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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 2020)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2020 IN BRIEF Park district faces pushback over middle school purchase SEASIDE — A small but vocal group of residents came to the Bob Chisholm Community Center on Tues- day to show opposition to a purchase of Broadway Mid- dle School. Speakers reacted to the Sunset Empire Park and Rec- reation District’s purchase of the property, vacant after the school district moved the campus to a new location on Spruce Drive outside the tsunami inundation zone. Board members approved the process after a previous board had rejected a potential purchase in June. “Why are people just now receiving information on the survey for their opinions if the purchase is already in the works?” Lindsey Morrison, a former member of the park district board, asked in a letter. “Why are the Sea- side taxpayers not enraged by this deceit?” The park district and the Seaside School District are in the due-diligence phase of a $2.2 million purchase. A bond for the expansion of Sunset Pool failed in 2018. This time, the park district is seeking tax-exempt debt fi nancing through the Special Districts Association of Oregon rather than asking voters for a bond. The park district has 45 days to conduct due dili- gence, at which point the earnest money would become nonrefundable. An inspection report received this week is under review. — The Astorian Clam season paused over marine toxin increase LONG BEACH, Wash. — Health offi cials hit the pause button on fall razor clam digging on Wednesday because samples taken from outer coast beaches are trending toward having too much domoic acid, a marine toxin. Clams harvested in the past week were within the safety threshold and are still safe to eat, according to the Washington Department of Health. In Washington state, clam harvests are stopped when domoic acid levels in the meat surpass 20 parts per mil- lion. Levels were about 1 parts per million for most of the summer and fall through Oct. 8 before starting to increase. — Chinook Observer GOAT PATROL TOP: A goat explores the hill off of 15th Street in Astoria as cars drive by. LEFT: A goat devours a plant on the hill off of 15th Street in Astoria. Oregon wants companies to help pay for a new recycling system Confusing labels and mismatched rules across the state are leading Oregonians to put too much trash in their recycling bins. Recycling companies are struggling to sort the trash from the recyclables and fi nd buyers for the con- taminated material they receive, so a lot of it is getting dumped in landfi lls. Since China stopped buying con- taminated recyclables in 2018, local governments have had to raise the price of recycling collection or make drastic cuts in recycling services. For the past two years, a statewide recycling steering committee has been working on how to solve these prob- lems. The proposed new strategy requires companies that sell paper and packaging to help pay for solutions. It calls for dramatic changes in how product packag- ing is labeled, what’s allowed in everyone’s recycling bins and who pays for things like trucking recyclables long distances, upgrading recycling technology at sort- ing facilities and tracking where recyclable material ends up. — Oregon Public Broadcasting DEATHS Oct. 22, 2020 In CHASTAIN, Brief Kathy Ann, 72, of Warrenton, died in Warrenton. Ocean Deaths View Funeral & Cre- mation Service of Asto- ria is in charge of the arrangements. INMAN, Larry Rob- ert, 70, of Astoria, died in Astoria. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. Oct. 19, 2020 SOSSAMAN, Jeromy, 48, of Astoria, died in Astoria. Hughes-Ransom Mortuary is in charge of the arrangements. ON THE RECORD Civil disorder On the • Ty John Fox, Record 23, of Astoria, was charged Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce in Oregon with civil dis- PUBLIC order during a MEETINGS protest in Portland. He allegedly threw a fi rework toward police. PUBLIC MEETINGS MONDAY Astoria City Council, 1 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District, 4:15 p.m., 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., 989 Broadway. TUESDAY Astoria Planning Commission, 5:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave. 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 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, 2020 by The Astorian. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. Printed on recycled paper Subscription rates Eff ective May 1, 2019 MAIL (IN COUNTY) EZpay (per month) ...............................................................................................................