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