#TimberUnity speaks in Clatskanie
CCSO announces round two of Hometown Heroes Page A3
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Obituaries-A3 • Church News-A3 • Opinions-A4 • Clatskanie Grows-A5 • Market Place-A6 • Public Notices-A6 • Sports-A8
Friday, September 13, 2019
The Chief
$1 Vol. 128, No. 18 8 Pages
Serving the Lower Columbia Region since 1891
Speeding motorcyclist caught
Clatskanie artist awarded residency and commission CHRISTINE MENGES chronicle2@countrymedia.net
Douglas Matthew Moyer.
Courtesy photo
CODY MANN headlightnews@countrymedia.net
Clatskanie City Council members had a bit of a chuckle during the monthly law enforcement update. It seems a speeding motorcyclist wasn’t as slick as he thought. Chief Deputy Ryan Murphy, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, told the council that a deputy spotted the alleged speeder blazing a trail down Highway 30 in the Clatskanie area around 8 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4. The deputy attempted to make a traffic stop but terminated pursuit due to reckless riding by the motorcyclist. Despite cutting off the pursuit, the deputy was able to track the motorcyclist, who eventually turned down Kallunki Road and was caught. The motorcyclist did not resist arrest and had no weapons, and no force was used in the arrest, according to Sheriff Brian Pixley. The suspect, who was later identified as 23-year-old Douglas Matthew Moyer of Longview, Washington was taken to the Columbia County Jail and charged with attempt to elude law enforcement, reckless driving and two counts of reckless endangering as well as second-degree criminal trespass for entering Port Westward’s property. Correction: In last Friday’s Chief, an article about the Columbia County Tourism Initiative incorrectly stated that Columbia County Commissioner Henry Heimuller denied the initiative’s $10,000 request. Heimuller did not deny the request, but rather did not second the motion brought up by Commissioner Alex Tardif, stating he needed to receive more documentation before approving the request. The Chief regrets the error.
Jeremy Furnish, founder of the Clatskanie Artists Network, whose most recent project includes the musical bench that sits outside the Clatskanie Cultural Center, has a few new projects under his belt. Furnish was awarded the Coastal Oregon Artist Residency (COAR), which began June 1, and he will present his work at a show on Oct. 12. He was also recently awarded a commission to build the Regatta Monument on the Astoria waterfront next to the Columbia River Maritime Museum in honor of the boat race’s 125th year. Furnish will build and unveil the monument before showing it sometime next year before Astoria’s annual Regatta in August. COAR, which is completing its fourth year in Astoria, is a partnership between Astoria Visual Arts and Recology Western Oregon and involves creating art from materials found in Recology’s Astoria Recycling Depot and Transfer Station, according to Recology’s website. Furnish was given salvage rights at the transfer station and has four months to create pieces from materials found at the station. So far, Furnish has created close to 15 medium-sized sculptures as well as a few wall hangs, all created from items ranging from glass bottles to metal to other products. The purpose of the project, according to Furnish, is to draw attention to overconsumption and waste. “[The purpose] is to give a visual understanding of our waste as consumers, an educational experience to help us not be as irresponsible with our planet,” Furnish said. A lot of Furnish’s sculptures
include a strong metal background, and subjects include people fishing or birds. “Some of it’s abstract, some of it’s more literal and there’s a little bit of surrealism in there,” Furnish said. Furnish has been interested in participating in the residency for a while but had never found it realistic to participate due to a few different factors, but particularly the stipend, which increased from approximately $500 a month to $1,000 a month this year. Additionally, COAR added another month to their residency program. The studio space for the project is in Warrenton, Oregon and is a space that Furnish really likes. “The gallery space is really fantastic,” Furnish said. “I want to fill it up and do it justice.” While both projects are an honor to Furnish, the Regatta Monument is especially important, because Furnish has a personal connection to the boat race. “My great-great grandfather emigrated from Denmark to Astoria the same year the regatta began,” Furnish said. Furnish’s great-great grandfather worked as a fish packer in one of the canneries in Astoria in 1894. Sailing ships would arrive in Astoria, bringing back fish from Alaska. The competition between the ships would turn into a big boat race, a tradition which has stuck for the city, making it one of the oldest festivals west of the Rocky Mountains, according to the Astoria Regatta’s website. The tentative placement for the monument right now is on the pier just to the left of the Columbia River Maritime Museum on the water
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Photo: Jeremy Furnish
One of the pieces Furnish has created for the Coastal Oregon Artist Residency (COAR), entitled “Little Help.”
