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Wednesday, January 11, 2023
St. Helens looks to the future
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Originally published in The Chronicle Vol. 141 Jan. 4, 2023
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s with any year, 2022 has presented its challenges and highlights. In St. Helens, the year included both, but there is much to anticipate in the new year. St. Helens City Administrator John Walsh has been at the center of many projects in St. Helens for over a decade.
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Waterfront development Among the city’s accomplishments, Walsh especially emphasized the progress made on the Waterfront Redevelopment project. After years of planning and securing several state and federal grants, the city broke ground on transforming the Columbia Riverfront downtown. “One of the city’s biggest accomplishments in 2022 was the start of construction on the St. Helens Waterfront Redevelopment Project. It’s taken nearly a decade of planning efforts to get to this point,” Walsh said. “City staff worked closely with the St. Helens City Council, professional consultants, and the community to develop a vision for the St. Helens waterfront that reconnects the community to the Columbia River and supports the future growth of our economy. There is great potential in our waterfront, and the city is working hard to create a cohesive connection between our historic riverfront district and the new development that’s to come.” The project, which was launched in 2021, will set the groundwork for future public amenities and private development on the riverfront property. The city is interested in partnering with private developers who can build a mix of commercial and residential uses on the site. The waterfront redevelopment will improve the safety of existing intersections, create inviting pedestrian connections in the Riverfront District, and increase parking in the area, according to St. Helens Public Works Director Mouhamad Zaher. The City of St. Helens leadership has been very intentional, open, and transparent about the downtown and waterfront master planning, according to Columbia County Economic Team Executive Director Paul Vogel. “This first phase is a long time coming, with a lot of valuable input from citizens
Courtesy photo
This sky-high view shows the planned area of the St. Helens Riverwalk along the Columbia River.
and experts alike,” Vogel said in a published interview in October with The Chronicle. “This first phase will provide the canvas upon which private investment can paint a robust mix of retail, commercial, and residential uses – all framed in the context of an historical district with wonderful public access to one of our most treasured assets, the Columbia River. The most important priority is to develop a community “place” that local residents love, and love to be. What attracts and excites locals will attract and excite visitors, adding greater tourism and hospitality to a balanced and productive economy.” Read more about the riverfront development in a series of reports at thechronicleonline.com. In addition to the Waterfront Redevelopment Project, St. Helens has focused on economic development. Using the Mainstreet Program model, the city has partnered with the St. Helens Mainstreet Alliance to build a support network for local businesses. The Mainstreet program model focuses on economic vitality, design, promotion, and organization. Growing Rural Oregon (GRO) recently welcomed St. Helens as the newest member of their initiative. “GRO is supported by the Ford Family Foundation,” Walsh said. “As a member, St. Helens will be equipped to identify growth and investment opportunities, leverage best practices, and connect to new ideas, resources, and industry leaders in order to
grow our economic opportunities.”
