7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2016
Dam: Tide gates have become a crucial piece of the dispute
Continued from Page 1A
Warrenton believes the dam
is an integral part of the city’s
levee system, which is operated
in partnership with the Army
Corps. If the Army Corps were
to step in and side with the city,
the federal agency could help
clarify ownership and regula-
tory issues. The city could still
sue the water district later to
quiet title and recover costs.
“We wait and see what the
Army does,” said Akin Blitz, a
Portland attorney representing
Warrenton.
The emergency declara-
tion escalates what had already
been a complicated standoff
between the city and the water
district.
The water district believes
the 53-year-old dam is obso-
lete and has sought to remove
the structure and improve
salmon habitat and water qual-
ity on the Skipanon River.
“I certainly believe there’s
no emergency,” said Tessa
Scheller, the chairwoman of
the water district.
The tide gates had been left
open year-round since 2012
and were removed in 2015.
Scheller said the water district
did not think federal approval
was needed to remove the tide
gates.
The water district and the
Columbia River Estuary Study
Taskforce did obtain an Army
Corps permit to remove the
dam, but the $1.2 million proj-
ect was abandoned earlier
this year after the City Com-
mission declined to renew an
agreement that would have
provided the city with a sin-
gle-lane bridge over the river.
“I think it’s a situation
where the dam is really, truly
obsolete,” Scheller said.
Tide gates
The tide gates have become
a crucial piece of the dispute.
The city argues that the water
district forfeited a 1962 city
easement — and any claim
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
The Warrenton City Commission on Tuesday declared an emergency over the Eighth Street Dam.
for control over the dam — by
removing the tide gates. The
easement stipulates that rights
revert back to the city if the
water district no longer uses
the property for a dam.
Warrenton has recovered
two of the three tide gates and
is prepared to find a third gate
and reinstall the devices, pend-
ing guidance from the Army
Corps.
The city also anticipates
the Army Corps and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s
Natural Resources Conser-
vation Service — the partner
with the water district on the
dam — might have to discuss
transferring
administrative
jurisdiction.
The Natural Resources
Conservation Service had told
the water district in 2014 that
the district was free to oper-
ate and maintain the dam as
the owner, since the federal
interest was complete after the
structure reached its useful life
of 50 years in 2013. The fed-
eral agency has since clari-
fied that the statement did not
intend to infer the water district
owned property.
Emergency
The City Commission’s
decision to declare an emer-
gency over the dam was based
on anecdotal accounts of
flooding that may — or may
not — have been linked to the
removal of the tide gates, along
with a 2002 summary report by
the Natural Resources Conser-
vation Service.
The federal report advised
that removing the dam or the
tide gates was not feasible at
the time without additional
planning by the local com-
munity. Removal, the report
found, would increase the risk
of flood damages to upstream
properties.
Yet the report also found
that the dam was useful in a
two-year flood, not the 10-year
flood it had been designed for
in 1963. The report predicted
that total flood damages in a
10-year flood would be min-
imal with or without the tide
gates, but suggested options to
protect property or limit future
development.
The report also referred
to the structure’s deteriora-
tion and the fact that it was
nearing the end of its 50-year
design life. “At some point the
structure will need to be refur-
bished, replaced or removed,”
the report stated.
The city has also minimized
the relevance of a 2012 inspec-
tion of the dam by the state
Water Resources Department.
The inspection — performed
by a dam safety engineer a
decade after the federal report
— questioned whether the dam
was capable of meeting a flood
control objective. The struc-
ture, the inspection found, was
likely a significant hazard and
“probably increases risk to per-
sons near the dam in a major
hydrologic or tidal flood.”
The water district and the
city have also disputed whether
the water district’s engineer-
ing plan on the dam’s removal,
which was approved ear-
lier this year, accurately mod-
eled the flood plain and docu-
Skinner: ‘There are some real significant
needs that only a library can address’
Continued from Page 1A
Patty’s done,” he said.
“Early literacy is a very
important focus for public
libraries in general right now,
and I think it should be,” she
said.
A children’s librarian can
teach kids that books have
something to offer them, even
before aspiring readers can
comprehend the words on the
page.
The ultimate goal is not
simply to create readers but
passionate learners that value
reading. And this sets them up
for success in kindergarten and
beyond, she said.
“When they’re excited
about learning something new
— when they’re excited about
the world around them and
finding out more — that helps
them learn when they get to
school,” she said.