Commission hears arguments on Deer Pointe Meadows Building permit approved for mobile home park
filed the land use appeal against the building permits. Campbell’s appeal is based on the argument that space 10 was one of 13 spaces that were blocked from park use by county officials during septic system repairs in 2017. Campbell said when nonconforming activities or uses are lost or abandoned, current criteria must be applied to the property.
CODY MANN headlightnews@countrymedia.net
Deer Pointe Meadows was the focus of a hearing held by county officials in late August. The discussion was a continuation of talks held in late July stemming from a construction permit application at the mobile home park. Exparte contacts, fire code The August meeting began with disclosures of exparte communications related to the matter. Columbia County Commissioner Alex Tardif said a discussion with a staff member regarding RV park septic system certifications had led to a mention of Deer Pointe Meadows, at which point he ended the conversation, not knowing how it might be related to the current matter before the commission. Commissioner Margaret Magruder said she spoke with Chief Steve Sharek, Clatskanie Rural Fire Protection District, prior to his writing a letter to the Columbia County Board of Commissioners regarding fire code concerns at the mobile home park. She said the substance of that conversation was captured in the fire chief’s letter, which ended with a recommendation that county planning and permitting processes should meet all standards and codes. In the letter, Sharek requested that a recent Land Development Services staff report be clarified to reflect the lack of knowledge or documentation indicating that fire officials were notified at each step of Deer Pointe Meadows’ permitting process throughout the years. Sharek’s letter said it appears that
Troubled history
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the County has inconsistently enforced fire code regulations found within building codes as they apply to the permitting process. Commissioner Henry Heimuller said he spoke with State Sen. Betsy Johnson (DScappoose) sometime after the July hearing and she asked him if there was a current, ongoing sewer failure at Deer Pointe Meadows, reportedly having heard that from a Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) official. Heimuller said he then contacted county legal counsel, who confirmed that staff found a “minor” drain-related issue at the RV park portion of the mobile home park, unrelated to building permit applications at hand. Discussion and concerns Moving to deliberations, Magruder suggested taking into consideration the entirety of the mobile home park in ruling on the
land use appeal regarding the single space for which building and electrical permits were requested. Tardif agreed with Magruder, calling the case an interesting and fascinating example of the complex nonconforming land use issues in Oregon. “I would have to agree that in this case, space 10 should be allowed a building permit, an electrical permit, and the ability to move forward with siting,” Tardif said. Heimuller said he would support approving the permits, noting that issues with Deer Pointe Meadows have been intertwined with his time on the Board of Commissioners seemingly from the minute he took office. He said the current owner is doing everything possible to bring the mobile home park into compliance. Heimuller added that he disagreed with the legal interpretation held by Rainier-area resident Don Campbell, the park neighbor who
Living next to Deer Pointe Meadows, Campbell has closely watched a history of septic system failures at the mobile home park. He has expressed great concern in city, county and state meetings about the number of active spaces in the park and what he says is the likelihood of a major septic system failure if capacity isn’t restricted. Initially established in 1965, a past owner illegally expanded the park from 33 to 46 spaces, according to county land use documents. In 1996, Columbia County Board of Commissioners approved the expansion with a mandate that the failing septic system be repaired and able to meet DEQ standards for the increase in sewage from additional spaces. Repeated septic failures at the park have resulted in discharges of untreated or partially treated sewage to the ground or surface waters on multiple occasions. A county land use document states that previous failures, while many contributing factors should be considered, were caused mainly by too much wastewater and
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