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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 2019)
T he C olumbia P ress 1 50 ¢ C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly n eWspaper www.thecolumbiapress.com October 4, 2019 Vol. 3, Issue 40 Port board is unified in approving new strategies Landscape work begins downtown B y C indy y ingst The Columbia Press Cindy Yingst A crew from Big River Construction adds soil amendment after removing asphalt in the small park adjacent to Dairy Maid and the post office. The plaza revitalization is being done with Warrenton Urban Renewal money and includes a public gathering area with benches, trees and other land- scaping. Utility pole bump-outs on South Main Avenue and a triangular park north of Warrenton High School are included in the improvements. Tribes show just how important Tansy Point is B y C indy y ingst The Columbia Press The Confederated Lower Chinook Tribes quietly purchased 10 acres this spring at Tansy Point, the site of one of the most im- portant yet troubling moments in the histo- ry of local Indian tribes. Last month, the tribes won a $6,000 state grant to construct an interpretive kiosk on the site of the 1851 Tansy Point Treaty. The award from Oregon Cultural Trust was one of $2.7 million an- nounced statewide to cultural and historical groups. Of that figure, $682,000 went to 45 county and tribal cultural coalitions. The tribe plans to restore the habitat and stream running through the property and build a plank house or other structure there, a spokeswoman said. “We’re in the process of writing a land-use policy and long-term maintenance plan for it,” said Rachel Cushman, secretary/trea- surer of the confederated tribes, based in Bay Center, Wash. They plan to repair Tansy Creek and other damaged watershed and hold cultural meet- ings, camps and classes in basket weaving and more. “We have to have good policies in place to protect the property,” she said. “We’re just at the beginning.” The first step, the kiosk, will go in by June. The land was purchased in April from a fami- ly who has owned the property since the 1950s. See ‘Tansy Point’ on Page 3 Just two tiny fixes were re- quired to amend to amend the Port of Astoria’s long-awaited Strategic Business Plan: Use the words “past” and “prior” when summarizing the body’s discord. “I have two small things,” Commissioner Robert Stevens told the consultant who’d writ- ten the plan. Ensure the two sentences of the introduction that refer to board disagree- ments and public distrust are in the past tense, he told her. “There’s no more rancor here,” Ste- vens said. The port’s Board of Commission- Stevens ers then unan- imously ap- proved the document Tuesday afternoon, all of them agreeing it portrayed the past accurately while laying out a realistic and optimistic plan for the future. The Strategic Business Plan now moves on to Business Oregon, an arm of the state government. Failure to have a plan approved by the state caused the port to lose a $1.54 million state grant it had won to repair infrastructure. Melanie Olson of Business Oregon, who was in the audi- ence, told commissioners it will be four to six weeks for the state to review the plan. “I wanted to congratulate you on getting to this point,” Asto- ria City Councilor Tom Brown- son told the board. “This docu- ment establishes a foundation for moving forward and get- ting this port to be a working port, as it should be.” The past two years, and many of the years before then, have been a shipwreck for the Port of Astoria. A mid-summer power strug- See ‘Port’ on Page 4 Airport wins new grant for repairs Astoria Regional Airport, along with John Day Airport in Grant County, have won a combined $2 million in federal grants for critical infrastruc- ture improvements. “This grant funds the first phase of much needed reha- bilitation of the airport apron,” said Gary Kobes, Port of As- toria airport manager. “The original was constructed in the early 1940s and has served well, but is approaching the end of its useful life.” The apron is the portion of the airport where airplanes are parked, boarded, loaded, and refueled. The Port of Astoria and local aviators obviously are pleased with the decision, Kobes add- ed. The airport is regionally important to the North Coast. “Regional airports play a critical role in connecting our communities with economic opportunities and critical re- sources,” U.S. Sen. Jeff Merk- See ‘Airport’ on Page 7