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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2019)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2019 IN BRIEF Warrenton, Gearhart voters approve tax options for fi re districts Voters in Warrenton and Gearhart on Tuesday approved fi ve-year local tax options for rural fi re protection districts. The Warrenton option would raise a maximum of $280,000 over fi ve years for the fi re district. The estimated tax rate is $0.51 per $1,000 of assessed property value in the fi rst year. The ballot measure was approved 68% to 32%. The Gearhart option would raise an estimated $135,000 to $152,000 a year for the fi re district. The tax rate is $0.33 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The ballot measure was approved 58% to 42%. Columbia Memorial to open Seaside clinic in January SEASIDE — A Columbia Memorial Hospital primary care and urgent care clinic at the Seaside Outlet Mall could open on Jan. 6. The new clinic will follow the model of Colum- bia Memorial’s Warrenton clinic, offering primary care, urgent care, X-rays and labs. Erik Thorsen, Columbia Memorial’s CEO, told the City Council he anticipates 25 to 30 new full-time family wage jobs will open up through the clinic. Columbia Memorial has a 10-year collaboration with Oregon Health & Science University, which provides car- diology, emergency, urology and general surgery care. Lower Columbia Hispanic Council hires new executive director The Lower Columbia Hispanic Council has hired Jenny Pool Radway as the new executive director. Pool Radway moved from Denver, Colorado, where she founded and directed Diverse Communities LLC, which designed and implemented programs for interna- tional and national organizations to encourage inclusion and address systemic and institutional inequity. She replaces Jorge Guttierez, who resigned in July. — The Astorian Ocean Beach Hospital resolves survey issues ILWACO, Wash. — A regular audit of Ocean Beach Hospital revealed problems with hospital documentation, equipment use and staff training. The audit, completed by the state’s Department of Health in March, resulted in the loss of the hospital’s che- motherapy services. Other fi ndings have since required hospital leadership to update its policies. “We don’t look at this process as punitive. We look at it as educational,” said Larry Cohen, the hospital’s CEO. “The surveyors are very helpful.” The state surveys Ocean Beach Hospital roughly every 18 months. The March survey lists 22 defi ciencies. The hospital was required to submit a correction plan to address the defi ciencies. None of the defi cien- cies put patients in immediate risk, said Jessica Baggett, the Department of Health’s external communications supervisor. — Chinook Observer Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian The Astoria City Council granted a new hearing for the developer hoping to build a Grocery Outlet. Grocery Outlet gets a new hearing Appeal will go before City Council By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian The Astoria City Council granted a new hearing for the developer hoping to build a Grocery Outlet . The city’s Design Review Commission unanimously denied the store near the Mill Pond neighborhood last month, citing issues with access from Marine Drive and challenges it would pose for pedestrians. Michael Robinson, an attorney for the developer, appealed the denial, arguing it did not rea- sonably explain how the proj- ect could be approved. City Manager Brett Estes recommended at a City C oun- cil meeting on Monday that a new hearing is the best way to allow for fresh public input. The other option is an on-the record hearing, during which the c ouncil would review existing materials but not take new input. Main & Main Capital Group wants to develop a new location for the national grocery chain on a trian- gle-shaped lot where Com- mercial Street runs into Marine Drive. The site is just west of the new Astoria Co+op grocery store slated to open in December . The developer can submit a revised site plan in a new hearing, which the c ouncil could send back to the Design Review Commission for a new recommendation. The 120-day appeal period on the Grocery Outlet project lasts until Jan. 23, but the devel- oper has stated they would extend the appeal another two months to provide enough time, Estes said. The only recent on-the-re- cord hearing by the c oun- cil was for a fi nal appeal of the Design Review Com- mission’s second denial of a Mariott-brand Fairfi eld Inn & Suites hotel franchise. The fi nal hearing came after the c ouncil had already sent a revised design back to the Design Review Commission, providing exhaustive chances for public input before ulti- mately approving the pro- posed hotel. Estes and City Attorney Blair Henningsgaard also rec- ommended providing a new hearing because of an ex parte contact — meaning one-sided and outside the hearing pro- cess — by Commissioner Sarah Jane Bardy that was not disclosed until after the Oct. 3 public hearing on the store and could have been used as a basis for appeal. Bardy commented after the closure of the public hear- ing on issues she had with the cookie-cutter design sim- ilar to other Grocery Outlets, noting some online research she did. That research should have been declared during the hearing as an ex parte contact, Estes said. Allowing Bardy’s comments in a new hearing would cure the procedural issue, he said. Bardy said she didn’t real- ize her Google searches were considered ex parte contacts, or that she necessarily agrees, but that she would have noted the research beforehand if she had known. Her research into other similar-looking Grocery Outlet stores stemmed from the developer’s claims that their building was tailored to the local aesthetic, she said. Mayor Bruce Jones disal- lowed public comment during the decision Monday on what type of hearing to hold, cit- ing numerous attempts at ex parte contacts with the City Council. Aside from any procedural issues, Jones said, he pre- ferred the new hearing as the best way to allow adequate public input. City Councilor Roger Rocka said it seems fair that a new plan would be heard anew by the Design Review Commission. Bardy recently resigned from the Design Review Commission , citing time con- straints and saying it was a good time to step down with no active projects before the body. Jones appointed Dul- cye Taylor, the owner of Old Town Framing Co., to replace her. Taylor is also a for- mer president of the Astoria Downtown Historic District Association and ran unsuc- cessfully for mayor last year . Cowlitz County blasts state over methanol plant permit DEATHS Nov. 2, 2019 COMINS, Norma Yvonne, 81, of Asto- ria, died in Portland. Caldwell’s Luce-Lay- ton Mortuary of Asto- ria is in charge of the arrangements. GARBER, Nadine Gladys, 81, of Astoria, died in Astoria. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. MEMORIAL Tuesday, Nov. 12 MALCOLM, Ned Irwin and Geraldine Jean (Haines) — Joint celebra- tion of life at 1 p.m., Sea- side United Methodist Church, 241 N. Holladay Drive in Seaside. Memorial canceled HAGNAS, Carl Axel — Memorial and open house at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 350 Niagara Ave., origi- nally scheduled for Satur- day, has been canceled. ON THE RECORD DUII • William Edward Gonzalez III, 21, of Seattle, was arrested Wednesday on U.S. Highway 101 and Perkins Lane for driving under the infl uence of intoxicants. PUBLIC MEETINGS THURSDAY Northwest Oregon Hous- ing Authority, 10 a.m., 147 S. Main Ave., Warren- ton. Clatsop County Board Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503-325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103-0210 DailyAstorian.com of Commissioners, 12:30 p.m., work session, 800 Exchange St., Astoria. Seaside Parks Advisory Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Project at the Port of Kalama By KATIE FAIRBANKS The Daily News LONGVIEW, Wash. — Cowlitz County offi cials blasted the state Depart- ment of Ecology for hold- ing the proposed $2 billion Kalama methanol refi nery to a higher standard than other projects and for asking for information the agency has already been given. “I also fi nd it troubling that the level of review now superimposed on this project is inconsistent with how Ecology has addressed greenhouse gas mitigation within other, recent projects with Ecology,” Elaine Plac- ido, the county’s commu- nity services director, said in the letter sent to Ecology on Monday. The letter is a response to an October request from the Department of Ecology for more information about the plant’s potential impact on global climate change before the agency makes a make-or-break decision on a shoreline permit for the proj- ect. Placido said she is “dis- appointed” by the demands for more information, saying it sometimes exceeds what state environmental rules require or consists of infor- mation that already has been provided to the agency. Northwest Innovation Works wants to build the plant at the Port of Kalama to convert natural gas into methanol for shipment to China for use in plastics manufacturing. The Department of Ecol- ogy asked for specifi c details on Northwest Innovation’s proposed plan to offset the project’s in-state greenhouse gas emissions and an anal- ysis of the project’s global and in-state greenhouse gas emissions. The offset plans were included in an environmen- tal impact study released in August, but the department wanted more details. In her letter, Placido wrote that the county and the department had agreed to would work out further details once the shorelines permit process was completed. In October , the Depart- ment of Ecology also asked the company to further explain the environmental study’s conclusion that the plant would displace coal- based methanol facilities. The department additionally requested an analysis of the affects of using methanol as a fuel, something opponents to the project have voiced concerns about. Kent Caputo, North- west Innovation Works gen- eral counsel, said there has been “confusion,” but the company has been con- sistent about the intended use of methanol for plastic manufacturing. Placido said the August study already addresses the Department of Ecology’s concerns. “This ...raises concerns whether Ecol- ogy undertook a thorough and adequate review of the information provided by the county before tendering its (Oct. 9) letter,” Placido wrote. The county is the review agency for the metha- nol project and has twice approved a shorelines per- mit for the project. The Department of Ecology now has to either affi rm that deci- sion, reject it or approve it with conditions. Once Ecology reviews the information and if it fi nds the application com- plete, it will notify the applicants, said Jeff Zenk, Ecology spokesman. The department will then have 30 days to make a decision. Northwest Innovation Works fi rst proposed the project in 2014, pitching it as a way to combat global climate change by displac- ing coal-based methanol production in China. The August report on the plant’s greenhouse emissions said the project would cause a net annual net reduction global greenhouse gas emissions of 13 million tons. That’s about 12% of the carbon produced annually by all the cars, fac- tories and other sources in Washington state. Columbia Riverkeeper said in a statement Mon- day the plant would lock the state into decades of fos- sil fuel use when the state is trying to move toward clean energy. It claims the August study, conducted by a con- sultant, is based on outdated information. “For fi ve years, NWIW has tried to deceive the pub- lic and regulatory agen- cies about the purpose and impact of building the world’s largest fracked gas-to-methanol refi nery on the shores of the Columbia River. Washington’s Depart- ment of Ecology has repeat- edly asked for basic infor- mation, and NWIW has once again refused to pro- vide a complete, thorough response.” Circulation phone number: 503-325-3211 Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR ADVERTISING OWNERSHIP All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by The Astorian become the property of The Astorian and may not be reproduced for any use without explicit prior approval. COPYRIGHT © Entire contents © Copyright, 2019 by The Astorian. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. 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