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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2020)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2020 County reports 18 new virus cases The Astorian Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian The U.S. Coast Guard plans to station two new 154-foot cutters near the Tongue Point Job Corps Center. They plan to demolish one of the aging piers on the right in the photo and build a new one. Cutters: Coast Guard plans to demolish an aging pier Continued from Page A1 to Adm. Karl Schultz, the commandant of the Coast Guard, requesting that two additional cutters be sta- tioned locally. “The community of Asto- ria is well-equipped to sup- port the Coast Guard and its vessels in their mission here in Oregon,” the law- makers wrote . “Co-locating four (fast response cutters) at Tongue Point will advance the Coast Guard’s mission, increase effi ciency and econ- omy of scale and provide close proximity to a number of world-class maritime ser- vices and shipyards.” The Coast Guard expected the new fast response cutters to enter ser- vice by next year. But in a recent notice to nearby prop- erty owners, Capt. John Bar- resi said they would arrive by March 2024. The notice detailed the environmental assessments and construc- tion needed to accommodate the two cutters. The Coast Guard plans to demolish a dilapidated fi nger pier near the j ob c orps cam- pus and build a new one. The cutters would be reached by steel fl oating docks around the new pier. The Coast Guard plans to dredge more than 130,000 cubic yards of sediment around the new pier to provide adequate water depth for the cutters. Robert Dorn, the CEO of Hyak Maritime and owner of the neighboring indus- trial shipyard, said the proj- ect could be a boon for his tenants, including Berger- son Construction and WCT Marine & Construction Inc. Bergerson could be involved with the demolition and rebuild of the pier, he said, while WCT Marine could build the fl oating docks. “We’re next-door neigh- bors with a couple of busi- nesses that, as they go out to bid projects, will have a lit- tle bit of a home-fi eld advan- tage,” Dorn said. “Competi- tors will have to (mobilize) to come down to Astoria, and we’re right next door.” Mayor Bruce Jones, a former commander of Coast Guard Sector Colum- bia River, described Tongue Point as an ideal location for the cutters . “Astoria is committed to supporting a robust Coast Guard presence and home- porting infrastructure,” he said. “The growing shipyard and other maritime services capability at North Tongue Point make it an ideal loca- tion for an expanded fast response cutter siting.” The congressional dele- gation sent a letter last year asking the Coast Guard to site two new 360-foot off- shore patrol cutters in Asto- ria. The larger offshore cut- ters are meant to replace the 1960s-era medium endur- ance cutters, such as the Alert and Steadfast, both homeported at the 17th Street Dock in Astoria. Asto- ria is in competition with Everett, Washington, and the Seattle area for the two larger cutters. Jones has said that get- ting the two larger cutters is critical to replacing the local Coast Guard jobs that could be lost once the Alert and Steadfast are decom- missioned. The older cut- ters each have 70 to 75 crew members, he has said, more than twice as much as each fast response cutter. “The sense I get is that the Coast Guard is lean- ing toward the Puget Sound area for the” offshore patrol cutters, Jones said Thurs- day. “If the (offshore cutters) do not come here, then it is even more important that all four (fast response cut- ters) come to Astoria, rather than just two, so that the net loss of personnel when Alert and Steadfast leave will be small.” Plaza: Ross faces more than $70,000 in back-due rent Continued from Page A1 Ross also faces more than $70,000 in back-due rent between May and October, according to Atlas. The state Legislature placed a moratorium on commercial lease defaults and evictions in April because of the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The moratorium expired at the end of September, allowing Atlas to start col- lecting rent again. The back- due rent during the mora- torium is not part of Atlas’ lawsuit. But that rent comes due by the end of March, according to Atlas. Atlas claims Ross has refused to lease other por- tions of the shopping center the store controls to Provi- dence , which occupies space in a separate building at the south end of the shopping center, and Chipotle, which plans to build a new restau- Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Plans to expand the Providence Health & Services’ Warrenton clinic and open a new Chipotle Mexican Grill are being blocked by the dispute between Youngs Bay Plaza and Ross. rant at the shopping center. “Ross’s refusal to allow Atlas to lease other portions of the subject shopping cen- ter to ... Providence and Chi- potle is in bad faith and is intended to block benefi cial expansion of the shopping center for other stakehold- ers in the Warrenton com- munity,” a lawyer for Atlas wrote in a complaint launch- ing the eviction lawsuit ear- lier this month. Ross’s lawyers argue the retailer is entitled to a nor- mal civil court case, rather than the expedited eviction process its lawyers argue Atlas is pursuing. “Ross is entitled to a full and fair opportunity to lit- igate this matter on the civil docket so that it may engage in discovery and fi le a motion to dismiss or for summary judgment,” the lawyers wrote. Atlas’s lawyers argue that Ross’s delay has endangered the possibility of Providence expanding there. “Unless Atlas can recover possession of the p rem- ises by ( Nov. 20) — or unless Ross drops its objec- tion to Providence’s expan- sion plans — Atlas’s under- standing is that Providence intends to look elsewhere to expand,” a lawyer for Atlas wrote. Representatives for Prov- idence have said the health care provider is focused on expanding services in War- renton, but declined to share further details about where the expansion might be until a lease is signed. Chipotle had planned to construct a new 2,300-square-foot build- ing for a drive-thru restau- rant by the end of the year. A spokesman for Chipotle said more details on their expan- sion would be available in December. Recount: Ward covers Uppertown east to Alderbrook Continued from Page A1 Joshua Conklin, a local service sector worker, trailed in third with 301 votes, or 24.9%. Brook Boden and Heather Kelez dropped out of the race but remained on the ballot and received more than 15% of votes cast. The ward covers Uppertown east to Alder- brook and Tongue