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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 2017)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2017 Port: Judge will decide next week on contract claim Continued from Page 1A Clatsop County Circuit Court Judge Dawn McIn- tosh will decide next week on Param’s claim of specifi c per- formance of a contract, which could retroactively grant Param the lease it had sought from Smithart. The Port will need to look at everything, including the court’s deci- sion on specifi c performance, before deciding whether to appeal, Reese said. Param sued the Port in November 2015 for breach of contract after being rebuffed in attempts to acquire the remaining seven years on Smithart’s lease. The Port- land company claimed the Port breached an agreement reached by a unanimous vote of the Port Commission in June 2015 and showed favor- itism when it later installed a locally connected company as the new operator. Competing estimates Opening his defense Thursday, Reese called Kevan Ridgway, a tourism consultant who lives in Can- non Beach, as an expert wit- ness to estimate Param’s potential losses through 2022. A forensic accountant previously called by Hunter had estimated the company’s loss in net profi ts at $4 mil- lion. But Ridgway estimated only $190,000 over the seven years, assuming fewer rooms in operation, more invest- ment needed to rehab the hotel and the purchase price of the lease from Smithart. Reese then called Ches- ter Trabucco, a partner in Astoria Hospitality Ventures with owner William Orr, a brother-in-law of former Port Commissioner Stephen Ful- ton. After the Port terminated Smithart’s lease and heard presentations from multiple suitors including Sonpatki, Hospitality Ventures was awarded a short-term lease on the Riverwalk Inn. Orr and Trabucco were included as co-defendants in Param’s original lawsuit for intentional interference with economic relations. The two were later removed after Judge Philip Nelson ruled their lobbying of a public body is protected activity. Trabucco learned about Sonpatki’s deal from a friend after the Port Commission vote in June 2015. Trabucco then started searching for fi nancial partners and lobby- ing to get the lease. Nobody on the Port encouraged him to pursue Smithart’s lease, Trabucco testifi ed, and he received no inside knowl- edge from Knight. In his cross-examination, Hunter sought to show that Trabucco’s lobbying of the Port was aided and abetted through communication with Fulton and Port Commis- sioner Bill Hunsinger. “I’m allowed to,” Tra- bucco said of his efforts. Reese next called Knight, who reiterated his previous testimony that his termination of Smithart’s lease in July 2015 was necessary because of Smithart’s debt, the default on his lease, the deteriorat- ing condition of the hotel and the deal with Sonpatki falling apart as Smithart entertained other suitors behind Sonpat- ki’s back. Knight denied hav- ing ever misled Sonpatki. Hunter has argued that Knight provided incorrect documents to consent to the deal between Sonpatki and Smithart and never corrected them. Knight admitted to mistakes , but said the Port had trouble getting corrected documents from its attor- ney. Sonpatki later took the stand and testifi ed about his failed attempts to fi x the doc- uments, get Smithart’s lease reinstated and offer the Port a cashier’s check for Smithart’s debts. Reese called to the stand former Port Commissioner John Raichl, who said he had no concerns about how the Port Commission con- ducted itself in meetings, and that Fulton recused himself during discussions of the Riv- erwalk Inn. Hunter pointed out to Raichl notes from pre- vious meetings showing that Fulton had been present for discussions of the Riverwalk Inn. Closing arguments “This is about whether the Port played by the rules,” Hunter said in his closing statements. The questions are whether the Port and Param had a deal, whether that deal was broken and whether Sonpatki was misled, Hunter said. The Port wants to make the matter complicated with dates and fi gures, he said, but the issue is about playing by the rules and honoring a deal. “This is a case about Mr. Knight’s truthfulness,” Reese said in his closing statements. “At the core, that’s what it is.” Reese asked the jury to remember that Sonpatki is a successful businessman who took a risk trying to strike a deal with Smithart, who was the reason his deal went bad. “If anyone is lying here, it’s Smithart,” Reese said. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Left to right: Zachary Cox, Joe Jenson and Erin Riggs work in the fabrication shop of Astoria Granite Works. Pastor: Warr has stayed away from business Continued from Page 1A Good people Warr had been dealing with the Schauermanns for some time and thought they were good people. The same year Warr sold Sears, the Schau- ermanns started North Coast Christian School, where Schauermann still serves as superintendent, and his wife as a board member. Their son, Angelo Schauer- mann, was recently voted in as the new pastor by the member- ship of the Gateway Commu- nity Church next door. “It was time for me to not be a pastor anymore, and I still need to make a living,” Chris Schauermann said. “Me and my wife have been fi x- ing up dilapidated buildings, (and) I knew something about granite.” The Schauermanns weren’t interested in the headstone and monument business, so Warr brought in Vancouver Granite Works. “They had been lifelong friends with the fi rst gener- ation of Vancouver Granite Works,” Warr said of the Fuer- stenbe rg family that owns the business. Warr sold the original loca- tion