One of their most significant accomplishments was completing the Riverfront Trail Project. “One of our biggest accomplishments this year was the completion of the long-awaited Riverfront Trail Project,” Jorgensen said. “That’s something that I will always feel good about. It’s widely used by the citizens here in town, and some people even come from out of town to do that.” Jorgensen also noted that Rainier will be adding a new member to the police force and that the city is working with the Department of Environmental Equality to get in compliance with issues regarding stormwater and sewer systems. In Clatskanie, they have addressed a variety of issues. Like Rainier, Clatskanie passed an RV ordinance to limit the amount of time an RV can spend in one place. They also have made significant strides towards breaking ground on the new sewer
plant, for which the state legislature allotted $10 million to build. Currently, the Department of Environmental Quality is reviewing the plans. While the city’s progress on the sewer plant is a significant accomplishment, Hinkelman also said it is one of the city’s most substantial challenges. “There are two things. One: inflation has really put a big pressure on the cost of the plant. And the other thing that’s happening is when we did the geotechnical stuff, we found out the soils where we want to build the plant are what they call ‘liquefiable,’” Hinkelman said. “We have to do some shoring up of that soil, so that’s going to cost several million dollars that we didn’t budget for. So my big challenge in 2023 is I have to go back to the legislature. And I’ve already let our legislative partners know, our representative and our state senator, that we need more money in order for this to happen. And I’m
There is great potential in our waterfront. ~ John Walsh, St. Helens City Administrator
Supporting local businesses Supporting the local businesses downtown and throughout St. Helens remains a crucial priority for the city. Additionally, the city has been working to increase tourism and draw people from outside of St. Helens. “Large crowds visited our City during the summer and fall as we hosted 13 Nights on the River, Independence Day fireworks, and Spirit of Halloweentown events,” Walsh said. “Tourism is an economic support for many of our local businesses, and we continue to explore ways that we can improve our efforts and introduce new people to our City.” Though the year has brought achievements in many areas, it has also had challenges. The city and the world continue to deal with the pandemic, a hurdle that has lasted just under three years. However,
Walsh noted that budgeting had been one of the biggest challenges for St. Helens. “Budgeting for the needs of our growing City is one of our main challenges,” Walsh said. “As we face increasing operating expenses, aging infrastructure, and maintaining funding for our existing services, we need to balance the many needs of our city while also planning for future needs. This is something that will continue into 2023 as we work to fund critical capital projects and ensure we have appropriate staffing levels.” Looking ahead In the new year, there is a lot that Walsh and the City are hoping to achieve. Staffing essential positions is a point of emphasis, in addition to the many infrastructure and construction projects the city hopes to complete. St. Helens is working on upgrading several “key areas” where the sewer system is at capacity. Walsh also noted that adding “necessary utility infrastructure” to the Industrial Business Park on Kaster Road to attract new industry to the community is ongoing. In 2023, St. Helens is anticipating the start of construction on the Riverwalk Project that will expand Columbia View Park and the first phase of a public riverwalk along the bank of the Columbia River. The city anticipates starting construction on this
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project by the fall of 2023. The city seeks to fill essential roles with new hires, and the positions exist in several key areas the city needs to fill. “We recently started recruitment for a new engineering position and are actively recruiting for a new finance director, utility worker, and police officers. Fully staffing our Police and Public Works Departments is essential to supporting a livable and safe community,” Walsh said. In addition to finding new people to fill empty positions, the city will welcome new faces to the city council in the new year. City Councilors Brandon Sundeen and Mark Gundersen won their appointments in the November election and will begin their terms in January. Walsh emphasized that the council will work together to bring the new council members up to speed and work together to serve the community best. “Together, we will work to set priorities for the new year and find ways to address the ongoing needs of our community,” Walsh said. As 2022 comes to a close, there have been plenty of challenges, but St. Helens has also seen another year of growth and progress on various fronts.
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The Chronicle will continue to track the city’s efforts. Follow developments at thechronicleonline.com and in the Wednesday print editions of The Chronicle.
Clatskanie, Rainier set 2023 priorities Originally published in The Chief Vol. 131 Jan. 6, 2023 WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
2022 has ended, and it’s time to reflect on the highs and lows of the past year and what 2023 may bring. In Clatskanie and Rainier, the year has been challenging but also very productive. To better understand how this year went, Rainier City Administrator Scott Jorgensen and Clatskanie City Manager Greg Hinkelman offered insight into the successes and setbacks of 2022. For the city of Rainier, Jorgensen described 2022 as a “productive year.” Among some of their accomplishments, they implemented a better system for code enforcement, passed an ordinance to address “derelict RVs,” and expanded their numbers of boards and commissions.
This bridge is part of the Rainier Riverfront Trail project.
going to be a real pest about that.” With inflation squeezing costs around the country, managing the city’s budget across the town’s various necessities has been a significant challenge for Hinkelman and the Clatskanie city council. Hin-
kelman noted that with inflation, it’s been hard to forecast which projects will fit in the budget going into 2023. In Rainier, circumstances have presented a variety of challenges. Jorgensen said that the city council was in flux in the past two years as multiple
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long-time councilors vacated their positions. Their departure marked the loss of decades of institutional knowledge, but Jorgensen also said that the
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