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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 25, 2017)
ECOLA STATE PARK BRACES FOR SUMMER COAST WEEKEND • INSIDE 144TH YEAR, NO. 235 ONE DOLLAR DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017 County looks at moving jail to Warrenton Study examines taking over youth correctional facility By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian Clatsop County may relocate its jail from Astoria to the North Coast Youth Correctional Facility site in Warrenton. The c ounty Board of Commission- ers voted unanimously Wednesday to authorize a $51,000 study, which will examine how to best relocate the jail if the state closes the youth correctional facility. Gov. Kate Brown’s budget for the next biennium calls for the facili- ty’s closure, part of a larger effort to address a $1.7 billion shortfall. The Oregon Youth Authority reached out to the county earlier this year, indicating the facility likely will be closed, County Manager Cameron Moore said. Should that happen, the state agency told the county it would like to quickly hand the facility over to another owner. “In government, sometimes you need to spend money to make smart decisions,” Moore said. The 50-bed youth facility, located near the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Offi ce on Southeast 19th Street, houses males ages 14 to 25 years old. Meanwhile, inmates at the 60-bed Clatsop County Jail often are released early due to overcrowding, meaning they aren’t required to post bail even when a criminal court case is pending. The Sheriff’s Offi ce has also rented 10 additional beds in Tillamook County, but previous estimates have indicated the county may need up to 200 total beds to solve the issue. The private fi rm hired to oversee the study, DLR Group Architects, has already begun to review the updated space needs for a larger jail. Prelim- inary estimates indicate a potential From farm to wetland, a food web is born Cowlitz Tribe, BPA partner on tidal project A See PROJECT, Page 7A The 221-acre Wallooskee- Youngs Confluence Restoration Project includes more than 190 acres of former pastures being turned into wetlands for fish and wildlife habitat. The Daily Astorian/File P hoto See JAIL, Page 5A Port budget to shrink under plan Total would drop by $7 million next year By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian long Oregon Highway 202, about a mile south of Astoria, is a talon-shaped plot of more than 200 acres bordered by the Youngs and Wallooskee rivers that is still held back by a century-old dike. A former dairy, the land is now veined with tidal inlets, the farm’s buildings only left- over concrete foundations. This summer, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe will complete the Wall- ooskee-Youngs Confl uence Resto- ration Project, which started in 2013, breaching the dike in fi ve spots near the inlets and reconnecting 193 acres to tidal infl uence for estuarine salmon and wildlife habitat. jail at the youth facility could hold 72 inmates, Moore said. The structure of the Warrenton facility is also more suitable for potential expansion proj- ects in the future. The study approved Wednesday will include preliminary diagrams and a deferred maintenance report. Once the research is completed, DLR Group will provide a pre design cost estimate. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Rudy Salakory, a fish restoration program manager with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, walks along a levee near the Youngs River during a tour of the Wallooskee-Youngs Confluence Restoration Project. 2013 $10M 193 the year the Wallooskee- Youngs Confluence Resto- ration Project was started. The project is expected to be finished in the summer. the estimated approximate amount the project will cost, which is being funded by Bonneville Power Administration customers. the number of acres the project will reconnect to tidal influence for estuarine salmon and wildlife habitat. The Port of Astoria on Wednesday pre- sented a $13.6 million proposed budget for the next fi scal year largely driven by attempts to repair the agency’s aging infra- structure while being frugal. The proposed spending plan is a decrease of more than $7 million from what was adopted for the fi scal year ending in June. “There were a number of diffi cult con- versations and decisions that took place in order to achieve a balanced and sustainable budget,” Port Executive Director Jim Knight said in his budget message. “The Port con- tinues to face many fi nan- cial challenges, including high debt load, aging infra- Jim structure, signifi cant ongo- Knight ing dredge costs and lim- ited cash reserves.” Port staff has proposed nearly $5 mil- lion in capital projects over the coming fi s- cal year. Less than $1.2 million of the proj- ects are funded out of the agency’s budget. The Port has projected nearly $3.8 million in federal and state grants. At the Astoria Regional Airport, the Fed- eral Aviation Administration will fund more than $1.3 million of the nearly $1.5 million the Port has planned in runway and other work in the coming year. The Port is planning a $2 million rehabil- itation of the western side of Pier 2, where boats land seafood coming to the agency’s processing warehouse, using a $1.5 mil- lion infrastructure grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation, along with a one-third match funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Port has contracted KPFF Consult- ing Engineers to create estimates of dam- aged infrastructure before seeking reim- bursement from FEMA. The budget includes more than $800,000 in projected FEMA funds for projects to repair the Port’s marinas and docks damaged in December 2015 storms. “FEMA has gone through, done their scope of work and they have gave us dollar values for each of their projects,” said Port Finance Director Will Isom. “And so those are the minimum amounts that they are say- ing that we would receive.” See PORT, Page 7A Clatsop County dissolves Arch Cape design panel Third time commissioners have acted By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian Despite signifi cant oppo- sition from Arch Cape resi- dents, Clatsop County has dis- solved the community’s d esign r eview c ommittee for the third time. The Board of Commission- ers approved an ordinance 3-1 Wednesday that nixed the com- mittee. Commissioners previ- ously voted twice to approve the ordinance, and twice oppo- nents challenged the move through state Land Use Board of Appeals. In the most recent appeal, the state found that the county failed to provide public notice in a newspaper . The state then sent the decision back to the Board of Commissioners, which held a public hearing earlier this month. Following the conten- tious public hearing, commis- sioners called for an emer- gency vote and decided 4-1 to dissolve the committee once again. But since the emer- gency vote was not unanimous — Commissioner Kathleen Sullivan voted against it — the b oard held another public hearing Wednesday, needing only a simple majority to pass the ordinance. Sullivan was again the lone commissioner to vote against the ordinance. Commissioner Lisa Clement was absent. Redundant County o ffi cials have argued the committee is redun- dant, as no other part of the county has its own design review committee. Instead, residents present proposals directly to the c ounty Planning Department. The Daily Astorian/File Photo See ARCH CAPE, Page 7A County commissioners have voted to dissolve a design review committee in Arch Cape.
