The Columbia Press
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Clatsop County’s Independent Weekly
www.thecolumbiapress.com
Hammond basin
Marina dredging
carries over to fall
Plans for large housing tract back on track
By Cindy Yingst
The Columbia Press
The Columbia Press
City Commissioners extended the
deadline for completion of dredging
at the Hammond Marina.
With just half the project completed
by its contract deadline, city commis-
sioners had little choice but to extend
the contract.
“It was a lump-sum bid,” Commis-
sioner Mark Baldwin said. “If we de-
nied it, they’d get paid for doing half
the work.”
The marina was last dredged in
2007-08, a task that ideally should be
completed every few years. Some of
the marina’s slips have become quite
shallow, making it impossible for
boaters to venture in or out during
extreme low tides.
But the project had been delayed as
the city of Warrenton negotiated with
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
for ownership of the boat basin. Fi-
nally, during a ceremony in Septem-
ber 2019, the title was transferred to
Warrenton.
After getting approval to dredge
from the state, the city approved a
contract with Bergerson Construc-
tion in October 2019 to complete the
job for $748,560.
An estimated 72,500 cubic yards of
accumulated sediment is to be moved
from a 10 ½-acre section of the mari-
na to a disposal location nearby.
So far, 35,000 to 38,000 cubic
yards has been removed from the
marina’s entrance channel and east
end while the west end is incomplete,
Harbormaster Jane Sweet said. The
extension allows Bergerson to finish
the job in November and December
of this year.
Because of its location, the corps al-
lows dredging in Hammond during
See ‘Marina’ on Page 6
Vol. 5, Issue 4
January 22, 2021
Fort Stevens
State Park
Fort
Pointe
Backers of Fort Pointe, one of Warrenton’s largest-ever
proposed housing developments, say their project is back
on track.
“Three years ago, yes, we did
An aerial shot of the
Fort Pointe property, consider selling it,” Mark Tolley, a
principal of the company that owns
with Ridge Road on
the left, taken from a the land, told Warrenton Planning
2018 for sale listing. Commissioners. “Frankly, the mar-
ket is much, much better today.”
Below: The planned
Fort Pointe was approved in De-
community of
cember
2017 for up to 480 houses
Seabrook, Wash.,
and
apartments
off Ridge Road be-
from a promotional
tween
the
KOA
campground and
website.
the city’s soccer fields.
In 2018 and 2019, the
277-acre parcel was listed
for sale by Tolley’s compa-
ny.
Late last week, its owners
returned to the Planning
Commission seeking and
obtaining confirmation of
the approval so it can begin
developing the project.
This time, 169 single-fam-
See ‘Fort Pointe’ on Page 4
Car museum’s loss is auto technology program’s gain
Oregon car enthusiasts lost a
treasure last spring when the
World of Speed Motorsport
Museum in Wilsonville closed
its doors, a victim of the pan-
demic.
The museum’s board of direc-
tors chose to leave a legacy by
giving its assets to 51 schools
and nonprofit groups across the
state. Clatsop Community Col-
lege is a fortunate recipient.
CCC will split the cash funds
with Clackamas Communi-
ty College, each receiving
$375,000 to benefit automotive
technology programs.
The two colleges will use their
portions of the donation for stu-
dent scholarships in the auto-
motive programs. These schol-
arships will help pay for tuition,
tools for employment, and in-
ternships for students seeking
career development and techni-
cal training.
“This will open up more op-
portunities for students who
want to get into an industry that
not only is hurting for skilled
workers, but is an essential part
Courtesy CCC
of everyday life, especially in the A student in Clatsop Community College’s automo-
midst of our current situation,” tive technology program gets some help from an
See ‘Museum’ on Page 2 instructor.