A8
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2022
Power outage shut down elevator at Owens-Adair
Some worry about
access to groceries
and medications
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
The elevator at Owens-
Adair, an aff ordable housing
complex for seniors and peo-
ple with disabilities , has been
down since a power outage
Tuesday afternoon, leav-
ing some residents unable
to come and go from their
apartments.
The power outage aff ected
more than 7,400 customers
in the Astoria area for more
than an hour and caused dis-
ruptions for businesses and
local government . The cause
was traced to damage at the
substation south of Youngs
Bay.
In a letter to residents of
Owens-Adair, the Northwest
The elevator is down at the
Owens-Adair Apartments.
Oregon Housing Author-
ity, which owns the four-
story, 46-unit complex off
Exchange Street near down-
town, said the power outage
caused failure to the elevator
and that a search for the parts
needed to make the repair
was underway.
Jim Evans, the housing
authority’s interim director,
told The Astorian there is no
timeline yet for restoring ele-
vator service .
He said a technician had
to order parts, but because of
the age of the equipment, he
was not sure if it was some-
thing they would have in
stock.
“We are also working with
our insurance company, as
there may be coverages that
can help us cover costs if we
need to temporarily relocate
people, if the repair timeline
becomes protracted,” Evans
said in an email on Thursday.
Jane Wilson, who lives on
the second fl oor of Owens-
Adair, told The Astorian
that she has had a diffi cult
time getting up and down
the stairs, but that some of
her neighbors cannot use the
stairs at all.
One of her friends is blind
and has a hard time walking
downstairs. She needs help
walking her dog until the ele-
vator is repaired.
“It’s really cumbersome
for all of us,” Wilson said.
“We can’t get our mail. A
lot of people can’t get out to
even go to the grocery store
and can’t put our groceries
back upstairs because we
can’t get upstairs.”
Other residents were
exasperated and claimed the
elevator has broken down
several times over the past
few years .
Some worry residents will
be unable to get their medi-
cations or make it to medical
appointments .
In April, the housing
authority, which provides
critical housing assistance
to low-income residents in
Clatsop, Columbia and Til-
lamook counties, unveiled
a plan to double the size of
the apartment complex and
update the existing building.
A new, four-story, 50-unit
apartment project called the
Owens-Adair Annex would
mirror the building and likely
serve low-income seniors
and people with disabilities
earning 30% to 50% of the
area median income.
Astoria Column: Mural is 525 feet long
Continued from Page A1
six years. The extensive his-
tory is something he contin-
ues to learn about every day .
He values chatting with
visitors, making connections
and hearing diff erent inter-
pretations and observations
of the detailed 525-foot-long
mural that wraps around
the Column, which illus-
trates the development of the
region .
The Column also holds
signifi cance to Brown, who
grew up in Seaside and has
many memories from vis-
iting. She plans to submit a
story of her own.
On one of her fi rst dates
with her now-husband up at
Coxcomb Hill, she recalls
slipping and falling on the
Column fl oor during a rainy
day.
“It’s something we laugh
about to this day,” she said.
Brown and Pynes hope
others are also interested in
sharing stories to help fi ll the
pages of 100 years.
Ordinance: Decision was 3 to 1 to advance
Continued from Page A1
late 2019.
In April, the county
extended a moratorium on
new vacation rentals. The
freeze is set to expire in late
August, but could end sooner
if the county settles the matter
before then. A second reading
on the ordinance will be held
on June 22.
Nuanced conversations
Viviane Simon-Brown,
a Cove Beach resident, told
commissioners on Wednes-
day that, despite the lengthy
public process, the county
“has missed every opportu-
nity to achieve lasting, viable,
collaborative results our com-
munities could live with.”
She said the county spent
too much time focusing on
the minutia of operating stan-
dards and avoided deeper dis-
cussions about the impact of
vacation rentals on natural
resources and the character of
neighborhoods.
“Did we ever have the
opportunity for nuanced con-
versations about what is a
community? No. The pub-
lic process forced us into,
‘You’re either for or against
short-term rentals.’ There is
no way to discuss the huge
diff erences between neigh-
bors renting and investment
companies.
