T he C olumbia P ress
1
50 ¢
C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly n eWspaper
www.thecolumbiapress.com
Vol. 2, Issue 29
July 20, 2018
Dolphin property Clatsop County: the good, the bad and the middle
B C
y
could be site of
The Columbia Press
school complex
Clatsop County residents are 86 per-
y
The Columbia Press
The school district is waiting for
traffic studies, appraisals and geo-
technical reports to come in before it
begins negotiations with the owner of
land eyed to become the new multi-
school campus.
On Wednesday night, the Warren-
ton-Hammond School Board voted
unanimously to put Superintendent
Mark Jeffery in charge of negotia-
tions to purchase the property.
Last month, the district had nar-
rowed its search to three properties,
all in the hilly areas southeast of
Highway 101 near Costco.
On Wednesday, board members
agreed to pursue the property that’s
the best fit: a site on Southeast Dol-
phin Avenue owned by Warrenton Fi-
ber and Nygaard Land. Three tax lots
would be combined in order to have
enough land for an elementary, mid-
dle and high school campus.
“We’re dealing with time issues and
dollar issues,” Jeffery told board mem-
bers. “It’s just a really tight market.”
See ‘Schools’ on Page 7
Courtesy Clatsop Community College
By the numbers, Clatsop County does well
in adults with two-year college degrees,
fitness level and access to recreation. But
violent crimes and property taxes are high.
Courtesy Fort Clatsop
indy
ingst
cent white, they earn slightly less than
the state’s average income of $53,270
and the top employment industries are
food service, accommodations and ed-
ucation.
The portrait of the county released
this month by the Ford Family Foun-
dation is largely “middle of the road,”
with about half the state’s 36 counties
above and half below us on most key
measures.
Exercise and crime are exceptions.
We’re quite high on both counts.
“Oregon by the Numbers” was com-
piled by the Ford Family Foundation in
cooperation with Oregon State Univer-
sity Extension Service, both proponents
of rural Oregon. It was distributed to
community leaders such as elected of-
ficials, business groups and planning
agencies.
“To serve the needs of Oregon, we
need to understand the reality of what
is happening across all of our commu-
nities,” wrote foundation President
Anne Kubisch in the book’s forward.
“Numbers expose needs. Numbers re-
Cindy Yingst/The Columbia Press
See ‘Numbers’ on Page 6
Fire danger increases throughout the state, including Clatsop County
Clatsop County’s fire danger
level was raised this week by the
state Department of Forestry,
most affecting people who live,
work and visit the forests.
Forecasters predict warmer and
drier conditions will continue,
making the forests more suscep-
tible to wildfires.
Firefighters work the Silver Creek
Fire in a remote area of Silver Falls
State Park. Hot and dry conditions
are making the state’s forested
areas susceptible to wildfire.
Courtesy ODF
As a precautionary measure,
those engaging in logging, road
building and other industrial uses
must remain in the work area on
fire watch for one to two hours af-
ter work has ceased.
The Astoria District is in “regu-
lated use,” which means the pub-
lic also is restricted in what it can
do in the forest. Anyone driving
on forest roads is required to have
a shovel and either a 2.5-pound
fire extinguisher or one gallon of
water.
On private lands under the pro-
tection of the Oregon Department
of Forestry:
• No open debris burning. Burn
barrels and residential campfires
are allowed with an ODF-issued
burn permit and chainsaw use on
personal property is allowed only
until 10 a.m. daily.
• Campfires are allowed only
in designated metal fire pits at
Spruce Run Campground, Gnat
Creek Campground, Northrup
Creek Horse Camp and Beaver
Eddy dispersed sites in Clatsop
County.