$11.25 13 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$37.00 26 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$71.00 52 weeks in advance ........................................................................................................ $135.00 Out of County Rates available at 800-781-3214 DIGITAL EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.00 Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Elk: ‘Injuries to humans are inevitable’ Continued from Page A1 Managing elk After Boyle purchased the 100-acre, 18-hole course in 2011 and made improve- ments, golfers and elk fl ocked to the links . When Jason Bangild, the course general manager, arrived in 2013, there were 20 or 30 elk in the herd. That number went to more than 100 three years ago and is closer to 150 now and will likely exceed 200 in the near future. Boyle, Bangild and staff used measures like herding the elk off the course using golf carts. They bought coy- ote urine to deter them. They placed eight plastic coyotes on the course to divert the herd. Paintball guns had no effect. Fencing was consid- ered costly and ineffective. Bangild said Forrest Goodling, the course’s superintendent, kept track and noted it cost $30,000 annually in extra hours to repair elk damage . It’s safe to say it’s about the same now. Culling the herd, either through fi rearms or bow- hunting within city limits, faced political obstacles and safety concerns. The city instituted no-feeding rules and added signage. But interactions between elk, humans and pets escalated. A whippet was tram- pled and killed by a herd of elk at T he Reserve in 2016. In 2017, an elk cow pro- tecting its calf by the 10th Street entrance to the beach charged a bicyclist before the elk was tranquilized and brought to safety by emer- gency responders and offi - cials from the Department of Fish and Wildlife. An attack on a 12-year- old corgi by an elk on N. Marion Avenue early last year brought the safety issue to the fore. “The incident is just the most recent in a long series of interactions with these large animals whose popula- tions have exploded and who have no natural predators,” Boyle wrote in an email last Neal Maine/Pacifi cLight Images Gearhart’s elk herd, as seen at Gearhart Golf Links, continues to expand. year to Mayor Matt Brown. “The elk population is now at the stage where injuries to humans are inevitable.” Trap-and-transfer reloca- tion plans have been consid- ered before. If those plans should move ahead, Manuel Padilla, project manager for Ore- gon Solutions , said details around how much that might cost, where elk would be placed and how many would need to be moved to make a difference would need to be answered by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Aside from theoretical cost, it is my understand- ing that the answers to those questions could only really be determined through the creation of a trap-and-relo- cate plan that is not currently in existence,” Padilla said. “So I don’t believe those answers are readily available at this time.” Oregon Solutions Gearhart joined Warren- ton, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon State Police and private land- owners to work with Ore- gon Solutions to fi nd ways to mitigate issues with the elk herd . Gov. Kate Brown des- ignated the Clatsop Plains Elk Collaborative an Oregon Solutions project in April 2019. She appointed Warren- ton Mayor Henry Balensifer and Seaside Mayor Jay Bar- ber as project co-conveners. The p roject team acknowledges that people have tried many times to address the elk issue in Clat- sop Plains. Gearhart Golf Links, a project team member, is part of the process in helping to determine effective solu- tions for the co habitation of elk and people in the Clat- sop Plains area and making commitments to help imple- ment those solutions, Padilla said. “Because of the compre- hensive nature of the prob- lem, individual efforts are fruitless and smaller group efforts have run into prob- lems and lost traction,” he said. “The Oregon Solutions process is geared towards working through issues, in a more inclusive and collabo- rative way, which have left past efforts without results.” A declaration of coopera- tion is the culmination of the collaborative process, com- ing from recommendations developed by the project team for taking action. “The declaration works to iron out any issues and create agreement on what is to be done,” Padilla said. “In this case, the declaration lays Volunteer Pick of the Week Patty Senior Pit Terrier/Labrador Retriever Blend It’s not their color, their size, or their breed: it’s their love. Send your heart to the rescue. WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 out the framework for a new wildlife management plan specifi cally for the Clatsop Plains area. In every case, the declaration’s purpose is to lay the groundwork, cre- ate the conditions, and gen- erate and align resources for unifi ed action.” Members of the project team remain in discussion on aspects of the plan. They anticipate wrapping up the plan at the beginning of next year. “This timeline is later than we wanted but it’s the right one given the challenges of this year and the seriousness of the Clatsop Plains elk issue,” Padilla said. Specifi c fi nancing discus- sions have yet to occur. Once the declaration is signed, that is the green light to get to work, Padilla said. Management at the golf course has waited a long time for change but appear ready to let the col- laborative’s work come to a conclusion. “I think we would all like ‘sooner than later,’ but real- ize these steps must be navi- gated fi rst,” Bangild said. (Read about the pet of the week on Facebook ) LATSOP C OUNTY A NIMAL S HELTER C LATSOP C 1315 SE 19 Street, Warrenton • 861 - PETS Noon to 4pm, Tues-Sat A NIMAL A SSISTANCE www.dogsncats.org Sponsored By th
