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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2017
Trolley: Old 300 needs more volunteers
Continued from Page 1A
Cordero, bookkeeper for the
group, said volunteers are cog-
nizant that every $1 added to
the fare could double the asso-
ciation’s revenue, but are still
hesitant to raise rates.
“I fear that we’d lose vol-
unteers if we do that,” she
said, adding the novelty of
a passenger’s $1 ride is part
of what draws out many
volunteers.
Frank Kemp, a mainte-
nance coordinator and sev-
en-year volunteer with the
trolley, said some conductors
are advertising a $2 all-day
fare to help boost revenue, but
only voluntarily. “That’s part
of the aura … of the trolley,
is being able to ride for $1,”
he said.
Funding for trolley track
maintenance has historically
come from lodging taxes in
the Promote Astoria fund.
Estes said the City Council
has agreed to cover mainte-
nance costs this year, but with
the understanding that the
trolley association will share
in the costs moving forward.
He said looking at fair
increases is one way to create
more revenue throughout the
trolley’s operation. “You can
only make so much money
from spaghetti feeds,” Estes
said.
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Ted Langdon, the Astoria Riverfront Trolley scheduler, works on the exterior of the trolley. Old 300 is 93 years old and needs plenty of maintenance.
This old trolley
Last week, Kent Taylor
joined Kemp and a couple
of other volunteers patching
dry rot, checking the brakes
and polishing the windows of
Old 300 — 93 years old, to
be exact — which undergoes
maintenance throughout the
winter months while off duty.
“It’s like an old house,”
Taylor said of his minor inci-
sions to remove and replaster
areas of dry rot on the wood
paneling. “You don’t want to
go exploring much.”
Kemp said luckily every-
thing on Old 300, a former
municipal trolley in San Anto-
nio, was meant to be replaced.
The trolley association scours
the country for parts, which
Kemp said has become more
difficult as other cities have
started their own rides.
Taylor, who’s been with
the association three years,
said he needed something to
do after having worked his
whole life before retiring to
Astoria from Indiana. Work-
ing on the trolley during the
down season helps keep him
busy. Come spring and sum-
mer, he said, “That’s the perk,
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
ABOVE: Kent Taylor, a volunteer with the Astoria River-
front Trolley, works on touching up sections of paint on
Old 300. RIGHT: Trolley volunteer Russ Thompson works
to fix up the trolley.
being able to drive.”
Conductors on the trolley
act as ambassadors, sharing
history of the area and meet-
ing tourists from around the
world. Volunteer coordina-
tor and motorman/conductor
Russ Thompson said he still
trades letters with a couple
from Germany who wanted
their picture taken with a
trolley conductor.
But giving all those visi-
tors a special experience takes
a lot of manpower. “It takes
28 people a week to run this
thing” in peak season, he said.
A youthful core
Thompson said the trol-
ley has about 30 core conduc-
tors, but would like to have
50 to lessen the load on oth-
ers. Conductors need only be
18 and have a driver’s license.
But as with many other
volunteer groups, the trol-
ley’s conductors are decidedly
above retirement age. Cordero
said that besides herself and
another woman in her early
30s, the average age of con-
ductors is in the 70s. Several
high school seniors have tried
the trolley as a senior project,
she said, but none stuck with
it.
“I don’t know why
younger people don’t volun-
teer,” she said. “It’s not a big
time commitment.”
Conductors sign up online
for whichever shifts fit their
schedules. Some conductors
take only one three-hour run
a month. Cordero said she
works seven days a week and
has never found conducting
for the trolley too much of a
time crunch.
“It’s kind of my social
life,” she said. “I do it because
I enjoy it. It’s fun. Rather than
going and sitting in a bar, I’d
rather drive a trolley.”
Syphilis: County to request up Bill: Michigan is the only state
to $10,000 to counter outbreak in US with a 10-cent deposit
Continued from Page 1A
Continued from Page 1A
Syphilis is an infection
spread through contact with
sores during vaginal, anal or
oral sex, according to the fed-
eral Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention. Infected
mothers can also transmit
the infection to their unborn
babies.
The infection is typi-
cally treated with antibiot-
ics. Left untreated, the dis-
ease can cause serious health
complications.
McNickle noticed that the
problem was “out of con-
trol” after reviewing the
data in late 2016. State offi-
cials based their decision to
declare an outbreak on the
fact that last year’s num-
bers were outside of the nor-
mal parameters, McNickle
said. “In order for the funds
to be available to address this
issue the way it should be, it
needed to be declared an out-
break,” he said.
below 80 percent for two
consecutive years. Unre-
deemed deposits are kept by
distributors.
In both 2014 and 2015, the
return rate was below 80 per-
cent, and so the deposit will
double April 1.
Under the proposed law,
containers that don’t have the
correct deposit amount on the
label will be allowed in stores
until Sept. 1, 2018.
It’s not clear how the bill
will pencil out, though.
“Can you kind of describe
how this will work and why
this seems to work OK?” Rep.
Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, said
during the committee hear-
ing Wednesday. “I don’t think
we have a bunch of opponents
coming in here because they
have to come up with a nickel
they didn’t collect.”
Paul Romain, an attorney
and lobbyist for the Oregon
Beer and Wine Distributors
Association, acknowledged
that money could be lost.
He said Barnhart’s inquiry
was the “big 64,000-dollar
question, except it’s more than
$64,000.”
“Whenever you start a sys-
tem, you have a transition
period,” Romain said. “It’s a
risk, frankly, that the indus-
try has to take to make the
transition.”
Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-On-
tario said the bill was “nec-
essary to allow the transition,
even though the program has
Funds to fight
The county will file
paperwork requesting up to
$10,000 to counter the out-
break, McNickle said. The
funds will go toward sup-
plies and staff time at special
clinics.
Once the health depart-
ment knows how much fund-
ing it will receive from the
state, it will schedule special
clinics in Seaside and Astoria
to treat those with the infec-
tion as well as their partners,
Wikimedia Commons
A poster from the Works Progress Administration from
around the 1930s-1940s, when penicillin was first being
used to treat syphilis.
McNickle said. The health
department also will reach
out to the Clatsop County Jail
about screening those who
are booked on methamphet-
amine charges.
But officials are hop-
ing residents can avoid these
steps.
“Prevention is the best
cure from a public health per-
spective, so please use protec-
tion when engaging in sexual
activities” McNickle said.
AP Photo/Don Ryan
Used bottles are redeemed at a bottle collection site in
Beaverton in 2011. That year, the Legislature passed a law
requiring the deposit increase to 10 cents should the rate
of return dip below 80 percent for two consecutive years.
big holes in it.”
Romain said the group
he represents also initially
resisted the deposit increase.
10 cents in Michigan
Michigan, the only other
state with a 10-cent deposit,
had a 94.2 percent return
rate in 2014, according to the
Michigan State Treasury.
A lobbyist for the Brewers
Guild also testified in support
of the bill.
The Oregon Liquor Con-
trol Commission is responsi-
ble for administering the bottle
deposit program.
Although the agency didn’t
take an official stance on the
legislation, its administra-
tive policy and process direc-
tor, Jesse Sweet, said the bill
would create a “grace period”
in the transition to the 10-cent
deposit and provide “neces-
sary flexibility” for retailers.
Starting Jan. 1. the state is
also going to require depos-
its on additional types of bev-
erage containers — such as
kombucha.