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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 22, 2016)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2016 Hotels: Hope city ‘will clarify and correct this misadventure’ Continued from Page 1A Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian A runner jogs along the Astoria Riverwalk next to a set of trees knocked down from ero- sion and storm damage last year. Slog: County faced cleaning up debris, landslides from storm Continued from Page 1A Pearson said the museum would have had to seek a 10-year loan with rather unat- tractive terms through the fed- eral Small Business Adminis- tration. He said the museum is now waiting to see which con- tractor the city uses to repair waterfront erosion. “Typically, there are some savings that can be found because they’re already on site,” he said. Erosion control City Engineer Jeff Har- rington said Astoria has claims of more than $257,00, of which FEMA will cover 75 percent. In addition, he said, the state’s Infrastructure Finance Author- ity agreed to pay the city’s 25 percent local match. Harrington said the city is waiting on a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair nearly $110,000 in erosion along the waterfront, hopefully in February. “The other project is more complicated,” he said. Along Pipeline Road, a hill- side eroded near a city water- line during the storms. The City Council approved repairing the slide with rock armoring, he said, but the National Marine Fisheries Service, which has to sign off on projects affecting fish-bearing streams, would not provide a permit. “They wanted us to do a bioengineered fix,” Harrington said. The city convinced the fed- eral agency to allow a tempo- rary repair with a small amount of rock, he said, and staff are now evaluating an alternative long-term fix. Despite the time it takes to get the federal funds and do the repairs, Harrington said, FEMA’s put forth a good effort to help local agencies navi- gate the process. “We have one contact at FEMA, and they contact everyone else.” City of Astoria The city of Astoria is still seeking permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- neers to repair about 20 spots and $110,000 worth of erosion along the Asto- ria waterfront. Embracing the process After the storm, the coun- ty’s Public Works Depart- ment faced cleaning up debris and landslides on rural road- ways around Jewell, Elsie and Vinemaple. “We got the bulk of reim- bursement for that damage, after lots of paperwork and justification,” said Michael Summers, the county’s pub- lic works director. “We got a check for $89,000, give or take … in the last week.” Summers said the county also received reimbursement after removing a large tree that fell over and blocked Plymp- ton Creek near Westport during the storms. He said there are still two more major storm-re- lated projects to repair erosion on Svensen Island Road and a landslide on Cole Mountain Road near Hamlet, but that the county should receive all of its reimbursements — about $175,000 — soon. “We’re making a lot of progress,” Summers said, add- ing the county spent $2,000 in staff and materials to get $89,000. “It’s a lot of paper- work. It’s embracing the process.” Waiting for a payout No other entity has embraced the process more than the Port of Astoria, the largest single waterfront land- owner and the agency most affected by the storm. The 75 percent coverage from FEMA could provide the Port with millions in federal funds to help repair numer- ous issue throughout the cen- tral waterfront. The agency has already secured more than $1.5 million from the Ore- gon Department of Transpor- tation’s ConnectOregon infra- structure grants to cover the local match. On Tuesday, the Port com- mission unanimously autho- rized KPFF Consulting Engi- neers from Portland to begin assessing the damage from the storms and create an estimate to send to FEMA that could create the basis for how much the agency receives. Stormwater support The Commission unani- mously authorized the agency earlier this year to take out a $1.8 million loan from Key Bank to pay for the construc- tion of a required stormwa- ter-treatment facility on Pier 3. Port staff are planning to share the cost of repayment based on how much land the agency owns and the tenants lease in the affected area. Jim Knight, the Port’s exec- utive director, has faced back- lash from Port commission- ers Stephen Fulton and Bill Hunsinger, who question how the Port is going to pay for the loan, while criticizing staff for not having a definite plan for tenants on the affected proper- ties to help pay for half of the project. “Tonight, you’re signing an agreement with an a engineer for work that might drastically reduce the cost of this (storm- water treatment) project,” Knight said Tuesday, adding the engineer could take until March or April to come up with an estimate of last year’s storm damage to the Port. tax, Finance Director Laurie Sawrey wrote in the Septem- ber letter. The city interprets “gross room rent” to include any fee that is mandatory, not refundable and paid in order to occupy the room, which is consistent with the Ore- gon Department of Revenue definition. “We are using the state’s definition for consistency and because we think it’s the right thing to do,” Sawrey said in December. The customer would pay more in taxes under the city’s interpretation of “gross room rent.” “The amounts quantified by a recent audit are not sig- nificant, but still an amount that the city should be collect- ing based on our definition of gross rent,” Sawrey said. Representatives from local hotels and vacation rental businesses met in November to discuss the city’s definition of “gross room rent.” None agreed with the city. “In our opinion the proto- col for amending the munici- pal code must include a pub- lic process and direction from the City Council,” states the letter to City Council from lodging industry members. “We respectfully ask that the city participate in appropri- ate dialogue with the Cannon Beach lodging industry to discuss elements of the code and work to clarify mutual expectations.” “In other Oregon munici- palities where we are involved