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