The Columbia Press
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Clatsop County’s Independent Weekly
www.thecolumbiapress.com
August 21, 2020
Vol. 4, Issue 34
Port ponders
Youngest students expected back on campus
delay in airport
By Cindy Yingst
chief replacement The school district’s plans for re-
The Columbia Press
The Columbia Press
A group that advises the Port of As-
toria about its airport made a plea
Tuesday in hopes the agency doesn’t
neglect hiring a replacement for Air-
port Manager Gary Kobes, who is re-
tiring.
“The airport isn’t something you
just write grants for,” Warrenton
Mayor Henry Balensifer told the Port
of Astoria board.
Balensifer is chair of the Airport
Advisory Committee and works for
Lektro, an aircraft tug manufacturer
based at the airport, one of the port’s
largest tenants.
But finding a replacement may be
delayed. The port’s finances are tight;
the agency had been struggling even
before the COVID-19 crisis took away
an estimated $1 million in revenue so
far from lost hospitality, cruise ships
and fuel sales.
The airport has the potential to help
the port recover financially through
development of its industrial park
and other activity, Balensifer said.
But that won’t be realized without
someone coordinating projects.
Scoular, a 127-year-old internation-
al company, has proposed building a
plant at the park that would turn fish
byproducts into pet food.
“There’s a golden opportunity with
the Scoular project,” Balensifer said.
“There’s a lot of potential for the air-
port to have an economic return for
the port.”
Several port commissioners ac-
knowledged that finding a new air-
port manager is essential to future
stability.
“It’s a challenge everywhere; it just
See ‘Airport’ on Page 4
opening a year from now are run-
ning smooth and on schedule.
Excavation is nearly complete on
Warrior Way, the road leading into
the new middle school, and con-
crete for the campus will be poured
beginning Monday, Aug. 24.
But there’s nothing smooth about
plans for this school year.
With less than a month before
children start, local school leaders
are drafting what is, in reality, a
continually changing plan.
“Part of the reason it’s a draft is
we’ve had guidance since June 10,”
Superintendent Tom Rogozinski
told school board members at their
Aug. 13 meeting. “Tuesday of this
week, ODE came up with changes
to the guidance.”
Oregon Department of Education’s guide-
lines include a mixture of advice contingent
upon metrics, or the numbers of COVID-19
cases both statewide and locally.
“Are you able to settle in on a plan for open-
ing so staff and others can begin to under-
stand what’s going on,” asked board member
See ‘Reopening’ on Page 6
Above: Warrior Way, the entrance
into the new middle school complex,
is about 70 percent excavated.
Left: Superintendent Tom Rogo-
zinski and other administrators
are working to comply with state
requirements for reopening schools
on September 14. But the require-
ments keep changing.
Cindy Yingst
The Columbia Press
Election deadline nears; Hammond man enters race
Tuesday, Aug. 25, is the final day to
file to run for a city office.
Three seats are open on the Warren-
ton City Commission, those of Pam
Ackley, Tom Dyer and Mark Baldwin.
Both Dyer, in the Position 3 seat,
and Baldwin, in the Position 5 spot,
seek re-election. Ackley, in the Posi-
tion 1 seat, will not run for another
term.
Ackley, a real estate broker with
Windermere Realty Trust, will re-
main active on the city’s Hammond
Marina Committee and with Spruce
Up Warrenton, she said. And she’ll
continue her work with Warren-
ton-Hammond Healthy Kids and
other charitable groups.
As of Wednesday, Allen Berry, 56,
of Hammond had filed papers to run
for city commissioner in the Position
3 spot against Dyer.
There also will be a countywide
measure on gun rights. The measure
asks voters whether the county should
prohibit the use of county resourc-
es to enforce local, state and federal
laws restricting a person’s right to
keep and bear firearms, such as tax-
es and fees, the tracking of ownership
and restrictions to open or concealed
carrying of firearms.
To run for a seat on the Warrenton
City Commission, contact City Re-
corder Dawne Shaw at cityrecorder@
ci.warrenton.or.us. She’ll provide
the appropriate forms by email. The
forms also are available at the front
desk at City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave.