A2
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 2022
Housing incentives unlikely this year
IN BRIEF
Legislature will
likely wait until 2023
Man dies after jumping off
Astoria Bridge
An Astoria man died after jumping off the Astoria
Bridge on Wednesday afternoon.
James Robert Neikes, 29, was still alive when emer-
gency responders arrived, police say. He had landed on
the grass east of Suomi Hall.
Neikes was taken to Columbia Memorial Hospital in
Astoria for treatment, then fl own to a Portland-area hos-
pital, where he died.
Seaside contractor fi ned for
violating job safety standards
SEASIDE — Synergy Construction Group, a con-
tractor based in Seaside, was fi ned more than $15,000
by the state for job safety violations on a residential roof-
ing project last year.
The Oregon Occupational Health and Safety Admin-
istration said an inspection found two employees work-
ing on a roof with no protection against potential falls.
The inspection was conducted after a complaint about
the lack of fall protection.
According to Aaron Corwin, an Oregon OSHA
spokesman, this is the fourth time Synergy Construc-
tion Group has violated the fall standard since February
2020, each of which resulted in fi nes.
Sabel Wilder, a company representative, said in
an appeal that the violations were the actions of a
subcontractor.
“The reason I did not participate in an opening or
closing conference was because I told the inspector that
I believed he had the wrong company,” he said. “I asked
for any evidence that put our employees at the scene of
the alleged violation, he said he could not produce any
evidence, and was told someone said it was our company.
“Yes, we were the general contractor for this proj-
ect, the project was subcontracted to another licensed
company. If there were any violations, my advice for
the inspector was to produce pictures or something that
could substantiate his claims. He could not. For this rea-
son I want a hearing.”
Seaside enlists consultant
for city manager search
SEASIDE — The city wants to fi ll its lead staff role
by June 30, when City Manager Mark Winstanley steps
down.
The city manager, who started with Seaside as fi nance
director in September 1985, was named city manager in
November 2001.
After announcing the opening internally, Sea-
side received one internal candidate for the position in
December.
To expand that search, the City Council has voted to
expand the recruitment and search to the hiring of con-
sultants Jensen Strategies.
“I’m recommending that we retain Jensen and his
team,” Mayor Jay Barber said at Monday’s meeting.
“They are very competent. They’ve done searches in
Warrenton. They’ve done searches in Cannon Beach.
They are just winding up one in one of the suburbs east
of Portland, one of the suburbs. Based on the references
that I’ve checked, they are very competent and will do
an excellent search.”
— The Astorian
Peninsula man held on child rape charges
LONG BEACH, Wash. — The Long Beach Police
Department arrested U.S. Coast Guardsman Jordan R.
Wekenborg-Garcia, 31, of Long Beach, on Wednesday
for three counts of fi rst-degree rape of a child.
The arrest was a result of an investigation conducted
by police , Washington State Child Protective Services
and the U.S. Coast Guard after a victim told a fellow stu-
dent at school she was having sex with an adult.
During the investigation, authorities say Weken-
borg-Garcia admitted to investigators that he had been
involved in sexual activity with the 10-year-old at least
six to seven times.
According to court documents, the activity is believed
to have been as far back as when the child was 4 years
old and happened as recently as Dec. 26 .
— Chinook Observer
ON THE RECORD
Burglary
the second degree, crim-
On
the
Record
• Dylan
Rigg Knight,
inal mischief in the third
32, of Seaside, was
arraigned on Wednesday
on charges of burglary in
the fi rst degree, theft in
degree and criminal tres-
pass in the second degree.
The crimes are alleged to
have occurred in April.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., workshop session,
(electronic meeting).
Warrenton City Commission and Planning Commission,
5:30 p.m., joint meeting, City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave.
Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., work session, City
Hall, 989 Broadway.
Seaside School District Board, 6 p.m., (electronic meet-
ing).
Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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By JIM REDDEN
Oregon Capital Bureau
Oregon elected offi cials
and community leaders
agree the state has a hous-
ing shortage that is fueling
homelessness and an aff ord-
able housing crisis. But the
Legislature will not consider
a comprehensive proposal to
signifi cantly increase hous-
ing production until 2023 at
the soonest.
That was one takeaway
from the 2022 Housing Eco-
nomic Summit held online
Thursday. State Rep. Julie
Fahey, the chairwoman of
the House Interim Commit-
tee on Housing, told attend-
ees that lawmakers will not
have enough time to con-
sider such a proposal during
the session that begins on
Feb. 1 because it is limited
to just 35 days.
“2023 is a year away and
a year is not that long of a
time,” said Fahey, a Demo-
crat who represents Eugene
and Junction City.
Fahey spoke at the end of
the conference and her com-
ments likely disappointed
some of the participants.
During a series of panel dis-
cussions, numerous speakers
said the statewide housing
shortage is driving up prices,
increasing the number of
those living on the streets
and preventing many peo-
ple of color from purchasing
even a starter home to begin
building wealth.
The discussions also
revealed tensions between
policymakers and home-
builders that the Legislature
could address. They included
questions of whether the
state’s existing land use
planning laws are limiting
the availability of buildable
land, how much govern-
ment infrastructure charges
are increasing housing costs
and whether well-intended
policies to increase energy
effi ciency and fi ght climate
change are pushing prices
too high.
“For every $1,000 of
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
A new apartment project is planned near Safeway in Astoria.
additional cost, 1,578 Ore-
gonians are priced out of
the market,” said Geoff Har-
ris, the customer experience
director for Hayden Homes,
which builds workforce
and middle-income hous-
ing, including cottage clus-
ters and small multi family
projects.
Fahey admitted that the
Legislature needs to discuss
such issues while preparing
a comprehensive proposal
to increase housing produc-
tion. But she said it will take
a focused eff ort involving all
parties, who must be willing
to compromise.
State Sen. Dick Ander-
son, the vice chairman of the
Senate Interim Committee
on Housing and Develop-
ment, agreed.
“From what I see, it will
take a great deal of energy
and focus and time,” said
Anderson, a Republican who
represents the central coast.
Both Fahey and Ander-
son said the 2022 Legisla-
ture could take up smaller
bills to address the housing
shortage, however. Fahey
said she expects a substan-
tial aff ordable housing fund-
ing package to be consid-
ered. Anderson said his
committee will introduce a
bill to better enforce a previ-
ous legislative requirement
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
BOARDMAN — Ore-
gon environmental regu-
lators have fi ned the Port
of Morrow $1.3 million
for repeatedly over apply-
ing agricultural wastewa-
ter on nearby farms in an
area that already has ele-
vated levels of nitrates in the
groundwater.
The state Department
of Environmental Qual-
ity announced the fi ne on
Tuesday .
Under a state water qual-
ity permit, the port collects
nitrogen-rich
wastewater
from food processors, stor-
age facilities and data cen-
ters at its Boardman indus-
trial park, which it then
reuses to irrigate neigh-
boring farm fi elds growing
potatoes, onions and other
high-value crops.
But according to the
agency, the port violated
its permit more than 1,000
EO Media Group
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality alleges
the Port of Morrow has applied excessive amounts of nitrate-
containing water to area farmland.
times from 2018 to 2021,
exceeding the limit on
how much nitrogen can be
safely applied to farmland
and resulting in 165 tons of
excess nitrogen in the fi elds.
Leah Feldon, the Depart-
ment of Environmental
Quality’s deputy director,
said these are “serious vio-
lations of water quality reg-
ulations that are in place to
The Astorian
In observance of Mar-
tin Luther King Jr. Day on
Monday, all federal, state,
county and city offi ces and
services, including Astoria,
Warrenton, Gearhart, Sea-
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protect public health and the
environment.”
