DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017
145TH YEAR, NO. 62
ONE DOLLAR
County
ready
to tackle
vacation
rentals
Permits may be required
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
New vacation rental regulations may
become law in Clatsop County by the end of
the year.
The county Board of Commissioners
will hold its fi rst public hearing Wednes-
day on a possible ordinance. The regula-
tions represent the county’s response to an
issue that has unsettled the North Coast as
the region becomes increasingly popular
with tourists.
Since 2010, the county estimates the
number of rentals available for up to 30 days
has increased from 93 to 173. That fi gure is
merely a guess, though, and permits would
offer a more accurate glimpse.
DIGGING IN
DREDGING A PRIORITY AT HAMMOND MARINA
Kelly Short
Hammond M arina, seen here from the air, will have a new owner sometime next year after Warrenton was able to secure
the transfer from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
W
See RENTALS, Page 4A
Alex Pajunas/The Daily Astorian
Razor clamming has been authorized
for a stretch of Clatsop County beach
starting Sunday.
Razor
clamming
OK’d on
North Coast
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
ABOVE: Warrenton is expecting a transfer of ownership of the Hammond M a-
rina from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sometime next year . BELOW: The
Hammond M arina has not been dredged in more than a decade .
Fewer clams to go
around, though
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
For the fi rst time in more than a year, a
popular stretch of beach in Clatsop County
will reopen for razor clam digging starting
Sunday, but fi sh and wildlife biologists say
there will be fewer clams to go around.
High levels of the biotoxin domoic acid
in the clams coupled with an annual summer
closure to protect young clams have kept the
18-mile stretch of beaches between South
Jetty in Fort Stevens State Park and Tilla-
mook Head in Seaside off-limits to diggers
since last July. Before the closure, clammers
had experienced a record with an estimated
16 million clams available on the Clatsop
beaches last year. Clammers quickly and
easily hit their daily bag limits.
ARRENTON — When boat
traffi c was at its peak this
summer in the Hammond
M arina, some fi shermen found them-
selves nearly trapped at the docks at low
tide with only 7 to 10 inches of water
under their boats.
After decades of hoping, negotiating
and keeping a close eye on bills fl ying
off to Congress, Warrenton is on its way
to full ownership of the marina and boat
basin. The city expects a transfer of own-
ership from the U.S. Army Corps of Engi-
neers next year, but one thing is already
clear: Dredging needs to be priority No.
1 .
In fact, members of the newly
re-formed Hammond Marina Task Force
and city offi cials are already looking to
put dredging plans in motion — even
before the transfer is fi nal. At their fi rst
meeting this summer, the task force mem-
bers concluded there was “no sense” in
even talking about improvements or other
development plans until the marina is
dredged.
Local fi shing guide Kelly Short used
a drone to take overhead photos of the
marina for Warrenton Harbormaster Jane
Sweet during the summer fi shing sea-
son. In one photo, trucks and boat trail-
ers are everywhere, metal glinting in the
sunlight. Another photo, taken at low
tide, shows boats tied up along a stretch
of dock. The pale brown-green bottom of
the basin is clearly visible.
Dredging woes
‘IT’S A HUGE ECONOMIC IMPACT IF
WE DON’T HAVE THAT (MARINA).’
Pam Ackley | Warrenton city commissioner
Sweet has talked to several engineers
about the feasibility of setting up dredg-
ing soon. Still, she expects it to be a
time-consuming process; it’s not some-
thing she wants to put off until the city
has full ownership.
The marina hasn’t been dredged in
more than a decade. Back then, the work
cost between $200,000 and $250,000.
Both the cost and the marina itself have
likely shifted since, and whoever takes on
the work now will have to redo surveys
and soundings of the boat basin, Sweet
said.
See MARINA, Page 4A
See CLAMMING, Page 4A
Comfort Suites evacuated after gas leak and fi re
Guests sent
scrambling
Monday night
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
The Comfort Suites in
Astoria was evacuated Mon-
day night after a gas leak and a
fi re threatened the building and
displaced dozens of guests.
There were no reports of
injuries and the cause of the
gas leak is being investigated.
A fi re investigation team met
at the site today .
Though it isn’t known yet
Katie Frankowicz/The Daily Astorian
Guests at the Comfort Suites in Astoria were evacuated
Monday night after a gas leak and a fire.
what caused the leak or how
the gas ignited, it is clear the
situation could have been
much worse, Astoria Fire
Chief Ted Ames said.
“This could have been hor-
rible,” Ames said. “We dodged
a bullet. Everybody involved:
the guests, the hotel, staff,
owners, police, fi re depart-
ment. Everybody dodged a
huge bullet.”
Comfort Suites Gen-
eral Manager Amy Gambino
and her staff found rooms for
guests at other hotels in Asto-
ria and Warrenton. She said
all of the hotel’s 75 rooms had
been occupied at the time of
the alarm.
“The safety of our guests
is our top concern,” Gambino
said.
Ames said the gas leak
began near a meter at the back
of the building on Lief Erikson
Drive, facing the Columbia
River, and extended a bit into
the building. A fi re started, the
bulk of it outside, but fl ames
reached the hotel’s laundry
room. This part of the fi re was
extinguished after a water pipe
burst and a ceiling sprinkler
activated.
The pipe kept pumping
water into the hotel, however.
Ames said several inches of
water covered the ground fl oor.
Maggie McKinlay of Cal-
ifornia was in Astoria hop-
ing for a vacation. Instead, she
stood in a queue with other
guests Monday night, many
of them in their pajamas and
several barefoot, waiting for
fi refi ghters to lead them back
to their rooms to collect their
belongings.
McKinlay and her husband
were staying in a room on
the ground fl oor not far from
where the gas leak started. “It
sounded like a jet engine,” she
said. “We heard it in our room.
Over the TV, over everything.”