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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2019)
T he C olumbia P ress 1 50 ¢ C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly n eWspaper www.thecolumbiapress.com Site near City Hall growing into food pod B y C indy y ingst The Columbia Press Warrenton will get a second food truck soon at a developing food pod next to City Hall. The city’s Urban Renewal Agency approved a license agreement Tues- day with Sasquatch Sandwiches and renewed a license agreement with Tres Bros, which has been at the gravel lot for about six months. The food truck, owned by chef Ja- son Lancaster, will be his second mobile eatery. He runs a successful truck in the food pod on 11th Street in downtown Astoria, selling things like wild mushroom beef melts, specialty salads and banh mi, a popular Viet- namese sandwich. “It’s a pretty eclectic menu, a little Asian-driven,” Lancaster said. Originally from Seattle, he has worked in restaurants throughout the West, including Bridgewater Bis- tro and Maggie’s on the Prom. He purchased a 2007 step-side van and converted it into a 14-foot kitch- en and has taken it to events such as Astoria Brew Cup, Canon Beach Farmer’s Market, Clatsop Communi- ty College and the college’s maritime campus at Tongue Point. Tres Bros owners Josh and Yolanda Colby have seen success at the spot with their Nicaraguan food truck. Lancaster plans to start out in War- renton just two days per week. “I’m just trying to expand my brand,” Lancaster said Wednesday. “I like Warrenton’s demographic. It’s afford- able for young families and I think it’s growing in a cool direction. I think my brand would fit in there all snug.” Agency directors decided earlier See ‘Food pod’ on Page 6 November 15, 2019 Vol. 3, Issue 46 The cost of living here Warrenton has lowest utility/tax rate and lowest cost of housing B y C indy y ingst The Columbia Press Mayor Henry Balensifer was getting a lit- tle tired of people telling him Warrenton’s residents were being taxed to death. So he asked city staff to analyze what it costs to live in Warrenton and how it com- pares to other towns in the region. “I asked for this as a way to put in perspec- tive our costs of utilities and taxes in the city construction crew works at the before budget season,” he said in a post on A Skipanon Apartments next to Tri- his Facebook page. na & Ron’s Place. The project is Trisha Hayrynen, an analyst in the city’s among the 350 building permits Public Works Department, reviewed the processed by the city of Warren- costs of housing, utilities, property tax- ton this year. es such as levies and bonds, and the amounts the cities received compared to the population. The analysis was done for the 2018-19 fiscal year, which ended June 30. She sent her findings to each of the cities included in the study to get their feedback. *Average single-family assessed value, Warrenton turned out to be the least real market value and quantity of homes Average Annual Single Family Costs $1,704 $1,367 Warrenton $1,933 $1,157 $3,491 $774 $4,046 See ‘Cost’ on Page 6 was calculated using July 2019 tax data. $1,888 Seaside Gearhart Astoria $3,113 $3,179 $2,577 $1,906 Utilities Smith Lake area $2,531 Cullaby Lake $5,287 Taxes Cannon Beach 911 centers should be consolidated, manager contends The Columbia Press The case for consolidating Clatsop County’s 911 dispatch services in a centralized location out of a tsunami inundation zone is compelling. A lack of trained personnel state- wide, nonstandardized technology and the cost inefficiency of duplicat- ed services plague the county’s two dispatch centers, one in Astoria and one in Seaside. “We live in a very challenging ter- rain,” said Jeff Rusiecki, Emergency Communications manager at the As- toria Dispatch Center and a Warren- ton Police Department reserve offi- cer. He has been involved with the county’s 911 dispatch services for two decades. Officers or deputies working emer- gency calls in some of the county’s remote areas frequently have prob- lems, especially when moving in an area that’s not served well by either center. “It’s been said he needs to have a good relationship between him and God,” Rusiecki told Warrenton city commissioners Tuesday night. “There have been several studies in Clatsop County, all of them recom- mending consolidation,” he said. The most recent, a Homeland Se- curity Office of Emergency Commu- nications analysis in 2015, noted that both center locations are less than desirable and the county’s pop- ulation is too small to warrant multi- ple call centers (officially referred to as primary safety answering points). “As we review communication sys- See ‘911’ on Page 4