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147TH YEAR, NO. 2
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2019
$1.50
City drops
plans to sell
Mill Pond
property
Neighbors want to protect
unobstructed views
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
Astoria leaders are abandoning efforts
to sell property in Mill Pond Village after
neighboring property owners offered to
donate money to help the city decommis-
sion the lots instead.
The city has paid more than $64,000
in homeowners association fees on the
12 overwater lots since the property was
donated in 2012 by the creator of Mill
Pond Village, Portland developer Art
DeMuro. The city had budgeted an addi-
tional $13,000 to cover fees this fi scal
year.
DeMuro hoped the eventual sale of the
lots could help fund future city projects,
such as the Garden of Surging Waves or
the redevelopment of Heritage Square
downtown. However, the city has strug-
gled to sell the lots, which are smaller
than other lots in Mill Pond Village and
costly to develop, requiring the construc-
tion of two overwater piers before any
homes could be built.
Since the City Council voted to list
the property again last year, the city has
not received a single offer. The lots were
listed for sale for $90,000.
On Monday, the City Council gave
City Manager Brett Estes the go-ahead to
TIMBER SALE TAPS INTO
ANXIETY OVER LOGGING
ON THE NORTH COAST
Photos by Katie Frankowicz/The Astorian
Property owners who live west of U.S. Highway 101 between Arcadia Beach and Hug Point worry that a proposed state timber
sale uphill of them could impact their drinking water.
A 70-acre state
clearcut planned near
Arcadia Beach
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
I
See Mill Pond, Page A6
Oregon’s
unique jury
law under
scrutiny
Supreme Court, voters could
end nonunanimous verdicts
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Astorian
Dennis Sturgell was convicted of sex-
ually abusing a young woman during an
alcohol-and-cocaine fueled binge that
played out in August 2015 at a Warrenton
bar, a fi eld at a wooded
property in Naselle,
Washington, and an Asto-
ria hotel room.
The Hammond fi sh-
erman was sentenced in
January to more than 13
years in prison for sod-
Dennis
omy, unlawful sexual
Sturgell
penetration, sex abuse
and bribing and tamper-
ing with a witness. While the jury was
unanimous on bribery and tampering, the
verdicts on the sex crimes were split, most
at 11-1, with one of the sodomy counts at
10-2.
Had Sturgell’s trial been held across
the Columbia River in Washington state,
instead of Astoria, it could have ended in a
hung jury on the sex crimes.
See Jury law, Page A6
A mix of Clatsop County and Tillamook County residents rallied at Hug Point State
Recreation Site outside Cannon Beach on Tuesday over concerns about a proposed
state timber sale they believe could impact water quality, endangered birds, old
growth and the scenic corridor off U.S. Highway 101.
t could be several years before trees
are cut on state land off U.S. High-
way 101 between Arcadia Beach
and Hug Point, but a proposed timber
sale has already tapped into broader
concerns about water quality, habitat
conservation and tourism on the coast.
The Norriston Heights timber sale
would result in a modifi ed clearcut of
more than 70 acres on the east side of
the h ighway . The state expects to net
just under $1 million — $938,550 —
for the sale.
Two-thirds of the revenue will go to
rural fi re protection in Cannon Beach,
public transit through Seaside and the
Seaside School District, according to
Jason Cox, a spokesman for the Ore-
gon Department of Forestry.
See Timber sale, Page A6
‘PRETTY MUCH ANYBODY WHO HAS A HOUSE BETWEEN
ARCADIA BEACH AND HUG POINT IS GOING TO BE AFFECTED BY THIS.
THEY’RE CUTTING RIGHT UP TO OUR WATER SOURCE.’
Kristin Covert | an Astoria resident who owns property in the Arcadia Beach neighborhood with her husband
Fishhawk Lake neighbors miffed by more dam fees
Improved spillway
could be costly
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
BIRKENFELD — The dam
holding back Fishhawk Lake, a
100-acre man-made reservoir on
Fishhawk Creek surrounded by
a private community, needs an
improved spillway.
But some residents in the
community north of Birken-
feld are up in arms about the
price tag, estimated at $1.3 mil-
lion to nearly $2 million, and the
way improvements have been
pushed through their homeown-
ers association.
Developers in the 1960s built
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
A major storm in 2007 nearly overtopped Fishhawk Lake and damaged
a dam feeding into Fishhawk Creek.
an earthen dam nearly 40 feet
tall and 400 feet wide to create
Fishhawk Lake as a bucolic fi sh-
ing retreat and community that
has since grown to around 260
property owners.
The Fishhawk Lake Reserve
and Community processes its
own water and sewer and main-
tains the dam. During heavy
storms in 2007, fl oodwaters
damaged homes and came
within a few inches of overtop-
ping the lake.
“If Fishhawk dam were to
fail, it would likely cause sig-
nifi cant property damage,” said
Racquel Rancier, a senior policy
coordinator for the state Water
Resources Department.
The department notifi ed the
reserve of the need to hire an
engineer, complete an analysis
and increase the spillway capac-
ity, Rancier said. Engineers rec-
ommended an auxiliary spill-
way around the existing dam to
empty extra water during fl oods.
See Dam fees, Page A5
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