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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, MAY 15, 2021
Astoria reports coronavirus case at
Lewis and Clark Elementary School
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
A person at Lewis and
Clark Elementary School in
Astoria tested positive for the
coronavirus, the school district
announced Thursday night.
In a letter to parents, Super-
intendent Craig Hoppes said
the district is contacting par-
ents of any students who may
have come in contact with the
person.
Hoppes did not off er any
further details about whether
the person who tested posi-
tive was a student, teacher or
other type of staff . The person
is recovering at home.
“We know this is a diffi -
cult time for everyone and our
hearts go out to those who are
ill,” Hoppes wrote.
One class had to be put into
quarantine and will be learn-
ing remotely for the next two
weeks, Hoppes told The Asto-
rian. Other classes remain
in session at the elementary
school. A total of 15 people
were impacted.
Overall, the school dis-
trict’s protocols, including
contact tracing, asking parents
to prescreen at home, with
staff also conducting screen-
ings at school and frequent
sanitizing, have worked, Hop-
pes said.
“Since we have had stu-
dents back in school we have
not seen outbreaks with the
school when we have had a
case,” he said.
Earlier this week, the
school board approved a
plan for next school year that
would return as many students
as possible to full-time, in-per-
son classes. But Hoppes cau-
tioned that the school district
expects to have to continue
following pandemic-related
restrictions and protocols. He
also anticipates there will con-
tinue to be some positive cases
of the virus among the student
body and staff next year.
For now, pandemic pro-
tocols like social distancing
and mask-wearing will con-
tinue in Clatsop County class-
rooms despite recent changes
to mask guidelines.
M asks will still be required
in schools for the rest of
this school year. The state
is expected to release more
specifi c guidance soon and
school districts are antici-
pating additional guidance
regarding the next school year
in mid-July.
Housing: Finding containers a challenge
Continued from Page A1
of Environmental Quality
before construction of the
buildings can begin.
Trabucco said the plan
is to use vapor extraction to
take out volatile compounds
from the ground, similar to a
system used at a nearby com-
plex of warehouses. Anna
Coates, a project manager
for the Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality , said there
is general agreement on the
approach, and that Portway
S tation can prepare the site
for construction before get-
ting a fi nal sign off .
In the next several months,
Coates said, staff will release
a report on the cleanup plan
for public comment. If the
plan stands up to public scru-
tiny, the development can get
a designation of no further
action needed from the state
agency.
Five of the six buildings
in Portway Station are along
Industry Street and allowed
outright, sparing the project
from needing sign off by city
commissions. But Trabucco
must fi nd 1.5 spots of park-
ing for each two-bedroom
unit, or prove to the city why
the apartments don’t need as
much parking.
Trabucco said Port-
way Station plans for about
one parking spot per apart-
ment. The project could save
on parking requirements
because of its proximity to
bus stops, and because some
of the intended residents
would be workers at nearby
seafood processors.
“We fully expect that a
number of the tenants will be
workers that are working in
the immediate area, some of
(whom) may not have cars,”
Relevant Buildings
Relevant Buildings is nearing construction on the 7th Street
Container Lofts, an apartment complex in St. Helens made
from shipping containers. The company is consulting on a
proposed 68-unit complex in Astoria called Portway Station.
he said. “And we also expect
there to be students that will
also carpool.”
Finding containers
If the project obtains all
of the approvals, the rate of
construction will depend in
part on the availability of
the 140 or so containers Tra-
bucco said Portway Station
would require. Containers
have become a hot commod-
ity amid increased demand
for consumer products from
Asia during the coronavirus
pandemic.
The developer has con-
sulted with Relevant Build-
ings, an Oregon City com-
pany specializing in custom
shipping container homes.
Carl Coff man, the owner of
the company, said the hope is
that by the time Portway Sta-
tion is ready to start construc-
tion, the demand and price for
containers will come down.
The containers for Port-
way Station would be shipped
to Astoria and placed on a
foundation as frames, with the
windows and doors cut but
not built out. Windows, doors,
decks and utilities would then
be added .
Relevant Buildings is pre-
paring for construction on an
eight-unit containerized apart-
ment complex in St. Helens
that will be the fi rst of its kind
in the region. Coff man sees
such upcycling of used ship-
ping containers as a way to
both address climate change
through adaptive reuse and
provide aff ordable housing.
“You can fi nd all kinds of
one-off container projects built,
but they’re all very expensive,
and the common man can’t get
in them,” he said.
Trabucco said he plans to
approach the city about using
urban renewal money to help
defray the heady costs of tear-
ing down several existing
buildings, cleaning up histor-
ical contamination and devel-
oping so many apartments in
a tight footprint while keep-
ing rents at around $1,000 a
month. The Astor West Urban
Renewal District’s f und con-
tains around $5.3 million.
“It’s a perfect application,
in my view, for urban renewal
funds,” Trabucco said. “It cer-
tainly represents a 180. The
concept of coming into Asto-
ria and having to be some-
what of a gateway site both
leaving Astoria and com-
ing into Astoria, based on its
proximity to Marine Drive, I
think is palpable.”
Warr: ‘Involved in a lot of community eff orts’
Continued from Page A1
where he would make his
most tangible impact on
the region. His company
designed and engraved sev-
eral public projects , including
at Maritime Memorial Park in
Uniontown and a plaque ded-
icated to actor Clark Gable
near the public bathrooms on
Exchange Street.
“He did do a lot,” Mo Warr
said. “There are little parts of
him all over town.”
