COAST WEEKEND: DIVE INTO SHIPWRECK DISCOVERIES INSIDE
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019
146TH YEAR, NO. 158
PARKS IN ASTORIA
THRIVE IN NEW YEAR
ONE DOLLAR
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
A new bill would ease the requirements
for counting hydropower sources like
the Bonneville Dam toward the state’s
renewable energy goal.
Johnson
backs new
hydropower
legislation
More power would
count as renewable
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Katie Frankowicz/The Daily Astorian
Jessica Schleif, left, works with native plants at Tidal Rock last spring.
Residents have adopted several parks
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
A
sunken park in Astoria across the street from
the Blue Scorcher Bakery underwent a dramatic
transformation last year.
Tidal Rock, home to a historic marker used by mar-
iners, was one of a handful of underused or neglected
parks adopted by residents who were concerned the city
would sell the land. They decided to take on the care and
maintenance of the parks themselves .
Now, a year later, the parks appear to be thriving, said
Jonah Dart-McLean, the parks maintenance supervisor.
At the time the adoption agreements were formalized,
city councilors hoped they would alleviate some of the
burden of caring for acres and acres of parkland .
It’s too early to say for sure if all the park adoptions
will be a success , or if this is the solution to long-term
maintenance at the parks. But, overall, Dart-McLean
Clatsop Community College
See Parks, Page A7
Students evaluate and make repairs at the replica of the historic Custom
House in Astoria in 2018.
‘I FEEL THERE’S THAT COMMUNITY INTEREST THERE AND I FEEL LIKE
IT’S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR ANOTHER YEAR TO INTENTIONALLY DE-
VELOP THE LAND, SHOWING WHAT HAND-TOOL GARDENING CAN OFFER.’
Jessica Schleif, a gardener , artist and P arks A dvisory B oard member
State Sen. Betsy Johnson has intro-
duced a bill that would ease the require-
ments for counting hydroelectric power
toward the state’s renewable energy
goals — a move some say would
weaken an effort to promote new clean
power sources.
The state’s renewable portfo-
lio standard, created in 2007 and
enhanced in 2016, calls for half of
all energy consumed in Oregon to
come from renewable sources by
2040.
Utilities that provide at least 3 per-
cent of the state’s retail electricity sales
— Pacifi Corp , Portland General Elec-
tric and the Eugene Water and Electric
Board — have to meet the renewable
portfolio standard.
Cooperatives can purchase renew-
able energy credits, a lower-cost option
for meeting the standard .
The goal is intended to build upon
hydropower, which provides more than
40 percent of energy consumed in Ore-
gon , and promote the development of
other renewables.
For that reason, only hydroelec-
tric sources outside protected areas that
became operational in 1995 or later,
were upgraded after 1995 or were cer-
tifi ed as low-impact can be counted
toward the standard. The requirements
leave out much of the hydroelectric
energy produced by such sources as
Bonneville Power Administration dams.
Senate Bill 508, fi led by Johnson
on behalf of retired state Rep. Deb-
orah Boone, would delete many of
the requirements related to count-
ing hydroelectric power, enabling
more hydroelectric energy to go
toward the renewable portfolio
standard.
Johnson, D-Scappoose, said she is
supportive of the bill but deferred ques-
tions about it to Boone.
Johnson’s bill is identical to legis-
lation introduced by state Sen. Dennis
Linthicum, R-Klamath Falls, and state
Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner .
Boone, a Democrat who represented
the North Coast in the House for 14
years, claims Oregon is technologically
behind many other states and countries
See Hydropower, Page A7
State approves land sale for college
Property was leased
at South Tongue Point
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
The State Land Board has approved
the sale of nearly 22 acres at South
Tongue Point to Clatsop Community
College for its Marine and Environ-
mental Research and Training Station
campus.
The college will pay the state
$826,500 for land on the north side
of Liberty Lane it has leased since the
1990s for welding, automotive, mari-
time science and other career-techni-
cal programs. The purchase is funded
through the college’s plant fund meant
for construction, renovation and acqui-
sition of property.
Ali Hansen, a spokeswoman for the
Department of State Lands, said the sale
will likely close in the next few months.
The purchase was a requirement for
the college to pursue up to $8 million in
state lottery-backed bonds, matched to
whatever the college can raise by 2021.
A fundraising consultant recently
told the college it could only realisti-
cally hope to raise about $4 million in
a capital campaign by the deadline. The
college had hoped to raise $14 million
to match with the state bonds and build
a new maritime sciences building for its
fl agship program at an estimated cost of
$22 million.
See College, Page A7
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
The land where the Marine and Environmental Research and Training
Center Station campus sits will soon be owned by Clatsop Community
College.