T he C olumbia P ress
1
50 ¢
C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly
www.thecolumbiapress.com
City’s newest
park will go in
Forest Rim
May 29, 2020
Vol. 4, Issue 22
Training to save lives on the rocks
City extends
emergency
declaration
B y C indy y ingst
B y C indy y ingst
The Columbia Press
The Columbia Press
Warrenton’s newest park is in a
still-developing housing tract and
initially will have little more than
picnic tables and a barbecue pit.
Yet Forest Rim Park is a start in
enhancing the livability for residents
in newer developments removed
from the large parks in Warrenton’s
traditional neighborhoods.
City commissioners approved a
preliminary concept plan for the
park during a work session Tuesday
night.
“The neighborhood is currently
underserved by our park system,”
said Morgan Murray,
who developed the plan
for the city. “Develop-
ment of Forest Rim Park
was made a high priority
of the City Commission.
… There are a lot of rent-
Murray
ers and young families.”
Murray, a University of Oregon stu-
dent working with the city through
AmeriCorps’ Resource Assistance
for Rural Environments program,
got feedback from 89 percent of the
586 residents living in the Forest
Rim and Pacific Rim developments.
Graham said Wednesday while prepar-
ing to leave Cheyenne.
He had planned to stay overnight in
Astoria, but may have to get a room in
Seaside, which began reopening lodging
on Tuesday.
“I’ve been a bike nerd my whole life,”
Graham said. “Several years ago, I took a
cross-country trip from San Francisco to
Warrenton city commissioners on
Tuesday extended the city’s state
of emergency declaration through
June 9.
City events are cancelled and no
committee meetings will be held.
Clatsop County commissioners
will meet today, May 29, and are ex-
pected to extend the county’s emer-
gency declaration to July 6.
Both the city’s and county’s emer-
gency declarations were to expire
May 31.
“The emergency declaration exten-
sion is solely to be in a position to
get federal reimbursement for costs
associated with responding to the
emergency, for which the city has
incurred about $14,000 in costs,”
Mayor Henry Balensifer said after
the meeting.
The majority of the city’s COVID-19
costs have come from legal expens-
es after Warrenton became the first
city to shut down tourist lodging,
City Manager Linda Engbretson told
commissioners.
Warrenton’s emergency orders –
different from the emergency dec-
laration – now follow Clatsop Coun-
ty’s plans for reopening.
The cities of Warrenton, Gearhart
and Astoria have joined the county’s
reopening plan.
Lodging and camping begin re-
opening slowly on June 5. The date
was chosen because it’s 21 days after
entering Phase I of the governor’s
reopening plan for counties, which
allows new community sectors to
reopen every three weeks with ex-
tensive monitoring.
See ‘Cyclist’ on Page 8
See ‘Emergency’ on Page 4
See ‘Park’ on Page 6
Forest
Rim Park
High Life Adventures
Ensign Lane
Warrenton and Seaside
firefighters beefed up their
water rescue skills during a
training exercise May 21 at
South Jetty in Fort Stevens
State Park. The jetty is un-
der reconstruction by J.E.
McAmis heavy civil con-
tractors, which arranged for
the training. Employees will
spend the next three years
working at the treacherous
location at the mouth of the
Columbia River.
Photos by Michael Mathers
Courtesy J.E. McAmis
Cyclist takes on Alzheimer’s Disease
The Columbia Press
A man raising funds for Alzheimer’s
research begins his four-state ride from
Clatsop County today.
Patrick Graham, 53, a real estate
agent in Cheyenne, Wyo., will follow the
TransAmerica Bicycle Trail across four
states. He’ll pedal 1,320 miles during his
expected 15-day journey.
“It’s exciting. There’s going to be some
new challenges with this ride, for sure,”