COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL • INSIDE
DailyAstorian.com // FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2017
144TH YEAR, NO. 176
ONE DOLLAR
Astoria man arrested in uncle’s murder
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Christopher
Eric Johns
An Astoria man accused of
murdering his uncle was arrested
late Thursday afternoon .
Christopher Eric Johns, 45,
was arrested by the Portland
Police Bureau at a hotel in the
city. Johns is being charged with
murder and fourth-degree assault
in connection to the death of Ron-
ald Boudreau, 66, of Warrenton.
He allegedly assaulted a woman
near the time of Boudreau’s death,
according to a court document.
Deputies responded to a report
of a dead man at Boudreau’s resi-
dence on U.S. Highway 101 Busi-
ness at about 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Johns has faced numerous fel-
ony and misdemeanor charges in
Clatsop County dating back to
1992. He has been convicted of
menacing, theft, criminal mis-
chief, attempt to commit a felony
and burglary. He has also been
convicted twice for driving under
the infl uence of intoxicants and
assault.
Lorelie Beckwith of Brown-
smead said she lived with Bou-
dreau in Warrenton in the early
1980s. She said t hey remained
good friends for the rest of his
life.
IN LEWIS AND CLARK,
Beckwith said he was a
fun-loving man with a big smile
and a lot of friends. He played
drums and was a part of some
small local bands, she said.
“He’d always give you a hug
— a big, heartfelt hug,” Beckwith
said. “It totally shocked me. I still
can’t believe it.”
INSIDE
Tenants, landlords debate rent restrictions
See Page 2A
THE GRANGE IS SOCIAL HUB
A link between the
past and future endures
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
ore than a century after it was
built, a grange that served as
a social hub for generations of
Lewis and Clark-area farmers
appeared to be on its last dance.
Early last year, the organiza-
tion managing the Netel Grange, a nearly
107-year-old hall, had just $45 left in the
bank, Grange Master Gary Sunderland
said.
Membership in recent decades, along
with the accompanying $50 annual
dues, has dropped to 15 families after a
100-family peak in the 1930s. Ninety per-
cent of the dues go to the larger Oregon
State Grange .
But the grange’s fi nancial situation has
become more stable since a 25-student pre-
school called Salmonberry Hill began oper-
ating there. Due to the school’s rent pay-
ments since the start of the academic year in
September, the grange now has more than
$1,200 in funds, Sunderland said.
“It was just serendipity,” Sunderland
said of the school’s interest in the grange.
“We’re on the verge of bankruptcy, but at
least we’re not bankrupt.”
Tripped
up over
sidewalks
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Grange Master Gary Sunderland points to historic memorabilia on the wall at t he
Netel Grange . The gathering place has struggled to survive in recent decades.
Seaside affordable
housing project in doubt
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
Social functions
Since 1910, the Netel Grange has held
regular social functions and membership
meetings.
See GRANGE, Page 7A
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Old photographs and paintings of t he Netel Grange remain on the walls .
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
The Netel Grange is al-
most 107 years old.
SEASIDE — Developers behind an
affordable housing project in Seaside have
warned that a potential city demand for side-
walks during the fi rst phase of construction
would be a deal killer.
The o wners of a 15-acre parcel known
as Blue Heron Pointe hope to put 45 units of
affordable single-family homes on the prop-
erty. The h omes would be intended for work-
force housing and priced at under $300,000.
But with a Planning Commission request
for the installation of sidewalks during the
project’s initial phase, Ritchie Development
Corp.
owners
Bruce and Max
Ritchie said this
week the price
tag would be pro-
hibitive and force
them to abandon
their plans.
The Ritchies,
who have owned
the property for
23 years, went
before the com-
mission in Feb-
ruary
request-
ing approval for
the project at the
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian corner of South
Max Ritchie on the Wahanna Road
site of Blue Heron and Avenue S.
Pointe, a 45-lot subdi-
The area is
vision.
zoned for resi-
dential medium
density, requiring each lot area be a minimum
of 5,000 square feet or 7,500 square feet for a
duplex. The Ritchies had considered a high-
er -density plan, but said they were told the
city did not allow “spot zoning” for residen-
tial building projects.
See HOUSING, Page 7A
Pump it up
Warrenton’s
sewer system
project nears
completion
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
W
ARRENTON —
Construction on a
long-planned War-
renton sewer system project,
designed to relieve pressure
on an old downtown pump sta-
tion and save money on main-
tenance and electricity costs, is
about half fi nished.
The city’s sewage follows
many different routes to the
wastewater treatment plant,
but the majority of it runs
through a single pump station
at Southeast Third Street and
South Main Avenue.
The waste matter merges
with groundwater that infi l-
trates the sewage system
through leaky pipes. Rainwater
also enters the system through
manholes and misconnected
pipes, such as downspouts —
a process called “infl ow.”
This means that one aging
pump station is running virtu-
ally around the clock, rather
than once or twice an hour like
most pump stations. During
winter storms, the station will
run almost nonstop, City Engi-
neer Collin Stelzig said.
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
See WATER, Page 7A
City of Warrenton officials and construction workers inspect the site of the new pump
station being constructed east of downtown on Wednesday.