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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, JuNE 23, 2022
Port: Consultant recommended a partnership Astoria distributes
grants to organizations
Continued from Page A1
Steve Barkemeyer, a for-
mer boatyard manager for
the Port who retired last
year, criticized the Port for
what he described as poor
vision and claimed the
agency is repeating past
mistakes. Barkemeyer rec-
ommended the Port buy
an 800-ton lift. He said
sticking with a smaller lift
would reduce the boatyard’s
potential.
Talk of the Port eyeing
a larger boat lift sparked
a strong reaction last year
from Bob Dorn, the CEO of
Hyak Maritime, who is pur-
suing a 1,500-ton mobile lift
at Tongue Point.
“With Dorn … having
that capability up there, I
think it’s prudent to watch
what Bob does for a while
before you stick all your
apples in a bigger lift, take
care of what you have with
the (88-ton lift) and make
the yard work with what
you’ve got,” Shoemake
said.
East Mooring Basin
In September, a portion
of the causeway at the East
Mooring Basin collapsed
into the Columbia River,
knocking out power for
boats and navigation lights.
The span was used by fish-
ermen and other boat own-
ers to access their vessels.
The causeway, which
was closed to the public in
2018 due to a severely rot-
ting substructure, served
as a reminder of the Port’s
struggle with deferred main-
tenance and aging infra-
structure. Some materials
to fix part of the causeway
were purchased in 2019, but
layoffs to the maintenance
staff during the coronavi-
rus pandemic delayed the
repair.
While the debris was
pulled out of the water,
the defective causeway
remains, as funding the
remainder of the repair has
been a challenge.
The Uppertown basin is
in need of other improve-
ments, as well. The infra-
structure is not sustainable
for the long term, Isom said.
Survey results from
BST’s study showed that
while nearly half of the
respondents were poten-
The Astorian
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
The Port wants to expand its boatyard on Pier 3.
tially interested in moorage
at the basin, many cited the
need for more docks, bet-
ter maintenance and sea lion
control. Strong currents and
dredging needs also present
challenges.
The consultant laid out
several options for improve-
ments, including the addi-
tion of more floats, but
ultimately found that the
estimated revenue from the
basin would not cover the
cost of the project.
“The struggle that we
have with (the East Moor-
ing Basin) … is that com-
ing up with a model that
makes sense from the rev-
enue side is really hard to
make because the infra-
structure costs are so great
that it’s hard to make it pen-
cil out,” Matt McGrath, the
Port’s deputy director, said.
“When we’re talking about
long-term plans for the East
Mooring Basin, if we’re
going to be looking at the
causeway, then really we
need to be pushing on the
grant side to get near 100%
funding to get any of that
done.”
The consultant recom-
mended that the Port pur-
sue a public or private part-
nership while potentially
exploring other uses in
order to help cover the costs
of improving the basin.
“It seems to me it’s prob-
lematic to expect anybody
to want to grant us funds
for something that can’t
even pay for itself,” Com-
missioner Dirk Rohne said.
“I don’t know, it seems like
some partnership is the only
(option) – or sale or disper-
sal of this asset. If that’s
what we need to do then
that’s what we should look
at.”
Isom cautioned against
rushing into a decision.
“Long term, when you
look at assets like the East
Mooring Basin, I do think
that we want to be careful
with any decision we make
there, especially something
that’s long term and bind-
ing, whether we consider
selling off assets or entering
into long-term partnerships,
we need to make sure that
makes sense for the Port,
not only now but going into
the future,” he said.
At a Port finance com-
mittee meeting last week,
Shane Jensen, the agen-
cy’s grant consultant, gave
an update on the pursuit of
funding for the East Moor-
ing Basin.
Through Connect Ore-
gon, the state’s funding
program for nonhighway
transportation
projects,
the Port was looking for
$8 million to help fund
rehabilitation.
The Port missed out on
the grant. In a ranking by the
final review committee, the
Port’s project finished 30th
out of 49 proposals, with the
top 21 receiving funds.
Jensen noted several
obstacles for the Port, pri-
marily the lack of jobs cre-
ated by the basin and the
high cost.
“In the application, I
believe we did a good job of
making that case and show-
ing how the East Mooring
Basin causeway is a part of
a larger economic system
– marine ecosystem if you
will – that is connected up
with the other marinas in the
area with retail outlets,” Jen-
sen said. “ ... But when push
comes to shove, the actual
reconstruction of the cause-
way doesn’t create a lot of
jobs. It might, in the end,
create one, maybe two jobs.
So that was one of the weak-
nesses of the application.”
Hyak Maritime received
nearly $14 million from
Connect Oregon to help
cover the cost of the lift
project at Tongue Point.
While noting the Port’s
support for the Hyak Mar-
itime project, Isom reiter-
ated his frustrations with the
process of pursuing grants
in competition with private
entities.
“Conceptually, I even
take issue with how the pro-
cess takes place where you
have private and public
interests competing for the
same public grant monies,”
Isom said. “I think it’s a bit
of an apples to oranges com-
parison. To be honest, there
are things we may have an
advantage in, but there are
others that I think the private
industry can operate in a dif-
ferent way and chase dollars
in ways we just can’t.”
Library: ‘It’s a place for people to convene’
Continued from Page A1
former mayor W.C. Logan’s
memorial fund. The city will
also receive a $500,000 grant
from the National Endow-
ment for the Arts if the bond
is approved.
The City Council on Mon-
day night unanimously sup-
ported placing a bond mea-
sure on the ballot following
a presentation from Pat-
inkin Research Strategies,
which conducted a poll of
400 potential voters in May
that found 55% would vote in
favor of the bond.
Improvements
beyond
basic upgrades and repairs,
such as program and tech-
nological
enhancements,
increased the support to more
than 60%.
Mayor Bruce Jones called
the poll results promising.
“I’ve been a strong sup-
porter of this project ever
since I first came to council,”
he said. “I just think that a
modern library, not our 1968
library, but a modern library,
is just a great thing for com-
munity. It’s a place for peo-
ple to convene, hear pre-
sentations, to hear music, to
study, to do job applications,
to do all kinds of learning
and tutoring. A library could
be a great community gath-
ering space if it has the right
amenities and the right func-
tionality. And right now, our
library just does not have that
functionality.
“We are a great small city
and a great small city ought to
have a great library. This is an
opportunity to do that.”
Renovating the Brutalist
building on 10th Street has
been a City Council goal for
years, but plans have been
scaled back or scrapped
because of cost.
Arline LaMear, a former
Emily Lindblom/The Astorian
The city has long sought to renovate the Astoria Library.
librarian, had made a new
library a priority when she
was elected mayor in 2014.
One idea was to expand
the library into the formerly
vacant Waldorf Hotel, but
preservationists fought the
move. The hotel has since
been converted into the Mer-
wyn Apartments.
The city also looked at
building a new library at
Heritage Square as part of
a mixed-use residential and
commercial
development,
but the City Council decided
not to move forward.
In 2017, city councilors
gave the green light to a ren-
ovation, contingent on the
library foundation’s ability
to raise $3.5 million toward
the $5 million cost. But
fundraising efforts were not
successful.
When the City Council
set its goals in January, coun-
cilors unanimously decided
to advance the library reno-
vation by a bond measure if
there was public support or
use the existing funds avail-
able for a project.
“If the voters choose not
to support the bond for the
library, then we’ll move for-
ward on the $2 million reno-
vation using funds in hand,”
Jones said. “But in either
case, this council will come
to a final resolution and we’re
not going to punt it to the next
council.”
During public comment,
Cindy Price, a former city
councilor who serves on the
Planning Commission, said
she would like to see the City
Council reaffirm the decision
to renovate the library with
the funds on hand.
Price was part of a 3-2
vote in 2016 against moving
forward with a new library
and housing project at Her-
itage Square. She was also
a vocal opponent of efforts
to build workforce housing
with a mental health compo-
nent at Heritage Square ear-
lier this year.
“I’m just surprised to
see this because the coun-
cil in 2016 and 2017 — the
2017 council included Coun-
cilor (Tom) Brownson and
Mayor Jones — made it very
clear after going into a deep
dive of many options that
the library will be renovated
in place with the money in
hand,” Price said. “And we
gave the library foundation
a number of delays for them
to continue fundraising. Here
it is now, what, five, six
years later, and there’s only
an additional half-million
dollars.
“To me that speaks to the
support, both community-
wide and the foundation’s,
for making a larger renova-
tion,” she said. “Again, I’m
very surprised given the cur-
rent council’s recent empha-
sis on housing, the need for
housing. In fact, this current
council — the way it talked
about people who were not
interested in Heritage Square
— as if we were not inter-
ested in housing. To go for-
ward this way is really inter-
esting with inflation, that we
are now going to be adding
money to people’s mortgage,
which will be passed to rent-
ers when we’re already in a
kind of a desperate situation
with housing.”
City councilors pushed
back on Price’s comments.
“The council is always
juggling a number of balls,
initiatives in the air, and we
did have a big push for hous-
ing,” City Councilor Joan
Herman said, noting that the
city is collaborating with the
county on housing as well as
updating city code to encour-
age more types of housing.
“So I don’t see this as
either we work on housing
or we work on getting the
bond measure passed,” she
said. “They’re both equally
important. And again, one
does not exclude the other.”
City Councilor Brownson
said that as the council gath-
ers more information and
things evolve, “we are capa-
ble of changing our minds
about what we need to do
and how we can go forward.
“It’s never been that, ‘It’s
not been a great idea to do it.’
It’s the ‘how.’ Well, let’s see
if the public supports this and
gets us there.”
The Astoria City Coun-
cil on Monday distributed
grant funding to more than
a dozen organizations.
Each year the arts and
cultural
subcommittee
makes recommendations
to the budget committee
on how to spend Promote
Astoria funds based on
applications and available
funds. The city allocated
$68,816 for the fiscal year
starting July.
The council distributed
$5,000 to the Astoria Arts
and Movement Center,
$8,000 to the Astoria Scan-
dinavian Heritage Associ-
ation, $10,000 to the Astor
Tenor Guitar Foundation,
$7,500 to Astoria Visual
Arts, $6,000 to Cascadia
Chamber Opera and $5,000
to Ten Fifteen Productions.
The Astoria Regatta
Association
received
$27,316, which included
$12,316 in prior years
funds that were not utilized
and returned.
The council also distrib-
uted community organi-
zation and social services
grants of $80,590.
The council distributed
$5,000 to the Assistance
League of the Colum-
bia Pacific, $10,000 to the
Astoria Warming Cen-
ter, $10,000 to the Clatsop
CASA program, $15,000
to Clatsop Community
Action’s food program,
$15,000 to The Harbor,
$4,170 to North Coast Food
Web, $20,000 to the Asto-
ria Senior Center, $420 to
Seaside Hall and $1,000 to
Restoration House Inc.
Astoria crafts waste
allocations for breweries
The Astorian
The Astoria City Council
approved a resolution Mon-
day night formalizing the
level of organic load that
fermentation businesses can
release into the city’s waste-
water treatment system.
The resolution is part of
an ordinance the council
adopted in May that formal-
ized the city’s industrial pre-
treatment program.
The city began work-
ing with Fort George Brew-
ery and Buoy Beer Co. —
the two largest breweries in
the city — about two years
ago to develop the pro-
gram. Over the years, the
increased levels of high
concentration waste from
the breweries has strained
the system.
The program requires all
breweries, cideries and dis-
tilleries to have industrial
discharge permits that set
the limits on the sewage the
businesses can release into
the city’s treatment lagoons.
The vast majority of the
organic load allocation was
reserved for Fort George
and Buoy Beer. New brew-
eries will be required to
treat wastewater to the level
of a residential user before it
enters the lagoons.
In the coming weeks, the
City Council will review a res-
olution that will detail a new
rate structure that will classify
different users based on con-
centration of wastewater.
Camping: Draft map
‘still a work in progress’
Continued from Page A1
people to go to instead.
In lieu of not having ade-
quate shelter space, juris-
dictions can detail the time,
place and manner someone
can sleep outdoors.
The ordinance allows
people to set up temporary
camps overnight from 9 p.m.
to 7 a.m. with bedrolls or
sleeping bags, tarps, or small
tents.
City Manager Brett Estes
said city staff expects to pres-
ent a final proposal for the
place component on July
18. The council would con-
sider a resolution at a future
meeting.
The
City
Council
reviewed a draft map in May
that showed proposed areas
where camping would not
be allowed. All other areas
would be on the table, with
certain exceptions.
“Staff have been working
to refine that but it is still a
work in progress,” Estes said.
The City Council was
supportive of excluding
camping in all city parks, city
owned and maintained park-
ing lots, public restrooms and
primary residential zones.
The council may, however,
permit camping in certain
locations within the excluded
areas.
Sidewalks would also
be off-limits unless there
is enough room to leave 6
feet of space. The council
was also in favor of prohib-
iting camping in doorways
and adding buffers around
excluded areas.
People would be allowed
to sleep in commercial dis-
tricts, some other publicly
owned properties and rights
of way.
There are also plans to
include a temporary camp-
ing program to allow camp-
ing on private properties,
with owner permission.
Churches, for exam-
ple, could allow camping in
parking lots after notifying
the city. Homeowners could
allow a tent in their back-
yard or one vehicle in their
driveway.
Dispute: Lawsuit asked the
court to dissolve the nonprofit
Continued from Page A1
DeAngelis and Hilton said
that shortly after the meet-
ing each side hired legal
counsel and through their
attorneys discussed and
negotiated several options
to restore operations.
Despite all of the board
members signing an arbi-
tration agreement last July,
the lawsuit said some board
members later ceased com-
munications and acted in
other ways that caused
dysfunction.
The lawsuit asked the
court to dissolve the non-
profit and appoint a custo-
dian to manage its affairs.
Judge Beau Peterson
issued a temporary restrain-
ing order in December
directing board members
to comply with the terms of
the arbitration agreement. In
January, Peterson stayed the
proceedings and ordered the
board members to comply
with the arbitration agree-
ment and conduct essential
operations.
The process then moved
to an arbitration hearing
before Judge Harris, who
issued a final award outlining
a plan of action on June 13.
The final award includes
a civility and nondisparage-
ment provision that directs
the former board members
not to disparage the cus-
todial board, the Q Cen-
ter, Astoria Pride, or others
involved over the next three
months.
“However, this order
does not prevent the parties
from stating that a dispute
has arisen within the LCQC
Board of Directors, that the
dispute is being resolved
through arbitration, and
that a final award has been
entered,” the judge held.