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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2020)
148TH YEAR, NO. 14 WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020 $1.50 CORONAVIRUS Bruce Berney with his wife, Kristina. Berney was a force for preservation Death linked to coronavirus By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Astorian Bruce Berney, who was credited with taking crucial steps to preserve Astoria’s history and to establish a professional library, died on Mon- day of coronavirus-re- MORE lated complications, his family said. INSIDE Berney, 85, served Obituary as director of the • A5 Astoria Library for 30 County years before his retire- reports ment in 1997. new virus His health had been case • A3 declining for several years, according to his family. They have not received an offi cial cause of death yet, but Berney, who had recently moved to an assisted living facility in Portland, was hospitalized because of the virus . See Berney, Page A6 Animal auction set for fairgrounds County wants to move public works out of tsunami zone Some residents question expansion to Lewis and Clark By NICOLE BALES The Astorian C latsop County wants to move a public works facility in Asto- ria out of the tsunami inunda- tion zone. The relocation is part of a long- term plan to move essential county buildings and infrastructure to safer ground in preparation for a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsu- nami or other disaster. The county is negotiating the pur- chase of two properties along the Lewis and Clark River that together make up more than 80 acres. Letters of interest have also been obtained for about 8 miles of the Lewis and Clark Mainline, a logging road that connects the two properties. T he project, particularly the pur- chase of the Lewis and Clark Main- line, has been met with resistance by some nearby residents. They believe the county has not been forthcoming with plans that may draw more devel- opment and permanently change the landscape of Lewis and Clark . Moving public works to safer Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Clatsop County Public Works is located off of Olney Avenue in Astoria. ground and establishing a bypass have been priorities in the county’s strategic plan since 2012. Commissioner Pamela Wev, who represents Lewis and Clark , said relocating essential county buildings — beginning with public works — is crucial. The p ublic works facility off Olney Avenue in Astoria is more than a hundred years old. “In case of a natural disaster, our P ublic W orks D epartment is one of the most important county actors in that because they would be responsi- ble for moving debris off of roads and making sure that roads were passable, etc. ,” Wev said. Two properties For the new public works site, the county is negotiating the purchase of the Warrenton Fiber sort yard, which is more than 50 acres and located at the corner of Loukas Lane and Fort Clatsop Road, just south of Fort Clat- sop and Netul Landing. See Public works, Page A6 Clatsop County is negotiating a purchase of the Lewis and Clark Mainline, which may serve as an alternate and emergency route. Live event on Saturday By MORGAN GRINDY The Astorian Although the Clatsop County Fair was cancel ed due to the coronavirus pan- demic, the fairgrounds won’t be com- pletely empty this summer . The Junior Market Auction, one of the fair’s most popular activities, will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday as an in-person, live event . The auction will also be lives- treamed through Facebook and YouTube. An auction committee began planning the event once the c ounty was approved for p hase two of Gov. Kate Brown’s reopening plan in early June. See Auction, Page A3 Astoria puts a bow on bridge work But trolley still in limbo By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Cindy Moore, the assistant city engineer, cuts the ribbon and offi cially reopens the newly-reconstructed 10th Street bridge in downtown Astoria on Wednesday afternoon. Astoria put the bow Wednesday on a project to replace six wooden street ends between Sixth and 11th streets downtown with concrete and metal. But don’t expect the Asto- ria Riverfront Trolley back anytime soon. Much of the city’s trestle had been under a 3-ton weight restric- tion. The project allows truck traf- fi c and the t rolley to keep accessing the waterfront, City Manager Brett Estes said. “It’s really just an integral part of our working waterfront and our waterfront business culture,” he said. Estes, a board member on the Astoria Riverfront Trolley Asso- ciation, cautioned that despite the bridge improvements , the trolley will not be operating for the fore- seeable future. The popular tourist attraction relies heavily on older vol- unteers who are more at risk from the coronavirus. After getting the six bridge ends included in the national inventory, the city in 2013 secured funding for the $13 million project from the state . “We applied for the replace- ment of all six, understanding that they were only going to fund two of them,” said Jeff Harrington, the city’s public works director. “And we just got fortunate that there was excess funding because of other agencies not applying, so they funded all six.” The project eventually totaled around $15 million, including a local match by Astoria and $2 million in additional funds state Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, helped secure after bids came in high. The project eliminates about $100,000 to $200,000 in yearly maintenance to keep the wooden trestles at least partially accessi- ble. In addition to the 3-ton weight limit, the bridge ends were not designed to withstand any seismic movement. See Bridge, Page A3
