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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2019
Astoria approves bid for cemetery plan
IN BRIEF
Event planned for Astoria
community development candidates
Two candidates for Astoria’s long-vacant community
development director post will be introduced at a public
meet-and-greet event on July 30.
The event will give the community a chance to meet
the candidates and ask questions ahead of a round of for-
mal interviews. The candidates’ names will be released
at the event.
An event had been scheduled for earlier in the month
but was postponed after the candidates asked for addi-
tional time to prepare for the public interview process
and gather information about Astoria.
City Manager Brett Estes has struggled to fi ll the
community development director position since Kevin
Cronin left the job nearly two years ago. Estes has come
close to making a hire several times, but people with-
drew their names for personal reasons.
The City Council approved a pay bump for the posi-
tion, following a recommendation from the recruiting
company Estes hired to help with the search. Estes said
one hurdle has been when a candidate, moving from a
more urban area, has a spouse who may struggle to fi nd
comparable employment on the North Coast.
The meet-and-greet event will be held from 5:30 to
7 p.m. at Clatsop Community College, Columbia Hall,
Room 219, 1651 Lexington Ave.
County seeks comment on
Astoria Marine cleanup
Environmental fi rm Maul Foster Alongi is seeking a
conditional use permit to begin the long-awaited cleanup
of the former Astoria Marine Construction Co. shipyard
on the Lewis and Clark River.
The shipyard began to manufacture and repair wood-
en-hulled vessels in 1924. During World War II, the
Korean War and the Vietnam War, the company made
military vessels, at one time employing 400 people.
Investigators found petroleum, heavy metals and tin-
laden organic compounds in the groundwater and soil
around the shipyard and surrounding riverbed. The state
Department of Environmental Quality in 2017 fi nalized a
plan to excavate, replace, cover and cap contaminated soil.
The cleanup is expected to cost between $3 million
and $3.5 million, paid for by $3.8 million Astoria Marine
recovered from insurance policies issued in the 1960s
and ‘70s.
Carson Bowler, an attorney for Astoria Marine, has
previously said the cleanup will be completed around the
end of the year.
Clatsop County is taking comments on Maul Foster’s
application until 4 p.m. Monday. Email comments to
comdev@co.clatsop.or.us or mail them to: Community
Development Department 800 Exchange Street, Suite
100 Astoria, OR., 97103.
History of concern
about maintenance
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
Development of a mas-
ter plan for Astoria’s Ocean
View Cemetery took another
step forward Monday.
The City Council unan-
imously approved a bid
from Lees and Associates
at just under $88,000 to cre-
ate a facilities master plan
for the 70-acre property in
Warrenton.
Astoria owns and main-
tains the cemetery, but it is
used by the entire county for
burial services.
In recent years, families of
loved ones buried at the cem-
etery and city leaders in War-
renton were especially criti-
cal of how the grounds were
being kept.
The Astoria Parks and
Recreation Department has
since dedicated a part-time
seasonal worker to grounds
maintenance to address the
concerns, a move Tim Wil-
liams, the parks director, said
has signifi cantly reduced the
number of complaints.
Astoria city leaders hope a
master plan for the cemetery
will help enhance the site and
explore how the property can
generate revenue to be more
self-sustaining.
Williams sent notices of a
request for proposals to fi ve
cemetery planning fi rms,
three of which responded with
bids. The bids ranged widely,
with the highest bid from
Katie Frankowicz/The Astorian
Astoria has hired a consulting fi rm to develop a master plan for Ocean View Cemetery in Warrenton.
Cemetery Resources Plan-
ning Alliance at $187,000
and the lowest bid from L.F.
Sloane Consulting Group at
$39,000.
In a memo to the City
Council, Williams recom-
mended the group that sub-
mitted a bid in the middle:
Lees and Associates at just
under $88,000.
City Councilor Joan Her-
man had some concerns about
cost and asked Williams
about the wide range between
the different bids.
“It’s hard to have that
barometer,” he replied.
“Sometimes fi rms just put in
a strong high bid just to see if
they can get it and then there’s
others that just don’t have the
resources or qualifi cations to
produce a master plan that we
would like here.”
“And you feel like the Lees
and Associates bid though …
is reasonable for the work
scope?” Herman asked.
“I believe so, yes,” Wil-
liams said.
Williams
anticipated
spending between $50,000
and $100,000 on a master
plan process.
Lees and Associates’s pro-
posal includes site visits and
city staff and stakeholder
workshops this summer with
the goal of presenting a draft
master plan for public com-
ment by the end of Septem-
ber. A fi nal master plan could
be in front of the City Council
by late November.
Brownson to hold meet-and-greet event
Astoria City Councilor Tom Brownson is holding a
“Meet Your Councilor” event from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Sat-
urday at 3 Cups Coffee, 279 W. Marine Drive.
Residents are invited to express their thoughts about
what’s going on in Astoria.
— The Astorian
The Astorian
The Waldorf Hotel may be turned into apartments.
DEATHS
July 15, 2019
ROBERTS, Stephen
Allen, 70, of Astoria, died
in Astoria. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
July 7, 2019
ANGUS,
Edward
B., 83, of Astoria, died
in Astoria. Ocean View
Funeral & Cremation Ser-
vice of Astoria is in charge
of the arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
Criminal mischief
• Darrell Robert Sut-
ton, 24, of Seaside, was
arrested on Wednesday
for criminal mischief in
the second degree after he
allegedly shattered a win-
dow at Mini Mart West.
