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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019
Repair work continues on
Astoria’s waterfront bridges
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Major construction work
to replace three waterfront
bridges in Astoria is well
underway, but contractors
are behind on the bridge the
city hoped would be com-
pleted fi rst.
B usiness owners at the
base of 11th Street say their
profi ts have taken a severe
hit this winter because of the
bridge replacement work.
Construction has closed
direct access to a large build-
ing on Pier 11 that houses a
number of businesses and
has also limited parking
availability .
In an update to the City
Council on Monday, Assis-
tant City Engineer Cindy
Moore said contractors dis-
covered roadway damage
and issues with a tunnel that
runs under 11th Street when
demolition work began on
the short bridge that leads out
to the pier.
Crews have since stabi-
lized the tunnel and replaced
a deteriorating storm pipe. A
crane is now back at work
on 11th Street removing old
piles. Moore expects con-
tractors to start installing new
piles this week.
The same contractor is
working on all three bridges
at the same time, and work
on Seventh and Ninth s treets
is farther along. All work on
the three bridges must be
completed by the Memorial
Day weekend.
The project, managed by
the Oregon Department of
Transportation on behalf of
Astoria, aims to replace six
waterfront bridges in the city.
The short structures at the
bases of Sixth Street through
11th Street provide access to
the Astoria Riverfront T rol-
ley tracks, the Astoria Riv-
erwalk and the piers beyond.
The city opted to replace
the six bridges instead of
continuing to make costly
repairs each year. The bridges
were already restricted to a
3-ton load limit, the lowest
allowed before a bridge must
be closed to all vehicles.
Businesses have contin-
ued to adapt to the disrup-
tion caused by ongoing con-
struction. The Naked Lemon,
a small bakery at Pier 11,
announced at the end of Jan-
uary that the shop would be
closed to the public begin-
ning in early February. The
bakery will continue to take
and fi ll custom orders and
host events.
“Though this is not our
preferred choice, this shift
gives us fl exibility to use our
resources to focus on what
we do best — creating cakes,
cupcakes and french macar-
ons,” a post on the bakery’s
Facebook page stated.
T he city worked with
the Astoria-Warrenton Area
Chamber of Commerce and
the Astoria Downtown His-
toric District Association on
more signs to help businesses
during the construction —
with mixed results, business
owners said .
Work on the next three
bridges will begin in October.
Knife River plans quarry decommissioning
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Knife River Corp. is pre-
paring for a future decom-
missioning of part of its Sea-
side quarry.
The company recently
applied for a conditional use
permit from the county to
expand quarry operations
to an 11-acre strip of land
directly uphill and to the east
of the existing 56-acre quarry.
The land is zoned for forestry
and has historically been used
for commercial logging.
The company proposes
to grade the strip of land at a
50 percent angle and replant
it with commercial timber,
turning a sheer quarry wall
into a steep, forested slope
once adjacent mining is
complete.
“It’s just looking to the
future and making sure we’re
good stewards of the land,”
said Tony Spilde, a spokes-
man for Knife River.
Knife River, one of the
largest construction mate-
rials producers in the U.S.,
purchased the 56-acre Sea-
side quarry last year from
local timber and mining
magnate Shawn Teevin and
Scappoose-based construc-
tion contractor Thomas
Fischer for around $10 mil-
lion, including equipment.
The two had purchased the
site in 2006 and operated it as
Teevin & Fischer Quarry.
A quarry reclamation plan
must be approved by the
county and the state Depart-
ment of Geology and Mineral
Industries “to assure quarry
sites are restored and reha-
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Knife River Corp. proposes to grade and replant an eastern portion of the Teevin & Fischer
Quarry, seen on the left, as a steeply forested hillside once adjacent mining is fi nished.
bilitated in a way that accom-
modates other permitted
land uses upon the comple-
tion of mineral and aggregate
resource extraction.”
A Warrenton man has
pleaded guilty to four counts
of communicating false dis-
tress messages to the Coast
Guard and one count of mak-
ing a false statement .
