A2
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021
IN BRIEF
County seeks applicants
for budget committees
Clatsop County has openings on several local bud-
get committees.
The Clatsop County Budget Committee has seats
open for District 3, which covers the central Asto-
ria region, and District 4, which covers the eastern
Astoria region. The District 3 term runs until Febru-
ary 2024. The District 4 term runs through February
2022.
Two seats are also open on Road District 1 Bud-
get Committee, two seats are open on the Westport
Sewer Service District Budget Committee and three
seats are open on the 4-H & Extension District Bud-
get Committee.
The county Board of Commissioners makes the
appointments. Applications will be accepted through
Feb. 8. More information is available on the coun-
ty’s website.
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
The Astorian
A geotechnical consultant for Astoria said several homes on
Floral Street are at moderate risk of impact from a landslide
Wednesday.
Record rainfall in January 1982 uprooted a house on Alameda
Avenue and pushed it over the sidewalk, similar to another
slide that occurred Wednesday.
Hillside off Alameda Avenue ‘marginally stable’
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
Warrenton Library
hosts interest session
The Warrenton Community Library is holding
a virtual group interest session at 6 p.m. on Thurs-
day to discuss the creation of a Friends of Libraries
organization.
The nonprofi t groups support libraries in their
communities. The groups generally handle fi nances
and work closely with library management.
Anyone interested in getting involved can call the
library at 503-861-8156 or visit the library’s website
to get information about the Zoom meeting.
Posalski sworn in to
Seaside City Council
SEASIDE — David Posalski, a businessman, was
sworn in on Monday to the Seaside City Council.
Posalski defeated Kathy Kleczek and Adam Wood
in the November election in Ward 4.
Offi ces close for
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on
Monday, all federal, state, county and city offi ces
and services, including Astoria, Warrenton, Gear-
hart, Seaside and Cannon Beach city halls, are closed.
All U.S. post offi ces are closed, and there is no mail
delivery.
Astoria, Jewell, Knappa, Warrenton/Hammond
and Seaside (including Cannon Beach and Gearhart)
school district schools, and Clatsop Community Col-
lege, are closed.
The Astoria Library, Seaside Library and Warren-
ton Library are closed.
The Port of Astoria offi ces and services are closed.
Garbage collection through Recology Western
Oregon and the city of Warrenton garbage collection
are not affected by the holiday. Recology Western
Oregon’s transfer station is open.
The Sunset Pool in Seaside is closed. The Astoria
Aquatic Center is still closed.
The Clatsop County Heritage Museum and Fla-
vel House are closed. The Oregon Film Museum
and Carriage House — gift shops only — are open
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Uppertown Firefi ghters’
Museum is closed for the winter.
Lil’ Sprouts is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Fort Clatsop is closed, but the trails are open. The
Columbia River Maritime Museum is closed. The
Seaside Museum is closed.
Sunset Empire Transportation (“The Bus”) is
running.
— The Astorian
A geotechnical consul-
tant concluded there is no
indication of larger-scale
movement beyond the land-
slide that uprooted a house
on Alameda Avenue on
Wednesday, cautioning the
city to monitor the hillside .
“The key fi ndings there
are that this slide was kind
of a small slide within a
much larger slide block.
That whole hillside … I
consider it marginally sta-
ble,” said Gerry Heslin, the
vice president of Cornforth
Consultants.
The slide that uprooted
the home of Cati Foss was
a surfi cial slough — or skin
slide — involving about 3 to
6 feet of soil that slid off a
steep, dipping bedrock face,
Heslin said.
“I don’t see any evidence
right now of large-scale
movement, although you’ve
got to keep your eyes on it
just to make sure that the
initial conclusions are borne
out by further observations,”
he said.
The slide left the back-
yards of several homes on
Floral Street precariously
close to the edge, including
the deck of one home . Hes-
lin warned that those homes
were at moderate risk of
being impacted by future
sliding.
