Living History at Fort Clatsop coming in January

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park presents a special living history program during the Saturday and Sunday of Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend.  On Saturday, January 19, and Sunday, January 20, the Fort Clatsop replica will come alive from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition during the park's 12th annual presentation of "Wintering Over: snugly fixed in their huts."

During this two day Wintering Over event, visitors are encouraged to converse with expedition members (portrayed by first-person character interpreters) camped at their Fort Clatsop winter headquarters in 1806.  Explore what it is like for these Corps members as they survive off of elk and the good graces of their Clatsop and Chinook neighbors, while preparing to return to the United States.  Discover who these people were, where they came from and what their journey has been like so far.  Come explore the people behind the story!

City of Astoria Nixes Support Letter for Arts Grant

City of Astoria Commissioners voted 3 to 2 yesterday not to write a letter of support for the Astoria Visual Arts organization with their application to the National Endowment for the Arts for an “Our Town” grant. Astoria Mayor Willis Van Dusen cited lack to time to adequately prepare a successful grant application.

VanDusen1.wav (:52)  “The City of Astoria has been very fortunate in being awarded a lot of different grants, and we have as a community, not just as the City of Astoria, as our community we have a very good reputation with applying for grants, securing the grants and then following through with the grants: and when the people who come back after the grant has been used and they say “What was done?” we have shown, time and time again we’ve used the grant well, and this just concerns me that we’re not, we haven’t done enough – we haven’t spent enough time on it, if it just started on the 13th of November, and here it is the end of December.  I would hate to rush into this and apply for a grant and as a community, not be able to follow through.”  

The grant would have assisted in adding live/work space for downtown artists, established and managed a dedicated exhibition and performance space and launched an Artists-in-Residence program in Astoria’s downtown core.  

Commissioners LaMear, and Roscoe voted for the motion, Commissioners Warr, Mellin and Mayor Van Dusen voted against.  Councilor Karin Mellin suggested re-applying for the grant at a later time.

City of Astoria explains post-slide plans

Three Astoria residences were evacuated after a landslide last Thursday brought down trees and debris on the south side of Duane Street between 5th and 6th.  Occupants were allowed to return to their homes the following day.

At a  special meeting of the Astoria City Council yesterday (Thurs), Nathan Crater, Assistant City Engineer, presented the findings of the city’s on-call geo-technical firm.

Crater1.wav; (:39)  “Landslide Technology characterized this as a relatively shallow slide.  They’re not finding any signs of deeper seated movement, which is positive.  Unfortunately there is a portion of soil about 30 feet above the top of the slide scar which is relatively unstable, and has a high likelihood of coming down at some point.  So because of this Landslide Technologies gave us two primary recommendations.  One was to remove the trees from the slide area itself, and the adjacent area, to eliminate any hazards coming down the hill, and the second recommendation was to remove the soil from the road and provide a catchment area in the event that more soil does come down.” 

City staff will investigate erosion control measures.  A temporary containment barrier will be installed and city staff will work with Landslide Technologies on long term mitigation measure.  Crater the estimate for the initial emergency clean up effort is about 25 thousand dollars to date. 

Astoria Police Officers Arrest 3 on Warrants and Recover Possible Stolen Property

Possible stolen tools recovered.

On December 27, 2012 Astoria Police Officers Nicole Riley and Scott DeLapp responded to a disturbance at 2863 Marine Drive. Clatsop County Sheriff’s deputy Jason Hoover responded to assist. The initial call indicated a fight at that residence. When officers arrived they contacted several people at and around the house.

Johnson named Co-Chair of Ways and Means Subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development

Oregon State Senator Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose) has been named Co-Chair of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development for the 2013 Legislative Session.

“Although we continue to face funding challenges, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to put in the hard work listening to Oregonians’ concerns and producing a budget that reflects the right priorities,” said Johnson. “I look forward to discussing plans to get people working again in both rural and urban parts of Oregon.”

As Co-Chair, Johnson will be responsible for overseeing the budget for the Department of Consumer and Business Services, the Business Development Department, the Department of Transportation, the Public Utility Commission, and several others

Public Invited to Comment on Proposed Bike/Pedistrian Projects

$8.5 million is available for alternative projects

  The Oregon Department of Transportation is seeking input from the public on projects being considered for funding through the Transportation Enhancement-Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (TE-OBPAC) 2012 Combined Solicitation program. Projects chosen will receive state-funded grants from ODOT’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Program (OBPAC) or federal funds from the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), formerly the Transportation Enhancement (TE) Program. An online survey will collect input. To provide input over the phone, call the ODOT Active Transportation Section at (503) 986-3528 or (503) 986-3555. Comments will be accepted through 5:00 p.m., January 31, 2013. 