in business — specifically The Dalles, Beaverton, Seaside and our relationships in Port- land — guests are taxed on room revenue only,” Escape Lodging Co. President Patrick Nofield said in December. Nofield said the room tax in Cannon Beach has only applied to room revenue until now, and lodging indus- try members are “concerned with the way the city imple- mented a change without vet- ting it through an appropriate process.” Escape Lodging reviewed Submitted Photo The Lodges at Cannon Beach, an Escape Lodging prop- erty, are among the hotels that could be affected by a January council decision. the municipal code chapter regarding the room tax and found the definition of “rent” to be “the gross rent, exclu- sive of other services,” Nof- ield said. In an October letter responding to Escape Lodg- ing’s concerns, Sawrey said the city’s code requirements for what is included in gross rents has not changed and the September letter was “a reminder and clarification” of code requirements. “We maintain that the city has the legal authority to enforce all of the conditions and requirements outlined in the letter,” Sawrey wrote. Linda Sweeney, owner of Cannon Beach Vacation Rentals, said the city’s inter- pretation of gross room tax could affect her business. She said there was a lack of public discussion about the interpre- tation, but she hopes that dis- cussion with the City Council “will clarify and correct this misadventure.” “The local lodging indus- try was blindsided with the recent interpretation of the lodging tax collection,” Sweeney said in an email. “We work hard to accom- plish the highest quality prod- uct at the most stressful time of year. The small profit that results must carry us through the remainder of the year. The city’s unreasonable behavior, unfair tactics and greediness hurts not only my business but will also reflect on other small businesses in Cannon Beach as our guests are being priced out of our market. They will look elsewhere to spend their vacation dollars.” The September letter to Cannon Beach lodging opera- tors also required lodging tax collection returns to include a copy of the state lodging tax quarterly return. Hotel guests pay an 8 per- cent city tax and 1.8 percent state tax to the hotel. The hotel forwards to the city 95 percent of the tax paid by the customer and keeps 5 percent of the amount, Sawrey said. The city is not asking lodging operators to go back and pay for room taxes they did not collect from nonop- tional fees, Sawrey said. Cannon Beach’s inter- pretation is different from nearby Seaside. Seaside does not require hotels to collect non-optional fees for room tax, said Jackie McCulloch, accountant for the city. Sea- side also does not require lodging companies to include a copy of the state lodging tax quarterly return in their room tax collection returns for the city, McCulloch said. COM ING IN FEBR UAR Y! 2017 ED ITIO N of th e a w a rd-w in n in g publica tion from th e publish ers of Coa st W eeken d Camp: Naselle youth facility on state chopping block again Continued from Page 1A but he praised their profession- alism in light of the unwel- come news. The youth camp employs about 89 full-time workers, along with 26 on-call security staff and about 10 from the local school district. “I’ll say this — I have never worked with a more resilient group of people than here. I am so impressed,” Escamilla said. Established in 1966, the 23-acre facility is known for the vocational, firefighting, fisheries and forestry training it offers in collaboration with the state Department of Natu- ral Resources. In recent years, the camp has also been recog- nized for achieving high test scores in the school program, run by Naselle-Grays River School District. Proposed closures The fate of the youth camp will not be decided until the state Legislature has a crack at the budget during the 2017 leg- islative session, which starts in early January. It won’t be the first time legislators have had to contemplate shuttering the youth camp. Since the 1990s, the youth camp has survived several proposed closures, most recently in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Legislators have always found a way to save the camp in the eleventh hour, but there is no guarantee that will hap- pen again. “Being proposed by the gov- ernor does not necessarily make it a certainty,” Naselle-Grays River School District Super- intendent Lisa Nelson said. “I don’t want to trivialize it, but, at the same time, I don’t think it is yet time to conclude it is a done deal. The Legislature still has to develop a budget proposal. We may be able to turn it around through that process.” Public Utility District Com- missioner and real estate agent Mike Swanson noted that clos- ing the youth camp would also affect area businesses that pro- vide services to the camp. For example, Swanson said, the youth camp is one of the top 10 consumers of electricity in the county, so the loss of that income could reduce utility revenues. “I would anticipate closure of the camp would have a neg- ative impact on property val- ues in our area,” Swanson said. “Some employees of the camp would probably have to leave the area to find employment, and would put their homes on the market. With the loss of employment opportunities, the universe of potential buyers would be reduced.” Glenn Ray, manager of the Okie’s Select Market in Naselle, said the closure would negatively affect Okie’s and other area businesses — and the youth who benefit from its pro- grams. “I don’t see how clos- ing the camp, with its proven record, is anything but counter- productive to the goals of the state,” he said. The local concerns are being heard by the state. “I’ve already seen some emails pointing out how import- ant NYC is to the community there,” said Chris Wright, a spokesman for the state Depart- ment of Social and Health Services, which oversees the Juvenile Rehabilitation Admin- istration. “I’d stress again that you guys have been there before and have gotten through it. This is a lengthy process.” T h e on ly region a l m a ga zin e focused on just th e Colum bia - P a cific region RES ERVE YO UR S PACE TO DAY! Advertisin g dea dlin e: D ecem ber 31, 2016
