A6
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2022
Wastewater:
Col-Pac presented
an economic
impact study
Continued from Page A1
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
The county has placed a moratorium on new vacation rental permits while debating code changes.
Vacation rentals: Moratorium set to end in August
Continued from Page A1
concluded that, with second
homes and vacation rentals,
there is technically enough
supply, but not of the right
kind.
The new report highlights
the wealth gap between peo-
ple who rent and people who
own: “Owner households
have a higher median income
($65,500) than renter house-
holds ($34,500).”
Gail Henrikson, the coun-
ty’s community development
director, said at Wednes-
day’s meeting, “The houses
where we see the most short-
term rentals are probably the
houses that are least aff ord-
able to people who are mak-
ing $30,000 less than a home-
owner might make.”
County staff prepared
the report at commission-
ers’ request to address con-
cerns — aired in public meet-
ings over more than two
years — about vacation rent-
als’ impact on home values
and availability on the North
Coast.
Toyooka said the data
shows the vacation rental
industry alone does not drive
up prices.
“I think that answers the
question that the community
has asked in their emails and
letters about the impact of
short-term (rentals) on pric-
ing,” he said, “and I think this
satisfi es that information.”
Commissioner
Pamela
Wev said in an interview
afterward that she is not ready
to vote on the issue and thinks
the proposed code changes
need more work.
“I don’t think this is an
ordinance that should be
one-size-fi ts-all throughout
the whole county,” she said.
A blanket policy, she said, is
“bad land use planning in our
situation.”
Wev is sympathetic to an
alternate recommendation
from the Planning Commis-
sion to allow vacation rentals
in only commercial and mul-
tifamily residential zones,
and in Arch Cape, where
vacation rentals are already
recognized. In other residen-
tial zones, the rentals would
be banned and phased out as
permits expire. The county’s
Department of Assessment
and Taxation said the rec-
ommendation would lead to
a loss of roughly half a mil-
lion dollars in lodging tax
revenue.
The discussion around
vacation rentals is one that
communities are having all
along the Oregon Coast and
goes to the heart of property
rights, neighborhood livabil-
ity and trade-off s between
them.
In Cove Beach — the
community that began the
local conversation about
vacation rentals’ impact on
residential areas — the rent-
als make up roughly a third of
homes. Opponents of vaca-
tion rentals have referred to
them as “mini hotels.”
Cove Beach residents have
leaned on a view expressed
by a Portland land use attor-
ney, whom they retained, that
a use not explicitly mentioned
in the code is prohibited by
default. That vacation rentals
have been allowed in Arch
Cape for almost 20 years sug-
gests the activity was meant
for some zones and not oth-
ers, the attorney argued, and
that issuing permits for those
other zones constitutes a
development code violation.
In April, commissioners
revised the operating stan-
dards to address permit trans-
fers, occupancy and nui-
sance-type behaviors, such
as trash, noise and parking,
that fi gure in neighborhood
complaints.
Commissioners were also
scheduled to decide where
vacation rentals would be
allowed , but asked county
staff to put together the data
report to help inform their
decision. They extended a
moratorium on new vaca-
tion rental permits until late
August.
The moratorium could
end sooner if the commission
settles the issue before then.
Coff ee shop: Aiming for ‘smoothest transition’
Continued from Page A1
and they know her, and she
knows their drink, and that’s
what’s important. That’s why
I moved to Astoria, to build
that community.”
Cross fi rst purchased The
Rusty Cup in 2004, sight
unseen, after coming across
a newspaper advertisement .
When she fi nally got the
keys, she opened the door
to a gorgeous — but unex-
pected and overwhelming —
fl oor-to-ceiling jungle mural
that included a giraff e, ele-
phant and leopard.
“I knew nothing. I knew
how to make coff ee, but I
remember thinking, like,
‘W hat the hell am I doing,’”
she said, laughing.
Now, all that remains of
the jungle mural is a small,
framed butterfl y above the
cafe’s little library.
While Cross and Medford
talked about the business’
transition, Jessie Weis and
her grandchildren entered
The Rusty Cup and a staff
member got to work on their
orders.
Weis has been a regular
since Cross’ fi rst week on the
job, 18 years ago.
With barely a word of
greeting, the kids sat down
and 9-year-old Alex David-
son dealt Cross and Medford
into a round of Pokémon.
Medford took the sur-
prise card game, and Alex’s
on-the-fl y rules, in stride.