In 2004, Warr was elected
to the City Council, represent-
ing the east end of town as a fi s-
cal conservative and believer
in limited government. For
the next 12 years, he served as
a check on the spending and
reach of city government. He
became known for controver-
sial stances, opposing a ban
on smoking in city parks and
supporting a liquefi ed natu-
ral gas terminal in Warren-
ton after public opinion had
mostly turned against the idea .
“I have a real, basic prob-
lem deep in my heart when
people ban things that are
legal to do just because they
don’t like them,” he said in
2016 about the smoking ban.
Warr took an interest in
transportation, serving on a
local transportation commit-
tee that led to the creation of
the Sunset Empire Transpor-
tation District, the local tran-
sit agency . He advocated for
a truck bypass and was the
city’s representative on the
Columbia-Pacifi c Economic
Development District, which
works to diversify the region’s
economy.
Warr raised concerns about
Astoria’s inability to maintain
all of the services it prom-
ises. He took particular inter-
est in the city’s Parks and
Recreation Department and
spotty maintenance of burial
plots at the city-run Ocean
View Cemetery in Warren-
ton, where he engraved many
headstones.
Former Mayor Arline
LaMear served eight years
with Warr on the City Council.
“I knew that Russ was
much more conservative than
I, but he never let that bother”
him, LaMear said. “The dif-
ference in our political views
never stopped us from being
really congenial, cooperative
and working for the better-
ment of the city.”
Willis Van Dusen, who
was mayor for 24 years, fi rst
met Warr as a manager at
Sears, where Van Dusen’s
wife worked in the 1970s. The
two served on the City Coun-
cil together for a decade.
“I think of all the people
I’ve ever known, Russ was
the most well rounded,” Van
Dusen said. “If you look at
his community work, he was
president of the Astoria City
Council, and he was involved
in a lot of community eff orts
to improve Astoria.”
One of Warr’s proudest
accomplishments was work-
ing with Van Dusen and oth-
ers in a partnership between
the city, Recology, the Astoria
School District and Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital . They
worked to transform a for-
mer city landfi ll on Williams-
port Road into CMH Field, a
youth sports complex the hos-
pital fi nanced in exchange for
the former Warren Field.
Warr left the City Council
in 2016 after being diagnosed
with bladder cancer. The hos-
pital and Oregon Health &
Science University later part-
nered at the west end of War-
ren Field to build the Knight
Cancer Collaborative, where
he would receive treatments.
“He was a leader trying to
get the Knight Cancer (Col-
laborative) into Astoria,” Van
Dusen said. “And so it was
very ironic going to visit him
at the building that he was a
big part of building.”
Warr is survived by his
wife and children, including
Kurt Warr, of Hercules, Cali-
fornia; Kari Petersen, of Asto-
ria; Heather Warr, of Boise,
Idaho; Heidi Marchal, of
Meridian, Idaho; Jennifer Van
Hook, of Warrenton; and Liz
Clark, in Hillsboro.
County reports 10 new virus cases
Clatsop County reported 10 new coro-
navirus cases over the past few days.
On Friday, the county reported six
cases.
The cases include two males between
10 and 19, a man and a woman in their
30s, a woman in her 40s and a man in
his 50s living in the northern part of the
county.
All six were recovering at home.
On Thursday, the county reported four
cases.
The cases include a male and a female
between 10 and 19 and a man and a
woman in their 60s living in the northern
part of the county.
All four were recovering at home.
A case reported on Wednesday as
a male between 10 and 19 living in the
southern part of the county is actually
under the age of 10, according to the
county.
The county has recorded 986 cases
since the start of the pandemic. Accord-
ing to the county, 25 were hospitalized
and eight have died.
School: ‘Pandemic sets the timeline’
Continued from Page A1
Last year, the school district opted to
begin the school year with all students in
remote learning and only began slowly
bringing students back into classrooms in
early 2021.
But the plan for next school year comes
with several caveats.
The state is expected to release updated
guidance for schools in mid-July. Depend-
ing on the course of the pandemic at that
time, the announcement could allow the
school district to continue as planned or
severely alter what schools are able to do.
“The pandemic sets the timeline,” a
memo to the school board noted. “Deci-
sions made will need to be fl exible.”
The school district is also anticipat-
ing a large incoming k indergarten class
that could create some challenges when it
comes to keeping class sizes low in the ele-
mentary schools, depending on virus-re-
lated restrictions come September.
District leaders have prepared an alter-
nate in-person scenario if state guidelines
shift back to more severe restrictions, but
it is not the preferred plan, Superintendent
Craig Hoppes said.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t like it,” he told
board members Wednesday.
Board Member Jenna Rickenbach sug-
gested sending a letter to the state, echoing
and supporting a letter sent to Gov. Kate
Brown by Clatsop County commissioners
in April. In the letter, the commissioners
pushed for local control when it comes to
making health and safety decisions.
Others on the school board questioned
the need for this type of letter. Changes in
restrictions are likely coming, b oard m em-
ber Jimmy Pearson noted. But Rickenbach
was encouraged to bring back a draft for
the board to consider at a future meeting.
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Astoria schools are hopeful pandemic
restrictions will ease by next school year.
Still, Grace Laman, the school board
chairwoman , said she does want to make
sure some sort of plan is in place so par-
ents can begin to make plans for summer
child care. The child care situation, com-
bined with the limited in-person instruction
the schools were able to off er with diff er-
ent grades in class at diff erent times, was
“a nightmare this year,” she said.
However, online school done at home is
the preferred route for some.
Several families have indicated they
would prefer an online school option for
their children — something the district
plans to accommodate.
The school district will also still need
to plan for a remote learning component,
even for in-person students.
There were virus cases at schools this
year, Hoppes said, and he expects there
will be cases next school year, as well. The
school district will need remote options for
in-person students who need to quarantine.