Though she officially
retired in September and
switched to part time, Skinner
has continued to run the chil-
dren’s programs while Jimmy
Pearson, the new library direc-
tor, seeks a part-time successor
who will focus solely on chil-
dren’s activities.
“I think Patty’s awesome,”
Pearson said, “and we’re defi-
nitely going to feel her loss.”
He said the library will con-
tinue Story Time events, and
the new employee may expand
the children’s programs,
depending on the need.
“Hopefully, they’ll be able
to continue the outreach that
After high school, Skinner
briefly considered a somewhat
different career.
“I’m a pretty small per-
son, and I thought I’d go into
business and own a store that
sold clothes for people my size
that were (for) my age group.
Because the clothes I (was)
finding would be appropriate
for my grandmother and not
myself,” she said. “But I real-
ized that wasn’t for me.”
Skinner moved to the
region in 1984 after teaching
elsewhere and later earned a
master’s degree in education
with an endorsement in infor-
mation technology (the new
name for library science). For
a while, she did substitute
teaching and story time at St.
Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic
Parish in Astoria. She joined
the Astoria Library shortly
after Pearson’s predecessor,
Jane Tucker, was hired.
Working with parents,
Skinner focuses less on lit-
eracy as a set of rigid bench-
marks and more on how par-
ents can create a home where
reading is appreciated and lan-
guage skills are fostered.
“The research, for years,
has shown us that reading to
your child frequently — and
we encourage parents to read
to their child at least once
a day, but more if they can
do it — it helps them under-
stand vocabulary, it helps them
Reading at home
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understand how stories are
structured,” she said.
In addition, “it’s a great
bonding experience. Parents
can really sit down with their
child and understand what
their child is interested in.”
One of the most valuable
things parents can do with
their child is simply talk with
them.
“Talk about what you’re
doing. Narrate your day. Lis-
ten to your child when they’re
trying to talk to you,” Skin-
ner said. “It’s a great way to
help them express themselves,
when they understand how our
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Significant needs
The Astoria Library is cur-
rently a point of contention
among locals.
In July, the Astoria City
Council voted against a
spendy proposal to build a new
21st century library at Heri-
tage Square because of a per-
ceived lack of public support
for the project, which may
have required a bond measure.
Instead, the council directed
city staff to devise a plan for
remodeling the existing library
with funds already on hand.
“My main concern is —
whatever happens to the build-
ing, whether it’s here or some-
place else — that we are doing
the best we can to meet the
needs of our community with
what we have,” Skinner said.
“I would love to see us in a
grand facility with all these dif-
ferent services, but we’re not a
wealthy community, and I real-
ize that,” she continued, “so I
think we need to really look at:
What can we really do?”
There will always be a
need for a public library,
which serves many walks of
life, from parents with infants
to adults looking for jobs to
senior citizens.
“We just have such a wide
variety of people walking in
the door, and it’s not just those
people that can’t afford to buy
books, it’s everybody,” she
said.
“There are some real signif-
icant needs that only a library
can address,” she added,
“because we are one of the
few organizations that don’t
have requirements for walk-
ing in the door and participat-
ing, and we don’t require pay-
ment every time you come
in, and that’s phenomenal for
people who don’t qualify for
services.”
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Mediation
The water district has
sought mediation through
Portland State University’s
National Policy Consensus
Center. Behind the scenes,
informal talks were planned
for Tuesday, but the water dis-
trict was not prepared for sub-
stantive negotiations with the
city given that a draft of the
city’s lawsuit was just released
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Cheri Walker
mented the risk of flooding.
last week.
Dick Hellberg, a former
city commissioner, said he
appreciates the city’s request to
the Army Corps for a review.
He urged city commissioners
to try to avoid a costly lawsuit.
“Any solution short of
going to (a lawsuit) is going to
be better,” he said.
Kathleen Zunkel, a retired
court reporter, chided com-
missioners for being “all over
the map” on the dam over the
past few years. She noted that
the dam — now so important
for flood control that the city
declared an emergency — was
described a few months ago as
a potential asset the city could
remove later as wetlands mit-
igation for a development
project.
“What is the real end game
here?” she asked. “What is this
going to cost? What do we as
citizens have to gain from this?
What other needed projects
will suffer as we bear the cost
of this litigation?
“There is a real lack of
transparency here. And some-
thing smells very bad in
Warrenton.”
Mayor Mark Kujala said the
city’s draft lawsuit and exhibits
detail the history of the issue
and the city’s position.
“I think we have been very
measured and patient in mov-
ing forward with this,” the
mayor said.
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