Point. Morley could not imme- diately be reached for com- ment. Hilton declined to com- ment until the fi nal results are certifi ed. The county has until Monday to certify fi nal results. Tracie Krevanko, the county clerk, said the most recent count represents the fi nal unoffi cial results. She Tom Hilton Lisa Morley said there will be a hand recount in the week follow- ing Thanksgiving. “There’s no telling how long that might take,” Krevanko said of the recount. “I’m giving up to three days.” If there is still a tie, Krevanko said, the county would certify the results for the city. “Then it is up to the city on how they deal with the tie,” she said. “They could draw names. They could draw straws. It all depends on what their charter states.” The city charter largely defers to state law on elec- tions and does not address ties. City Manager Brett Estes cautioned that the elec- tion results are not yet certi- fi ed. Estes said City Attor- ney Blair Henningsgaard is researching state elections law before providing guid- ance on what the city would do in a deadlock. According to the Oregon Secretary of State’s Offi ce , all candidates in a local race would meet publicly to decide the winner in the event of a tie. The method of choosing a winner is determined by the city’s elections offi cial. Susan Brooks, the city’s director of fi nance and administrative services, is also the desig- nated elections offi cial. “All candidates must be present or provide an autho- rized representative to partic- ipate in the selection by lot,” the state’s summary of elec- tion law reads. “The method of the ‘lot’ is chosen by the elections offi cial and must be a fair and impartial proce- dure. This may include a roll of dice.” Clatsop County has reported 18 new corona- virus cases. The county on Friday reported nine cases. The cases include a woman in her 20s and a man in his 50s living in the northern part of the county. The others live in the southern part of the county and include a male between 10 and 19, a woman in her 20s, a man in his 30s, a man in his 40s, a woman in her 50s and a man and woman in their 60s. On Thursday, the county reported nine cases. The cases include a female between 10 and 19 and a man in his 50s living in the southern part of the county. The others live in the north- ern part of the county and include a woman in her 20s, two men in their 30s, a woman in her 50s and two women and a man in their 70s. All of the new cases were reportedly recov- ering at home. The county has recorded 332 virus cases since March. According to the county, four peo- ple have been hospital- ized and one has died. The Oregon Health Authority reported 62,175 cases and 812 deaths from the virus statewide as of Friday morning. The health author- ity on Friday reported 1,306 new virus cases, the largest daily num- ber of cases in Oregon since the beginning of the pandemic. The health author- ity tracked 8,199 test results in Clatsop County, including 321 of the positive cases. The Oregon Restau- rant & Lodging Asso- ciation, meanwhile, announced a fed- eral lawsuit on Fri- day to block Gov. Kate Brown’s two-week freeze to contain the spread of the virus. Restaurants are lim- ited to takeout and deliv- ery during the freeze. Relief: ‘We want to make everyone whole’ Continued from Page A1 There was an initial gap of around $600,000 between grant requests and available money from Business Ore- gon, the state’s economic development agency. But Mary McArthur, the former executive director of the eco- nomic development district, said the gap is now closer to $100,000. “Bottom line, I think we’re going to be pretty close to being able to meet all of the applications that we received,” McArthur said. Kevin Leahy, the exec- utive director of Clatsop Economic Development Resources, said the group is trying to get around 190 relief checks out to county businesses before Thanks- giving, especially with the state’s two-week freeze that started Wednesday to limit the spread of the virus. More than 210 businesses in the county have applied for relief through his group. “We’re all working,” Leahy said. “We want to make everyone whole, espe- cially now, with the two- week pause happening.” The supplemental money comes from a myr- iad of sources. Business groups have convinced cit- ies and counties to repurpose remaining coronavirus relief funds, including $50,000 from Clatsop County, $40,000 from Astoria and $40,000 from Gearhart. The Tillamook County Cream- ery Association has also allowed some of the money from its Hometown Resil- ience Fund to help cover unfunded business relief grants in that county. A linchpin to fi lling the gap was convincing Ore- gon’s Emergency Board, a bicameral body in the state Legislature that decides on federal relief rules, to loosen restrictions on around $350,000 of unspent money from previous grant rounds. McArthur said business VIRUS RELIEF GRANTS Businesses looking for grants to help get through the coronavirus pandemic can contact Clatsop Economic De- velopment Resources at cedr@clatsopcc.edu groups have been able to fi nd recipients for most of that unspent money. “All of the partners have been looking at ways to selectively pick out appli- cations that came in that would have qualifi ed, had they known to apply earlier,” McArthur said. Business Oregon launched a grant por- tal Thursday for another $20 million in grants avail- able statewide. But Clatsop County was erroneously left off, and the portal shut down in less than 20 minutes, Leahy said. “It was obviously a faux pas,” he said. “They feel ter- rible about it.” Nathan Buehler, a spokesman for Business Oregon, said there was an error but that some Clat- sop County businesses were able to apply through other counties. “Fortunately, we did receive applications from 28 businesses located in Clat- sop County, which was on par with other coastal com- munities and regions of the same size, so we didn’t see a signifi cant drop-off of appli- cations coming in,” he said. The county is also in line for another $500,000 from the $55 million Gov. Kate Brown pledged in state aid to small businesses impacted by the coronavirus. Leahy said he is working with the county on how to distribute the money. “In terms of the applica- tion, the application process, the timing, that’s all what we’re working on,” he said. VOLUNTEER PICK OF THE WEEK Lily 5 year old Coonhound/ Bloodhound Blend For Lily, it’s all about loving and giving her devotion. She’s a one of a kind treasure. Sponsored by Bayshore Animal Hospital CLATSOP COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER 1315 SE 19th St., Warrenton • 861- PETS www.dogsncats.org Noon to 4pm, Tues-Sat