of Astoria Granite Works to Cindy Daly, a daughter of one of the original owners. The Schauermanns took on the workshop Warr had opened in 1998 on Gateway Avenue. public. It was established by the Cannon Beach Civic Club — a group of eight women who worked on civic needs such as street lighting, garbage disposal, public restrooms and, eventually, the library. Through donations and hundreds of volunteer hours, the library was able to move into a small cottage on Sec- ond Street in 1945 before set- tling in the Hemlock location in 1972. While the civic club that started the library no longer exists, its spirit of public ser- vice has remained. There is one paid position at the library. Otherwise, day-to-day tasks like running the front desk, book collection and inventory, maintenance and fundraising are done by more than 80 vol- unteers, who each year donate 9,000 hours of their time, Bernt said. “I think the fact this library is so volunteer-based cements the fact it is a community enterprise,” Bernt said. Running as a non profi t rather than a public institu- tion has its share of challenges and benefi ts. Collecting books and movies to rent is relatively easy — the library receives about 10,000 book dona- tions a year. But it takes about $83,000 a year to operate, with only $16,000 of that funding coming from the city. It’s not always easy to fi nd enough volunteers to help organize programs and fund- raisers to keep the library running. Tasks like general building maintenance and jani- torial work are shared between everyone. But for library board member Sandi Lundy, it is worth it. “We take a lot of pride in making this library the cen- ter of the community,” Lundy said. “There are so many mov- ing parts to it, but it’s fun to bond with the other volunteers. There’s a sense of pride in keeping (the library) perfect.” Lynne Murray, another library board member, said part of what she thinks has made the library thrive for as long as it has is not just the number of volunteers, but the type. “We have a large number of resources in Can- non Beach. We have people move here who were former children’s librarians, people who worked in fi nance, peo- ple who worked in real estate, and they donate their exper- tise and do it for free,” Murray said. “Everyone brings some- thing different to the table to help this run.” Shary Schauermann does accounting for the business, but the Schauermanns largely leave operations to Isaac Bent- son, a member of their church they hired as general manager after he was laid off from a construction crew. Despite los- ing the monument business, the Schauermanns took on all of Warr’s former employees, including four fabricators with 15 years of experience each. Warr has stayed away from the business, not want- ing to interfere, but said Asto- ria Granite Works’ reputation seems to be holding up. “I’m not sure how that’s going to work out in the long term,” he said of his retirement from both public life and busi- Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Russ Warr sold his business. ness ownership. “All of my adult life I’ve been involved in things besides my busi- ness, now I’ve got nothing to do during the day. But at some time, you’ve got to quit.” #powerofrural The stone business Behind a small storefront is the workshop where Astoria Granite Works takes in stone from around the world and turns it into countertops, bath- room walls and other house- hold features. Most of the work is with homeowners and building contractors. Library: ‘a community enterprise’ Continued from Page 1A Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Zachary Cox works on a countertop in the fabrication shop of Astoria Granite Works. Celebrating Hope CMH-OHSU Knight Cancer Collaborative The next 90 As times change, the volun- teers at Cannon Beach Library are working to change with it by providing services like pub- lic access to internet, e-books and more educational pro- gramming. But to make sure the library can continue to evolve, Bernt said the board plans to kick off a fundraising campaign at the birthday party in order to start an endowment. “We are good at fundrais- ing, but we don’t have a reli- able source of income. We would like to have an endow- ment to be more steady,” Bernt said. “We want to make sure this library is around for the next 90 years.” The goal for the next 90 years is continue to fi gure out what resources people need from a library and fi nd ways to fund it, Bernt said. But for now, she wants the party to press pause on the hectic day- to-day library routine to thank the volunteers and supporters who were around for the fi rst 90 years. And for those who are on the fence about coming, the board offers an incentive. “We’re giving amnesty for overdue book fees, one day only,” Lundy said. “You can’t miss it: We only do it every 90 years.” The CMH-OHSU Knight Cancer Collaborative has been built with extraordinary support from our community. The center has been designed to serve the entire region with expanded capac- ity and the most state-of-the-art technology found anywhere on the Pacific Coast. It’s truly been a journey of hope—for CMH caregivers, the community, donors, and patients who will no longer have to travel to receive radiation treatment. Join Columbia Memorial Hospital in celebrating this achieve- ment at a Community Open House. (630) 701-7193 Saturday, October 14, 2017 | 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Sunday, October 15, 2017 | 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. 1905 Exchange Street Astoria, OR 97103 Medical Excellence without the Miles 503-338-4085 | columbiamemorial.org/cancer-care