Domestic harassment
• John McKenzie
Meldrum, 37, of Astoria,
was arrested on Tuesday
for domestic harassment,
menacing and attempted
sexual abuse in the third
degree.
DUII
• Timothy Everett
Woodward, 34, of War-
renton, was arrested on
W. Marine Drive in Asto-
ria on Tuesday for driv-
ing under the infl uence of
intoxicants and resisting
arrest. His blood alcohol
content was 0.14%.
• Brent McGuire, 56,
was arrested on Monday
on U.S. Highway 26 in
Seaside for DUII, reck-
less driving and driving
with a suspended license.
Police said he crashed his
car into an embankment.
His blood alcohol content
was 0.16%.
• Daniel W. Moon,
23, of Warrenton, was
arrested on Sunday on S.
Main Avenue in Warren-
ton for DUII and driving
while uninsured.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Seaside Transportation Advisory Commission, 6 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
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DailyAstorian.com
Old Waldorf Hotel loses a
fi re escape, gains a facade
Historic building
converted into
affordable housing
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
An old metal fi re escape
is coming off the front of
the historic Waldorf Hotel,
making it among the fi rst
visible changes as the
downtown building tran-
sitions from abandoned
to remodeled, affordable
housing.
The Historic Landmarks
Commission on Tuesday
unanimously approved the
change and the restoration
of the building’s deterio-
rated west facade — vis-
ible above the Astoria
Library — with new win-
dows, lap siding and trim .
The Waldorf is on Duane
Street between City Hall
and the library.
Innovative Housing, a
Portland-based nonprofi t,
purchased the building last
year with plans to change
the former hotel into a
40-unit affordable housing
apartment building.
Julie Garver, Innova-
tive Housing’s director of
housing development, said
the organization plans to
begin submitting informa-
tion for permits from the
city in late July.
Preliminary work on
addressing asbestos in
the building will likely
start in August, with roof
replacement slated for the
late summer and early fall
ahead of the wet weather
months, Garver said.
The bulk of construc-
tion will not begin until
next year.
The Waldorf, also
known as the Merwyn ,
was built in 1926 and func-
tioned as a hotel until the
mid-1960s.
It was renamed the Wal-
dorf in 1980 and used as
housing until 1989. That
same year it was added
to the d owntown h istoric
d istrict and shut down by
the city because of code
violations.
Since then, various
groups and developers
have attempted to reno-
vate the building, without
success. One owner tried
to get a permit to demol-
ish the Waldorf in 2014,
but was denied following a
local campaign to save the
building.
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Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
The Port of Astoria and oil companies have agreed on the
concept of a permeable barrier to treat and prevent petroleum
from seeping into the Columbia River between piers 1 and 2.
Port accepts state
pollution cleanup plan
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
The Port of Astoria will
accept the state’s decision
on the cleanup of fuel pol-
lution on the central water-
front and negotiate a mul-
timillion-dollar settlement
with oil companies.
B ulk oil, manufactur-
ing and other heavy indus-
trial operations have left left
behind underground pipes,
tanks and pockets of pollu-
tion under the Port’s docks.
A pipe leaked in the 1990s,
releasing oil into the ground-
water under the Port’s old
offi ces on Gateway Avenue
and into the Columbia River
at a slip between piers 1 and
2, where the agency has used
a boom to prevent an oil
slick from spreading.
The state Department
of Environmental Quality
recently determined the Port
and other responsible par-
ties — McCall Oil & Chem-
ical Corp., Niemi Oil Co.
and ExxonMobil — should
excavate contaminated soil
and place a permeable cap
over the polluted area. Mon-
itoring wells would provide
feedback on the cleanup’s
progress.
“It’s probably fair to say
it is the most cost-effec-
tive and it makes no sense
to think about appealing
this,” Thane Tienson, part
of the Port’s legal team, told
the Port Commission on
Tuesday.
The
Port
originally
pushed for a new dock to be
built and backfi lled to block
pollution from reaching the
Columbia . But the state and
other responsible parties
balked at the more expen-
sive proposal.
A state consultant recom-
mended a marine mattress
fi lled with cap materials and
topped by rock riprap. But
the Port and other parties did
not support the solution.
The state allowed the
responsible parties to create
a general solution for cap-
ping the polluted area. The
specifi cs of the cap, how it
will be protected from rough
weather and the cost will be
decided during the design
phase with environmental
fi rm Maul Foster Alongi.
“Armed with that infor-
mation, we will go forward
and try to negotiate a resolu-
tion with the other primarily
responsible parties,” Tien-
son said.
The hope is to fi gure out
the specifi cs and cost over
the next few weeks, Tienson
said. Similar proposals have
surpassed $3.5 million.
The Port’s team has set-
tled with some insurers and
still has outstanding claims
with others, Tienson said,
but is cautiously optimistic
it can reach a solution that
limits the Port’s costs for
cleanup.
“The remedy itself is a
long-term program,” he said.
“It’s essentially going to be a
multiyear process of imple-
menting a remedy and then
30 years, essentially, of oper-
ations and maintenance.”
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