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Wednesday, July 20, 2022
thechronicleonline.com
Serving Columbia County since 1881
Broadleaf Arbor taking shape 16-acre housing development at St. Helens
JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
A major housing project is taking shape in St. Helens. Located at 2250 Gable Road at the intersection of Gable Road and Columbia River Highway, Broadleaf Arbor is described as a 16acre, 239-unit affordable housing development and intergenerational community, connecting working adults, families and seniors. It is comprised of 11 buildings, including walk-up style apartment buildings, town homes, a senior housing building and a central community and resident services building. On-site amenities will include common area gathering spaces, such as a teaching kitchen and library, an expansive lawn and playground, car parking and bike storage, and a trail system along the existing wetlands. An early release from developer Community Development Partners (CDP) stated that the new development is critical to addressing the region’s need for affordable housing. “When completed Broadleaf Arbor will provide 239 one-twoand three-bedroom homes to individuals and families earning 30%60% of the area median income ($29,010-$58,020 for a family of four),” the CDP release stated. For insight into this local major housing development project, The Chronicle reached out to CDP’s Director of Development Jessica Woodruff.
Courtesy photo from Community Development Partners
This flyover photo illustrates the 16-acre footprint of Broadleaf Arbor in St. Helens. See more photos with this story at thechronicleonline.com
The Chronicle: What is the current status of the project: On time and on budget or have there been delays? If so what delays? Jessica Woodruff: The project is currently tracking to a final completion date in late September
2023. The original final completion date was the end of June 2023, so we are about three months behind schedule. The primary reason for the schedule delays stems from the quantity of basalt found on site, far more than was initially discovered
during our due diligence. The site has swaths of basalt but also areas that were soft and needed to be over excavated. The basalt requires additional blasting or breaking to remove and to be able to prepare the site for the building pads and utilities.
The Chronicle: We understand that the project is utilizing much of the rock and dirt at the site as a recycling effort. How much dirt and rock and how it is being recycled?
See BROADLEAF Page A9
Behind the CHD: Pressure mounts, project scrapped Special Report ZOE GOTTLIEB chronicle2@countrymedia.net
Editor’s Note: In The Chronicle’s third investigative report about the Columbia Health District hospital project, we will cover the board’s response to federal policy changes, the purchase and development of the Millard Road property, and Measure 5-209, a citizen-led ballot initiative to repeal the hospital district’s permanent tax rate. “Looking back on it now, I think it probably would have been best if we just trashed the thing when they changed the rules,” said Gary Heide, former chairperson of the Columbia Health District (CHD). A dirt mound is what remains of the Columbia River Community Hospital site on 35101 Millard Road. The mound serves as a stark reminder of the past. Throughout the years, overgrowth has invaded the
Zoe Gottlieb / The Chronicle
St. Helens Pastor Max Snook looks at the empty site where the Columbia River Community Hospital was supposed to be built.
dormant site, but orange safety nets still peek through cracks in the solid ground. Max Snook, a pastor at St. Helens Community Bible Church, still remembers contractors coming to and from the site next door to his property. “(A) huge issue for (the board) was the land,” Snook said. “If you’re
going to work out to the winter, that land has to be hard enough to hold heavy equipment, because you have cement trucks in there. So, they brought in heavy equipment and leveled this land, took the topsoil off the land and leveled the land to make it flat, ready for the hospital.” Snook led The Chronicle out to the 8.34-acre site, now abandoned,
and pointed out the land that had been excavated to prepare for construction. “All that dirt and soil became that mound of dirt, and they restructured the wetlands out here,” he said. Search for solutions
cal blow when it learned of the federal changes made to the definition of Critical Access Hospital (CAH). Not only did the November 2005 policy change eliminate the “Necessary Provider” exemption, it also changed the definition of secondary roads, according to Scott Ekblad, Office of Rural Health director at Oregon Health and Science University. In his Feb. 24, 2006 letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mark McClellan, Ekblad requested an exception be made for the Columbia River Community Hospital Project. “Until November of 2005 there was no single definition of secondary roads; each Flex Program developed its own criteria to reflect the unique geographic and climactic conditions in that state,” he wrote. “The community of St. Helens was eligible to participate in the Flex Program and build a critical access hospital – the only hospital model that can financially survive in that community.”
The CHD board was dealt a criti-
See HOSPITAL Page A9
Columbia County Fair & Rodeo celebrates 107 years ZOE GOTTLIEB chronicle2@countrymedia.net
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Vol. 140, No. 29
The 2022 Columbia County Fair & Rodeo Event organizers, local businesses and community members are preparing to jump back in the saddle for the Columbia County Fair and Rodeo July 20-24. “Everybody and everything is coming back this year,” Columbia County Fair Board Secretary Hannah Russell said. “We’re having a mechanical bull again, and there’s going be a bunch of activities for kids to do.” The theme of the 107th year of Columbia County Fair and Rodeo is “Back in the Saddle Again.” Fairgoers can expect to see all of the fair and rodeo’s signature events, along with brand-new attractions. The Columbia County Fair takes place at the fairgrounds, 58892 Saulser Road in St. Helens. Operation hours are: • 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday, July 20 and Thursday, July 21 • 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23 • 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 24
A blend of old and new Traditional events include the popular food booths, carnival rides, My Fair Lady Pageant, the JR Rodeo and Northwest Pro Rodeo Association (NPRA) Rodeo, and Wild Cow Milking. The extended July weekend will also feature a senior and veterans’ lunch, a western kids’ costume contest and parade, and the debut of Rascal Rodeo, an all-inclusive rodeo for individuals with special needs. In another twist, fair and rodeo organizers are bringing more than 100 pigs into the fairgrounds this year. “We’ve never had that many pigs in the past 20 years,” Russell said. “We’ve never had that many pigs before.” Horses, cows, goats, sheep, turkeys, chickens, and rabbits will also be present at the fairground’s 4H buildings for competition and judging, giving area youth and adults a chance to engage in the traditional experience. Russell said tickets to the county fair have been selling well and the event has many sponsors this year, “way more than we did last year, so
Kelli Nicholson / The Chronicle
Fairgoers can enjoy the traditional carnival rides during the 2022 Columbia County Fair.
there’s more community support,” she said. Economic impact Russell added that the annual fair helps support local businesses and the county’s overall economy. “Local businesses profit from everybody coming to town for the fair,”
she said. “They may be from out of the area and after the fair they may want to go into town and eat at the local restaurants and shop at the local business. If they (businesses) sponsor the fair, we advertise for them and then they get presale tickets that they
See FAIR Page A8