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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JULY 17, 2017
Park funds: Fee, tax increase would not take effect until next year
Continued from Page 1A
Fee and tax options
City councilors have dis-
cussed a $3 fee per unit
attached to water bills, which
would bring in $153,540, and
a lodging tax of 11 percent,
which would bring in an esti-
mated $410,000. The bulk of
the new hotel tax money —
$287,000 — would go to the
Promote Astoria fund, which
is intended for tourism promo-
tion and has restrictions.
City Attorney Blair Hen-
ningsgaard, however, said
the Promote Astoria fund can
be put toward maintaining
or improving “tourist-related
facilities.”
“Our parks, pools and Riv-
erwalk are tourist-related
facilities,” he wrote in a June
memo. “This means that 100
percent of all expenses for
maintenance and improvement
for these facilities can be paid
with ‘new’ tax dollars.”
He also believes mainte-
nance expenses could include
a portion of city staff salaries
for work that is closely linked
to tourist-related facilities.
More responsibilities
Over the past 40 years, the
Parks and Recreation Depart-
ment has grown, building 42
new parks while maintain-
ing the Aquatic Center and
other facilities and a long ros-
ter of activities and programs.
Staff levels have not kept pace.
Instead, the number of full-
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
The Astoria Aquatic Center could close unless the city
backs new fees or taxes for parks.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Astoria Parks and Recreation Director Angela Cosby talks about Violet LaPlante Park in
Alderbrook during a parks tour in 2015. The parks department is struggling to operate
and maintains parks. The department has grown considerably over the past 40 years.
time employees has dropped
by 50 percent.
The parks department has
been able to generate an addi-
tional $450,000 annually
for the past 10 years by add-
ing programs, marketing and
building partnerships, accord-
ing to a city staff memo pre-
pared for the City Council.
“Because of these efforts,
the deficit gap between avail-
able tax funds and funding
needed to maintain our facili-
ties has narrowed greatly,” the
staff memo said.
But costs continue to rise
along with the need for more
dedicated maintenance on the
city’s 310 acres of park land.
This budget cycle, the parks
department had a $100,000
hole that was filled by pulling
funding from elsewhere in the
budget.
Astoria has faced public
criticism over the conditions
at several parks. Families with
loved ones buried at the city-
owned Ocean View Cemetery
in Warrenton have been par-
ticularly disappointed by the
maintenance of the cemetery.
Last week, Warrenton City
Commissioner Mark Baldwin
called the cemetery’s upkeep
“shameful.”
For six months, the City
Council has discussed a variety
of scenarios and solutions with
staff, but made no decisions.
To cut costs, the city looked
at reducing programs and ser-
vices and selling park lands.
New revenue options, mean-
while, have come down to the
two main proposals: the parks
and recreation fee on city water
bills and an increase to the
lodging tax.
Cosby has told city council-
ors several times that she wor-
ries about losing key staff the
longer the department’s fund-
ing issues drag on.
Pros and cons
The two options on the
table tonight both come with
pros and cons.
First, they both take time.
City staff estimates that the
fee and the tax increase would
not take effect until Janu-
ary. Since the additional reve-
nue would not be collected for
the first half of the fiscal year
that began this month, the city
anticipates needing an end-of-
year transfer of up to $200,000
to $300,000 to balance the
parks department’s budget.
Both will also take a lot of
work.
City councilors indicated
they would prefer a per unit
charge versus a per water
meter charge for the $3 fee.
Several residents had pointed
out that this would make the
fee more equitable since some
multifamily units share a sin-
gle water meter.
The city does not have a
breakdown of how many units
are attached to each meter.
Staff will need to analyze the
city’s information, cross-refer-
ence it with information avail-
able from the county assessor
and fill in remaining gaps.
City staff estimates this
work could cost up to $20,000.
However, collecting the data
could also give the city a bet-
ter grasp on just how many
multifamily units are in Asto-
ria, information that is useful
in analyzing and addressing
housing concerns.
Bar: Has been
in Todd’s life for
about 27 years
Continued from Page 1A
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Albacore tuna is packaged and ready for shipping at the Skipanon Seafood Brand processing facility in Warrenton.
Members of the public toured the facility and the Warrenton Marina as part of the Shop the Dock event held Friday.
Seafood: Next tour coming in September
Continued from Page 1A
Great response
Amanda Gladics of Oregon
Sea Grant, who coordinated
the two morning tours, said
afterward that they had a great
response from the community.
“I felt like we helped demy-
stify commercial fisheries
and successfully connected
seafood consumers with
high-quality local seafood,”
she said.
The tour started on the
docks at the Warrenton Marina
where, under the watchful
eye of several herons and at
least one bald eagle, Glad-
ics showed the group differ-
ent types of fishing vessels
and answered questions about
how different fisheries, such
as tuna, crab, black cod and
salmon, operate.
For people looking to buy
fish, she told them to look for
a sign indicating a boat has
fish to sell. She also told them
what kinds of questions to ask:
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Genita Ross sharpens a knife before demonstrating how al-
bacore tuna is processed at the Skipanon Brand Seafood fa-
cility in Warrenton as part of the Shop the Dock tour on Friday.
When was the fish caught?
How was it kept cold?
Processing, canning
The next stop was at nearby
Skipanon Brand Seafood,
a seafood processing plant
and cannery owned by for-
mer Warrenton Mayor Mark
Kujala and his family.
“Anyone here is welcome,
if you get a fish at the docks, to
bring it here,” said plant man-
ager Bob Willkie. “Give me a
call.”
The company will fillet or
even can fish for customers for
a fee.
