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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017
Zoo hand raises tiger cub to save its life
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE — The
zookeepers at the Milwau-
kee County Zoo are hand-rais-
ing a lone Amur tiger cub —
an unusual undertaking only
done in order to save the cub’s
life.
Vets and zookeepers had to
give special one-on-one care
to then-10-pound cub named
Kashtan after he developed an
infection that killed one of his
three sisters. They had consid-
ered returning him after about
a week, but they didn’t trust
mother Amba would allow
him to be removed five times
a day for feedings.
After he recovered about a
month later, they didn’t know
if Amba would still recog-
nize him or if she would pro-
tect her other cubs because
he had been sick, said Katie
Kuhn, area supervisor of Big
Cat Country at the Milwaukee
County Zoo.
It’s not ideal but the zoo’s
vet, Dr. Vickie Clyde, said
then-four-week old Kashtan
would have died if they had
not removed him. And his
situation helped with early
detection of the same infection
in his sister Bernadette that
allowed her to stay with Amba
and sister Eloise.
The Amur tiger cub Kashtan looks at a camera at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Milwaukee.
AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger
Lyra Fontaine/The Daily Astorian
Marty Schwab Harris criticized the “tax hike” on room
rent as lacking public discussion.
Room tax: Code
amendment to be
drafted for February
council meeting
Continued from Page 1A
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
The invasive species Scotch broom grows on the beach of Gearhart, seen here along the Fire Trail on Tuesday in Gearhart.
The plant has expanded growth along the beach over the years and the city is looking at options to remove some of it.
Gearhart: ‘This site is probably
never going to be what it once was’
Continued from Page 1A
Bowman has located camp-
ers, college students and home-
less people staying in secluded
areas in the dunes. It took him
several days to find three peo-
ple living in the area.
Gearhart Fire Chief Bill
Eddy said he has watched the
vegetation on the dunes grow
over the past 20 years.
If a fire occurred in the
dunes, the Fire Department
would not enter the area
because “the fuel load is so
great out there that you don’t
want to get anywhere close to
it.”
“This site is probably never
going to be what it once was,
but it can be a managed nat-
ural landscape that works for
safety, fire, city and animals,
too,” said panel participant
Vanessa Blackstone, wild-
life biologist with the Ore-
gon Parks and Recreation
Department.
Panel participant Neal
Maine, naturalist and former
science teacher, said a plan
should involve figuring out the
city’s “ecological umbrella.”
Luke Colvin, certified
arborist and panel participant,
said the trees would continue
to grow quickly if left alone.
Management plan
Families and volunteers
have pulled out Scotch broom
in the area in past years, but the
efforts have not made a major
difference. A plan for manag-
ing the vegetation could be a
“fight against Mother Nature”
but is an option, Sweet said.
Managing the dunes would
likely require a city code
amendment. The dunes are
in an overlay district, which
requires that plants are not
cut by more than 50 per-
cent. The city could include
an exception in the code that
might allow further vegeta-
tion management if the council
approves a report by a certified
professional.
Potential changes would
go through a public process
at Planning Commission and
City Council meetings.
“We’re just trying to learn
something,” Sweet said. “We
don’t have a policy yet.”
Some citizens expressed
concerns about disrupting
birds and wildlife in the area
with potential management
methods, such as mowing and
herbicide spraying.
Sayce said management
would be seasonally specific
and not during nesting season.
Though some species will
lose while others will benefit
from the vegetation manage-
ment, the species that use the
area are common, not endan-
gered, Blackstone said.
No cost estimates are
known, but some mentioned
the possibility of obtaining
grants.
“I believe we have an
opportunity,” Marino said.
Fort Stevens Park Man-
ager Justin Parker, another
panel participant, said Oregon
Parks and Recreation would be
open to partnering with Gear-
hart on a dune vegetation proj-
ect. “We definitely want to be a
resource,” he said.
Warrenton: ‘We’re just trying to stop major
transactions happening without voters agreeing’
not to quarrel with voters over
the measure or its intent, which
was to give the public a say
in what becomes of public
resources.
“The people — a great
majority — voted for this,” he
said. “Now we gotta try to work
together to work with it, not
fight it, because they’ve already
told you they want it.”
Continued from Page 1A
The City Commission had
publicly opposed the measure,
arguing that it would tie their
hands and impede routine city
business. But proponents —
who had to pass the measure
by a double majority — said
they wanted a voice in whether
the city disposed of important
assets.
“Our intent was, we’re just
trying to stop major transac-
tions happening without vot-
ers agreeing,” said Scott Wid-
dicombe, a resident who helped
put the petition together.
Ken Yuill, the chief peti-
tioner, said the initiative began
as a response to the city’s con-
troversial, and ultimately
shelved, 2014 proposal to trade
a section of Tansy Point to War-
renton Fiber.
Unintended
consequences
Measure 4-181, however,
doesn’t just refer to real estate
but to leases, infrastructure,
tangible physical assets and
other broad categories.
Chad Jacobs, a Port-
land-based attorney provid-
ing special counsel to the city,
said the amendment’s language
contains ambiguities that yield
multiple interpretations.
