LOSE YR MIND MUSIC FEST COMES TO SOU’WESTER LODGE
DailyAstorian.com //
145TH YEAR, NO. 64
NORTH
AMERICAN
PORCUPINE
These toothy
rodents are a rare
sight in Clatsop
County. They like
to gnaw bark and
have sharp
quills to ward
off predators.
BY THE
NUMBERS
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Two options are being discussed for
an expanded Clatsop County Jail at the
site of the shuttered North Coast Youth
Correctional Facility in Warrenton.
One plan calls for a simple renova-
tion of the youth facility that would
include 140 beds and entail more than
$12 million in construction costs. The
other plan is a renovation and an addi-
tional structure in the middle of the facil-
ity that would house 200 inmates and
cost more than $28 million.
Representatives
from
DLR
Group met with the c ounty Board of
Commissioners for a work session
See JAIL, Page 7A
ONE DOLLAR
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2017
County jail
could move
to Warrenton
Two options range
from $12 million
to $28 million
COAST WEEKEND • INSIDE
Clatsop County
is discussing
two options for
an expanded
county jail at the
former North
Coast Youth Cor-
rectional Facility
in Warrenton.
The overcrowded
county jail in
Astoria has 60
beds and requires
29 jail staff.
Thinkstock.com
HECK
GNAW!
• $12 million/
Modest renova-
tion with 140 beds
and 46 jail staff
• $28 million/
Larger expansion
and redesign with
200 beds and 36
jail staff. Could
later expand to
252 beds
PORCUPINES SPOTTED
IN CLATSOP COUNTY
Pacific County Sheriff’s Office
Pacific County Sheriff Scott Johnson, right, met with U.S.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Sept. 19 in Seattle.
Sheriff bashed,
praised for his
Sessions meeting
Pacifi c County’s
Johnson met
with top cop
By AMY NILE
EO Media Group
Pacifi c County Sheriff
Scott Johnson says he went to
Seattle to hear U.S. Attorney
General Jeff Sessions lay out
federal plans for immigration,
drugs and other issues that
involve local law enforce-
ment. But that doesn’t mean
he “drank the Kool-Aid.”
Johnson described his
meeting last week with the
Trump administration offi cial
as “an honor and a privilege”
on Facebook.
Johnson said Sessions
emphasized the vital roles
played by front-line law
enforcement on the city,
county and state levels. “I
felt this was a very produc-
tive meeting, and a positive
change away from how the
past few U.S. AGs have dealt
with local law enforcement,”
Johnson wrote on Facebook.
His post, which included a
photo of the sheriff with the
nation’s top lawman, spurred
dozens of comments. A num-
ber were enthusiastic about
the Johnson-Sessions meet-
ing and Johnson’s compli-
ments of the attorney general,
while others criticized John-
son for accepting the invita-
tion and appearing to endorse
any of Sessions’ positions.
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
and BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
Clatsop County timber company saw porcu-
pines for the fi rst time in forestland around the
Ecola Creek w atershed near Cannon Beach
this summer.
Squashed, dead porcupines are a common sight
on the side of highways on Washington state’s Long
Beach Peninsula, and hikers occasionally spot live
ones lumbering down trails and logging roads around
Willapa Bay.
But they are rare in Clatsop County — even though
the same mixed hardwood and coniferous forest hab-
itat the large, stumpy-legged, quill-covered rodents
prefer exists here . The Lewis and Clark National His-
torical Park between Astoria and Warrenton keeps a
list of animals spotted in its dense, forested land. Por-
cupines aren’t on it.
But contractors for GreenWood Resources inves-
tigating porcupine-related damage to young stands
around the Ecola Creek w atershed have now trapped
17 porcupines in a 1,500-acre area .
A
These sightings are the fi rst offi cial reports of porcu-
pines in Clatsop County received by the local Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife o ffi ce, said Michelle
Dennehy, a spokeswoman for the department.
But she doubts the porcupines seen on Green-
Wood’s land are new to the area. Likely, they’ve been
here all along, and the sightings could be a sign that
the population is growing.
‘A balance’
Depending on where they are, what they’re doing
and how many of them are around, porcupines are
either an exciting wildlife sighting or a threat capable
of damaging acres of young, valuable trees.
For GreenWood Resources, a timber company that
prides itself on a commitment to responsible steward-
ship and has been praised for its collaboration with
local land conservation groups, it’s a little bit of both.
“We want to embrace the critters. T his is their
home,” said Kathryn Olson, an area forester with
GreenWood Resources based in Gearhart. “But it’s a
balance.”
See PORCUPINES, Page 7A
‘THE PORCUPINE RANGE HAS BEEN EXPANDING
SLOWLY FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS OR SO.’
Michelle Dennehy | spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
See SHERIFF, Page 7A
County commissioners put off vacation rental vote
Topic of future
work session
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
The Daily Astorian
County commissioners are debating new regulations on
vacation rentals.
The Clatsop County Board
of Commissioners has indef-
initely postponed a vote
on possible vacation rental
regulations.
Commissioners held a pub-
lic hearing Wednesday on an
ordinance that would require
property owners to apply for
fi ve-year, renewable permits
based on safety inspections for
an unlimited number of short-
term rental properties . At the
hearing, commissioners tabled
the discussion in favor of a
future work session to learn
more about the topic.
“I think that we do need
to regulate short-term rent-
als . H owever, I do have some
questions about the ordinance
as it’s written,” Commissioner
Kathleen Sullivan said.
Sullivan’s
questions
included whether or not the
fi ve-year requirement is too
long or if the ordinance ade-
quately treated short-term rent-
als as businesses . Other com-
missioners agreed that they
needed more time to discuss
the issue before voting on it.
County staff had been dis-
cussing the issue since the
summer of 2016 and have doc-
umented multiple complaints
from renters since then. Com-
missioners have held two work
sessions about the topic this
year and were handed a draft
of the ordinance in June.
“We’ve had work sessions
and discussions about this,
but if we have to go back to it,
that’s what we’ll do,” County
Manager Cameron Moore
said.
Unlike hotels, motels and
bed-and-breakfasts, short-term
rentals are not regulated by the
state to ensure renters’ health
and safety. Regulations would
include requirements for own-
ers to comply with quiet hours,
See RENTALS, Page 7A