Astoria Man Arrested for Weapon Threat

Weapon Found to be Inoperable Pellet Gun

On December 17. 2012 at 0808 Astoria Police Responded to a report that a male subject had pointed a rifle at his care giver and made threats to Charter Cable employees. Officers responded and contacted the caregiver who was no longer with the subject. She reported that while at a regularly scheduled visit with a 52 year old male subject who lives at 1508 Exchange St. he became upset over a billing dispute with Charter Cable. During that dispute he retrieved what was reported to be a bolt action rifle. The care giver said that he worked the action on the rifle and then put it to his shoulder pointing it out the window and saying "bang, bang." He also made threats that he would shoot any Charter Cable employees that he saw. 

Clatsop Community College Fall Term Academic Honors List

Clatsop Community College is proud to announce the following students have been recognized for their superior academic achievement during Fall Term 2012. The Dean's List recognizes students completing 12 or more graded credits and achieving a grade point average (GPA) of 3.75 to 4.00. Honor Roll status recognizes students completing 12 or more graded credits and achieving a GPA of 3.5 to 3.74.

Clatsop County Board of Commissioners Highlights Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012 regular meeting

Peter Hutala, Patricia Roberts

Housing Authority decision

The board voted to appoint itself the governing body of the Clatsop County Housing Authority in place of the agency’s existing governing board.

The commissioners voted 4-1 to take the action, with Commissioner Patricia Roberts voting no. The action becomes effective immediately.

The board acted in response to concerns about whether the CCHA board properly followed state public meetings requirements in handling the agency’s business, in particular that subcommittees of the board were given power to deliberate over contracts and other items outside of properly noticed public meetings.

THE BOARD OF CLATSOP COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BECOMES GOVERNING BODY OF COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY

The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to appoint itself the governing body of the Clatsop County Housing Authority in place of the agency’s existing governing board.

The commissioners voted 4-1 to take the action, with Commissioner Patricia Roberts voting no. The action becomes effective immediately.

The board acted in response to concerns about whether the CCHA board properly followed state public meetings requirements in handling the agency’s business, in particular that subcommittees of the board were given power to deliberate over contracts and other items outside of properly noticed public meetings.

The housing authority manages several low-income housing facilities around the county, including Owens-Adair in Astoria, Tilikum and Wapiti in Warrenton, and Clatsop Shores in Seaside, and makes housing grants available to a number of local social service organizations.

Board Chair Peter Huhtala said the commissioners’ decision to appoint themselves as the CCHA governing body will not result in any changes to the agency’s staff or facilities. “We are just replacing one board with another,” he said.

The board scheduled a special meeting for Friday, Dec. 14 at 9 a.m. at the Judge Guy Boyington Building, 857 Commercial St., Astoria to meet as the housing authority board.

Clatsop Community College Invites Applications for Budget Committee

Clatsop Community College is seeking expressions of interest from persons desiring to fill a vacancy on the Clatsop Community College Budget Committee.  One three-year term is vacant.  The appointed members must be qualified to vote in elections within the district.  Interested parties should submit a letter of interest to the Board secretary, Kari Ferber, at Clatsop Community College, 1651 Lexington Avenue, Astoria, Oregon 97103 or via email at kferber@clatsopcc.edu no later than 5 p.m., on January 3, 2013.

OREGON ARTS COMMISSION SETS JANUARY 31, 2013 DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS FOR ARTS & CULTURAL TOURISM GRANTS

Arts Commission Sets January 31, 2013 Deadline for Applications for Arts & Cultural Tourism Grants Grants to Support Projects and Partnerships that Advance Arts-based Cultural Tourism

The Oregon Arts Commission announces a January 31, 2013, 5:00 pm electronic deadline for applications for its Arts & Cultural Tourism Grants.   Oregon arts organizations and units of local governments working to increase tourism motivated entirely or in part by the arts-related offerings of a community or region are invited to submit proposals.   

APPLICATIONS SOUGHT FOR CLAPSOP COUNTY MEMBERS ON COL-PAC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

Clatsop County is seeking applicants for representatives on the Columbia-Pacific Economic Development District Board of Directors.

Col-Pac provides its government members and small businesses access to various development services and resources from federal, state and local agencies and private sources. The district covers Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook and western Washington counties.

Clatsop County is seeking applicants from the private sector. Vacancies are for a member and alternate.

The Col-Pac board usually meets every other month, on the second Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to noon. Meeting location rotates between member counties.

Applications will be taken through Dec. 31. Application forms are available online at www.co.clatsop.or.us under “Your County-Citizen Involvement,” from the office at 800 Exchange St., Suite 410, or by calling (503) 325-1000.

Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission sets 2013 annual sturgeon limit at one fish

The Oregon statewide annual bag limit for sturgeon will be reduced to one fish beginning in 2013 under new rules adopted last week by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission.

The new rules covers all Oregon waters including inland rivers, bays and estuaries and supersedes a two fish annual bag limit set in September as part of the 2013 Sport Fishing Regulation development process.

At its meeting last Friday, the Commission had considered a proposal from an Oregon/Washington Workgroup that would have closed sturgeon to all retention in most state waters in 2013, but decided on the reduced bag limit as a transition to catch-and-release only fishing in 2014.

The reduced bag limit comes after several years of declining harvest quotas reflecting concerns about shrinking numbers of legal-sized fish.

Commercial Dungeness crab season delayed

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced the opening of the ocean commercial Dungeness crab season in Oregon will be delayed through Dec. 30.

The ocean commercial Dungeness crab season along the Oregon coast normally opens on Dec. 1, but can be delayed to ensure a high-quality product to consumers and avoid wastage of the resource. Coast-wide crab quality testing showed some test areas did not meet minimum preseason test criteria. Fishery managers met today and decided to further delay the opening through Dec. 30 to allow crab quality to improve.

In Oregon, crabbers will be allowed to begin setting their gear in the ocean for a gear pre-soaking period starting at 8:01 a.m. on Dec. 28 and start harvesting crab at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 31.

Recreational harvest of crab in the ocean and in Oregon’s bays will remain open.

OREGON GOVERNOR KITZHABER WILL CONVENE SPECIAL LEGIALATIVE SESSION

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber has called for the state legislature will meet in Special Session on Friday, December 14, to consider authorizing Governor Kitzhaber to enter into agreements with companies committing to significant job growth and investment in Oregon. The Governor called the session at a news conference this morning where he emphasized what he called an extraordinary opportunity  to boost Oregon’s economy with high wage jobs.

ASTORIA SUNDAY MARKET DONATES OVER $20,000 IN 2012

The Astoria Sunday Market board presented a $10,000 check to Astoria Downtown Historic District Association this past Friday with $7500 for the Building Blocks business development program headed up by Michele Reeves and $2,500 for the RARE program providing a full-time staff member for the association.  Board President Mitch Mitchum gave the check to ADHDA President Dulcye Taylor at its monthly membership meeting.  “The Market board believes that a strong downtown association is a great investment toward revitalizing downtown and we are especially pleased with the progress they have made these past few years,” noted Mitchum.

Cathlamet, Washington Fire Chief Jerry DeBriae Announces Retirement

Jerry DeBriae, Cathlamet’s long-serving fire chief, has announced his retirement after more than four decades in command of the Town’s all-volunteer firefighters.
“This is the time for me to go,” he told volunteers at their monthly meeting on Thursday evening. “Our department is solid. It will survive forever. I’d like to thank all the volunteers who have been here with me.”
DeBriae joined the department 52 years ago, at age 16. Under his leadership, the department expanded its capacity to extinguish structure fires, established a Wildland Unit to support state mobilizations against forest fires and provided EMS services to much of Wahkiakum County.
In 2006-08, Chief DeBriae built and donated to the Town a new fire hall, replacing its original 1930s-era facility at a cost of approximately $1 million.

CLATSOP COUNTY COMMISSIONERS RALLY, MEET WITH GOVERNOR TO SUPPORT GILLNETTERS

   A Clatsop County delegation that included Clatsop County commissioners Scott Lee and Dirk Rohne met with Gov. John Kitzhaber Thursday in Salem to urge him to re-think a proposal to restrict the Columbia River commercial gillnet salmon fishery.

Following the meeting the group joined a rally of about 40 gillnetters and supporters on the steps of the Oregon capital in a show of support for the industry.

Clatsop County commissioners oppose a plan of Kitzhaber’s introduced last August to ban gillnet fishing on the main stem of the Columbia and restrict it to off-channel areas. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, together with its Washington State counterpart, were tasked with developing rules to implement the proposal. The Oregon commission meets Friday, Dec. 7 in Portland to take up the draft rules; the Washington panel considers a companion set of rules at a meeting Dec. 14-15 in Olympia.

Letter to the Community from the North Coast Land Conservancy After the Wednesday Morning Fire

Dear Friends,

Early in the morning on December 5th, North Coast Land Conservancy suffered a devastating loss when our beloved office at our Circle Creek Habitat Reserve burned to the ground.  We are so thankful that no one was injured in the fire, but we have suffered a terrible loss of materials, equipment, and memories.  We are working to get back on our feet as quickly as possible, but please understand that in the next few days our land line will be down.  If you need to reach us, please send an email to nclc@nclctrust.org and we will do our best to respond as promptly as possible.

