A6
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020
County reports new coronavirus case
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Clatsop County reported
Friday that a woman living
in the northern part of the
county has tested positive for
the coronavirus.
The woman is in her 50s
and was recovering at home.
The county has tracked 46
cases since March 23. For-
ty-one have recovered and all
of the others are convalescing
at home.
The
Oregon
Health
Authority reported 4,131
cases and 151 deaths from
the virus statewide as of Fri-
day morning.
The health authority
tracked 1,513 test results in
Clatsop County, including 45
of the positive cases.
Michael McNickle, the
county’s public health direc-
tor, said during a Board of
Commissioners work ses-
sion Wednesday that 84% of
the people who have tested
positive in the c ounty are
H ispanic.
McNickle said that the
county has conducted more
than 480 tests in the past three
weeks. A bout half of the peo-
ple were tested at the coun-
ty’s drive-thru community
testing, he said, and the other
half were tested at seafood
processors .
also may work in fi sh pro-
cessing or maybe they have
both those jobs, ” he said.
He said the question will
be if businesses are able to
provide enough personal pro-
tective equipment to work-
ers and education about how
THE OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY
REPORTED 4,131 CASES AND
151 DEATHS FROM THE VIRUS
STATEWIDE AS OF FRIDAY MORNING.
Commissioner
Sarah
Nebeker expressed concerns
about the safety of H ispanic
workers, especially in the
hospitality industry as hotels
begin to open.
McNickle validated her
concerns and said it may be
problematic.
“And, you know, these
families who are intragener-
ational in these homes, may
have several members who
not only work in the back of
the house of a restaurant, they
they can protect themselves.
McNickle said the county
has reached out to the Lower
Columbia Hispanic Coun-
cil to fi gure out the best mes-
sages to encourage people to
get tested, protect themselves,
their families and friends.
The county Board of
Commissioners voted Friday
to follow the state’s lead and
approve extending the coun-
ty’s emergency order on the
coronavirus until July 6.
The board also approved
an order to ease restrictions
on lodging and camping on
June 5, allowing them to
open at 60% capacity for a
minimum of 21 days before
going to full capacity.
Vacation rentals with fi ve
or fewer guests can open at
100% capacity, while those
with an occupancy of six to
eight can allow up to fi ve
guests.
County Manager Don
Bohn said the incremental
approach to reopening lodg-
ing is being done in coordi-
nation with Astoria, Warren-
ton and Gearhart. He said the
fl exibility for vacation rentals
is an effort to be equitable.
“You know, we still know
that this is not what a lot of
our lodging partners would
like,” Bohn said. “And we’re
trying to thread the needle
about being sensitive to the
economic challenges that the
community is facing, but to
still allow ourselves the abil-
ity and fl exibility to respond
if we start having more cases
and having stress on our med-
ical system.”
Fireworks: Among long list of already canceled events
Continued from Page A1
The c hamber had dou-
bled its budget for the fi re-
works, securing several
sponsors and planning the
biggest show in Astoria to
date.
“We believe our fi nancial
assets could be better spent
in supporting our business
community in this unprece-
dented time and continuing
to provide the resources,
service and encouragement
our members have come to
expect from us,” Reid said.
Seaside announced ear-
lier this month the can-
celation of its annual fi re-
works show. The event
can regularly draw tens of
thousands of visitors to the
North Coast. The cancella-
tion of Astoria’s show was
expected, with large gath-
erings canceled by Gov.
Kate Brown across Oregon
through September.
The
c hamber
had
already canceled its larg-
est event, the Crab, Sea-
food & Wine Festival,
along with the 35th anni-
versary celebration of “The
Goonies.” Other prominent
Warrenton: Residents,
businesses and visitors all
use police, fi re services
Continued from Page A1
The city dispatched
Police Chief Mat hew
Workman to research what
other cities do. The seven
cities that responded based
their public safety fees on
the size of water meters, he
said.
“That would mean a
hotel, or the (RV) park or
something like that, would
have a more substantial
cost,” Workman told the
City Commission on Tues-
day. “They would probably
pass that on to the patron.”
