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.).
We funeral directors aren’t known for our PR skills since
we are generally the antithesis of self-promoters. I can deal with
the grim specter of death 24/7, but one sit-down with multi-
media sales rep. April Olsen of The Daily Astorian and I knew
I was living in a cave, and the complex world of advertising
somehow morphed into something I didn’t recognize.
I am thankful for April’s assessments, guidance and out-of-
the-box thinking that has us moving toward a more integrated
way of advertising. Simply throwing a dollar amount at
Facebook or Google showed us that we were in the
dark and limiting ourselves.
I’m extremely grateful to have someone like April who under-
stands the complexities of the advertising world, allowing me
to devote more time to the things I do best.
John R. Alcantara - Funeral Director
Hughes-Ransom Mortuary & Crematory
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