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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019
Planners discuss Uniontown options
IN BRIEF
Traffi c disruption expected for
Regatta parade on Saturday
The Astoria Regatta Association Grand Land Parade
begins at 12 p.m. on Saturday. Traffi c will be disrupted
through the downtown core beginning at about 8 a.m.
until the parade ends and streets have been swept.
At 8:30 a.m. Exchange Street will be closed between
23rd and 16th streets. Columbia Memorial Hospital,
urgent care and the Park Medical Building will be acces-
sible from Marine Drive at 20th, 21st, and 23rd streets.
Exchange Street and Duane Street between 17th and
Ninth streets will have no on street parking on Saturday
until the parade ends. Any vehicles parked there will be
towed.
Seaside High added to sales block
SEASIDE — In mid-July, the Seaside School Dis-
trict’s real estate representative Norris & Stevens posted
sales listings for two of three school district properties
on the market, Broadway Middle School and Gearhart
Elementary School, at $3.6 million and $1.9 million .
This week, Norris & Stevens posted a $5.2 million
asking price for the third property, Seaside High School,
relocating from the tsunami zone to a new site in the
city’s Southeast Hills.
The total asking price of all three schools combined
reaches $10.7 million. A fourth district school, the for-
mer Cannon Beach Elementary School, which closed in
2013, is on the market at an estimated $400,000.
Coast Guard rescues four
on Long Beach Peninsula
WILLAPA BAY, Wash. — Coast Guard crews res-
cued three stranded canoers from Long Island in Wash-
ington’s Willapa Bay on Monday, along with an injured
fi sherman near Chinook.
Three people were stranded on Long Island after their
canoe capsized. One of the stranded people called 911.
Dispatchers notifi ed the Coast Guard. The command
center at Air Station Astoria in Warrenton diverted an
MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew already in the air for
training.
The Jayhawk lowered a rescue swimmer to assess
the condition of the three people before they were
hoisted off the island and taken to emergency medical
personnel at an airport near Ilwaco.
In a separate rescue, the Coast Guard launched a
Jayhawk from Astoria and a 29-foot fast-response boat
from Station Cape Disappointment in response to a fi sh-
erman who suffered a head injury after his boat ran
aground near Chinook.
Astoria hires new planner
Astoria has hired a new city planner.
Barbara Fryer, a former planner for Beaverton,
replaces Nancy Ferber, who left for another job earlier
this year.
Fryer’s fi rst day will be Monday.
Fryer has more than 15 years of experience in land
use planning and a background in urban renewal, his-
toric preservation and economic development. She has
also worked on affordable housing as a program man-
ager with Community and Shelter Assistance of Oregon
and as an intern at Innovative Housing Inc., in Portland.
— The Astorian
DEATHS
Aug. 6, 2019
DAVIS, Virginia “Gin-
ger,” 69, of Astoria, died
in Astoria. Hughes-Ran-
som Mortuary & Crema-
torium is in charge of the
arrangements.
STARR, Martine, 84,
of Gearhart, died in Sea-
side.
Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary & Cremato-
rium is in charge of the
arrangements.
Aug. 5, 2019
DEAN, Dan Scott,
73, of Warrenton, died
in Portland. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
LEWIS, Susan, 81,
of Astoria, died in Asto-
ria.
Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary & Cremato-
rium is in charge of the
arrangements.
RANNEY, Ardith, 86,
of Nehalem, died in Sea-
side.
Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary & Cremato-
rium is in charge of the
arrangements.
Aug. 4, 2019
ISQUIERDO, Veron-
ica, 40, of Astoria, died
in Astoria. Hughes-Ran-
som Mortuary & Crema-
torium is in charge of the
arrangements.
Aug. 3, 2019
HANSEN, Nellie, 87,
of Warrenton, died in
Warrenton. Hughes-Ran-
som Mortuary & Crema-
torium is in charge of the
arrangements.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Astoria City Council,
1 p.m., work session, City
Hall, 1095 Duane St.
Seaside Civic and Conven-
tion Center Commission,
Established July 1, 1873
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5 p.m., Seaside Civic and
Convention Center, 415
First Ave.
Cannon Beach Academy,
5:30 p.m., board meeting,
3781 S. Hemlock St.
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
Pull a thread in Union-
town and there’s a chance
the whole tapestry of new
and historic businesses and
homes that form the city’s
western gateway will start
to unravel, some property
owners warn.
Chief among people’s
concerns are what a new
draft master plan could do to
the area’s parking .
The Astoria Planning
Commission took its fi rst
stab at establishing a long-
term vision for Uniontown
on Tuesday night, scrutiniz-
ing a draft master plan that
attempts to integrate trans-
portation and land use goals.