Basing the fee on police
calls would disadvantage
small businesses that gener-
ate a lot of calls but cannot
absorb costs like Walmart
or Fred Meyer, Workman
said. Tying the fee to calls
would also include nearby
traffi c stops the city reports
at a certain address, he said.
Corvallis
charged
$12.10 a month for the
equivalent of every sin-
gle-family water meter,
costing a homeowner $145
a year. A large grocery
store, using the equivalent
of four residential meters,
paid more than $1,000 a
year, while churches or a
four-unit residential com-
plex paid $580.
Workman found that
Talent, a city of around
6,500 people in southern
Oregon, generated around
$144,000 per year from
public safety fees charged
on utilities.
Workman argued that
the fee should be borne by
residents, businesses and
visitors, as all three use
police and fi re services.
“There is no perfect
ideology to use to deter-
mine the amount of a pub-
lic safety fee,” he wrote in
a report to the City Com-
mission. “I do believe that
charging large businesses
more is fair, but I know that
those costs will be passed
onto the customers, which
also includes residents.”
Playing into the poten-
tial need for a public safety
fee is the city’s existing
police operations levy,
based on property taxes
and bringing in around
$180,000 a year. The fi ve-
year levy was last approved
by voters in 2018.
“If for some reason
the operations levy failed
or didn’t go through, this
would be the backup step, I
would think, and the appro-
priate time to really jump
that in to maintain a police
force,” Mayor Henry Bal-
ensifer said.
But the City Com-
mission has tasked staff
with looking at alterna-
tive sources of revenue,
and property tax-based lev-
ies don’t capture nonprof-
its and other organizations ,
City Manager Linda Eng-
bretson said.
Commissioner
Rick
Newton said such a fee is
necessary to help relieve
locals of the cost of ser-
vices for visitors.
Commissioner
Mark
Baldwin
recommended
exempting properties with
small water meters to take
the burden off the backs
of residential custom-
ers, unless they’re running
commercial rentals.
Balensifer said it’s a
good time to start having
such a conversation.
“Given the current sit-
uation, that’s probably not
what we’re going to do
right now,” the mayor said.
“But it needs to be a con-
versation on the table.”
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
The Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce has canceled the Fourth of July fi reworks
display.
events canceled over the
pandemic include Warren-
ton’s Old-Fashioned Fourth
of July parade, Seaside’s
beach volleyball tourna-
ment, the Hood to Coast
R elay , Astoria Regatta and
the Astoria Scandinavian
Midsummer Festival.
facebook.com/DailyAstorian
S ERVING C LATSOP AND
N ORTH T ILLAMOOK C OUNTIES
Moving: ‘Already planned’
Continued from Page A1
“At my age, I don’t want
to bother with a lease,” he
said. “So I will more or less
be renting the basement of
his building.”
Moore plans to sell
some of his VHS collec-
tion to Cummings and
will take on the vinyl col-
lection of the thrift store
Mallternative.
Cummings is hopeful to
open the new store some-
time in July, but he said he
wants to see how bad the
pandemic is at that point.
“The move was already
planned, but not until fall,”
Cummings said of the relo-
cation. “But the pandemic
just kind of (sped) things
up, made it necessary. I
knew I couldn’t afford to
stay where I’m at.”
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City of Astoria
Historic Landmarks
Commission
Dr. Edward Harvey Historic
Preservation Award
The City of Astoria Historic Landmarks Commission
is seeking nominations for the Dr. Edward Harvey
Historic Preservation Award. The award is presented to
recognize a property owner who has completed exterior
restoration or beautification of a building which
exemplifies the historical attributes of the building
or the architectural heritage of Astoria. The work
must have been completed within the last two years.
Nominations may include residential, commercial,
public, and other types of buildings.
The awards will be presented by the Mayor at the
July 6, 2020 City Council meeting.
Anyone wishing to submit a nomination should
contact Tiffany Taylor at the City of Astoria by email,
ttaylor@astoria.or.us, by phone, (503) 338-5183,
or by mail, Community Development Department,
City of Astoria, 1095 Duane Street, Astoria OR 97103.
Nominations must be received no later than 5:00 pm
on June 10, 2020. The Historic Landmarks Commission
will consider the nominations at their June 16, 2020
meeting, beginning at 5:15 pm.
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