impose the adopt-a-park
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The city is concerned about maintenance costs at a proposed Scandinavian monument
at Peoples Park downtown.
requirement on the heritage
association.
Both the parks depart-
ment and the heritage associ-
ation are asking for direction
from the City Council, which
will hear the issue at a meet-
ing tonight.
Loran Mathews, the pres-
ident of the heritage associ-
ation, has served on the City
Council and the city’s bud-
get committee and is aware of
the financial demands on the
parks department.
Last year, the city agreed
to place portable toilets at
Peoples Park off 16th Street
after complaints about pub-
lic urination and defecation
downtown. A deteriorating
platform where the homeless
would gather was removed
this year. Filling Empty Bel-
lies, which provides lunch to
the homeless, has used the
park as a staging area.
“I think it could be a nice
addition to the park, and that’s
where we’re at,” Mathews
said. “We thought it would be
a nice upgrade to the park.
Eddy: Veteran’s family has a
history of local public service
Continued from Page 1A
With so many areas to
cover, Eddy said he has
to trust his employees to
make informed decisions.
“It’s really allowing peo-
ple to make decisions on
their own, and just keeping
me informed. I give them
guidance.”
Eddy is one of many vet-
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district.
“I think it’s great for
the community,” he said.
“They’re still able to give
back to the community and
have that civil service men-
tality. Big picture, we can’t
do enough for our veterans.”
Eddy, a Seaside native,
said his family has a history
of local public service. His
father, Bill Eddy, is chief of
the Gearhart Volunteer Fire
Department, and his grandfa-
ther — also Bill Eddy — was
the city’s chief of police. His
wife, Astoria native Melissa
Eddy, is an instructional
assistant in special education
at Astoria Middle School. His
son, Will, is a freshman at
Astoria High School.
— Edward Stratton
“I also understand their
problem in trying to maintain
everything, too.”
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