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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017
Cannon Beach City Hall renovation plan hits a wall
High bids delay
fixes at building
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
CANNON BEACH — The
envelope, please.
But this time there was no
winner.
After months of design,
updates and review, Cannon
Beach Public Works Director
Dan Grassick opened sealed
bids on Tuesday for a major
remodel of City Hall. Two
construction bids had been
received — and both exceeded
the $150,000 cap the city had
budgeted.
“Both were well over the
estimate and budget by at least
$80,000,” Grassick said.
A new building would
have cost at least $3 million,
but renovations to the existing
City Hall at 163 Gower were
expected to come in at a frac-
tion of that cost. The Design
Review Board approved the
final stage of a plan to upgrade
office space, windows, doors
and exterior at a public hearing
last week, with board mem-
bers unanimously voting to
approve a site plan to modify
three windows on the north
side, a change missed earlier.
The proposed major mod-
ifications include changes to
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Members of the Design Review Board at a January meet-
ing. Chairman Mike Morgan is at left.
“For us to build a whole
new building would be to
the magnitude of $3 (mil-
lion to) $4 million,” Gras-
sick said. “Do you really
want to move now to a new
building, or do you want to
remodel until the tsunami
happens?”
Contractors would have
had 120 days to complete the
project. Without a contending
offer, the city will be re-evalu-
ating next steps and will not be
awarding the project this fiscal
year.
“(We) will reconsider what
the options are after discuss-
ing with the council,” Grass-
ick said.
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
This area of City Hall was among those slated for remodel.
the windows on a portion of
the building’s north elevation,
including the offices occupied
by the city manager, assistant
city manager and information
technology director.
Among the changes, the
police department would have
received a new entrance and
doorway and more space for
storage.
Plans had placed Hay-
stack Rock Awareness Project
offices in an exterior building
and the finance corner com-
pletely redone and rebuilt.
Building
and
plan-
ning departments would
also receive a new, separate
entrance so contractors seek-
ing permits can come directly
to the appropriate offices.
Plans drawn by David
Vonada aim to fit in with the
architectural style of Can-
non Beach, Grassick said last
week, with wood shingles and
white trim. “Dave designed
the whole process. They spent
a lot of time with the depart-
ment heads and the employ-
ees to decide how the work
flow goes, you’ve got to move
things around,” he said.
The integrity of the 1940s
building is fine, he said, but
City Hall would likely not
survive an earthquake under
today’s standards.
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Public Works Director Dan
Grassick in a portion of
City Hall that had been slat-
ed for remodel.
Water district hits back at Warrenton on dam
District asserts
jurisdiction
over structure
By DERRICK
DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — Stand-
ing their ground against the
city, the Skipanon Water Con-
trol District on Wednesday
issued a statement describ-
ing the Eighth Street Dam
as publicly owned and under
the jurisdiction of the water
district.
The statement was in
response to the Warrenton
City Commission’s emergency
declaration in December that
asked the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers to determine
whether the aging dam should
be restored for flood control.
The city alleges the water dis-
trict’s decision to remove the
tide gates on the dam has put
public safety and property at
risk.
Warrenton also claims the
dam is a federal asset critical
to the city’s levee system.
In a rebuke, the water dis-
trict, which has been managing
the dam since it was built in
1963 with the help of the fed-
eral government, said there is
no evidence of an emergency
and accused the city of pursu-
ing a flailing legal strategy and
squandering taxpayer money.
Rather than negotiate with
the water district, the city has
made several threats to sue
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
The Skipanon Water Control District has asserted juris-
diction over the Eighth Street Dam.
for control over the dam and
is awaiting guidance from the
Army Corps that might help
settle the dispute.
“Having been down there,
shown our willingness to nego-
tiate, the fact that they seem to
be heading over the cliff with-
out talking to us is mind-bog-
gling,” said Bruce Francis, the
vice chairman of the water dis-
trict’s board. “We’re open-
minded. We’re sitting here.
We’re waiting to talk to them.”
“It is a different style of
conducting
government,”
Robert Stricklin, a board mem-
ber, said.
“It is,” Francis said. “Yeah,
it’s a two-by-four on your
head.”
The water district voted
4-0 Wednesday to adopt the
statement, which reflects the
board’s consensus belief that
the dam is publicly owned
and falls within the water dis-
trict’s jurisdiction. Stricklin
abstained because he wanted
the statement to be more spe-
W A NTED
cific about ownership. He
believes the dam is owned
by the Department of State
Lands, which owns the land
underneath the structure in
the Skipanon River. The state,
however, has not shown any
ownership interest.