Weis said that it was
Cross’ time to make an exit.
“I hate it, but I mean it
has to happen. Time marches
on,” Weis said. “She’s
become my best friend and
you don’t want your best
friend to work herself into
the ground. I’m glad (Med-
ford’s) following, because
he’s really easy to work with
for her.”
Weis said she is glad
Medford will allow regulars
like herself to keep treating
the cafe as a second home.
She laughed, watching him
get fully invested into the
card game with her grand-
kids and debate about who
had the strongest Pokémon.
Medford will offi cially
take over the business on
June 30 . He said he wants
to keep the cafe mostly as is,
including its name and staff .
He plans to add in-house
baking capability with a
focus on breakfast pies.
“I think it will change a
little bit, for my personal-
ity, but it works. What is the
most important to me is I
want people to feel as com-
fortable coming in here to me
as they do with Kristy. And I
don’t want to change it into
something that it’s not,” he
said.
Cross will be focusing on
relaxing. She has some house
projects to catch up on and
plans to spend time with her
parents in Seattle.
She will continue to make
appearances at The Rusty
Cup, too.
“I told him that I’ll come
in and help out as long as he
needs,” she said. “We just
want to make it the smooth-
est transition, where he
comes in and I slowly fade
out. And then come back to
fi ll in whenever he needs it.”
LiFEBoat: A call for more transitional employment positions
Continued from Page A1
Gibbs said showing up,
especially on bad days, is not
easy. And some days she can-
not show up.
“I could have quit, but
I knew mentally that was
something I had to do because
I had to show my kid you can
still kick butt and not be OK, ”
she said.
For Beacon Clubhouse,
which is based on an inter-
national model, supporting
members with employment is
central to the organization’s
mission.
Erin Carlsen, the direc-
tor of Beacon Clubhouse,
runs LiFEBoat Services with
her fi ancée, Osarch Orak,
the director of Filling Empty
Bellies.
Carlse n and Orak said
that as LiFEBoat expands,
the goal is to grow the tran-
sitional employment program
and build more partnerships
with local employers.
They described tran-
sitional employment as a
“win-win.” Members can
try a job and build skills
that could lead to perma-
nent roles . Employers can
try an employee for 90 days
and determine whether it is a
long-term fi t, knowing LiFE-
Boat will be there to provide
support when needed.
“We want to reach out to
more local businesses who
are willing and able to leave a
position open for transitional
employment,” Orak said.
‘THE AREA IS
VERY SPREAD
OUT. YOU CAN’T
WALK TO CAMP
RILEA.’
Olga Watkins | program
manager of the food service
“There are so many dif-
ferent types of mental ill-
ness and just because you
have mental illness doesn’t
mean that you can’t be a
productive member of soci-
ety, you can’t hold down a
job or that you don’t want
to. You might just need a
little bit of extra help in a
particular area to push past
your issues, whatever you’re
struggling with.”
Orak and Carlse n are
also pursuing other types of
employment partnerships in
the community.
Gibbs recently helped the
organization form a part-
nership with Service Care
of America, a food service
contractor that provides
food services at Camp Rilea.
Gibbs’ daughter works for
the company and reached
out when they were facing
staffi ng shortages.
Four people from Bea-
con Clubhouse and Filling
Empty Bellies now work at
the food service full time.
Olga Watkins, the pro-
gram manager of the food
service, said the partnership
is going great.
Watkins said she has
struggled with the same
staffi ng shortages as other
businesses, adding that the
labor market on the North
Coast is even more diffi cult
because of the lack of trans-
portation options.
“The area is very spread
out. You can’t walk to
Camp Rilea,” Watkins said.
“As an employer, though,
with the current situation,
it is important, I feel, to
approach hiring people a lit-
tle diff erently these days.”
Oftentimes, there are
barriers, especially for peo-
ple who are homeless, Wat-
kins said. Once people
pass a background check
and get hired, she talks
with employees about any
impediments they may
have to getting to work and
communicating.
I n response to the trans-
portation challenge, Wat-
kins said, her staff of 15
have worked out a carpool
schedule .
She said that while there
is a perception that many
homeless people do not
want to work, she has found
that many do.
But it takes extra time
to work through issues like
transportation, housing and
completing paperwork. It
also takes time to coor-
dinate with organizations
like LiFEBoat and other
employment services.
“But if I need the help,
I have to be willing to do
that,” Watkins said. “If I’m
going to hire people that
have those obstacles in their
lives, then I have to do a lit-
tle extra work as well. And
that’s OK .”
