T he C olumbia P ress
June 15, 2018
Grant program could help residents clean up
The Columbia Press
Warrenton’s Urban Re-
newal Agency wants to
develop a plan that would
provide grants to residents
who want to clean up their
property.
“There is a façade grant
program for commercial
buildings; we could offer
something similar for res-
idences,” City Manager
Linda Engbretson said.
A potential problem is
whether tax money raised
within the urban renewal
district can be used this
way, she said. Urban re-
newal districts are created
to target blight in hopes of
increasing an area’s eco-
nomic vitality.
The agency is an entity sep-
arate from the City Commis-
sion and has its own budget.
An advisory committee made
up of residents makes rec-
ommendations to the agen-
cy on various programs and
spending decisions. A com-
plete overhaul of Warrenton
Marina was the agency’s first
major project.
The five city commissioners
currently serve as the War-
renton Urban Renewal Agen-
cy, which has the final say on
spending decisions.
Any grant program that
would help residents clean
up their properties must in-
clude a buy-in from the res-
ident, agency member Rick
Newton told Engbretson.
“When anything is free,
people don’t value it,” New-
ton said. “I don’t favor a
(100 percent) grant. Even
if they pay just 20 percent
so they’ve always got some
skin in the game.”
Member Henry Balen-
sifer agreed, saying he also
wouldn’t support making
the funds available to those
who already have had their
properties declared nui-
sances.
Balensifer asked Eng-
bretson to put the grant
program on a fast track “so
it doesn’t go into effect at
the end of summer.”
Blight: 10 properties targeted for improvements
Continued from Page 1
the city takes against
problem properties, be-
ginning with placing a yel-
low tag, then conducting
an inspection, conducting
a second inspection, giving
property owners notice they
must remove the nuisance
or more action will be taken,
City Commission declara-
tion of a nuisance, post-
ing of the nuisance, final
inspection, city cleanup/
lien.
Reading program kicks off at Warrenton library
“Libraries Rock,” Warren-
ton Community Library’s
summer reading program, is
under way.
A kick-off party was held
Saturday and sign-ups will be
taken through June 30.
To help, contact the library
503-861-8268. Teens who
sign up by this week and
complete the entire summer
will receive a letter of com-
munity service for their col-
lege file and an extra entry
into the grand prize drawing
at the end of summer.
• Wednesdays: Crafts Day
• Saturdays: Saturday Sto-
ries at 11 a.m., with members
of the community reading
stories about their profes-
sions, and Read-to-a-Dog
on the first Saturday of each
month.
• June 21: Performer
Okaida will do “dancing feet/
talking drum” at 3 p.m.
Readers
receive
gifts
throughout the summer, de-
pending on what they com-
plete. At the end of summer,
prizes will be awarded for
reading achievements.
Public Safety Calls
Continued from Page 2
• Pickup leaking fuel, 8:37 p.m.
June 7, 1800 block Southeast
Ensign Lane.
m ediCal Calls
• Male with ankle injury, 9:13
a.m. June 4, 0-100 block South-
west Birch Court.
• Female with diabetic issue,
12:23 p.m. June 5, 1800 block
Southeast Ensign Lane.
• Male with fainting episode, 1:53
p.m. June 5, VA Clinic Camp
Rilea.
• Male with an infection, 10:28
a.m. June 6, VA Clinic Camp
Rilea.
• Male who fell in street, 12:14
a.m. June 7, 33200 block Sunset
Beach Lane.
• Male who fell last night, 12:35
p.m. June 7, Northwest Senior
and Disability Services.
• Male with swollen hand, 4:03
a.m. June 8, 1900 block South
Main Avenue.
• Male with neck injury, 3:34
p.m. June 9, 1600 block South-
east Ensign Lane.
• Male with weakness, 5:42 p.m.
June 9, 700 block Southwest
Juniper Avenue.
• Female having seizures, 10:53
p.m. June 9, 1600 block South-
east Dolphin Avenue.
• Female sleeping in pickup, 3:54
a.m. June 10, 1800 block South-
east Ensign Lane.
• Female with chest pain, 10:40
p.m. June 10, 2200 block South-
east Dolphin Avenue.
3
Red Cross offers smoke-alarms
Red Cross members will be
providing free smoke alarms
and installing them in Sea-
side this weekend for people
who signed up.
The Home Fire Campaign is
taking sign-ups for Warren-
ton residents.
Each year, the Red Cross re-
sponds to nearly 64,000 di-
sasters, the majority of them
home fires, according to the
agency, which set a goal of
reducing fire-related deaths
and injuries in the United
States by 25 percent.
“A working smoke alarm
doubles your chances of get-
ting out alive,” said Jenny
Carver, the Red Cross’ disas-
ter program manager for the
North Coast. “We’re trying
to raise awareness about the
program.”
To sign up for a free smoke
alarm installation, call 503-
528-5783 or email prepared-
ness@redcross.org.
A local volunteer will con-
tact those who sign up and
set a time for the installation.
“They’ll bring all the smoke
alarms
and
installation
equipment as well as home
fire safety information,”
Carver said.
“It takes 20 to 30 minutes at
most.”
NW Natural customers will
see a credit on their June bill.
The return of $11.6 million
is a result of the efficiencies of
natural gas pipelines and un-
derground storage, the utility
wrote in a media release.
Similar to credits issued in
2017, the average residential
customer will receive a cred-
it of about $12. The average
small commercial customer
can expect to see a June bill
credit of about $52.
“Our teams put in so much
work behind-the-scenes to
make sure we’re efficiently
using our pipelines and gas
storage,” said David H. An-
derson, NW Natural presi-
dent. “This year’s bill credits
are proof of that effort.”
Credits are based upon
pipeline capacity manage-
ment and use of the compa-
ny’s underground natural gas
storage facility at Mist in Co-
lumbia County.
NW Natural customers to see credits
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