Removal still sought
The water district also reaf-
firmed its position that the
dam is a hazard and should
be removed to help improve
salmon habitat and water qual-
ity on the river. No partner has
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IT’S BACK!!!
Assistance League ® Columbia Pacifi c
ACCESSORIZE SALE IS ON!
SAVE FEBRUARY 5 TH
THE SUPER BOWL
DATE SUNDAY 2017
RED
BUILDING
LOFT
in Astoria
Look for the BIG RED BINS in all Columbia Banks starting January
3rd to give your donations of purses, jewelry, belts, scarves, etc..
YOU KNOW WHAT A GREAT SALE THIS
IS AND FOR A WONDERFUL CAUSE!
All proceeds will go towards programs of
Assistance League ® the Columbia Pacifi c
Watch for more information, but for now SAVE THE DATE of February 5th!
Assistance League the Columbia Pacifi c is a non-profi t organization whose
volunteers raise funds to assist school children in our community.
For more information about this event, call Mary Davies at (503)738-2672
For more information about ALCP or becoming a member,
visit our website at www.assistanceleaguecp.org
are up for re-election in May
and plan to run again.
“There is no basis of which
I am aware for a claim of
‘jurisdiction’ and I have no
idea what the effect might be
of the ‘consensus statement’
which binds no one to any-
thing so far as I can imagine,”
Akin Blitz, a Portland attorney
representing Warrenton, said
in an email.
emerged since the Columbia
River Estuary Study Taskforce
pulled out of a dam removal
project last year because of the
controversy with the city, and
the water district has no money
to launch a project on its own.
A project would also require
a city permit, which would
be unlikely given the hostile
climate.
The statement Wednesday,
and the move late last year to
hire a private attorney, shows
the water district is not pre-
pared to shrink in the face of
the city’s legal demands. Three
board members — Tessa
Scheller, the chairwoman;
Stricklin; and Gail Galen —
Army Corps review
The water district appears
content that the Army Corps,
which originally built the
city’s levee system, might
weigh in.
Blitz released an email
from an Army Corps assistant
district counsel in Decem-
ber that describes the dam
and two nearby city levees as
“integrally-connected compo-
nents of what appears to be
a single flood risk reduction
system.”
Just last year, though, the
Army Corps approved a per-
mit for the water district and
CREST to remove the dam
and made no mention of its
importance for flood control
or the city’s levee system.
“So obviously, they had
looked at it and come to the
decision that we were correct
in what we were trying to do,”
Francis said.
A Special Thank You
to all Family, Friends & Supporters
for the Benefi t of Lesley Graber
Saturday, January 21 st at the Seaside Golf Course
• BJ’s Pizza Palace
• Inn at Seaside
• Ebb Tide
• Seashore
• Budweiser of Seaside
• Seaside Golf Course
• Pacifi c Paint
• Seaside Outlet Mall
• Jeff -n- Kim
• James McCorkle
• Sam’s Cafe
• Relief Pitcher
• Dairy Queen
• Bartholet
• Coast Hardware
• Seaside & Gearhart
Liquor Store
• Beyond Nail & Pedi
Spa
• Clean Sweep
• Freedom
• Fultano’s
• Finns
• Norma’s
• Doogers
• David Osborn
• Seaside Tobacco
Shop
• Sea Salts
• Bridge Tender
• Wayfarer
• Pig -n- Pancake
• Reed & Hertig
• Coat Rack
• NAPA
• The Man Store
• Twisted Fish
• Bell Buoy
• Otto
• Borland Coastal
Electric
• River Inn
• West Lake
• Wayfarer
• Funland
• Cece & Jeff Carrow
• Jody Weaver
• Cindy Langa
(Her time & energy)
Thank You All Supporters!
Celebration of
Kim (Kyong S) Fuhrmann’s
Beautiful Life
Teri and I would like to invite everyone who
knew Kim of Kim’s Kitchen, to join us in
sharing memories and celebration of Kim’s
beautiful life. We especially hope her many
caregivers will attend. We include every
shopkeeper, waitress and cab driver who
took the time and effort to ensure her safety
and well-being. We thank you. If you have
stories you want to share, there will be open
mic during the celebration for you to share.
If you cannot make it to the event or don’t
feel inclined to share your story in front of
the group, please write the story and email
them to kimskitchenastoria@gmail.com. I will either read them or
post them at the Celebration Service for all to hear. Teri and I look
forward to seeing old friends who knew Kim along with new friends
Teri and I have yet to meet.
January 28th 1 to 4pm
Pier 39 (Hanthorn Cannery) Banquet Room