Pacifi c Economic Develop-
ment District, told the City
Council on Monday. The
nonprofi t assists in diversi-
fying and strengthening the
economy and livability of
Northwest Oregon.
First, Colombo said,
the fermentation sector in
Clatsop County is young
and is not necessarily able
to withstand cost shocks
the way a more mature
industry can.
“Secondly, we have
found in our research that
they’ve provided outsized
contributions to the com-
munity,” she said, noting
that the businesses have
accounted for $21 million
in visitor spending. “And
I could probably name a
number of communities
that would welcome your
wastewater challenges if it
meant that the fermentation
sector in Clatsop County
came with it. For every
challenging situation there
are always creative solu-
tions, and Col-Pac looks
forward to being a part of
helping you fi nd those and
we hope that you continue
to consider that.”
The nonprofi t presented
an economic impact study
of the fermentation sector
to the City Council ahead
of the council’s adoption of
the industrial pretreatment
ordinance. Colombo said
the nonprofi t was asked to
prepare the study, in part, in
response to the wastewater
challenges.
“We are not experts on
rate structures, wastewater
systems or ordinances, but
we do have some expertise
in recognizing economic
interdependencies
and
dynamics,” she said. “And
we feel like this cluster is
special, and it’s something
that we don’t see often
when we’re looking at
local economies, and espe-
cially rural economies.”
Mayor Bruce Jones said
the city will continue to
collaborate with the busi-
nesses and look at creative
solutions and evolving
technologies.
“I know that we all
appreciate the fermentation
sector very, very much,”
Jones said. “We’ve all seen
directly the charitable con-
tributions, especially to var-
ious — countless, frankly
— fundraisers in the com-
munity, and recognize the
special role that these busi-
nesses have played.”
He pointed to the City
Council’s support when
it approved Fort George’s
application in 2020 to enter
into the Clatsop Enterprise
Zone, which off ers up to
15 years of tax breaks in
exchange for their expan-
sion in the former Astoria
Warehousing property in
Uniontown.
Fort
George
was
approved for an estimated
$617,000 in tax relief
over 15 years in exchange
for a promise to invest at
least $12.5 million into
the expansion and create
at least 35 jobs earning at
least 130% of area median
wage.
River Barrel Brew-
ing, the parent company
behind Buoy Beer and Pilot
House Distilling, was also
approved into the enter-
prise zone for their expan-
sion on the waterfront. The
business is estimated to
save $734,800 in property
taxes over fi ve years.
Jones also pointed to
a $1 million grant Fort
George received from the
state to clean up petro-
leum contamination at the
Uniontown site, which
cleared the way for the
brewery to secure a $12
million low-interest loan
from Craft3. The lender
secured fi nancing from
the competitive federal
New Markets Tax Credit
program.
Presentation
The mayor, City Coun-
cilor Roger Rocka, City
Councilor Tom Brown-
son and business lead-
ers attended a presenta-
tion Wednesday at the Fort
George Lovell S howroom
given by ClearBlu Envi-
ronmental, an industrial
wastewater treatment com-
pany based in Monterey,
California.
Chris Nemlowill, the
owner of Fort George
Brewery, said his wastewa-
ter consultant, John Mercer,
recommended exploring
ClearBlu’s technology as a
way to increase the capac-
ity of the city’s treatment
lagoons. The company spe-
cializes in high strength
wastewater and designs
systems for breweries, win-
eries and other industrial
businesses throughout the
country.
The company discussed
how adding aeration tech-
nology and specifi c bac-
teria to the treatment
lagoons can increase
capacity and handle high
strength waste.
“We’re trying to do as
much as we possibly can
to work on our site with
a 50-year-old wastewater
treatment plant,” Nemlow-
ill said at the beginning of
the presentation. “We just
wanted to look at the entire
spectrum of the system
from what we’re doing to
also our wastewater treat-
ment lagoon.”
Jeff Harrington, the
city’s public works direc-
tor, said the city already
has aeration technology at
the treatment lagoons, and
that the technology would
not change the city’s course
of action.
“We have a $5 million
project rolling forward,
designed, multiple waste-
water experts, we have a
whole wastewater design
team,” Harrington told The
Astorian. “This product
is something that has not
been used in municipal set-
tings. Our wastewater con-
sultants have no confi dence
it’s going to do anything
diff erent than what our aer-
ators out there do now.”
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