“But based on the site
observations I made while I
was out there, I think there’s
enough of what we call col-
luvium — the soil bedrock
— to where that house …
should be fi ne,” he said.
Cindy Moore, the assis-
tant city engineer, said city
staff has advised homeown-
ers above the slide on Flo-
ral Street to cover the slide
zone with tarps. Staff has
marked cracks in a driveway
between two homes.
“We’re taking measure-
ments daily, and those hav-
en’t changed since Wednes-
day afternoon,” Moore said.
“And then just visual inspec-
tions of the hillside.”
Most hillsides in Astoria
are at moderate to high risk
of landslides. After record
rainfall in January 1982,
a home two lots east of
Foss’s home was similarly
uprooted and pushed onto
the sidewalk.
Foss said her family is
working with insurers and
a contractor to determine
whether her house, slumped
over the sidewalk on Ala-
meda Avenue, can be sal-
vaged. But her family faces
challenges in getting cover-
age for a landslide.
“If we had the insurance
that was actually going to
cover the slide itself, we’d
need earthquake insurance
or the equivalent of that,”
Foss said. “And because of
our location in Astoria, it’s
like tens of thousands of
dollars a year. I think the
lowest quote they gave me
was $30,000 a year. It was
insane. And the deductible
was close to $200,000 or
$300,000.”
Kujala chosen as chairman of county commission
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Commissioner
Mark
Kujala was selected Wednes-
day night as the new chair-
man of the Clatsop County
Board of Commissioners,
part of a shift in the ideolog-
ical balance of the board in a
more conservative direction.
Kujala, who was elected
in 2018, represents District
1, which covers Warrenton,
Hammond and the west-
ern portion of Astoria. He
works as the director of the
Columbia Memorial Hospi-
tal Foundation.
Kujala said the board’s
priorities this year will be
guiding the county through
the coronavirus pandemic
and economic recovery.
“Our immediate goals
really this year are pretty
clear — continue to work
on containing the spread of
COVID in the county, dis- economic
development;
tribute the vaccine equitably environmental quality and
and effi ciently, focus on eco- social services.
nomic recovery for the busi-
“But really, the function
nesses that have been
of public health this
hardest hit over these
year and the eco-
last 10 months,” he
nomic recovery are
said. “These are huge
really going to be pre-
tasks. It’s going to
dominant,” Kujala
take a concerted,
said. “And I plan to
cooperative
effort
focus my energies
to achieve this. It’s
and my efforts to
Mark Kujala
going to require resil-
achieve successes in
ience, teamwork and
this.”
diligence.
The election of Courtney
“We’ll continue to deliver Bangs, a Knappa preschool
the necessary public facilities teacher, and John Toyooka, a
and services effectively and manager at Lum’s Auto Cen-
effi ciently and equitably. And ter, moves the board to the
we’re going to do so in part- political right.
nership with the public and
Commissioner
Lianne
private service sectors, just Thompson, who represents
as our strategic plan and our District 5 , which covers most
mission outline.”
of S outh C ounty, was chosen
The board has identifi ed to serve as vice chair.
fi ve focus areas in a strate-
“Commissioner Kujala
gic planning process: gov- and I have both been eager to
ernance;
infrastructure; lead this board in years past,
and we haven’t been shy
about nominating ourselves,”
said Thompson, who was
elected in 2014 . “I’m still a
hardworking, ambitious per-
son because I want to do good
and be good and help others
do that. I think at this time,
in this place with a COVID
pandemic, it’s appropriate
for me to step back and ask
the person who’s working at
a hospital in Astoria as being
most ideally suited to lead us
through this pandemic.”
Commissioner
Pamela
Wev said she would like
to see the board continue
to rotate the chairmanship
every year so every commis-
sioner gets a chance.
“I certainly admire Com-
missioner Thompson’s grace
in this very unique situation,”
she said. “I think that having
Commissioner Kujala on the
front lines really is a great
asset.”