“Yes, you chose the pro-
cess. Yes, you chose the
structure. You determined
the outcome,” she contin-
ued. “However, it’s not over.
That’s a promise.”
Nancy Chase, who has
owned a vacation rental in
Cove Beach for decades, long
before the advent of Airbnb
and other online platforms,
supported the ordinance, say-
ing it clarifi es the status of
vacation rentals in residential
zones, including those that
have historically had part-
time getaway homes.
“My view as an owner of
a residence is that, if I have
the right to rent my house for
30 days, why is it then illegal,
or could be illegal, if I rent it
for 29 days as a short-term
rental?” she said. “I think it’s
a residential property right.”
Commissioner
Pamela
Wev voted against holding a
fi rst reading. Echoing desires
expressed by some residents
and planning commissioners,
she said she wanted the board
to consider limiting the num-
ber of vacation rentals in cer-
tain areas.
“Almost everyone agrees
that there should be some
kind of a cap in order to
maintain the livability and
the residential integrity of the
zones,” she said.
Wev recently indicated
she favored a Planning Com-
mission
recommendation
— one no longer before the
board — that would have
allowed vacation rentals in
commercial and multifamily
residential zones, along with
Arch Cape, but prohibit them
in other residential zones.
That
recommendation
would have phased out vaca-
tion rentals in Cove Beach
and other neighborhoods as
permits expire. It would also
eventually have eliminated
about half a million dollars
in lodging taxes, according
to the county’s Department of
Assessment and Taxation.
Property rights
Wev said on Wednesday
she wanted to withdraw the
ordinance . She has called it a
“one-size-fi ts-all” approach.
“It’s not even a compro-
mise,” she told her fellow
commissioners. “I think it’s
just not the direction that we
should be going in when we
talk about zoning in rural
places in Clatsop County.”
Commissioner
Court-
ney Bangs does not view
the vacation rental ordinance
as bringing about sweeping
changes, but as preserving
the status quo, since scores of
vacation rentals already pop-
ulate the landscape.
“I want to support the peo-
ple that live within my district
and who have reached out to
me out of fear that we would
somehow remove their liveli-
hood from them in this pro-
cess,” said Bangs, who rep-
resents the eastern portion of
the county .
She and Commissioner
Lianne Thompson expressed
concerns about violating
owners’ property rights. They
both raised the specter of lit-
igation if the county banned
vacation rentals.
Noting the relative wealth
of some people who oppose
vacation rentals in their
neighborhoods,
Thomp-
son said, “I’ve heard a lot
Outbreaks: ‘The virus keeps mutating’
Continued from Page A1
The Astorian reached out
to the third facility but could
not immediately confi rm the
outbreak .
Due to a surge in virus
cases, the health department
has urged people to wear
masks at indoor gatherings,
especially where immuno-
compromised people and
other vulnerable populations
are present.
The county has also
advised people who have
not yet been vaccinated and
boosted against the virus to
do so.
After the county saw a
spring lull in COVID-19
infections — less than 20
per week, the county said
— case counts have spiked.
Scores of new infections
appeared in the county in the
fi rst week of June, according
to Oregon Health Authority
fi gures.
“It’s concerning to me
when we’re having out-
breaks again in our long-term
care facilities because those
residents are dependent on
us to protect their health and
well-being,” Margo Lalich,
the county’s interim public
health director, said.
An outbreak at Clatsop
Care Memory Community
last year involved 37 cases
and fi ve deaths.
The health authority
released a report on Thurs-
day tracking May’s “break-
through” virus cases, where
people who have been vac-
cinated nevertheless get
infected.
Of 44,363 cases statewide,
more than 47% were among
unvaccinated people, while
about 52% were among the
vaccinated, according to the
health authority. About 62%
of the breakthrough cases
were among people who had
received a booster, the health
authority said.
“If you look at the overall
data of severity of illness and
hospitalizations, those who
are booster ed experience less
severe illness,” Lalich said.
The health authority
reported that hospitalization
occurred in less than 3% of
breakthrough cases and less
than 1% have died. “The
median age of vaccinated
people who died is 80,” the
health authority wrote.
The county’s booster
rate has lagged behind the
vaccination rate, which
now stands at about 74%.
