145TH YEAR, NO. 52
ONE DOLLAR
DailyAstorian.com //
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Chuck Waddell with Precision Heating and Indoor Air Quality in Warrenton installs solar panels on the roof of Alderbrook Station in Astoria in late August.
GLIMMER OF LIGHT
FOR SOLAR POWER
Alderbrook Station
shows solar can work
in rainy Astoria
applications for solar panel installation — Buoy Beer
Co. ’s plan to install panels is one recent, large-scale proj-
ect. This may have to do with the fact that some people
are installing smaller arrays and may not think to con-
tact the city, but others say it is a matter of perception.
“Solar doesn’t work around here: too cloudy, too
rainy,” said Stan Tussing, the owner of Precision Heat-
ing & Indoor Air Quality in Warrenton, paraphrasing an
opinion he often hears.
“I used to think that myself, and I was wrong,” he
added. “It works very well here.”
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
B
ased on weather alone, few would have ques-
tioned the decision to begin installing solar
panels on the roof of the historic Alderbrook
Station at the end of August.
Workers sweated in the glare of the summer sun.
T he National Weather Service recorded a light rain the
day before, but there hadn’t been a true rainy day in
weeks.
Across Clatsop County, 43 Pacifi c Power custom-
ers have solar power, for a total capacity of 325 kilo-
watts — far more than when Daren Doss, the architect
‘Out of reach’
Workers with Precision Heating and Indoor Air
Quality of Warrenton recently installed an array
of 34 solar panels on the roof of Alderbrook Sta-
tion in Astoria. More photos at DailyAstorian.com
and owner of Alderbrook Station, fi rst approached the
power company about solar in Astoria 10 years ago.
City Planner Nancy Ferber said the city sees few
Tussing and his crew spent the last days of August
installing 34 panels on Alderbrook Station’s white roof.
The installation and wiring went smoothly and Doss
is just waiting on a few fi nal items to make the set up
compatible with older features of the building’s power
supply. He hopes the 11.2 kilowatt system will handle
much of the power for the building .
Feds call fl ood plain
lawsuit premature
State economists tackle pot, but
gaps persist in young industry
Project $142 million in
revenue over two years
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon state economists are
crunching numbers on a product that in many
other states remains illegal — marijuana.
Under a new law passed this year , state econ-
omists have been asked to project future tax rev-
enues from pot. Meanwhile, the state’s employ-
ment department is trying to get a better sense of
how many people are employed in the burgeon-
ing legal cannabis industry.
In Oregon, sales of recreational marijuana are
taxed at 17 percent of the retail sale price. Cities
and counties can tack on a local option tax of up
to 3 percent.
Late last month, state economists projected
that the state will bring in net marijuana reve-
nues of about $142 million in the next two years,
but the very short history of legal marijuana and
other factors complicate forecasting.
“Currently the outlook for recreational mar-
ijuana sales and tax collections remains highly
uncertain,” state economists wrote in a quarterly
See POT, Page 9A
Warrenton
among the
plaintiffs
EO Media Group
Marijuana plants grow in a
high tunnel at a farm near
McMinnville . State econo-
mists project the state will
bring in net marijuana reve-
nues of about $142 million
in the next two years .
Seaside seeks housing answers
opers to the city to connect
essential services like roads
and utilities.
Housing study,
development
fees reviewed
By EDWARD
STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
The federal government is
asking that a lawsuit brought
by an Oregon coalition over
proposed fl ood plain rules be
thrown out as premature and
lacking jurisdiction.
The U.S. Department of
Commerce, National Marine
Fisheries Service and Fed-
eral Emergency Manage-
ment Agency were sued
in U.S. District Court over
the summer by Oregonians
for Floodplain Protection.
The coalition includes trade
groups representing home-
builders, Realtors, farm-
ers and the construction
industry, along with indi-
vidual landowners and sev-
eral county and city govern-
ments, including Warrenton.
Warrenton Mayor Henry
Balensifer said the city felt
the need to have its voice
heard. The city paid $500
to be a part of the coalition
but is not helping fund the
lawsuit.
The coalition’s law-
suit stems from a biological
opinion issued last year by
the fi sheries service, which
administers the Endangered
Species Act.
FEMA, which admin-
isters the National Flood
Insurance Program to more
See LAWSUIT, Page 4A
County study
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — The city took
two steps Monday night to
address a countywide housing
shortage.
City councilors unani-
mously approved participation
in a housing study to assist in
understanding the type, size,
location and price of housing
needed to meet current and
future needs within Clatsop
C ounty.
See SOLAR, Page 4A
Seaside pledged $10,000
toward the study, joining Gear-
hart, Cannon Beach, Astoria
and Warrenton in contributing
$50,000 toward the $100,000
study. The county will provide
the remaining $50,000 .
In addition, councilors
voted to approve $32,000 for
a study of system development
charges — fees paid by devel-
In June, County Manager
Cameron Moore suggested
Seaside partner with other cit-
ies to learn more about hous-
ing issues. A similar six-month
study by Tillamook County
identifi ed specifi c data about
the area’s housing market and
possible solutions.
The Clatsop County agree-
ment recognizes the “lack of
housing options is creating
barriers to continued economic
growth.”
See SEASIDE, Page 4A
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
The federal government is arguing that a lawsuit by
Warrenton and others over a biological opinion and
proposed flood plain rules is premature.