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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 2019)
A8 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2019 Cruise ships: ‘I doubt you’ll ever see three ships again’ Continued from Page A1 and volunteers passed out fl yers for attractions like his- toric walking tours or the Astoria Ale Trail exploring local breweries. Tour buses headed to regional destina- tions like Mount St. Hel- ens, Fort Clatsop and Can- non Beach. Outside of the Silver Salmon Grille, Melissa Faber handed out samples of clam chowder on a sil- ver platter, a special offering to a steady stream of tour- ists. The restaurant tripled its wait staff and doubled its bussers for the arrival of the cruise ships. “I drove an hour here just because we have three cruise ships coming in today,” said Angela Fairless, who com- muted from Rainier to pro- vide backup at the Asto- ria Coffeehouse & Bistro. “Which is awesome. I t helps our economy.” Astoria p olice added an offi cer on duty because of the infl ux of visitors . Sgt. Brian Aydt wouldn’t typ- ically be working Thurs- day, but said he was asked to come in and patrol the Asto- ria Riverwalk. “It’s kind of a twofold process: i nformation for people as they have ques- tions … and trying to keep some of the other people who spend all their time on the R iverwalk under control a little bit,” he said. How much is enough? “I doubt you’ll ever see three ships again,” said Bruce Conner, the Port’s cruise ship marketer. It helped that the three ships Thursday staggered arrival and departure times, and that two were smaller, he said. This season’s lineup has been light compared to the previous three years, when Astoria hosted on average about 20 ships and 43,000 passengers annually. Cruise ships are getting bigger, too. The number of people per ship has steadily climbed from 1,700 in 2015 to more than 2,000 this year. Next year, the average will top 2,300 . Only 65% to 70% of cruise ship passengers usu- ally disembark and ven- ture into town, Conner said, meaning around 3,000 visi- tors to Astoria on Thursday. “We realize 3,500 to 4,000 … is kind of a bar that we use,” he said of Astoria’s capacity. “We consider any- thing after that just using up resources we don’t have.” Next year could tax that capacity . On Sept. 22, the Celebrity Eclipse and Star Princess are scheduled to bring more than 5,800 peo- ple into port. On Sept. 27, the Koningsdam and Ruby Princess could bring nearly 5,400 people. Conner and other local business lead- ers have already started planning . Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian A lifeboat from the Coral Princess brings tourists to the shore at the 17th Street Dock. The cruise ship anchored in the middle of the river. David Reid, the exec- utive director of the Asto- ria-Warrenton Area Cham- ber of Commerce, said he has reached out to other busy cruise ports to see how they handle transportation, restrooms and other issues. “They’re going to be a test,” he said of the peak days. “But we know when they’re coming, so there’s a little time to plan.” Part of Astoria’s good reputation with the cruise lines comes from the Clat- sop Cruise Hosts, volunteers who help shepherd visitors around town. Cyndi Mudge, the group’s coordinator, who is also the director of Astoria Sunday Market , said more volunteers will be recruited this spring. Sunset Empire Transpor- tation District runs two addi- tional bus lines on cruise ship days to shuttle passen- gers and crew . Cruise ships have compounded the chal- lenge of fi nding drivers in a tight employment market. “We’re fi ne to complete this cruise ship season,” Paul Lewicki , Sunset Empire’s chief operating offi cer, said during a recent board meet- ing. “We just still need to add more drivers to our ranks to man all of the programs that we’ll have going.” Jeff Hazen, Sunset Empire’s executive direc- tor, said the transit district is looking to buy larger buses to increase capacity and could reach out to neighboring agencies for help if needed. The district has so far added two new drivers out of an estimated 10 needed for an upcoming expansion of ser- vices, he said. “I think if we can get enough drivers, we’ll be OK,” he said. “We’ve got new buses on order.” Unpredictable impact Some businesses are skep- tical about the fi nancial ben- efi ts of cruise ship visitors wandering through town. “When it comes to cruise ships, there’s a pretty wide variety in terms of the type of customer,” said Joey Ficken, front of the house manager at Street 14 Cafe. It’s hard to know “whether they want to buy a cup of coffee and use your internet, or if they are looking to get a differ- ent food variety than they would get on the boat, or they are really just looking for the town experience.” Mudge, who sets up a miniature Sunday Market on Pier 1 to catch visitors on their way off the boats, agreed it’s a gamble what cruisers will spend money on. B ut she said her vendors see a bump in business when ships visit . “If it’s not working for one segment, that doesn’t mean you stop doing it,” she said. She and Reid said there are ways local businesses can better market to passengers . Astoria doesn’t rely on cruise ships for business, but would feel the impact if visitors — who don’t exacerbate traffi c and parking issues by bring- ing cars — stopped coming . “I like the fact that we are just the offseason, just the shoulder season,” Reid said. “It feeds folks in here when we need them. I don’t aspire for us to be a year-round cruise port, because you trade your quality of life for build- ing that infrastructure, that capacity.” Timber: Public meeting set for Monday Tobacco: ‘Flavor ban is an overreach’ Continued from Page A1 The Oregon Health Author- ity supports the federal ban, calling fl avors a “key com- ponent of youth use and ini- tiation of tobacco products.” Amanda Dalton, a lob- byist representing Juul, tes- tifi ed against the county ordinance on Wednesday night and asked commission- ers to work with the com- pany if they wish to pursue the fl avored tobacco ban . “The ordinance