The Port of Morrow is
Oregon’s
second-largest
port, behind only the Port of
Portland. It is in the Uma-
tilla Basin of northeast Ore-
gon, where in 1990 the state
declared a Groundwater
Management Area due to
high levels of groundwater
nitrates exceeding 7 milli-
grams per liter.
In a statement, Ryan
Neal, the port’s general
manager, said it takes the
violations seriously and
will work in collaboration
with the state toward fi nd-
ing a long-term solution that
benefi ts local farmers, port
industries and the region as
a whole.
“The Port of Morrow
has been working collab-
oratively with DEQ on
the content of this action,”
Neal said. “We look for-
ward to jointly developing a
resolution.”
High levels of nitrates in
drinking water are linked
with serious health con-
cerns,
particularly
for
babies and pregnant women.
Groundwater is used as a
primary source of drink-
ing water across the basin,
which spans northern Uma-
tilla and Morrow counties
— including the cities of
Hermiston, Boardman, Irri-
gon, Stanfi eld and Echo.
Offi ces close for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
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state-required urban growth
boundaries for the next 20
years. Harris questioned
whether that is actually true
in any city, however, saying
that much of the land con-
sidered buildable by govern-
ments has problems — from
bad soil to steep terrains —
that limit how much housing
can actually be built on it.
Other problems cited by
panelists include slow per-
mitting approval processes
that add weeks and even
months to the start of con-
struction. Even the slightest
delay is especially problem-
atic now because infl ation
is increasing construction
costs, while COVID-19 is
making it diffi cult for devel-
opers to fi nd as many work-
ers as they need.
The summit was spon-
sored by the Oregon Bank-
ers Association, Oregon
REALTORS®, and the Ore-
gon Home Builders Associ-
ation. It featured nationally
recognized speakers, as well
as local experts in the areas
of housing, regulation and
economics, and a variety of
issues that will impact hous-
ing in Oregon in 2022 and
beyond.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group
and Pamplin Media Group.
State fi nes Port of Morrow $1.3M over nitrate violations
COPYRIGHT ©
Entire contents © Copyright,
2022 by The Astorian.
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that governments prepare an
analysis of how new hous-
ing policies will aff ect home
prices.
In the meantime, Fahey
said she believes elected
offi cials should change the
discussion about where
housing should be built.
“The root cause of our
housing crisis is the lack of
supply. We need to build
more housing, and some-
times that means build more
housing next to you,” Fahey
said.
The summit revealed that
local offi cials across the state
are very aware of the housing
shortage and are working on
local proposals to increase
production. Gresham Mayor
Travis
Stovall
moder-
ated a panel that included
Gresham City Planner Eric
Schmidt and Medford Plan-
ning Director Matt Brinkley.
They listed initiatives each
city has undertaken over the
past year, including a hous-
ing developer summit with
60 participants in Gresham
and the adoption of a mas-
ter plan with 37 strategies in
Medford.
Both cities have also
completed a housing capac-
ity analysis required by the
2020 Legislature that deter-
mined they have enough
buildable land within the
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Noon to 4pm, Tues-Sat
side 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 College, are
closed.
The Astoria Library, Sea-
side Library and Warrenton
Library are closed.
The Port of Astoria
offi ces and services are
closed.
Garbage
collection
through Recology West-
ern Oregon and the city of
Warrenton garbage collec-
tion are not aff ected by the
holiday. Recology Western
Oregon’s transfer station is
open.
The Sunset Pool in Sea-
side is open. The Astoria
Aquatic Center is open.
The Clatsop County Her-
itage Museum is closed. The
Oregon Film Museum is
open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
the Flavel House Museum is
open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
and the Carriage House is
open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Uppertown Firefi ght-
ers’ Museum is closed for
the winter.
The Sprouts Learn-
ing Center is open from
7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Fort
Clatsop is open from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. The Columbia
River Maritime Museum
is open from 9:30 a.m. to
5 p.m.
Sunset Empire Trans-
portation (“The Bus”) is
running.