We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love, support and offers of help from you, our community.  Your kindness at this time gives us strength, and reminds us all that although there is much that has been lost, the core of our work together still remains: the thousands of acres of  land that you have helped us to conserve and protect are still there, providing healthy habitat for people, plants and wildlife on the Oregon coast.

So many people have asked us how they can help. The simplest and truest answer is that, if you can send a donation of financial support to North Coast Land Conservancy now, it would help tremendously in our efforts to rebuild our organization. We are grateful for any amount that you can share with us during this difficult time.

You can send checks to:
North Coast Land Conservancy
P.O. Box 67
Seaside, OR 97138

You can also donate through our website, www.nclctrust.org

We are in need of a number of practical items as well: tables, chairs, filing cabinets, bookshelves, a coffee maker (we’re going to need a lot of coffee in the coming weeks!) and other office supplies, right now we truely have nothing.  If you have any of the above, or any other furniture or practical office supplies that you think might be useful, please contact us at nclc@nclctrust.org and let us know what you have.  Thank you so much.

This is a difficult time for everyone at North Coast Land Conservancy, but we know that we will not only survive this challenge but we will move forward stronger because of you, our friends and supporters.  We often say it, and it has never rung more true than today:

We can’t do it without you!

With much gratitude for your support,

Katie Voelke
Executive Director

CLATSOP COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WILL CONSIDER TRANSFER OF CLATSOP COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY POWER AND DUTES TO THE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS AT THEIR DECEMBER 12TH MEETING

BOARD OF CLATSOP COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, December 12th, Wednesday
Regular Meeting: 6:00 pm
AGENDA:
1. FLAG SALUTE
2. ROLL CALL
3. AGENDA APPROVAL
4. RECOGNITION
a. Commissioner Patricia Roberts
b. Mary Blake
5. BUSINESS FROM THE PUBLIC - This is an opportunity for anyone to give a 3 minute presentation about any item on the agenda (except public hearings) OR any topic of county concern that is not on the agenda. People wishing to speak during Business from the Public must fill out and sign a Public Comment Sign-in Card.
6. PRESENTATION
Veterans Services Officer
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
a. Board of Commissioners Oct. 17, 2012 work session minutes .................................... {Page 1}
b. Board of Commissioners Nov. 20, 2012 special meeting minutes ............................... {Page 5}
c. State of Oregon Surplus Property Disposal Intergovernmental Agreement extension . {Page 7}
8. BUSINESS AGENDA
a. Audited 2011-12 Financial Statements ...................................................................... {Page 21}
b. Funding recommendations to outside agencies ......................................................... {Page 23}
c. Transfer of Clatsop County Housing Authority power and duties to Clatsop County Board of
Commissioners .......................................................................................................... {Page 27}

CLATSOP COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO HOLD RALLY IN SALEM THURDAY DEC 6TH FOR GILLNETTERS

To show support for the local commercial salmon fishing industry, the Clatsop County commissioners are organizing a rally on the steps of the state capital in Salem, Thursday at 11:30 a.m.

The commissioners are inviting anyone in the salmon gillnet industry and their supporters to attend the event. The state capital building is located at 900 Court St. NE in Salem.

Representatives of Clatsop County and the Salmon For All commercial fishing group are scheduled to meet with Gov. John Kitzhaber prior to the rally.

The commissioners are opposing a proposal from Gov. Kitzhaber that would prohibit gillnet fishing on the mainstem of the Columbia River. Rules implementing the governor’s proposal, which would limit gillnets to off-channel fishing areas in a three-year phased process, are due to be considered by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission at a meeting Thursday and Friday, Dec. 6-7 in Portland. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission is scheduled to take up the rules at a meeting Dec. 14-15 in Olympia.

Gillnetters and supports argue that the plan would threaten the livelihoods of many area fishermen while accomplishing little toward the conservation of protected salmon runs. Commercial gillnetters harvest at least half of their overall catch in the Columbia channel, through a fishery highly regulated by state and federal agencies.

On Nov. 28 the county board of commissioners opened its regular meeting to testimony from gillnetters and supporters regarding the proposed rules. Twenty-four citizens offered input – an audio recording of the testimony is available online at www.co.clatsop.or.us.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will take up the gillnet plan beginning at 8 a.m. Friday, Dec. 7 at the Holiday Inn-Portland Airport, Willamette Room, 8439 NE Columbia Blvd., Portland. Public testimony will be taken at the meeting. For more information go to www.dfw.state.or.us/agency/commission

CITY OF ILWACO SEEKS APPLICANTS FOR PLANNING COMMISSION

The City of Ilwaco is accepting resumes and letters of interest for Position #2 on the Ilwaco Planning Commission. The appointee will serve until the term ends on the second Monday of January 2019.