before you will make you the fi rst community in the state of Oregon to do a fl avor ban and I think it will not only shut down your local retailer shops, but it will push your local consumers online and force them to counterfeit products that we really do have no idea what’s in them,” Dalton said. She described the ordi- nance as overly restrictive and said there should be equal treatment for cannabis and vaping. Steven Blakesley, the North Coast research liaison for Oregon Health & Sci- ence University, said when he heard Juul was respond- ing to the county policy , “I actually gave a fi st pump and thought that is great. Why? Because now we’re moving past the state level in terms of good policy and we’re mov- ing to the national level of good policy. “I don’t think if it were bad policy that they would be here fi ghting it.” He referenced statistics that show more than 95% of smokers started before they were 21 and those who smoke by 18 are twice as likely to become a lifelong smoker. Mandy Madison, a long- time educator about the dan- gers of tobacco, said her son started vaping a couple of months ago after his friend gave him a fl avored vape to try. After his e-cigarette broke and he couldn’t afford to buy another one, she said he switched to cigarettes. “Now my son is smoking ciga- rettes because he started with vape,” she said. However, some retail- ers are not convinced a fl a- vor ban would prevent teens from accessing the products. “The fl avor ban is an overreach,” said Oscar Nel- son, part-owner of Sweet Relief and the Astoria CBD Co . He said “it’s taking free- dom from law-abiding adults,” and added that peo- ple can still buy the products online. Nelson called the ban a “paper dragon” and asked commissioners not to make an emotional decision as a result of the health crisis. ‘Bait and switch’ John Harper, a regional cigarette and marijuana store fi nancier, said the ordinance would cripple businesses. He said he supported a retail tobacco license early on but claimed he was never made aware of the fl avor ban . He asked commissioners to convene tobacco retailers and cities to discuss the fl a- vor ban, saying he believes cities did not approve the ordinance with the fl avor ban component . He called it a “bait and switch.” “Transparency is the issue here,” Harper said, “and I feel this is not transparent. ” Sarah Nebeker, the commis- sion’s chairwoman, decided to continue the public hear- ing to clarify whether there was a lack of coordination and transparency regarding the fl avor ban. Nebeker, Commissioner Pamela Wev and Com- missioner Kathleen Sulli- van were otherwise support- ive of the ordinance. B ut Commissioner Mark Kujala and Commissioner Lianne Thompson said they do not support the ordinance the way it is crafted. Buses: Employees expressed safety concerns Continued from Page A1 “If they red tag some- thing, it doesn’t roll — it stays on the lot,” Hazen said of the inspections. “B ut we haven’t had a lot of those.” Hazen also shared an email from the owner of Precision Alignment LLC, which conducted the annual inspections. The email claimed the mechanical con- dition of Sunset Empire’s fl eet of buses is generally above average. The conversation before the board on Thursday came after Lines and a number of current and former Sunset Empire employees reached out to T he Astorian and expressed concerns about bus safety . Hazen addressed one of those concerns in front of the board and acknowledged utilizing a bolt in place of a broken turn-signal switch. “Yes, that’s true, there was a bolt put in there in place of it because the turn signal arm had broken,” he said. “That was just really for the comfort of the driver to know that the turn signal Get to The Point. Expert Service. Guaranteed. was there. On that particu- lar bus, there’s also turn-sig- nal buttons on the fl oor operated by foot, so it was never a safety issue.” Kathy Kleczek, the board’s chair- woman, accepted the assur- ances from Smith and Hazen. “Is there room for improvement? There is always room for improve- ment. Can we always do things better? Yes,” she said. “Are we sending unsafe buses out there on the road? I have every confi dence that we are not.” Trust your vehicle safety to the professionals at DEL’S O.K. TIRE BUY 3 Get 1 Free! Now through 10/31/19 Continued from Page A1 exchange, Cox said, though it is too early to say if this is possible at Norriston Heights . County commissioners agreed to send a letter to the D epartment of Forestry ask- ing the state to delay the sale following concerns raised during the public comment period at a July meeting. Commissioner Mark Kujala was the only commissioner opposed to sending a letter. In the letter, the county asked for a meeting to dis- cuss possible alternatives to the sale to address con- cerns about notifi cation, impacts to drinking water, landslides, habitat and view considerations. “I know Oregon Depart- ment of Forestry listens to public input at every opportu- nity,” Commissioner Lianne Thompson said in an email. “I’m happy ODF is looking into doing a land exchange. We’ll keep working with all stakeholders.” Same local owners putting you first! Katie Frankowicz/The Astorian The state will delay a timber sale off U.S. Highway 101 between Arcadia Beach and Hug Point. The county will convene a public meeting on the issue on Monday . “I’m relieved they are going to take some time to look at this,” said Suzie Henry, an Arch Cape resident . She said she was hoping the sale would be delayed and was “pleasantly sur- prised” by the news. “I am so thankful to all the coastal people and elected offi cials who have spoken up on behalf of wildlife and clean drinking water that is reliant on the Norriston Heights forest in the last six months,” Nadia Gardner, an Arch Cape resident and envi- ronmental advocate, said in an email. “We are hopeful that the Oregon Department of For- estry will work diligently with partners to permanently protect it from clearcutting.” your #1 Source for tires 35359 Hwy 101 Business Astoria, OR 503-325-2861 Store hours: Mon-Fri, 8-6; Sat. 8-4 • Closed Sunday