Trump administration slashes habitat for spotted owl
DEATHS
Jan. 11, 2021
In CARR,
Brief
Jeffrey Lee,
61, of Svensen, died
in Svensen. Caldwell’s
Deaths
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Dec. 12, 2020
ARMENT, George E.,
87, of Clatskanie, died
in Longview, Washing-
ton. Groulx Family Mor-
tuary is in charge of the
arrangements.
CORRECTION
Incorrect name — Ott Custer’s body was found
Correction
near Little Beach in Gearhart on Tuesday. His name
was listed incorrectly as Custer Ott in an In Brief item
on A2 on Thursday.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Warrenton City Commission, 4 p.m., work session, (elec-
tronic meeting).
Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., (electronic meeting).
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board of
Directors, 5:15 p.m., (electronic meeting).
Seaside School District, 6 p.m., (electronic meeting).
Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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By BRADLEY W. PARKS
Oregon Public Broadcasting
The Trump administra-
tion has cut designated crit-
ical habitat for the northern
spotted owl by millions of
acres in Oregon, Washington
state and California.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service announced Wednes-
day that it would remove 3.4
million acres of critical habi-
tat for the bird, including all
of what’s known as the O&C
Lands, which is big timber
territory in western Oregon.
It’s the latest jab at the
northern spotted owl on
President Donald Trump’s
way out the door.
The spotted owl is listed as
threatened under the Endan-
gered Species Act. The Fish
and Wildlife Service has said
the bird warrants uplisting to
endangered because of con-
tinued population declines.
The spotted owl population
decreased
approximately
3.8% annually rangewide
from 1985 to 2013.
However, the agency
refused to uplist the spotted
owl at the end of last year,
saying other species took
higher priority. That decision
is facing a legal challenge led
by the Center for Biological
Diversity.
Noah Greenwald, the
center’s endangered species
Don Ryan/AP Photo
A northern spotted owl
fl ies after an elusive mouse
jumping off the end of a stick
in the Deschutes National
Forest near Camp Sherman.
director, called the reduction
of critical habitat a “part-
ing shot” from the Trump
administration.
“This is perhaps the nail
in the coffi n for the north-
ern spotted owl,” Greenwald
said, “and really undoes a
lot of the great work that’s
been accomplished under the
Northwest Forest Plan.”
The reclusive northern
spotted owl became the face
of a campaign to save Ore-
gon’s old growth forests
from rampant logging in the
late 1980s and early 1990s.
The fi ght over the bird and
the forests it inhabits was a
watershed moment in Ore-
gon history, shaping many
of the social, political, envi-
ronmental and economic
divisions present in the state
today.
The Fish and Wildlife
Service says slashing the
owl’s critical habitat satis-
fi es a settlement agreement
between the agency, the tim-
ber industry and counties.
Half of all logging revenue
from the O&C Lands — for-
ests named for the long-de-
funct Oregon & California
Railroad — goes to counties
and schools, by law.
“We are delighted to see
rational and positive deci-
sion-making by the fed-
eral government,” said Tim
Freeman, a Douglas County
commissioner and president
of the Association of O&C
Counties, in a press release.
“It has been a very long pro-
cess, and there is still more to
do. But this is a major step in
the right direction.”
The Fish and Wildlife
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Service’s original proposal
to reduce critical habitat for
the owl last August totaled
just 200,000 acres. The acre-
age announced Wednesday is
a dramatic departure from its
initial proposal.
The agency also removed
critical habitat designation on
20,000 acres of land recently
transferred to the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Coos,
Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw
Indians and the Cow Creek
Band of Umpqua Tribe of
Indians.
The northern spotted owl
still has more than 6 million
acres of critical habitat.
Under the Endangered
Species Act, federal land
agencies must designate
critical habitat that must be
maintained for species sur-
vival. That can include areas
that could sustain protected
species even if they don’t
currently live there.
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