A county survey among
more than 400 self-selected
respondents found a hesi-
tancy to get booster ed. This
was especially true for the
second booster shot, which
has been approved for age
groups and individuals most
at risk.
Lalich said she is not try-
ing to sound an alarm but to
remind people the pandemic
is not over. “The virus keeps
mutating,” she said.
As of Wednesday, the
county had seen 5,057 virus
cases and 50 deaths since
the pandemic began, accord-
ing to the health authority’s
tally.
about people’s rights — and
they’re talking not only about
their rights for their property,
they’re talking about their
right to control their neigh-
bor’s property,” Thomp-
son said. “That’s legal ter-
ritory that we consider very
carefully.”
In a 3 to 1 decision,
Thompson,
Bangs
and
Toyooka voted to advance
the ordinance, while Wev
voted “no.” Mark Kujala, the
commission’s chairman, was
absent.
Bird fl u: All of the
protocols could change
again, and quickly
Continued from Page A1
that are particularly suscep-
tible to the disease.
That means, in most
cases, no gulls, no barn
owls, no eagles — exactly
the kinds of birds the wild-
life center sees often.
The risk to people is
low, but for birds, avian
infl uenza is often fatal and
there is no vaccine or treat-
ment, said Katie Haman, a
Washington state wildlife
veterinarian.
Bringing an infected
bird into a clinic or a home
could spread the disease to
new areas and increase its
reach, Haman said.
The Washington State
Department of Health and
the state Department of
Fish and Wildlife this week
cautioned people against
touching sick or dead wild
birds.
The virus is extremely
contagious among some
domesticated bird species
like chickens, pheasants
and turkeys and is often
spread through interactions
with wild birds.
Some experts expect
cases to drop off in the sum-
mer as migrating wild birds
move on, though there is a
chance cases could spike
again in the fall with cooler
temperatures.
But it isn’t even clear
what the situation is right
now since few wild birds
are being tested. Nor do
experts know which bird
species have been most
aff ected. After all, noted
Cheryl Strong, a biolo-
gist for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, it is eas-
ier to fi nd a large sick bird
like a bald eagle than a very
small sick bird like a snowy
plover.
For now, Strong and oth-
ers have received guidance
to avoid handling birds out
in the fi eld. The Oregon
Biodiversity Information
Center out of Portland State
University is avoiding cap-
turing and banding adult
birds during the outbreak.
At the wildlife center,
Saranpaa is already think-
ing about the weeks ahead.
Pelicans usually start show-
ing up at the center’s clinic
in June and late July. There
are baby seabirds that also
make appearances in the
early summer.
Saranpaa said he wants
to fi nd ways to continue to
serve the community and
help wildlife despite the
challenges posed by the
bird fl u. He hopes to be
able to do fi eld assessments
as people encounter birds
in need of help.
With these assessments,
volunteers could perform
euthanasias on site if a bird
is exhibiting symptoms of
avian infl uenza without
the risk of bringing the dis-
ease back to the wildlife
clinic. If a bird isn’t exhib-
iting symptoms, there’s the
possibility they could be
brought back to the clinic
and put into a fi ve-day
quarantine.
The wildlife center still
needs to run this idea past
the state, but the center has
not had a positive case yet
and Saranpaa is confi dent
going forward.
Still, he cautions, all of
the protocols could change
again, and quickly.
For now, clinic staff are
telling people who encoun-
ter sick or injured water-
fowl like ducks or geese
to call the nearest state fi sh
and wildlife offi ce. For
other types of birds, people
should call the wildlife cen-
ter’s clinic before trying to
capture the bird and bring
it in.
This story is part of a
collaboration between The
Astorian and Coast Com-
munity Radio.
DEL’S O.K. TIRE
Del Thompson, former owner of
OK Rubber Welders.
Klyde Thompson, current owner
Mike Barnett, manager
YOUR #1
SOURCE
FOR TIRES
CUSTOM WHEELS
AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES
Over 73 years of the Thompson
family putting you first!
(503) 325-2861
35359 Business 101, Astoria
MON - FRI 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
SAT 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
pointstire.com/astoria