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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 2020)
The Columbia Press October 16, 2020 5 Building owner wouldn’t mind if post office moves The Columbia Press The man who owns the War- renton Post Office building says he’s tired of dealing with the U.S. Postal Service and wouldn’t mind if it found ac- commodations elsewhere. “If the Postal Service wants to move, all I can say is ‘Go ahead and move.’ In fact, I will encourage it,” Bernie Bjork wrote in a letter to postal offi- cials, city leaders and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and U.S. Rep. Su- zanne Bonamici. “I have no problems telling the Postal Service that I do not want to deal with them any- more. With more and more expenses, responsibilities, and building at Warrenton’s liability being passed on four-way stop. to us landlords, it real- Bjork, a retired commer- ly is becoming obvious cial fisherman and for- that there is no more mer Port of Astoria com- room for bargaining. It missioner, said he made becomes very simple for a proposal and drew up us post office property plans in 2006 to expand owners, at least this one. the building to 3,500 I know that I can rent the square feet. building to a restaurant, “The response from the fish market/brewery, Postal Service stated, ‘We business office, or what- thank you for providing ever, with much less risk this proposal, however we to me.” see no need at this time U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and U.S. Rep. Su- Wyden and Bonamici for this additional space.’ zanne Bonamici, center, organized a rally held a rally in Warren- And that has been their outside the post office on Aug. 31. ton in support of the policy ever since,” Bjork post office on Aug. 31. Joy urging postal officials to Afterward, they wrote to U.S. consider moving out of the said. Last month, however, a post- Postmaster General Louis De- cramped 2,000-square-foot al official wrote to the politi- cians to say “a new study has been undertaken to review the current situation.” If the study deems the cur- rent location insufficient, a move would be considered. Water line: City calls for bids on $2.6 million project Continued from Page 1 down later this year to build. … Long story short, pipe’s kind of hard to come by and what is available is really ex- pensive.” Commissioner Rick Newton missed the meeting due to a late flight home from Alaska. The four other commission- ers voted in favor of calling for bids. The plan is for bids to be opened in December and the award made shortly thereaf- ter. Construction would take about six months. In other business, • Commissioners awarded an $85,750 contract to North Pacific Excavation of War- renton to rebuild and im- prove the pump station and pressurized wastewater main at Marlin Avenue and High- way 101. Work would begin immediately and take about 20 days. • Approved a request from Fort Stevens VFW and Aux- iliary to prepare and serve a community Thanksgiving dinner at Warrenton Com- munity Center. The group would be required to adhere to all restrictions imposed by the county Public Health De- Is Bjork still willing to ex- pand the building? “No. I’m 67 years old,” he said Wednesday. “It’s an entirely different story right now. I would rather have somebody else there.” A lease with the postal ser- vice today looks very different from those of yesteryear, Bjork said. When the lease last was rene- gotiated in 2018, He was forced to pay $7,000 to a Portland brokerage firm of the Postal Service’s choosing, he said. The paperwork for the five- year leases has grown from 13 pages to dozens of pages. About eight years ago, the post office stopped doing any maintenance and there was no explanation, he said. He com- mended local resident Tru- dy Enke, who volunteered to maintain the landscaping af- ter it became an eyesore. The current lease runs through November 2024. County receives speedier virus tests partment, which could limit the dinner to curbside pickup and deliveries only. The $862 rental fee will be paid by the city. • Discussed imposing a leash law everywhere in the city except ocean beaches. The city’s current laws allow dogs off leash if their owners are able to control them by voice command. Health officials now can get nearly instantaneous results from COVID-19 tests. Clatsop County Public Health Department received 1,000 Bi- naxNOW test kits on Wednes- day from Oregon Health Au- thority. The portable test kits – ap- proved for use in August by the federal Food and Drug Administration – require no laboratory processing and can produce results in as little as 15 minutes. The county’s other kits had to be sent to a lab and took two to seven days or longer to pro- cess, Public Health Director Mike McNickle said. The tests are available through the drive-through testing program offered Mon- days and Wednesdays. To arrange a test, call 503-325- 8500.