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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2022
Charges: City would work with consultant Holen: ‘A really
Continued from Page A1
He said examples of proj-
ects that could benefi t from
system development charges
are adding storm drainage
infrastructure where there
isn’t any, wastewater treat-
ment plant improvements and
projects included in the city’s
transportation system plan.
While the consultant and
City Council would work
together to determine the fee
structure, Crater included
examples from Warrenton
and Seaside and other cities
throughout the state.
Interim City Manager Paul
Benoit said that if the City
C ouncil decides to move for-
ward, the city will do a cost
analysis to show the costs of
doing business in Astoria.
“It’s council’s prerogative
to set where those fees are —
it’s not fi xed,” he said. “So if
you fi nd you want to be more
competitive — meaning
cheaper — with other com-
munities, you could set the
fees accordingly. But I think
as part of this, we would bring
that information to you.”
The City C ouncil will
review a contract in the com-
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
System development charges could help Astoria fi nance
infrastructure improvements.
ing weeks with FCS Group, a
consulting company that has
assisted the city with utility
rate studies in the past.
The subject of system
development charges came
before the City Council in
early 2020, but Mayor Bruce
Jones said the city did not
have the chance to move for-
ward as it was overcome by
issues related to the coronavi-
rus pandemic.
“I think at the time, two
years ago, there was pretty
broad council support and
understanding that we seem
to be the only municipality
in Oregon that doesn’t use
SDC s,” Jones said.
City Councilor Tom Hil-
ton said he thinks people in
Astoria would want the coun-
cil to move forward.
“The citizens that cur-
rently exist here or have been
here for a while ... I think
they’re fed up of subsidiz-
ing new businesses coming in
that demand greater amounts
of water,” he said.
“And then we have waste-
water treatment issues. We
have demand issues. We have
water pressure issues. And in
all fairness, cost of business
is the cost of business. You
want to come here, it’s going
to cost you. But we shouldn’t
be making our residents pay
for new development that is
going to demand upon the
existing system.”
City Councilor Joan Her-
man added that many of the
old buildings in the city will
likely be replaced at some
point.
“And as much as I would
like to see all of them restored,
those without obvious historic
value are probably going to be
torn down, some of them, and
replaced with new buildings,”
she said. “And some of those
old buildings, even if they are
restored, are going to require
signifi cant expense to restore
them. So I do think it makes
sense moving forward.”
Herman also suggested
looking into an exemp-
tion for aff ordable housing
development .
During the work session ,
David Reid, the executive
director of the Astoria-War-
renton Area Chamber of
Commerce, said once the pro-
gram is developed, he hopes
the city will let contractors
know upfront what the cost
would be.
“Because one of the things
that I hear about working in
Astoria is that, ‘W e don’t
know until we get into the
project, sometimes pretty far
into the project, what our costs
are going to be,’” he said.
Housing: ‘We still are going to be in short supply’
Continued from Page A1
Renewal District and that
he has had discussions with
Davis about the project.
He said that if the city were
to engage with the project, it
would need a lot more infor-
mation. However, he added
that infrastructure upgrades
are the bread and butter of
urban renewal projects.
“It’s the case probably
with all of you. I moved to
Astoria 1982 and the State
Hotel, as we called it, was
empty and blighted then,”
Benoit said. “And it’s in the
same condition, probably a
little worse, today.
“Given the council’s goals
for aff ordable housing, given
the fact that this is such a
long-standing blighted build-
ing that could be refurbished,
I couldn’t imagine that this
council or a future coun-
cil wouldn’t have interest in
being a participant at a rea-
sonable level depending on
what the resources are and
what the needs are.”
The City Council unani-
mously supported exploring
how the city could support
the project.
“The opportunity to have
people living there as members
of our community, as opposed
to becoming, for example,
short-term rentals — yeah, it’s
a tremendous opportunity,”
Mayor Bruce Jones said.
‘Gun-shy’
Unlike the workforce
housing proposal the city con-
sidered and rejected at Her-
itage Square, a city-owned
property downtown, Cope-
land Commons is not subject
to a public process.
The property is located in
the city’s central commercial
zone, which allows multifam-
ily dwellings as an outright
permitted use, so the project
would not need to go before
the P lanning C ommission or
other city boards for review.
“I guess I’m still a little
gun-shy from the Heritage
Square process,” City Coun-
cilor Tom Brownson said.
“Once again, if people stood
up and said, ‘Well, we just
don’t want low-income peo-
ple living in our downtown
and so we’re going to show
up and we’re going to put up
a fi ght where the city has an
opportunity to shut it down.’
You know, how are we going
to respond to that?
“We need the housing, it’s
another opportunity, and we
should do everything we can
to help them. So if it doesn’t
have to come in front of the
council that just makes it bet-
ter as far as I’m concerned.”
City Councilor Tom Hil-
ton noted the property was
traditionally used as housing.
“If our citizens do object
to this, then they’re kind of
ruthless because this is an
organization who’s taking
incentive to improve some-
thing,” he said.
“I think they know what
they’re getting into. They saw
what happened over here.
And I support it.”
City Councilor Joan Her-
man said she is excited about
the project, especially the
potential involvement of
Innovative Housing .
“Because they did a beau-
tiful job restoring what had
been a very, very decrepit
building — the Merwyn —
into a very livable space for a
number of people who could
not aff ord to live elsewhere,”
she said. “So we need to move
forward with doing whatever
we can to bring aff ordable
housing to Astoria.
