DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2017
145TH YEAR, NO. 53
ONE DOLLAR
Former
Abeco
building
is sold
FIREFIGHTERS
COME HOME
Part of string of
downtown properties
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Submitted Photo
Firefighters from the fourth Clatsop County task force pose in front of Multnomah Falls after fighting the Eagle Creek
Fire last week.
Local task forces sent to fi ght Oregon fi res
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
C
annon Beach Fire Chief Matt Ben-
edict has been called to fi ght many
wildfi res over his 20-year career,
so getting the call from the state to go to
Sisters and Eagle Creek for two weeks
didn’t feel much different .
But when he found himself at Mult-
nomah Falls, memories of a fi re that
raged in 1991 were rekindled. He was
a student in fi re science at the time, and
recalled protecting the historic lodge for
two days straight with his classmates and
mentor.
“I just remember thinking, ‘Wow, this
all over again,’” Benedict said.
The fi re chief was among the more
than 50 Clatsop County fi refi ghters who
were deployed with Oregon State Fire
Marshal Incident Management to the
Milli Fire in Sisters, the Chetco Bar Fire
in Brookings and the Eagle Creek Fire
in Multnomah County throughout late
August and early September.
As of Tuesday, a team of 13 fi refi ght-
ers at the Milli Fire in Sisters, another
team of 14 at the Chetco Fire near Brook-
ings and two teams of 13 and 14 in Eagle
Creek have all returned home . It was the
fi rst time in Clatsop County history two
task forces were sent simultaneously to
fi ght fi res around the state, Knappa Fire
Chief Paul Olheiser said.
The team deployed to Chetco Bar
broke state history for the most days
spent on a fi re as a part of a confl agration
order from the state.
Olheiser, who is coordinating the
c ounty’s volunteer effort, said fi refi ght-
ers from Seaside, Gearhart, Olney, Lewis
and Clark, Cannon Beach, Warrenton
and Knappa fi re districts were dispatched
to fi res throughout the state . As of mid-
week, more than 20 wildfi res are burning
throughout Oregon.
Many of the fi refi ghters served on
multiple task forces — some even back
to back, not even making it back into
their own homes for more than a few
hours.
Luottamus Partners, the property com-
pany owned by Rose Marie Paavola and
Marie Mitchum, has sold the former Abeco
Offi ce Systems storefront on Commercial
Street in downtown Astoria to Hollywood
Vintage, a vintage clothing and accessory
store in Portland.
William Hicks, the registered owner
of Hollywood Vintage, did not respond to
requests for comment.
Luottamus Partners, founded in the mid-
2000s by Paavola and the late downtown
advocate Mitch Mitchum to fi x up buildings
downtown , once owned eight properties but
is down to three. Paavola and Mitch Mitchum
won a Dr. Edward. J. Harvey Award in 2010
for their restoration of the Sanborn Building
at 10th and Commercial streets, which had
been gutted by fi re.
See SOLD, Page 7A
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Luottamus Partners has sold the former
Abeco storefront at 1332 Commercial St.
to Portland-based Hollywood Vintage, a
vintage clothing and accessory store.
See FIREFIGHTERS, Page 7A
‘WITHOUT DEDICATION FROM THE COMMUNITY,
WE COULD NEVER DO THESE THINGS. IT’S A HARD
HIT TO A SMALL BUSINESS IF YOU LOSE TWO
OR THREE EMPLOYEES FOR WEEKS.’
Paul Olheiser | Knappa fi re chief
Development
fees going up
in Warrenton
Increases for the fi rst
time in several years
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Two teams of firefighters from Clatsop County helped fight the Eagle Creek Fire.
Inciweb via AP
Fees that Warrenton charges for building
permits and plan reviews are going up for the
fi rst time in almost a decade.
The changes the City Commission unani-
mously approved at its meeting Tuesday will
increase the combined cost for a permit and
plan review for the average house built in
Warrenton by about $57.
“Really what we’re presenting here is a
cost-of-living increase that is typically done
once a year,” Warrenton Building Offi cial
Chuck Goodwin said. He pointed out that the
fees have not been adjusted since 2008, even
while residential and commercial develop-
ments have boomed .
See WARRENTON, Page 7A
Alderbrook property owner dodges foreclosure
Olvey pays out
$55,000 in fi nes
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
The owner of a sign-cov-
ered property in Alderbrook
has dodged foreclosure, but
could still face legal action if
he doesn’t take care of issues
that led the Astoria City Coun-
cil to declare the site a nui-
sance earlier this summer.
Leroy Olvey, a lifelong
Clatsop County resident, has
paid the city $55,996 , the full
amount he needed to pay to
halt a process that would have
otherwise ended in foreclo-
sure and a public auction of
his Birch Street property. Past
judgments related to the con-
dition of his property, with rel-
atively smaller fi nes attached,
still remain unpaid. Nothing
has changed on the property
itself.
“While he’s paid his cita-
tion fi nes, there are still contin-
ued violations out there that he
has not remedied,” City Man-
ager Brett Estes said. “We still
have the junk vehicles and the
derelict building issues out
there.”
For more than a decade,
the city has tried to get the
77-year-old man to clean up
his property. Instead, Olvey
has covered the house and
the yard with colorful signs
expressing his opinions about
world affairs and local fi g-
ures, and protesting his alleged
treatment by the city over the
years. Trash is piled up inside
the run-down house and bro-
ken, abandoned vehicles litter
the overgrown yard. The prop-
erty has become a neighbor-
hood concern.
In June, the C ity C oun-
cil declared Olvey’s property
derelict and a nuisance, a tool
the city has used to get other
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
See OLVEY, Page 7A
Leroy Olvey has covered his Alderbrook property with pro-
test signs that document his fight against the city and others.