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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 2018)
146TH YEAR, NO. 100 WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2018 ONE DOLLAR Drug treatment center sued over debts URBAN DEER Behind on rent at sober living facility By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Katie Frankowicz/The Daily Astorian Deer linger in a neighborhood in Astoria. Astoria police notice increase in deer-related calls By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian A doe paused at the top of Eighth Street near Peter Pan Mar- ket one morning this summer. She waited for oncoming cars to come to a complete stop before she looked both ways and carefully crossed the street — using the crosswalk. Nobody knows how many deer live in Astoria, but the population may be on the rise. The Astoria Police Department has noted an uptick in deer-related calls, with about 79 so far this year, according to Deputy Chief Eric Halverson. Police recorded around 66 deer-related calls in 2017 and roughly 58 in 2016. Deer come and go as a city concern. They are not considered a public safety issue in the way elk herds are perceived to be in Warrenton and Gearhart, but they can be pests, munching on gardens, trampling lawns and posing a danger to motorists. As with elk, opinions on Asto- ria’s deer are divided. Some people love them, some people hate them. People have advocated for the deer in front of city boards when vacation rent- als drew extra traffic to their neighbor- hood. They have wondered why a ban on feeding deer — and other wildlife — doesn’t also apply to feral cats. They have noted that 3-foot-high fences do not dis- suade deer from jumping into gardens and devouring everything in sight. The Parks and Recreation Department specif- ically selects plants like rhododendrons that deer won’t eat. Deer can make traffic stop dead. A doe once tried to sample a houseplant while a woman was carrying it indoors. They’ve been caught on camera walking out onto the roof of the Astoria Co-op grocery. Sometimes they nurse their fawns in the middle of the street — because why not? Jennifer Benoit, executive assis- tant to the city manager, said that even though her young children see deer every day, they still scream in excitement at A local property manager is suing Klean Treatment Centers for not paying rent at a sober living facility in Astoria. Sean Fitzpatrick and his wife, Anne Car- penter, own a 12-unit apartment complex on Alameda Avenue they rent to the regional drug and alcohol treatment center for 40 sober living beds. The company also rents office space from the couple at 12th and Exchange streets for an outpatient treatment center. “They were often behind on their pay- ments, but their chief operating officer was good about staying in communication and let- ting me know when they would pay,” Fitz- patrick said of the apartments. “They usually got caught up, then fell behind again. They stopped paying rent this summer, then after some personnel changes and promises that were not kept, stopped communicating with us altogether.” Fitzpatrick and Carpenter, under their property management company Wecoma Partners, recently filed a lawsuit against Well in Mind, a California-based nonprofit under which Klean leased the apartment complex. In the lawsuit, Fitzpatrick’s lawyers claim Klean had agreed to rent the complex for $13,000 a month but had fallen behind by more than $44,000. “We are currently working with the land- lord to resolve this matter,” Erica Messenger, an administrative assistant for Klean, wrote in an email. “We have no further comment at this time.” See CENTER, Page 7A Elleda Wilson/The Daily Astorian A deer rests at a home in Astoria. BY THE NUMBERS 79 66 58 number of deer- related calls in 2018 so far number of calls in 2017 number of calls in 2016 each sighting. “And I have to slow down and make sure everyone sees them before we move on,” she said. “As if the deer weren’t as common as a neighbor just out walking their dog.” It is illegal to feed the deer and ille- gal to shoot them in city limits. Still, they have been poached. Shots fired In 2015, police responded to a report of gunshots near Sixth Street and Olney Avenue only to find a teenager with bloody hands and a dead buck in the bed of his Nissan truck. He claimed he hit the deer with his car. Actually, he’d hit it with a bullet from his gun and he would end up with a felony charge for unlawful use of a weapon. This week, police are tracking multi- ple reports of a deer wandering the east side with an arrow sticking out of its back. So far, no suspects. “It is pretty rare that we receive infor- mation about people trying to hunt ani- mals in town,” Halverson said. More common are reports of deer injured or killed after tangling with a car. Occasionally, officers will be asked to herd deer across the street when the ani- mals show up near the Smith Point round- about. Or they will drive injured fawns to the Wildlife Center of the North Coast. They also respond when deer get them- selves into strange situations. Tractor Supply Co. gets nod in Warrenton City staff initially recommended denial By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — The Planning Com- mission on Thursday night approved plans to build a Tractor Supply Co. farm and gar- den store in Warrenton. City staff had originally recommended denial of the project, with Community Development Director Kevin Cronin say- ing the application had a “number of fatal flaws.” The unanimous approval, with condi- tions, underscores new tensions when it comes to questions about how Warrenton handles development. See DEER, Page 7A See STORE, Page 7A For conservation district, an election with few candidates Two seats left unfilled By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian A local agency that works with landowners to promote healthy soil and water may need to do some digging to fill vacant positions on its elected board. Four positions on the sev- en-seat board of the Clatsop Soil and Water Conservation District were up for election this month. Chris Farrar, an at-large director, was the only person to file for office and was re-elected. Katherine Kahl received a number of write-in votes to renew her term, County Clerk Tracie Krevanko said. To be elected as a write-in, candidates must notify the con- servation district of their inter- est, Krevanko said. Kahl was the only person to do so. Hun- dreds of write-in votes for the other two positions were cast, but the seats will be vacant for now. In addition to being a regis- tered voter that resides within a zone, candidates must man- age at least 10 acres of land. Another way to qualify is for candidates to have served at least one year as a zone direc- tor or associate director and have an approved conserva- tion plan. “It’s kind of hard to find people that want to serve and meet the qualifications,” said Misty Metcalf Ogier, the con- servation district’s manager. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian See DISTRICT, Page 7A Few candidates showed interest in seats on the Clatsop Soil and Water Conservation District board.