For example, the measure
Eye on the future
Alex Pajunas/The Daily Astorian
The Carruthers family donated a portion of Tansy Point to
the city of Warrenton in the 1970s after the Port of Astoria
threatened to condemn the property. A potential land swap
with Warrenton Fiber prompted residents to approve a bal-
lot measure in November that restricts city asset transfers.
refers to any “system, oper-
ation, or infrastructure for
which the gross value of any
income stream generated by
that asset is $100,000.00 or
more,” but it is unclear if the
measure implies all or part of
these assets. If the city wanted
to get rid of a $10,000 pipe in
the Warrenton water system,
and the full system generated
$100,000 or more in revenue,
would the city have to ask vot-
ers first?
This may sound like an
implausible reading of the
measure, but the question is
not unreasonable, according
to Jacobs. If different readings
of the charter lead the city to
incorrectly or inconsistently
apply the provisions, lawsuits
could ensue.
The city has a couple of
options to clear up the confu-
sion. It can adopt an ordinance
defining terms that remain
vague, or it can float another
ballot measure to change prob-
lematic wording.
Yuill, who accused the city
of spreading “false and mis-
leading” information in its
summary of the measure, said
he understood the City Com-
mission’s need to make clarifi-
cations and minor revisions if
necessary. But he urged them
Gil Gramson, the former
Warrenton city manager and
mayor who promoted the mea-
sure, said he doesn’t worry that
the current City Commission
would sell off a beloved entity,
like Tansy Point, without lis-
tening to constituents first. He
worries about future commis-
sions who are not as responsive
to public input.
Throughout Thursday’s dis-
cussion, Tansy Point remained
a recurring theme.
Although the commission
ultimately took no action on
the land swap with Warrenton
Fiber, Yuill said the fact that the
commission, in theory, could
have approved the deal with-
out allowing voters to weigh
in, disturbed him and other
residents.
“This group had the choice
to sell it or not,” Yuill said, “and
that’s what really bothered the
people.”
Resident Marty Schwab
Harris said it was troubling
that a tax hike was being “uni-
laterally imposed” instead
of going through a public
hearing.
“Where are all the jobs
in Cannon Beach going to
come from if we look for
every possible opportunity
to apply more financial and
more power burdens on our
employers?” Schwab Harris
asked.
The amendment, which
uses the same language as
state lodging tax rules, would
take effect July 1, the start of
the next fiscal year.
Mandatory fees
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 state defi-
nition, City Attorney Tammy
Herdener said. The city is not
required by state law to col-
lect room taxes on such fees.
Herdener said the state
and many Oregon cities col-
lect tax on nonoptional fees.
“It was assumed that we did
and it was pointed out in the
audit that we don’t,” she said.
“We’re trying to rectify that
situation.”
Portland, Lincoln City,
Bend and Eugene are among
cities that apply the room tax
to nonoptional fees, Finance
Director Laurie Sawrey said.
In Cannon Beach, hotel
guests pay an 8 percent city
tax and 1.8 percent state tax
to the hotel. The hotel for-
wards to the city 95 percent
of the tax paid by the cus-
tomer and keeps 5 percent of
the amount, Sawrey said.
However, Cannon Beach’s
interpretation of room rent
is different from other Clat-
sop County cities. Astoria
and Seaside do not collect
room taxes on nonoptional
fees. Astoria lodging oper-
ators are taxed based on the
total room rents they report to
the city, said Sue Dohaniuk,
the city’s financial operations
supervisor.
Requirements
create confusion
After a routine audit, Can-
non Beach learned that seven
out of 10 lodging operators
had not paid tax on nonop-
tional fees. Lodging opera-
tors were informed in a Sep-
tember letter from the city
that tax collection should
include such fees. The city
also asked hoteliers for their
state lodging tax returns out
of convenience so they would
not need to fill out an addi-
tional form, Herdener said.
After receiving notice
in September of the city’s
intentions, lodging industry
members from 16 local busi-
nesses — including Hall-
mark Resort, Stephanie Inn,
Ocean Lodge, Tolovana Inn
and Surfsand Resort — asked
the city in November to clar-
ify the new requirements
through a public process.
Sawrey said Tuesday that
the letter was not meant to be
punitive.
“It became clear to me
that we weren’t all on the
same page,” Sawrey said.
“I thought, let’s figure out
what our definition is and let
everyone know so we can
all do the same thing and be
consistent.”
Representatives
from
local hotels and vacation
rental companies responded
that the city’s interpreta-
tion conflicts with municipal
code.
The city did not want
lodging operators to pay for
room taxes they did not col-
lect from nonoptional fees.
However,
Beck-Sweeney
said the letter from the city
was not clear about when
the requirements would take
effect, and her business paid
tax that they did not collect
from guests. The amount
was “substantial for a small
company,” she said. She
has since documented the
overpayment.
After criticism and con-
fusion from lodging opera-
tors, city staff recommended
the clarification. Councilors
directed staff to draft a code
amendment for the February
council meeting.
Property: City will hold
Jan. 19 forum on the effort
Continued from Page 1A
economic development strat-
egy. The city will hold a
community forum on the
effort Jan. 19 in The Loft at
the Red Building.
Cronin said the city is
using the former dealership
as a case study for new devel-
opment. Astoria Ford was the
last major auto dealership to
leave for Warrenton. Lum’s
Auto Center left in 2008, and
Ocean Crest Chevrolet in
2004. Warrenton also hosts a
Kia dealership.
Former dealerships and
repair shops have often taken
on new roles. The former
Ocean Crest Chevrolet now
hosts Fort George Brew-
ery’s Lovell Showroom, tap-
room and main brewery. The
former Lum’s Auto Center
at the corner of Exchange
and 16th streets sits next to
the Performing Arts Center,
which housing developers
have eyed for a project.