The plan outlines a num-
ber of proposals and goals,
including major lane recon-
fi gurations, a new over-
lay zone to guide design
and development decisions,
lighting improvements and
the addition of sidewalks
and bicycle lanes.
Business and property
owners who attended the
meeting said they felt their
concerns have been heard
throughout the process, but
they say they’re entering a
new phase now: The “what
can we afford to lose” phase,
where benefi ts to one side
of the equation could create
issues on the other side.
“No matter what, you
kind of have to lose some
stuff to gain something else,”
said Diana Kirk, who owns
Workers Tavern, as well as
housing, in Uniontown.
Some road changes could
diminish available park-
ing along Marine Drive.
Remove these parking spots
and there’s a ripple effect ,
said Nancy Montgomery,
the owner of the building
that houses Columbia River
Coffee Roaster and 3 Cups
C offee H ouse under the
Astoria Bridge.
“The load on exist-
ing parking down there is
already overtaxed,” Mont-
gomery said. Some busi-
nesses rely entirely on off-
street parking and have no
lots of their own.
The plan identifi es the
need to create public parking
areas in unused or underuti-
lized lots
On Tuesday, City Man-
ager Brett Estes asked to
continue the public hear-
ing on the draft master
plan until a future meeting.
Staff wanted time to clar-
ify aspects of the plan and
accompanying code lan-
guage to address questions
and concerns brought up by
commissioners and residents
and businesses.
Gov. Brown could veto several rural measures
One bill was
backed by Johnson
By AUBREY WIEBER
and CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Oregon Capital Bureau
Gov. Kate Brown is con-
sidering using her veto
power to kill proposals
championed by rural law-
makers of both parties.
Her staff said the veto
threat was not political
revenge but over sincere con-
cerns about the legislation .
Brown is considering
axing policies to make it eas-
ier to remove and fi ll ground
from wetlands, move for-
ward on the retrofi t of two
dams in Newport and pro-
vide money to help E astern
Oregon counties plan larger
urban growth boundaries.
Some of the proposed
action goes against Demo-
crats who opposed her cor-
nerstone environmental pol-
icy that would have created
a carbon pricing system.
When asked if she plans to
use veto power for retribu-
tion, Brown told a Polit-
ico reporter that “revenge is
a dish best served cold and
slowly.”
However,
Brown’s
spokeswoman said the veto
consideration is a policy
move, not a political game.
Brown’s deadline to veto
comes Friday, and she has to
give fi ve days notice before
making the decision. Several
people who support propos-
als Brown is looking to kill
said they hope to meet with
the governor and overcome
her veto threat.
House Bill 2437 would
increase the amount of mate-
rial commercial develop-
ers can remove from a wet-
land without a permit by 60
times what is now allowed,
going from 50 cubic yards to
3,000. It also would increase
the amount of dredged mate-
rial that can be dumped in a
wetland without a permit.
Brown’s announcement
was cheered by environmen-
tal group WaterWatch.
Mary Anne Cooper, vice
president of the Oregon
Farm Bureau, said the state
classifi es a lot of farmland as
wetlands, so to clear an agri-
cultural ditch under current
regulation, a farmer needs a
permit which can be expen-
sive and complex. Often it
includes hiring an environ-
mental consultant, and is
a process that can happen
every one to fi ve years.
Cooper said the state is
regulating farmers under a
law that’s designed for new
development, not exist-
ing farms. Rather than fully
exempt farms, the bill pro-
vided middle ground where
the state maintains some
Gov. Kate Brown
Betsy Johnson
oversight. Cooper said she
believes the decision to
veto the bill is based on
misinformation.
It passed easily, get-
ting two-thirds support in
the Senate and House. But
Brown said it goes too far,
cutting out the wildlife man-
agement community.
“Collectively,
these
changes could have a sig-
nifi cant impact on our wild-
life populations and wetland
habitats, including poten-
tially adverse effects on our
native salmon populations,”
Brown’s statement said.
The proposal was cham-
pioned by state Sen. Betsy
Johnson, D-Scappoose, who
was an early opponent of
the environmental legisla-
tion. Johnson did not return
a request for comment.
In her proposed budget
this fall, Brown asked law-
makers to approve $2 mil-
lion to study the dams and
prioritize repairs. Brown’s
proposal would have also
created a task force to over-
see the state’s assistance to
local government working to
repair dams. The Legislature
didn’t approve her plan.
The dams are tiered,
Gross said, and hold back
up to 381 million gallons of
water. If the top dam fails,
the bottom one goes with it.
