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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 2019)
INSIDE ARTS EEKLY ENT W TAINM R E T N & E AY THURSD R 10 OC TOBE 2019 IC MUS 35 WATER RNS AL TU 8 FESTIV PAGE T H G I L E D RED CR ANB ER OFF STIVAL RIAN FE PAGE 10 an-eat all-you-c ERS TIM tober s in Oc Friday m - 9pm from 4p AND! E AT BO GS, MU $ ANCE ASSIST HOME UE LEAG EF TOUR AND CH GE 14 SEUM PA ME TO WELCO LIDAYS HO RUINS THE TH E AT 18 PAGE DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019 YEAR, NO. 44 5 9 147TH 9 // THURSD AY, OC TOBER 10, 201 $1.50 y last! UNIONTOWN Council votes to protect views Port argued against the idea By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian The Astoria City Council unanimously voted to protect views of the Columbia River from the dead-end Bay and Basin streets in Uniontown . The Bridge Vista portion of the Riv- erfront Vision Plan, meant to maintain views of the Astoria B ridge and the river, mandates 70-foot view corridors on north- south rights of way between W. Marine Drive and the Columbia. But there were no rules in place to ensure views beyond the dead-end Bay and Basin streets, each of which end in undeveloped lots owned by the Port of Astoria. At the end of Bay Street, near the Mar- itime Memorial Park, is a long, narrow grassy plot of land that the Port leases to Mark Hollander, a developer hoping to build Marriott franchise hotels in Astoria. Diana Kirk, owner of Workers Tav- ern , and Nancy Montgomery, owner of Columbia River Coffee Roasters , worried that Hollander’s development could block their view down Bay Street to the river . Dirk Rohne, the president of the Port Commission, and other Port c ommission- ers argued that the view corridors would present another restriction on the agency. See Uniontown, Page A6 Astoria reaches deal on dock Lease with river cruise line By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian Astoria will lease the eastern portion of the 17th Street Dock to American Cruise Lines, a partnership that will outsource scheduling and improvements to the pri- vate company. The City Council on Monday night approved of staff negotiating a lease after an impromptu live negotiation with the company and its competitor, American Queen Steamboat Co. American Cruise Lines represents about two-thirds of the river cruise boats dock- ing behind the Columbia River Maritime Museum. The city and American Cruise Lines had negotiated a lease the would allow the company priority docking rights, while making reasonable accommodations and setting rates for competitors. The agreement would bring the city $80,000 a year for the fi rst three years. Afterward, the city would receive $80,000 a year plus $400 for each vessel docking beyond 110 a year, each fi gure adjusted annually by 2% or the last year’s consumer price index. The fi gures were based on the city’s average business at the dock over the past four years. The city would have to pay back American Cruise Lines for any repairs made, but the company would cover the cost of any improvements. See Dock, Page A6 Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Fort George Brewery co-owner Chris Nemlowill stands in the doorway of Astoria Warehousing, which opens to expansive views of the Columbia River and the Astoria Bridge. Fort George to revive canning at Astoria Warehousing Purchase price was $8M By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian T he cavernous, 124,000 square feet spread among several buildings at Astoria Warehousing sits broom- clean and ready for the property’s next life. After purchasing the 5-acre campus for $8 million last week, Fort George Brewery co-owners Chris Nemlow- ill and Jack Harris are looking forward to an expansion they hope will add lots of beer and 35 manufacturing jobs over the next fi ve years. The adaptive reuse of Astoria Ware- housing harkens back to the begin- nings of Fort George, which started in a former auto dealership in 2006 with eight employees. The brewery rapidly expanded and in 2009 purchased the entire city block, including the Fort George and Lovell b uildings. It has since become one of the biggest-pro- ducing Oregon breweries, employing 160 people. “We’ve got a lot of amazing employ- ees here, and we feel like they’re at a ceiling,” Harris said. “We have so many motivated, smart people here that we want to give them more to do.” The biggest of the four buildings at Astoria Warehousing spans 67,000 square feet. Fort George plans to relo- cate most of its back-of-house opera- tions there, including distribution, can- ning and a new 11,000-square-foot cold storage. The brewery currently uses a cramped warehouse in Warrenton. Har- ris described managing the warehouse Landon Churchill folds boxes together to hold fresh beer cans in the production room of the Lovell Building at Fort George Brewery. The production and distribution centers will move to the new property. like a game of Tetris , moving around different beers and sending them back to the Astoria pub to be put on tap and throughout the Pacifi c Northwest. When Fort George takes beer to distributors in Portland and Seattle, it brings back other people’s products for distribution throughout the l ower Columbia region. Improving its distri- bution means helping numerous other companies, Nemlowill said. Expansion Fort George started with an 8 1/2 barrel brewery nicknamed Sweet Vir- ginia that Nemlowill and Harris drove across the country from Hilltop Brew- ing in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It even- tually added a 30-barrel production brewery purchased from Saint Arnold Brewing in Houston, nicknamed Little Miss Texas, in the Lovell Building. For the expansion, Fort George pur- chased a 60-barrel brewery from Port- land’s BridgePort Brewing Co., which closed earlier this year. It will also move many of its fermentation tanks from the Lovell Building to the warehouse. The new system will allow Fort George, currently making about 18,000 barrels of beer a year, to crack 60,000 barrels without making its employees brew on weekends or graveyard shifts, said Michal Frankowicz, the head brewer. “As far as what the new system will produce, it will be focused mostly on our year-round beers and seasonals that go into cans and kegs,” he said . See Fort George, Page A6 Bonamici would likely vote to impeach Trump Congresswoman spoke at town hall By NICOLE BALES The Astorian GEARHART — U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici said she would likely vote to impeach President Donald Trump based on the evidence that has emerged so far about his appeals to Ukraine to investigate a polit- ical rival. The U.S. House of Rep- resentatives is conducting an impeachment inquiry against the president, who has said Ukraine and China should look into corruption allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. “In the past, I’ve expressed concerns about policy differ- MORE INSIDE President Trump defi es impeachment inquiry Page A5 ences with this administration,” Bonamici said at a town hall Monday night at Gearhart Ele- mentary School. “B ut when we learned the president was com- promising our national secu- rity and raising national secu- rity issues, that’s when I said my constituents and Americans deserve to get the facts. ” Asked afterward by The Astorian whether she would vote to impeach the president, the Oregon Democrat said: “I likely would because what I’ve Nicole Bales/The Astorian See Bonamici, Page A6 U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici held a town hall at Gearhart Elementary School.