“Even with this building,
even with the Owens-Adair,
we still are going to be in
short supply. So we can’t be
looking back and worrying
about what might happen as
far as public outcry goes. We
just need to move forward
with this very positive proj-
ect. So I for one would sup-
port dedicating some urban
renewal dollars toward the
project.”
City Councilor Roger Rocka
echoed Benoit’s comments.
“And that is that this proj-
ect really has appropriate use
of (urban renewal) funds writ-
ten all red in bright neon,” he
said. “So I certainly support it
as well.”
intelligent dog with a
good disposition — they
can be your partners’
Continued from Page A1
Society, which since last
year has worked to restore
gardens at the Victorian-era
property on Exchange
Street. The project could
use more volunteers and
gardeners, as well as dona-
tions, she said.
Holen and her husband,
Jim, moved to Astoria about
13 years ago when their
son Chis and his wife, Jen-
nifer, were raising a new
baby while running two
restaurants.
Friday is National Dog
Day. In years past, Holen
spent it promoting the Pet
Partners program, which
certifi es dogs and their
handlers for animal-based
therapy.
Before the coronavirus
pandemic led to her early
retirement, Maisie, the last
of Holen’s fi ve border col-
lies, visited patients at
Columbia Memorial Hos-
pital and Providence Sea-
side H ospital . At Columbia
Memorial’s cancer center,
Maisie spent time with peo-
ple undergoing chemother-
apy. At times, children of
parents who had just died
sat on the fl oor and held
Maisie until the moment of
overwhelming grief passed,
Holen recalled.
At Clatsop Community
College, Maisie hung out
with students stressed and
exhausted from exams. For
a few years, children read
to Maisie at the Astoria
Library’s “Read to a Ther-
apy Dog.”
“A really intelligent dog
with a good disposition
— they can be your part-
ners,” Holen said. “You
really bond with them. And
my dogs have gotten me
through a lot in the past.”
Over the course of their
marriage, she and Jim have
also owned a collie, a Bos-
ton terrier, a cocker span-
iel and a couple of basset
hounds. A miniature Aus-
tralian shepherd named Per-
sei keeps Maisie company
these days.
Holen’s fi rst dog dis-
appeared during the 1964
Alaska earthquake.
She remembers her fam-
ily evacuating their house
in Anchorage. Tanana, their
smooth-coat collie mix,
went with them. “And we
just never found her …
Hopefully somebody else
found her and took care of
her,” she said.
Holen said her fi rst bor-
der collie, Sophie, saved Jim
and their son Davin from a
grizzly bear that charged at
them during a camping trip.
The dog stepped between
guys and grizzly and told
off the beast, she said.
Later, when Holen was
on a ski trail, Sophie sud-
denly knocked her down. At
the bottom of the rise ahead
was a moose and her calf,
Holen recalled. Had Sophie
not intervened, she is cer-
tain the cow would have
trampled her.
She has heard people ask
dismissively, “What’s the
purpose of a dog?”
“You listen to that B.S.,
and you think about the
dogs that work with the
police, and the military, and
the (airports), and the dogs
that save the lives of chil-
dren who wander off , and
the elderly who wander off ,
or people who get caught in
the snow in an avalanche
… ” Holen said. “I mean,
they are amazing. Dogs are
amazing.”
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DEL’S O.K. TIRE
Tour: Oregon Black Pioneers received grant
Continued from Page A1
staffi ng, increased fundraising
and partnerships allowed the
organization to bring back the
popular program .
The tour includes learn-
ing about Moses Williams,
an ordnance sergeant and
Medal of Honor recipient at
Fort Stevens, as well as York,
the only Black member of the
Lewis and Clark Expedition,
at Fort Clatsop and jazz clubs
in Seaside.
“I’m happy that we can
create opportunities for peo-
ple to come together and cel-
ebrate our diverse heritage
and to do it in a way that also
highlights the great history
and attractions of the North
Oregon C oast,” Stocks said.
His familiarity with the
North Coast made it easier
for him to identify stops for
the tour .
“This is sort of like my
backyard,” Stocks said. “You
know, I always enjoy the
opportunity to do program-
ming through Oregon Black
Pioneers close to home, so
that I can celebrate a lot of the
great stories of the place that
I live.”
The tour will visit the
N orth C oast for the fi rst time
because of a grant Oregon
Black Pioneers received from
the Oregon Coast Visitors
Association.
Arica Sears, the deputy
director of the visitors asso-
ciation, said in a statement
that part of the mission is to
broaden visitors’ understand-
ing of the coast and make
their stays more meaningful.
“We were delighted by
the opportunity to partner
Del Thompson, former owner of
OK Rubber Welders.
A painting of York, the only Black member of the Lewis
and Clark Expedition.
BLACK HISTORY BUS TOUR
The Oregon Black Pioneers will host a bus tour on Sept. 18
with stops on the North Coast.
Klyde Thompson, current owner
Mike Barnett, manager
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For more information online, go to: oregonblackpioneers.org
with Oregon Black Pioneers
so that we may amplify their
work sharing often-under-
represented B lack history by
way of a tour itinerary that
will be enduringly valuable
to future visitors and locals
alike,” she said.
Stocks said Oregon Black
Pioneers tries to emphasize
that Black history is every-
where in Oregon, not just in
Portland. The tour allows the
nonprofi t to share the sto-
ries of the African American
experience at the sites where
they happened .
“So the ability to bring
people out of the Portland
metro and into those places
that maybe they’ve never
been before or probably have
never been to while looking
for Black history before is
really core to our mission,”
he said.
Over 74 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