According to court docu-
ments, Bud O’Neil Burkleo,
36, was arrested in March in
connection with four hoax dis-
tress calls to the Coast Guard
between April and November
of 2016.
In response to each call, the
Coast Guard dispatched res-
cue personnel. Coast Guard
Whirlwind traditional Irish music
Saturday, February 9th, 7pm • Tickets $15
Box Office 503-325-5922 x55
www.libertyastoria.org
investigators came to speak to
Burkleo about the false calls
in December of 2016, and he
initially denied that he made
them. He pleaded guilty to the
allegations in federal court on
Jan. 23.
Burkleo will be sentenced
in Portland in May .
2018-19 | 29TH SEASON
COLUMBIAFORUM
February 12, 2019 • 6 pm
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of the electric grid
Community Choice Aggregation
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for the next stage in the electric grid. Enter Community Choice
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Alan Hickenbottom
Alan Hickenbottom is the Oregon Project Manager for LEAN Energy US,
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NW Environmental Business Council, Oregon Business Association,
Build Local Alliance and the Oregon Natural Desert
Association.
ATTENTION!
PORT OF ASTORIA COMMISSION AND PUBLIC:
This letter is to inform the public because I had
to call ODOT myself to find the status of the Port of
Astoria-ODOT Connect Grant for the improvement of
Pier II. Over the past few weeks I have been corre-
sponding with Staff at the State of Oregon regarding
this facility improvement grant. I now have docu-
ments that confirm the Executive Director (Mr. Jim
Knight) has cancelled the Port’s awarded grant.
The contract shows the ODOT total grant was for
$2.2 Million; the Port’s match was $660,000 and the
ODOT match (free money) was $1,540,000.
Mr. Knight released this grant without telling the
commission about his decision to give away free
money. This has happened previously when Mr.
Knight released the Bornstein Seafood building col-
lateral from the loan guarantee and when Mr. Knight
misrepresented the agreement of the tenants to pay
50% of the cost of the storm water treatment system.
Recently the Port Staff has proposed a seafood
landing tariff on our hometown fishermen and pro-
cessors; it was represented that this tariff would be
used to fix our docks. I just do not understand why
Staff would cancel this free ODOT grant and ask our
local fishermen and employers to pay to fix the Port’s
facilities.
Columbia Forum Sponsors:
• The Daily Astorian
• OSU Seafood Laboratory
• Cannery Pier Hotel & Spa
• Craft 3
• KMUN-FM
COLUMBIAFORUM 2018-19
RSVP by: February 8 at 5 p.m.
For reservations, to become a
member or be added to contact list:
Contact Kari Borgen
at 503-325-3211 x 1201
or forum@dailyastorian.com
there,” Spilde said.
Knife River’s plan will be
heard by the Clatsop County
Planning Commission on
Feb. 12.
featuring hanz araki
Warrenton man pleads guilty to making
hoax calls to the Coast Guard in 2016
The Daily Astorian
The proposed grading
would occur over several
years .
“We’ve got several years,
many years of material
Forum to be held at
(new location):
Chef Chris Holen’s
NEKST EVENT
175 14th St., Ste 100,
Astoria
Foot of 12th St.
Use back-in parking
To Attend:
Members: Dinner & Lecture $25 each; Lecture only free.
Non-Members: Dinner & Lecture $35 each; Lecture only $15 each
Appetizers available at 6pm. Dinner will be served at 6:30pm. Lecture will begin after dinner.
As a Commissioner it is my responsibility to re-
view and have confidence in the maintenance of
the Port’s facilities and it’s financial health; but Port
Staff continues to operate without publicly telling the
Commission what is going on. I am trying to point
out that the Port should operate transparently and
the requested documents should be available to the
public so it understands why the Port of Astoria is
failing.
Paid for by:
Bill Hunsinger
Port Commissioner
Regards,
William (Bill) Hunsinger
Commissioner
Cc: Port of Astoria Commission