‘IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE’ AT THE COASTER THEATRE COAST WEEKEND • INSIDE
144TH YEAR, NO. 115
ONE DOLLAR
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2016
Seaside
files suit
against
Shilo Inn
Hotel chain owes city
more than $100,000
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
The Jia Da bulk carrier anchored in the Columbia River on Tuesday with snowy peaks in the background. Snow and sleet is in
the forecast for Astoria today as the National Weather service issued a winter storm warning until midnight tonight.
Snowy weather forecast
prompts area closures
The weather outside
could be frightful
The Daily Astorian
I
t could be a wintry day.
The National Weather Service issued a
winter storm warning for the North Coast
until midnight.
“A winter storm warning means significant
amounts of snow, sleet and ice are expected or
occurring,” the weather service said. “Strong
winds are also possible. This will make travel
very hazardous or impossible.”
The storm notice prompted the closure of
Clatsop County offices, although the courts
remained open. State offices also closed.
Clatsop Community College announced it
was closing at 1 p.m. Final exams scheduled
prior to 1 p.m will still be held.
School districts in Astoria, Knappa, War-
renton-Hammond, Seaside, Jewell, Neah-
Kah-Nie, Tillamook and Clatskanie also
closed, along with the Northwest Regional
Education Service District’s Clatsop Service
Center in Astoria and Washington’s Ocean
Beach School District.
Craig Hoppes, superintendent of Asto-
ria School District, said school districts
throughout the county had been confer-
ring and decided to cancel school after tak-
ing part in a webinar with the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration, which
upgraded the likelihood of a winter storm
from possible to imminent.
“The other thing that makes me nervous
is that … the storm was supposed to happen
while kids were in school,” Hoppes said.
Hoppes said the district didn’t want a sit-
uation in which parents would have trouble
picking up children from school. He said it
has been at least two years since all school
districts closed at once. The schools also can-
celed all athletic and extracurricular activi-
ties for today. Warrenton also closed the pre-
school and kids care programs.
Snow of up to 1 inch is possible near Asto-
ria and Long Beach, Washington, according
to the forecast.
Federal agencies, meanwhile, have post-
poned a public meeting in Astoria to dis-
cuss the future of dams on the Columbia
and Snake rivers. The meeting, which had
been scheduled for this afternoon at The
Loft at the Red Building, will now take place
Dec. 15.
SEASIDE — Shilo Inn owes Seaside
more than $100,000 in lodging taxes, and
the city went to court this month to collect.
The complaint in Clatsop County Circuit
Court asks for delinquent taxes of $112,574,
with interest of 1 percent per month and an
additional penalty of nearly $17,000. It is the
third time the city has sued Shilo for back
taxes this year.
“If you’ve looked at the complaint that
I’ve filed, this is the third time I’ve had to
do that within the last five or six months,”
City Attorney Dan Van Thiel said. “I take
the position that any of the hotels or any-
body who has the responsibility to collect
that money is a fiduciary. That’s the city’s
money.”
Altogether, the city is seeking to collect
almost $143,000 in tax, penalties and inter-
est on Shilo’s taxable room rentals of almost
$1.5 million.
See SEASIDE, Page 7A
Submitted Photo
The Shilo Inn in Seaside owes more
than $100,000 in room taxes to the city
of Seaside.
Warrenton prepares to sue over dam
The city would
operate dam for
flood control
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
Warrenton could sue the Skipanon Wa-
ter Control District and take over the
Eighth Street Dam for flood control.
WARRENTON — The city has
drafted a lawsuit against the Ski-
panon Water Control District to
take over the Eighth Street Dam and
operate the aging structure for flood
control.
The lawsuit describes the dam
as an integral part of the city’s levee
system overseen by the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers. The suit claims
an emergency exists and that War-
renton must reinstall tide gates on the
dam to avoid the harm of flooding.
Akin Blitz, a Portland attorney
representing the city, gave the water
district until a City Commission
meeting on Tuesday night to resolve
the dispute or face the lawsuit in Cir-
cuit Court.
Tessa Scheller, the chairwoman of
the water district, said the water dis-
trict remains committed to removing
the dam as a hazard and to improve
fish passage on the Skipanon River.
The water district removed the tide
gates last year and believes the dam
is not useful for flood control.
“We are sad to see the city pro-
posing to waste public funds on liti-
gation against another public body,”
Scheller said. “We have previously
suggested the city engage in medi-
ation through (Portland State Uni-
versity’s National Policy Consensus
Center).
“It’s not clear to us why they have
instead chosen to go to court and to
waste taxpayers’ funds doing so.”
Quiet title
The city has threatened to sue
since September to settle ownership
rights to the dam. Blitz has drafted
what is known as an action to quiet
title, which seeks a court order to
establish property ownership.
The Eighth Street Dam was built
in 1963 with the financial help of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture. The
water district obtained an easement
from the city to operate the dam in
partnership with the USDA’s Natu-
ral Resources Conservation Service.
See DAM, Page 7A
Cannon Beach adopts first affordable housing plan
Park models,
code changes
could come
By LYRA FONTAINE
The Daily Astorian
CANNON BEACH — The
Cannon Beach City Coun-
cil has voted unanimously
to adopt the city’s affordable
housing task force report.
The plan — which aims to
encourage and facilitate the
creation of long-term work-
force rentals for year-round
residents — recommends plac-
ing park model homes within
the city-owned RV Resort and
council work ses-
amending munici-
sion in January.
pal code.
“Most, if not
all, of the initia-
Workforce
tives end up coming
housing
back before you in a
Up to 10 spots
more detailed form
in the RV Resort
as a fleshed-out pro-
should be dedi-
posal,” City Plan-
cated to park model
ner Mark Barnes
homes, the report
said Tuesday to
stated. The cus-
Mark Barnes
the council, which
tomizable homes,
reviewed the report in Novem- about 400 square feet, can
ber. “If you do adopt this, some be installed in the RV spaces
of this you’ll see very soon.”’
and hooked up to existing
Each proposal requires water and electrical systems.
additional action by the City The program could start with
Council, Planning Commis- three to eight park models and
sion or Design Review Board. potentially grow to 25.
Barnes will present imple-
mentation measures at the
See HOUSING, Page 7A
Submitted Photo
The city plans to place up to 10 park model homes at the
city-owned Cannon Beach RV Resort.