The Columbia Press
2
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Hammond appears to not care
I participated in the April 12
Hammond Town Hall meeting
and it appeared to me that
very few people, if any, who
live in Hammond showed up
to comment about the proba-
ble future of the old Hammond
City Hall. I am disappointed
about the lack of civic support
for the old city hall building.
I have been a longtime ac-
tive supporter of Hammond. I
feel it was a civic failure that
a measurable number of at
least 35 Hammond residents
(I have been told a past Ham-
mond town hall meeting at-
tracted approximately that
many) choose to not partic-
ipate in a town hall meeting
devoted exclusively to the fate
of that building.
I have engaged in hundreds
of conversations with Ham-
mond residents in the past
where residents expressed
opinions they did not feel the
Warrenton City Commission
treated their area of the city
fairly in their decisions.
When I challenged these
opinions by stating Hammond
residents rarely participate in
public meetings of the com-
mission, I was told it is more
trouble than it’s worth.
People who wish to complain
in face-to-face conversation
about government but not to
participate in public meetings
lose the value of living in a de-
mocracy. People may not like
what I have to say; however, I
participate and state my opin-
ion, which is what freedom of
speech is all about.
It is now obvious to me most
people who live in Hammond
have lost any civic pride they
once had in the history of their
town and no longer care about
the name Hammond.
I am not a contractor. There-
fore, I cannot guess at what
the total cost would be to
bring the old city hall building
into current code compliance
which would be a requirement
before the VFW could be al-
lowed to take control of that
building.
I assume the total repair
cost to bring the old city hall
up to code would be between
$5,000 and $10,000. I do not
think the VFW could afford
the annual cost of utilities,
property insurance, liability in-
surance, and any new mainte-
nance issues that arise in the
future.
I suggest Burt Little (a leader
in the local VFW) seek out a
contractor he may know and
ask the contractor to make an
estimate of how much it would
cost to make all the repairs
listed on the document read
by Mayor Balensifer at this
town hall.
Once a reasonable cost
amount has been determined,
and Mr. Little feels he could
possibly obtain a grant to fund
the repairs within a full year’s
time, a letter should be sent
by Mr. Little to the city man-
ager requesting an extension
of time (12 months) before the
city commission decides to
make a final decision on the
old Hammond City Hall build-
ing.
Burt Little would need to
inform the grant provider no
grant would be provided in
the future until other contin-
gencies discussed below are
solved.
I question whether the VFW
could obtain a grant to repair
this building to full code sim-
May 13, 2022
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ply because they want to have
a permanent home for their
meetings. I am a big fan of
the VFW. I also question if the
VFW can pay the costs of util-
ities, insurance coverage, and
future maintenance problems
from their limited resources.
My suggestion to this prob-
lem is if the VFW can obtain a
grant to fund the code repairs,
they should return to the
Warrenton City Commission
and request the city consider
treating the VFW the way they
treat any Warrenton budgeted
operation (library and senior
citizen building) if this is pos-
sible.
At the end of the town hall
meeting, I asked Mayor Bal-
ensifer if there was going to
be any feedback of the verbal
comments made at that meet-
ing. I was informed the city
commission will have a pub-
lic meeting at some currently
unknown future date to decide
the fate of that building.
When there was a town hall
meeting in Warrenton con-
cerning a major change Pacif-
ic Seafood wanted to make at
their PAC FAB building, there
was a huge amount of con-
versation from all the commis-
sion members (both positive
and negative).
I cannot understand why
commissioners could make
comments at the Pacific Sea-
food town hall meeting, yet
have no comment concerning
the VFW request.
There was no comment back
to the VFW how commission-
ers felt about the request and
or any action they might con-
sider if the VFW made chang-
es. This is just more lack of
transparency to me.
At this time, it looks like the
next time the city commission
discusses this issue it will be
when they take a public vote
and then it will be too late to
consider anything else.
I think the city commission
should have a public conver-
sation about supporting the
VFW with the insurance cov-
erage the city currently uses
to cover these library and se-
nior citizen center buildings at
this time.
The VFW would need to pay
for the annual utilities and any
future damage to property if
this property is provided to
them on a 25-year lease for
an annual rent of $1.
I would like to see the old
Hammond City Hall building
retained for the future if that
can be economically justified
as described above. Other-
wise, it would be a sound de-
cision to sell the building and
the land for whatever the city
can get for it.
If the property is sold in the
future, I would prefer there be
a clause in the sale agree-
ment that requires the exist-
ing building be torn down or
removed.
The city would prefer to
have a new home developed
on that land to obtain a new
property taxpayer to justify all
the years this property has
produced no income for the
city while still having costs in-
curred since the library was
closed.
The week ahead
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heart disease, 6:30 p.m., via
Sunday, May 15
Zoom. Info: 503-338-8435.
• Astoria Sunday Market,
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on 11th
Street, downtown.
Monday, May 16
• Astoria City Council, 7
p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane
St., Second Floor.
Tuesday, May 17
• Primary election day,
ballots can be put in an offi-
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• Port of Astoria Commis-
sion, 4 p.m., 10 Pier 1, Suite
209, Astoria.
Wednesday, May 18
• WomenHeart Support
Group for those at risk of
Thursday, May 19
• Countywide Veterans
Breakfast, 8 a.m., Port Light
Cafe, 33168 Patriot Way,
Camp Rilea.
• Spruce Up Warrenton,
noon, City Hall, 225 S. Main
Ave.
• Warrenton Communi-
ty Center Board, 4 p.m.,
Community Center, 170 S.W.
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• Grief Support Group,
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room A, 2111 Exchange St.,
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Scott Widdicombe
Warrenton