He said seepage is already a
problem and it’s now a race
against the clock, he said.
“If they fail before we
fi x them, our community is
gone,” Gross said.
Further, Gross was using
the $4 million to get federal
matching dollars, so the cut
is actually twice as deep.
Sen. Arnie
Roblan,
D-Coos Bay, who represents
Newport in the Senate, said
he was disappointed by the
governor’s announcement.
Roblan was one of three
Senate Democrats who pub-
licly opposed Brown’s cap-
and-trade program.
Rep. David Gomberg,
D-Central Coast, who rep-
resents Newport , said that
the dams have been ranked
the second- and third-high-
est risk dams in the state by
the Oregon Water Resources
Department.
Gomberg doesn’t think
the governor is exacting
revenge for the fate of House
Bill 2020, which Gomberg
supported.
“I think the governor is
above that kind of retribu-
tion,” Gomberg said. “This
is a serious project, and
delays could potentially put
lives in jeopardy. I want to
sit down and chat with her
about that. I understand her
desire to evaluate priori-
ties, but I think it’s clear that
Newport is a priority and we
can begin to address it now.”
Brown was not above that
retribution in 2017, when
she vetoed about $4 million
in funding for projects in
former Republican Rep. Sal
Esquivel’s southern Oregon
district after he broke a polit-
ical deal with her. Brown at
the time acknowledged her
act was political revenge.
Local projects
Additionally, Brown is
considering vetoing money
for local projects approved
by the Legislature.
Brown may cut $4 mil-
lion designated for Newport
to plan for the replacement
of two dams on Big Creek.
According to the New-
port News-Times, the city
fears the dams could fail in
an earthquake, shutting res-
idents off from water and
trapping some communities
due to fl ooding.
“I intend to line-item
veto this project because we
need to study all of Oregon’s
dams, prioritize them for
repair, and develop funding
mechanisms before dedicat-
ing funds and planning work
on any specifi c dam,” Brown
said in her statement.
The city wants to rebuild
the dams before a breach,
and estimates it would cost
$60 million to $75 million.
If it had all the resources, it
could break ground in about
two years, with construction
taking another three, said
Public Works Director Tim-
othy Gross.
Gross said he’s worked
for nine years to get funding
for this project, and during
the legislative session was in
Salem a couple of times per
week lobbying lawmakers.
But Brown says the
appropriation puts the Big
Creek dams ahead of other
vulnerable dams. Accord-
ing to the governor’s offi ce,
72 state-controlled dams are
rated as high hazard.
Urban growth
Brown is also considering
revoking $500,000 appro-
priated to the Association of
Oregon Counties for urban
growth boundary planning
grants for E astern Oregon
counties.
The funding was tied to
Senate Bill 2, which allowed
for new adjustments of
urban growth boundaries.
The money would fund the
planning of such efforts.
“We’re very, very disap-
pointed,” said Mike Elia-
son, interim executive direc-
tor of the association. “This
is kind of another hit to rural
Oregon, and we feel like this
is an opportunity to support
rural economies.”
In Brown’s announce-
ment, she said the Depart-
ment of Land Conservation
and Development already
oversees the grant process
and is must meet contract-
ing standards. The current
system gives the state more
oversight than the associa-
tion of counties would, her
statement said.
The real issue, Elia-
son said, is the move takes
money that was supposed
to go directly to counties
and instead fi lters funding
for E astern Oregon through
a Portland bureaucracy that
“can’t pick them out on a
map.”
“None of that really
squares with us,” Eliason
said. The bill was sponsored
by Senate President Peter
Courtney, D-Salem, but
Eliason said many lawmak-
ers helped see it through.
Finally, the governor is
considering stopping a $5
million transfer in fee reve-
nue from the Oregon Med-
ical Board to the general
fund.
The $5 million makes up
55% of the board’s reserves,
and operates as a rainy day
fund.
The result, according to
Brown’s offi ce, would be
large increases in license
fees to make up for the lost
revenue.
“Large fee increases cre-
ate barriers to practicing
medicine in Oregon and fos-
ter distrust between the b oard
and our licensed physicians,
physician assistants and acu-
puncturists,” Brown’s state-
ment said. “With reduced
funds, the board may have
to consider eliminating or
reducing funding for the
Oregon Wellness Program,
an independent program
promoting the health and
well-being of Oregon health
care professionals.”
The $5 million transfer
is part of a bigger bill that
moves $171 million from
various accounts into the
general fund as a way to bal-
ance the budget. It was spon-
sored by Roblan, Rep. David
Brock Smith, R-Port Orford,
and Rep. Caddy McKeown,
D-Coos Bay.
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