March 23, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A
County jail bond referred to November ballot
Jail would be
relocated to
Warrenton
By Jack Heffernan
The Daily Astorian
Voters will decide in No-
vember whether the Clatsop
County Jail will be relocated
to Warrenton at a $23.8 mil-
lion price tag.
The Clatsop County Board
of Commissioners voted unan-
imously Wednesday, March 14
— with Commissioners Lianne
Thompson and Lisa Clement
absent — to refer the plan to
the general election ballot.
If the bond is approved, it
would relocate the jail from
Duane Street in Astoria to
the now-closed North Coast
Youth Correctional Facility.
Jail capacity would rise from
60 inmates to 148 with room
for future expansion.
“We’ve studied this for
months, for years,” said Scott
COLIN MURPHEY/THE DAILY ASTORIAN
The current Clatsop County jail in Astoria includes a se-
cure recreation area on the roof of the building.
Lee, the board’s chairman.
“This is a great proposal, and
I think the citizens will have
the final say.”
After commissioners ap-
proved a $51,000 feasibility
study last May, DLR Group
— an architecture firm that
led the project to relocate the
Sheriff’s Office in 2016 —
presented two proposals. One
design included room for 140
inmates for $12 million, while
the other involved 200 for $28
million.
The county then asked the
architects to create new designs
that closed the price gap before
settling on the current version.
Money has been set aside to
cover $2 million to $3 million
of the cost, County Manager
Cameron Moore said.
George McCartin, a coun-
ty commission candidate in
May’s primary election, asked
commissioners Wednesday
to reconsider the $12 million
plan. He referred to two pre-
vious bond measures to im-
prove the jail — including a
$14 million bond in 2012 —
that have failed.
If passed, the bond mea-
sure would require $150,000
more per year in operating
costs, according to architects.
By comparison, operations
for the $12 million design
would cost 300 percent to 400
percent more annually.
“It’s $12 million to con-
struct, but it is terribly expen-
sive to operate,” Moore said.
Other commenters at the
meeting included current and
former law enforcement offi-
cials, Port of Astoria Commis-
sioner Jim Campbell and men-
tal health advocate Richard
Elfering, who has proposed
transforming the former youth
facility into a mental health
treatment center. All but Elf-
ering asked commissioners to
put the bond on the ballot.
Campbell referred to the
Pet disaster team hopes to aid in calamities
Dogs from Page 1A
unteer trained in animal medi-
cine to lead it, Scholz said.
But organizing response
groups on a communi-
ty-by-community basis is
about as effective as prepared-
ness gets, Scholz said.
“I’d love to see every
county and city in the state do
what Cannon Beach is doing,”
he said. “It’s not the state do-
ing it. It’s the local communi-
ty groups that are doing this
work.”
“It turns out the answer
was ‘yes,’” Kroll said.
The group will join a
growing trend of animal pre-
paredness in Oregon, but is a
first for Clatsop County.
“A lot will be about educa-
tion, like how we tell people
to prepare with a go-bag —
it’s the same kind of thing for
your pet,” Kroll said. “You
want to pack some food and
water, prescriptions, things
that would help identify your
pet if you got separated, leash
and collar, things like that.
Prepare your pets like you
would prepare yourself.”
What’s next
Package deal
While protecting animals
has always been a priority for
most pet owners, prioritizing
animal emergency prepared-
ness has only emerged as a
local and state government
responsibility in the past 10
years, said Ryan Scholz, the
district veterinarian and emer-
gency management liaison
for the Oregon Department of
Agriculture.
The state began to rec-
ognize its importance after
Hurricane Katrina in 2005,
when insufficient shelter op-
tions made residents choose
between leaving their pets be-
hind or staying with them in
danger. Many chose to stay,
resulting in several deaths,
Scholz said.
“There was a realization
during that event that humans
will put their life in jeopardy
to save their pet. The two go
hand in hand — you can’t
address human needs with-
out addressing the needs of
their animals,” he said. “What
we’ve seen is the corporate
realization of this issue, with
more community groups
growing organically out of
this realization.”
Since then, Scholz and
his team provide resources
and guidance to counties and
communities on best practic-
EO MEDIA GROUP
Bob Kroll, who is helping launch the Disaster Animal
Response Team, plays with his dog, Betty, at his Cannon
Beach home.
es for transporting supplies,
sheltering and caring for live-
stock and pets in emergency
situations from wildfires to
tsunamis.
