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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2018)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2018 Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Construction work continues on a bridge at the waterfront in Astoria. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Haystack Rock is one of the more iconic natural features on the Oregon Coast. Haystack Rock: ‘No one Bridge project: Situation could continue through May surveyed identified as local’ Continued from Page 1A before the project wraps in May, as a lack of parking and restricted access discourage customers. They have lost 19 parking spaces, they told the City Council. Newer, less-es- tablished businesses are even more concerned about the ability to weather a drop in customers. Without major repairs or complete replacement of the short bridges at the base of Sixth through 11th streets downtown, the city ran the risk that the structures would be closed entirely — and with them access to the Astoria Riv- erwalk and businesses on piers. Rather than continue mak- ing costly repairs each year, the city worked with the Ore- gon Department of Transporta- tion to secure grant funding for full replacement work on all six bridges. Contractors are tackling bridges at the base of Seventh, Ninth and 11th streets. Next fall, they will begin work on the Sixth, Eighth and 10th street bridges. Detour signs route pedestri- ans down 10th Street and 12th Street, but people can no lon- ger walk straight down the Riv- erwalk to access businesses on the 11th Street pier. Chain link fencing blocks off bridge con- struction areas. Parking on the pier and at the base of 11th Street is gone for now. It’s a situation that could continue through May. Aleesha Nedd, owner of the Naked Lemon Bakery and one of the Allens’ tenants in the Pier 11 building, said she appreci- ated how much Public Works Department staff have commu- nicated with businesses. But, she said, she has seen her prof- its drop by 33 percent, “sliding into 50 percent.” “It’s been really hard to work around and we know it is a reality that has to be done,” she said. The city’s policy is to not promote individual businesses. With this project, which is managed by the Department of Transportation, the city has stuck to generic “businesses open during construction” signs. The Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce and the Astoria Downtown His- toric District Association had planned to help the businesses advertise and maintain visibility even while obscured by chain- link fencing and machinery. But not all of the businesses are members of the chamber or the downtown association — groups that require fees for membership, Nedd pointed out. To Nedd, the city and the state have caused the problem for the 11th Street businesses. The businesses should not have to pay money to outside groups to get representation and advo- cacy, she said. Mayor Arline LaMear expressed her belief that the town could rally to help sup- port the businesses with their patronage during construction. “This is a great town,” she said. “We can do this. We can support you and if everybody does their part …” “I think that’s a great out- look to have,” Nedd countered. “However, I think that we do still rely on tourism coming through the Riverwalk area. I think that for locals to be alle- giant to small businesses is great and I think that all of us in this room going in and doing our part is awesome. “But realistically,” she added, echoing arguments made by Phil Spencer of Smoked Bones BBQ, also in the Pier 11 building, “I think the signage can really be improved and helped and worked upon with extra money.” City Councilor Cindy Price agreed. “They’re members of Asto- ria, they’re residents, they’re small businesses who have con- tributed a lot to this city and I think unless there’s some legal reason — specific legal reason — why we as a city cannot put up good signage and good light- ing that directs anyone in there, we should do it,” she said. The city has permission to put up informational banners on the contractor’s fencing. “What it’s kind of come down to is the chamber facilitating that,” said Cindy Moore, assis- tant city engineer. City Manager Brett Estes said the chamber and the down- town association planned to provide help regardless of membership. Estes said he will brainstorm with these groups and city staff to see what can be done. Homeless: As many as 30 people may be living in wooded campsites Continued from Page 1A Police and other city employees still plan to go into the woods today to begin cleaning up trash at abandoned sites where people are no lon- ger camping. Dumpsters are already set up and employ- ees and volunteers mobilized, Spalding said. City Councilor Cindy Price, as planned, will begin to contact homeless people who received police notices to see if they need help accessing resources or contacting social service organizations. On Fri- day, a representative from Clatsop Community Action will join police and other city employees in the woods to offer further assistance. Police decided to begin passing out cleanup notices as well as resource guides to connect people with social services after the City Coun- cil finalized an amendment to a “no camping” ordinance to forbid camping on city-owned forestland. Social service groups have estimated as many as 30 peo- ple may be living in campsites in the woods around Astoria. Some campers have been there for several years, but their numbers seem to have grown in the past year, neighbors say. For the homeless campers, the woods offer a relatively secure place to live that is still within walking or cycling dis- tance to town. But people liv- ing in surrounding neighbor- hoods are concerned about the amount of car and foot traf- fic down their streets, people coming and going at all hours. Meanwhile, city lead- ers have worried about health and human safety in the woods, especially the ability to respond to an emergency where there are no access roads or lighting. Advocates who attended the City Council meeting Monday praised the police and social service organiza- tions like Clatsop Community Action and Helping Hands for their careful and measured approach to working with the homeless campers. But Asto- rian Rick Bowers still worries about people who get lost in the cracks. He and his wife tried to help one homeless woman find housing for a night recently through Clatsop Community Action, but the woman had a certified comfort dog, which took her out of the running for overnight shelter options in Astoria if she wanted to keep the dog with her. The woman was given the option to kennel her dog over- night but refused to be sep- arated from it — an under- standable dilemma to Bowers and the Clatsop Community Action caseworker trying to help her. “So there are gaps in spite of just the wonderful services here,” Bowers said. Wendy’s: Closest branch currently is located in Longview, Washington Continued from Page 1A Asked how he’ll recruit in such a difficult environ- ment, Harris said the com- pany offers competitive wages compared to other fast- food restaurants and a good culture. “A large number of our people work more than 32 hours a week, which is kind of what we consider full time,” Harris said. Wendy’s is one of the larg- est fast-food chains globally, with more than 6,500 loca- tions. The closest Wendy’s to Warrenton is a branch in Longview, Washington. The only other location on the Oregon Coast is in Coos Bay. During an investor meet- ing last year, the company unveiled plans for an addi- tional 1,000 locations by 2020, including 500 more in North America, according to Nation’s Restaurant News, a food service publication. Continued from Page 1A visited the rock before and whether it is important to pro- tect Haystack Rock for stew- ardship purposes. Some of the findings, like the fact that 95 percent of vis- itors agree it’s important to preserve the rock and 49 per- cent of visitors were between the ages of 35 and 54, were to be expected, he said. About 75 percent were women, and 56 percent were aware of the program before arriving. But other findings, like 50 percent of all visitors com- ing from outside of Ore- gon and the fact more than a third have visited the marine reserve more than 10 times, were a surprise. “And no one surveyed identified as a local, so that was just amazing to me … that so many people outside Oregon were coming back again and again,” he said. For awareness program staff, the results were an accu- rate representation of what they have been seeing on the beach. On a larger scale, the results also mirror the rise the state is seeing in inter- national tourism, which has grown about 11 percent since 2012, according to a report from the research firm Tour- ism Economics. “We almost expected to have higher than 50 percent outside of Oregon, so that doesn’t surprise me,” Keyser said. Many of the program’s interpreters are from out of state and started volunteer- ing after multiple visits, she added. “It’s such a unique place,” she said. In the past few years, the program has introduced new initiatives to be more inclu- sive of a more diverse visi- tor profile, including a beach wheelchair program and bilingual interpreter for Span- ish-speaking visitors. Program staff believe the survey indicates the pro- gram’s recent shift to serve more as an educational body rather than as an enforcement group at the rock is working, and will ultimately help to show the program’s relevance in future grant opportunities. “It validates why we’re here. It shows that there is interest … that we have the capacity to bring more people from outside the area,” out- reach coordinator Pooka Rice said. “From a grant perspec- tive, it’s significant because it shows there’s more potential for the program.” As for the original ques- tion, the answer still isn’t clear as to what motivates people to come visit the rock. About half of the respondents expected some form of inter- pretive program, while others were surprised the landmark was conserved and protected, not clearly indicating whether an interest in environmental stewardship was driving their visit, Keyser said. But the numbers indi- cate more people from more places want to keep coming. “It’s not like we want to advertise and bring more people to here … that’s not our job,” Keyser said. “But we do know that number is going to increase, and that we will need to capacity to keep educating.” ‘‘ I used to think that advertising was just ads (billboards, print, radio, TV, etc.). 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