DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2019
146TH YEAR, NO. 140
ONE DOLLAR
Board shake-up at mental health agency
Executive director returns
Board chairwoman resigns
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
The board chairwoman at Clat-
sop Behavioral Healthcare has
resigned, explaining that the per-
formance of the board and the men-
tal health agency no longer aligned
with her core values.
Debbie Morrow informed Clat-
sop County on Friday that she
chose to step down. Dr. Greg Saw-
yer, another board member, also
resigned.
See Chairwoman, Page A7
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
Debbie
Morrow
Amy
Baker
Amy Baker has returned as exec-
utive director of Clatsop Behavioral
Healthcare after the mental health
agency’s board completed an inves-
tigation into her conduct.
Baker was placed on adminis-
trative leave in late December for
reasons that have not been publicly
disclosed. The agency’s board said
Friday night that an investigation
had concluded but did not release
See Baker, Page A7
Astoria,
Ilwaco settle
dredging
dispute
Private mediation over work
at the West Mooring Basin
ON COASTAL
HIGHWAYS, A
ROCKY ROAD
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
A vehicle traveling on U.S. Highway 30 passes the site of a rock slide.
State often deals with rockfalls and slides
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
S
torms have yet to cause a
major landslide on U.S.
Highway 101 this winter,
but it is the time of year
when road crews expect to see some
damage.
If you’re new to the state Depart-
ment of Transportation’s district
offi ce in Astoria and low on the
totem pole, it’s likely you’ll pull
night duty this winter, and one of the
night shift’s primary tasks is to patrol
the coastal h ighway , visiting trouble
spots and sweeping fallen rock out of
the roadway.
The highway, like U.S. High-
way 30 or U.S. Highway 26 that cut
through dynamic landscapes, is con-
stantly at the mercy of the weather.
Small rockfalls and landslides are
chronic in some spots.
“It’s very unpredictable for the
most part, but what we can predict is
that they do happen,” said Lou Tor-
res, a spokesman for the Department
of Transportation .
Highway 101 — or the Ore-
gon Coast Highway — was built
in the 1920s in response to grow-
ing demand for a highway along the
coast. The roadway piggybacked off
an early need for emergency pre-
paredness after World War I.
But the highway is caught in a
network of ongoing slides related to
erosion by high wind and waves and
heavy rainfall during winter storms
in January and February.
D evelopment — such as the con-
struction of the highway itself — has,
in some places, exacerbated the nat-
ural movement of land. A portion
of Highway 101 in Curry County is
periodically closed by landslides,
issues that began in 1938 when the
road was constructed, according to
the Oregon Department of Geology
and Mineral Industries.
Landslides
Last April, a landslide sent about
fi ve dump trucks-worth of material
across Highway 101 near Hug Point
several miles south of Cannon Beach.
The slide closed the highway for sev-
eral hours. Though it happened in the
middle of the day, no injuries or acci-
dents were reported.
In fact, injuries from rock and
landslides on Highway 101 are rare,
as far as state offi cials are aware.
Certainly, though, slides have
caused serious damage to vehicles,
said Mark Buffi ngton, manager for
the Department of Transportation’s
offi ce in Astoria.
In some places in Clatsop County,
the highway carves between hill-
sides. Motorists drive through areas
where a rock wall looms on one side
and a sloped outcropping rises and
falls on the other. This method of
construction left certain spots open
to landslides, mudslides and rockfall.
There’s a 10 -mile stretch in the
southern portion of the county and
farther south, closer to Tillamook,
where crews are constantly picking
up rock or moving mud .
See Rocks, Page A8
‘AS LONG AS WE HAVE WHAT WE HAVE NOW … WE’LL ALWAYS DEAL WITH
THAT. BETWEEN GRAVITY AND THE INTENSE RAINFALL THAT WE GET,
WHEN YOU ADD THAT TOGETHER, YOU’LL ALWAYS HAVE A PROBLEM.’
A little over a year ago, the ports of
Astoria and Ilwaco signed the fi rst-ever
intergovernmental agreement across the
Columbia River to dredge the Port’s
West Mooring Basin and open 35 slips at
a marina with a waiting list of more than
100 boats .
But the partnership only removed half
of the expected sediment and opened
less than a third of the intended slips,
requiring a private mediation to avoid a
lawsuit.
“Fundamentally, we didn’t get what
we wanted, and they didn’t get what they
wanted,” said Jim Knight, the executive
director of the Port of Astoria.
The cash-strapped Port has not been
able to dredge the West Mooring Basin,
a popular marina just west of the Asto-
ria Bridge, in more than a decade. Many
of the slips turn to sandbars at low tide,
leaving boats high and dry and damag-
ing docks.
Dredging is allowed on the lower
Columbia between Nov. 1 and Feb. 28.
The Port’s maintenance staff and its
aging dredge, the Felkins, are often tied
up dredging the waterfront to keep log,
fi shing and cruise ship docks open for
business.
The Washington port, mostly based
around marinas in Ilwaco and Chinook,
had a hydraulic suction dredge small
enough to fi t inside the Astoria mari-
na’s seawalls. Ilwaco agreed to dredge
in Astoria in November and December
of 2017 before heading back across the
river to maintain marinas.
“All intentions were that we were
going to be able to help out a neighbor-
ing p ort, and we did the best we could,”
said Guy Glenn Jr., the manager of the
Port of Ilwaco.
Ilwaco’s dredging in Astoria was sup-
posed to start Nov. 1, but took nearly an
additional month to commence. The proj-
ect was beset by problems, from Asto-
ria taking longer to get federal permits
to Ilwaco’s dredge breaking down. The
project also faced delays from stormy
weather.
Ilwaco’s dredge ultimately returned to
Washington after only opening up about
10 boat slips.
Lou Torres | spokesman for the Department of Transportation
See Dispute, Page A7
Artist hungry for a second food-themed show
Deluca hosts show
to benefi t charity
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
L
ast year, Sid Deluca
encountered something
he hadn’t previously imag-
ined in his fi ve years of
involvement with Astoria
art shows.
Deluca, Joi Smith and
Phil Spencer were planning
a food art benefi t show at
Smoked Bones BBQ, fea-
turing a selection of food-
themed art. Much of the pro-
ceeds from the show would
have been given to a local
food nonprofi t.
The only problem: a fi re
broke out at the restaurant
a few days before the show.
Damage was minimal, but
the need for a completely
rebuilt smoker and other
repairs forced the eatery to
temporarily close.
The art show would have
to wait.
“I’ve never had an art
Sid Deluca
show close because a venue
burned down, so that was a
fi rst for me,” Deluca said.
See Deluca, Page A8
Art on display at Smoked Bones BBQ.