The company also offers
“Fish Friday.” Similar to
community-supported agricul-
ture boxes offered by farms,
where customers pay for a reg-
ular delivery of produce, Fish
Friday customers can sign
up to get prime cuts of fish
weekly.
“They get the best stuff we
get in,” Willkie said.
By the end of the tour, sev-
eral people had signed up for
the service, too.
Unlike Newport, where
such tours have been taking
place since 2014, there are
not as many fishermen sell-
ing directly from their boats in
the Warrenton Marina. Glad-
ics and Oregon Sea Grant hope
to connect with fishermen who
are planning to sell off their
boats in September, when the
next tour is scheduled. Fish-
ermen are encouraged to con-
tact Gladics at the Oregon Sea
Grant office.
Hutchison: ‘Take care of business. Don’t stress’
Continued from Page 1A
winter color. The summer
closet is filled with blouses,
trousers and skirts in shades
of aquamarine and chartreuse
with a smattering of black-
and-white graphics and Mon-
et-inspired prints.
“A lot of times I’ll have a
scarf I really want to wear,”
she said. “So I’ll plan my day’s
wardrobe around it.”
Hutchison said her fash-
ion sense is innate. She’s
never been a reader of fash-
ion magazines. She said
she got into clothes while
working for the Department
of Justice. “Nice clothes get
attention,” she said. “I’ve
always tried to fight invisibil-
ity.” She said she has always
enjoyed being a head turner,
and regrets, just a little, that
her chosen beach lifestyle
doesn’t afford many opportu-
nities to dress up.
‘Don’t stress’
Now in her 80s, Hutchison
said she enjoys her pinochle
games that take place twice a
week. “It’s a mixed crowd,” she
said, meaning there’s men and
women. She plays at the Sea-
side senior center and also at the
senior center in Astoria. “It’s
something to look forward to.”
Nell’s advice for living well
into her eighth decade is pretty
simple. “Take care of business.
Don’t stress over things.”
She says she’s not overly
sentimental and remains the
practical person she’s always
been. She has a cat who goes
by the name of Ms. Truffle. Ms.
Truffle has been a kind of artis-
tic muse, inspiring photographs
and the writing of haiku. “She’s
definitely a ms., not a miss,”
Hutchison said of the feline.
“She’s permitted to sit on any
surface she wishes, but I never
forget she’s just a cat.”
— Eve Marx
operations to a property
manager. Tenants will have
to vacate at purchase, “only
because we need to go in and
do some repairs, and that’ll
be really hard with people in
there,” Kirk said. The apart-
ments will then open up as
rentals, she added.
Repairs will also be made
to the exterior, she said.
The site is part of the city’s
Astor West Urban Renewal
Area, “an important gate-
way into town,” City Plan-
ner Nancy Ferber said in an
email. This means the busi-
ness is eligible for the city’s
Storefront Improvement Pro-
gram, which provides support
and funding for property own-
ers in Uniontown to “invest in
facade improvements while
maintaining the character of
the area,” Ferber wrote.
“The program is the com-
mercial counterpart to the
recent State Historic Preser-
vation grant funds that were
available to homeowners in
Uniontown for exterior res-
toration projects on historic
homes,” Ferber wrote.
Once Kirk takes over, the
tavern will start accepting
debit and credit cards. The
business is now a cash-only
establishment.
A commercial spot adja-
cent to the tavern may
become a coin-op laundry
facility, Kirk said.
The laundry would require
additional parking, Ferber
wrote, adding, “there are a
handful of options to address
this if there’s not enough off-
street parking at the proposed
location.”
‘Bittersweet’
The beloved bar has been
in Todd’s life for about 27
years. She has “very mixed
emotions” about passing it
on: “It’s kind of bittersweet,”
Todd said.
“This is a huge thing for
me,” she said, “but I feel in
my heart that it’s the right
thing for me to do.”
Todd, 57, has been on the
wagon for nearly 6 1/2 years.
Since she got sober and redis-
covered her spirituality, her
life has moved in a different
direction, she said.
“I don’t need the chaos of
being a bar owner,” she said.
“I do run the risk of someday
maybe taking a drink, being
so close to it, and I believe it’s
time for a change.
In recent years, Todd
has mentored young people
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Mary Todd’s Workers Bar &
Grill in Uniontown has been
sold to an Astoria author.
addicted to drugs and alcohol,
and has served as a sponsor
for several local girls.
‘Blood, sweat
and tears’
Todd, who resides in one
of the upstairs apartments,
plans to move in with her aunt
in Svensen.
“I want to just relax and
hang out with her, and do
what she needs me to do for
her, and get some peace and
quiet,” she said.
Todd said she’s grateful
that she could preside over
the tavern for so many years.
“I’ve been able to help a
lot of people. I was able to
feed a lot of people. I’ve been
able to do good, I think,” she
said.
“It’s been hard. Blood,
sweat and tears. It wasn’t
easy,” she added. “But it’s
what I did. I feel very good
about it.”
A ‘valuable
commodity’
One factor that convinced
Todd to sell the business to
Kirk: their shared belief that
Astoria needs a bar like Mary
Todd’s.
“I’m really grateful that
somebody else feels that
way,” Todd said.
Kirk said the patrons need
a place to see their friends and
have community. Under her
ownership, the Workers Tav-
ern will continue that tradi-
tion, she said.
“I think it’s really import-
ant that every town has a
place like Mary Todd’s, and
I want to keep it that way for
that reason — because it’s
a valuable commodity in a
small community like this,”
Kirk said.
Kirk is the author of “Lick-
ing Flames: Tales of Half-As-
sed Hussy,” a collection of
personal essays published in
2016 by Black Bomb Books.