“You are going to get an
organic, local response any-
time animals are involved
with danger,” Scholz said.
“So it’s important that organic
response has a structure.”
Similar animal response
groups in Multnomah and
Curry counties were put to
the test last summer, Scholz
said, when the Eagle Creek
and Chetco Bar fires scorched
thousands of acres of land and
threatened hundreds of live-
stock.
“During Eagle Creek many
were able to transport their
own animals, or if they need-
ed help, they had local com-
munity members with trucks
and trailers organized to help
with that assistance. Through
the local disaster response
group, there was a shelter at
the fairgrounds. There was
even a litter of piglets born,”
Scholz said. “Without struc-
ture, people will come in and
show up and take animals to
save them, which can make
things more difficult. But
in Multnomah County they
had a list of volunteers with
credentials able to evacuate
small farms and houses in less
than 12 hours. They did hero-
ic work.”
The state is still a ways
from being fully prepared.
The biggest roadblock to
progress, like many other fac-
ets of emergency prepared-
ness, is finding the funding to
support programs and a vol-
The first step will be re-
cruiting volunteers with an-
imal handling experience,
from anyone as specialized as
a vet tech or dog groomer to a
long-term pet owner.
“For the moment, the orga-
nization is kind of me,” Kro-
ll said. “I’d like this to be a
team approach. I’d like other
people to share in the efforts
and also share in the vision
in what this organization will
be.”
More information will be
available at the Coastal Com-
munity Fair on May 12 at the
Chamber of Commerce. Any-
one interested is invited to at-
tend the group’s first official
meeting at 6 p.m., May 24 at
the Chamber of Commerce.
“It’s really become appar-
ent a response that includes
four-legged family needs to
be a part of the response to
make it go as smoothly and
safely as possible,” he said.
fact that inmates are released
from the jail each week due
to overcrowding. Many come
from out of the area.
“People know that come
to Clatsop County that they
can be turned loose within
24 hours because there isn’t
room to house them,” Camp-
bell said.
Commissioner Kathleen
Sullivan said she was con-
cerned about how the coun-
ty would adequately pay for
mental health treatment with
a larger number of inmates
staying in the jail for a longer
period of time.
Sheriff Tom Bergin said
the added time in jail would
offer inmates more access
to mental health profession-
als who otherwise would
not reach them before their
release. The design also in-
cludes potential for more safe
rooms for those who experi-
ences mental health crises.
“When you have a jail that
has the ability to have the right
capacity, then we get people
stabilized quicker,” Bergin
said. “Instead of the revolving
door, we can get them to help
quicker.”
Sullivan also said she was
concerned about the timing of
the bond. School districts have
discussed placing two bonds
on the same ballot — includ-
ing a $32.4 million measure in
Warrenton-Hammond.
“I guess my statement to
you would be, ‘Then let the
voters decide that,’” Bergin
said.
By the end of the discus-
sion, Sullivan did just that.
“I still have some con-
cerns, but I will defer to the
voters of Clatsop County,”
she said.
Once the vote was com-
pleted, commissioners urged
Bergin to promote the bond
measure aggressively.
“It’s your decision to put
this one on the ballot,” Bergin
said. “Now let me go out and
talk to the people and explain
to them all the importance of
a jail.”
‘Whale Watching Spoken Here’
Gray whales are migrat-
ing north past the Oregon
coast and the Oregon Parks
and Recreation Department
invites visitors to share the
excitement during Spring
Whale Watch Week March
24 to March 31. Trained
volunteers from the Whale
Watching Spoken Here pro-
gram will be stationed 10
a.m. to 1 p.m. each day at 24
sites along the coast, ready
to help people spot the mi-
grating marine mammals.
The Whale Watching
Center in Depoe Bay will be
open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
Visitors to the center can en-
joy interactive whale exhib-
its and take in the panoramic
ocean views. Binoculars are
provided. Rangers will also
be on hand to answer ques-
tions about the whales. A
live stream of whale activity
TRAVEL OREGON
Whale watching takes place
at sites along the coast.
off of Depoe Bay returns;
watch it on the Oregon State
Parks YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/
user/OregonParks
A map of the 24 volun-
teer whale watch sites can be
found on whalespoken.org.
Visit oregonstateparks.org
for information about coast
parks and campgrounds.
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