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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 9, 2018)
DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, JULY 9, 2018 146TH YEAR, NO. 6 ONE DOLLAR County looks to lodging tax for new jail Tax would fund personnel costs By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian Clatsop County may impose a lodging tax to help pay for personnel costs at a new jail in Warrenton. Voters in November will decide on a $20 million bond to turn the for- mer North Coast Youth Correctional Facility into an expanded jail. County commissioners on Wednesday will discuss a 1 percent lodging tax to help cover personnel costs, including additional deputies, a nurse and men- tal health experts. The rationale is that visitors com- prise a significant number of inmates at the jail — an estimated 27 per- cent don’t live in the county — and should help shoulder the cost of the Tourism grant causes controversy jail expansion. The 1 percent tax would gener- ate $1.4 million annually in revenue for the county and cities, according to county estimates. The tax would be in addition to a 9.5 percent lodging tax the county already imposes, as well as lodging taxes set by the state and cities. Under state law, 70 percent of the revenue from the new tax must be spent on tourism promotion, which would leave 30 percent for jail oper- ations. The county estimates the tax would produce $980,000 a year to the county for tourism promotion, and $420,000 for the jail. The $20 million bond would help relocate the county jail from Duane Street in Astoria to the former North Coast Youth Correctional Facility in Warrenton. The expansion would help resolve overcrowding and other concerns, giving the county the abil- ity to house 148 inmates, up from 60. Annual jail operating costs — $3.4 million this year — are estimated to rise by more than $1.2 million if the jail is relocated. “It’s the right thing to do,” Sheriff Tom Bergin said. “It’s a smart move for our citizens that put up with the tourism issue. With tourism comes good people and bad people.” See TAX, Page 7A Astoria to get first look at renovated library options Cannon Beach pulls money for bike trails By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian CANNON BEACH — In a rare move, the Cannon Beach City Council has pulled grant money the city’s Tourism and Arts Commission had recommended for a contro- versial trail project. The Northwest Trail Alliance wanted the grant for a network of bicycle trails on pri- vate timberland near Klootchy Creek County Park off U.S. Highway 26. But city councilors and others were con- cerned the request was not related to the arts, was not within city limits, raised legal ques- tions, and had no measurable benefit to the local lodging community. In a 3-2 vote, the City Council moved the $12,143 into a reserve. It is rare for the council to break from the commission’s recommendation. “We hate to go against the committee’s recommendation, but (the project) just didn’t fit,” City Councilor Mike Benefield said. “If we’re going to fund trails, let’s enhance trails in Cannon Beach rather than spending money out in the county.” Matthew Weintraub, the vice president of the Northwest Trail Alliance, said the alli- ance is disappointed in the decision. “It is disappointing for the Tourism and Arts Commission, as it undermines their work and expertise they put into evaluating the proposals and presentations,” he said. The controversy points to a larger dis- agreement within the city and the commis- sion about the evolving purpose of the grant money. Since 2008, the Tourism and Arts Com- mission has been charged with reviewing grant applications and regulating the dis- tribution of the Tourism and Arts Fund, which was established with an increase in the lodging tax. Local nonprofits are to use the money to promote tourism activities that encourage people to rent rooms in Cannon Beach, with an extra emphasis on support- ing the arts. But some grant applicants have shifted away from this focus, with recent awards going to support new events like the Fat Bike Festival and promotional videos for the Can- non Beach Chamber of Commerce. “The whole reason this started was to focus on the arts,” said City Councilor Nancy McCarthy, who voted with Benefield and City Councilor Brandon Ogilvie against the money for bike trails. Mayor Sam Steidel and City Councilor George Vetter voted to defer to the commission. Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Anne Odom shelves books at the Astoria Library. A $5 million renovation project By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian isions of what a renovated Astoria Library could look like will be on display at a City Council work ses- sion Wednesday morning. City leaders and residents will get their first look at possible renovation scenar- ios developed by Hennebery Eddy Archi- tects that vary slightly in scope, scale and cost. The scenarios would not extend the library’s footprint on 10th Street and Duane Street but do offer more natural light, meeting and study spaces, enhanced children and young adult sections and improved staff areas. The basement would be put to active use and the mezzanine, floating above the library’s main floor and home to the fic- tion and young adult collections, would go. Shelves — now set close to each other in narrow rows — would be spaced farther V Renovations to the library could in- clude improvements to electrical sys- tems in the building. apart to accommodate anyone who might want to browse books. City Manager Brett Estes said he will be looking for further direction from city councilors after the architects’ presenta- tion: “Is what has been produced satis- factory? Is this what you’re looking for in moving forward?” Last year, the City Council opted to renovate the existing, 50-year-old library rather than construct a new building, expand next door into the old Waldorf Hotel or branch out with a library and housing project at Heritage Square. The decision was rooted in a 2013 study of the library’s needs and options by Ruth Metz Associates. That plan, with feedback from the community, laid out a “vision of what could be ideal for the library,” Estes said. The renovation scenarios draw heavily from the Metz study and take that vision to the next step: conceptual designs. Metz herself is back, as well, as a consultant. Some of the work on the library will address long-deferred maintenance. The renovation project, under some scenar- ios, is expected to cost around $5 million. The city has already set aside $150,000 for design work and maintenance issues and $1.6 million for future construction. The Astoria Oregon Public Library Foundation was created to raise money for the project and is led by Mayor Arline LaMear. See LIBRARY, Page 7A See GRANT, Page 7A A summer job in Seaside turns into a life passion Butler finds a home at Beach Books By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian EASIDE – Like many 15-year-olds, Alexa But- ler was in search of a summer job. That summer, she was drawn by the “help wanted” sign in the window at Beach Books in Seaside. She had always loved reading. “I can get paid to talk to people about books that S Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian Karen Emmerling and Alexis Butler, right, haved worked together for more than 11 years. I love? What’s better than that?” Butler said. What the 15-year-old But- ler didn’t anticipate was that 11 years later the book store would become both her career and her home. Anyone who has perused Beach Books in the past decade most likely has met Butler, greeting customers with a smile behind the front desk or shelving books at the store wedged at the corner of Holladay Drive and Broad- way. She loves helping cus- tomers who wander into the store as a refuge, attempting to escape the chaos of the beach. Tags with handwritten rec- ommendations from Butler and other staff members hang from books on the shelf. “There’s so much out there. I like young adult, fantasy,” Butler said. “But probably not sad, ‘The Notebook’-type books.” When she’s not at the store, Butler likes to travel and, well, read more books. See BUTLER, Page 7A
