DEMONSTRATING FOR OUR LIVES
WEEKEND BREAK • 1C
SEASIDE • SEAGULLS
SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW
SPORTS • 6A, 8A
145TH YEAR, NO. 199
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2018
WATER
WORKS
ONE DOLLAR
County
mistakenly
exits forest
committee
Clarification came
after 4-1 vote
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Photos by Jeff Harrington and Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Clockwise from top left: A sign warns against trespassing at the watershed. A reservoir at the watershed supplies Astoria with
drinking water. A new liner is in place at a purification cell. The watershed includes heavily forested areas.
Astoria studying storage capacity, landslide risk
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
A
water quality report for 2017 gives Astoria’s drinking
water a clean bill of health. The city will face big proj-
ects in the future, however, as it tries to maintain and
build a more resilient system.
The Public Works Department is at the beginning
of one study that will look at adding storage capacity
for treated water by installing a clearwell system. The department is
at the end of another study examining landslide threats to a 12-mile
transmission line that takes water from the dam in the Bear Creek
watershed, the source of Astoria’s drinking water, to the city.
Both are $20,000 to $30,000 studies that will outline millions of
dollars worth of work.
“We need to have things that are more dependable,” Public
Works Director Jeff Harrington said. “We don’t need to be having
panics in the middle of the night. It’s 2018. We need to be a little
more advanced. Just like every city across the nation, the only thing
keeping us from doing that is money, so we’re doing the best we can
with what we have.”
Over the past four or five years, the department has slowly
built up funding for regular maintenance work. Big capital proj-
ects — like the ones the two studies in progress now will some-
day inform — will still be funded through grants and loans, but the
city is trying to get away from borrowing money to complete rou-
tine maintenance.
The Public Works Department is just now paying off debt ser-
See WATER, Page 7A
Clatsop County commissioners
withdrew last week from a commit-
tee that advises the state on behalf of
forestland trust counties. They just
didn’t know it at the time.
In a 4-1 vote, commissioners
decided to no longer pay $11,800
in annual membership dues to the
Council of Forest Trust Land Coun-
ties, a subcommittee of the Associa-
tion of Oregon Counties comprised of
commissioners from areas with state
forestlands.
State law, however, mandates that
the Forest Trust Land Advisory Com-
mittee, which advises the state on for-
estland issues, be composed of the
council’s board of directors.
The state Department of Forestry
informed the county the day after the
vote about the law, County Manager
Cameron Moore said. County Coun-
sel Heather Reynolds drafted a memo
to commissioners clarifying the issue.
“We became aware of the lan-
guage of that Thursday, but obviously
the decision came Wednesday night,”
Moore said. “I think commission-
ers are now aware of that and they’ll
have to decide on what they have to
do next.”
Scott Lee, the board’s chairman,
said he was unsure last week if the
commission’s decision would impact
the county’s standing on the advisory
committee. But he is sticking by the
move.
“To me, it doesn’t matter. They’re
both the same,” Lee said of the coun-
cil and the committee. “They’re basi-
cally just a rubber-stamp committee.”
The vote stemmed from the coun-
ty’s decision last year to withdraw
from a $1.4 billion timber lawsuit led
by Linn County that alleges breach of
contract by the state on timber har-
vests. Clatsop County was the only
one of 15 counties in the class action
to leave the lawsuit.
John DiLorenzo, the attorney
for the county plaintiffs, recently
instructed members of the council not
to speak with the Board of Forestry
about any policy matters that may be
used as evidence in the lawsuit.
“We’re concerned anything we
say can and will be used against us
when we got to trial,” said Tillamook
County Commissioner Tim Josi, the
council’s chairman, who is also run-
ning for state House.
Clatsop County, however, can still
speak to the board without those legal
concerns.
“Why would we spend money
on a board that’s not really function-
See COUNTY, Page 3A
After a tragedy in Warrenton,
anger, frustration and uncertainty
Woman held in her
little dog’s death
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
Facebook
Noel Moor with her fiance.
WARRENTON — Five days
after Noel Moor was discharged
from Cedar Hills Hospital, a mental
health treatment facility in Portland,
she put her beloved Chihuahua,
Bolt, in the oven of her Warrenton
home.
The little dog’s death horrified
Moor’s family and friends and led
to her arrest for aggravated ani-
mal abuse. Her fiance and mother
watched the sweet young woman
they love stumble toward a psy-
chotic break, but with their heart-
ache, there is also anger and
frustration.
After she left Cedar Hills in
March, Moor walked away from
the crisis respite center in Warren-
ton that was supposed to be her safe
landing. She was found naked at
Rite Aid. She was taken to Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital in Asto-
ria after several outbursts, but was
released each time.
Mental health staff explained to
the family that Moor did not pose
an imminent danger to herself or
others, the standard under Ore-
gon law to pursue commitment to
a mental hospital. By the time her
fiance finally convinced them she
was out of control, it was too late.
“She had to do something hor-
rible for you guys to figure out that
she is very, very, very sick,” Mel-
anie Ryan, Moor’s mother, told
mental health staff in an anguished
phone conversation after Bolt’s
death.
Administrators at Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare, Columbia
Memorial and Cedar Hills declined
to comment on Moor’s care, citing
legal restrictions meant to safeguard
See DIAGNOSIS, Page 7A