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Wednesday, September 27, 2023

City Council welcomes new member

Originally published in The Chronicle Vol. 141

September 20, 2023

WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.

A replacement for the open seat on the St. Helens City Council has been appointed, and new Councilor Russell Hubbard was unanimously selected to fill the vacant seat left by Patrick Birkle.

Birkle resigned from the council because he is a third-grade teacher at Columbia City Elementary School. Birkle said that he did not feel he could balance the duties of the city council with his responsibilities as a teacher.

The St. Helens City Council interviewed ten candidates for the position during a special meeting Sept.

14. Following the interviews, the council deliberated, and each member put forth their choice for top candidate.

Councilors Brandon Sundeen and Mark Gundersen both put forth Hubbard as their top selection. Councilor Jessica Chilton said her top choice for the position was Jay Echternach but said that Hubbard was her second option and that he was a “great choice.”

Mayor Rick Scholl noted that his three top choices would be Virginia Carlson, Echternach, and Hubbard. Scholl ultimately put forth Hubbard as his top choice, in agreement with Gundersen and Sundeen.

“He’s definitely qualified in his demeanor, and I’ve watched him action and under high stress,” Scholl said.

“It takes a lot to be on a City Commission at all but to be able to stick around for nine years and to do a good job,” Sundeen added. “I think he asks good questions; he’s very in-depth.”

Gundersen echoed the sentiments shared by other councilors and noted that his experience on the Planning Commission and his calm communication style would be welcome on the council.

Chilton also agreed with the other councilors but noted that many of the interviews they conducted were insightful.

I want to be coming from the businessperson’s aspect because that’s what I relate to being in business. The effects, from zoning to decisions of what the city’s doing, how’s that affecting the small businessman? Because we desperately need small business in here.

~ Russell Hubbard, St. Helens City Councilor

I think [Russell] is a really good choice for the council, and I’m happy to move forward with [Russell],” Chilton said.

Hubbard has been living in St. Helens for the better part of 15 years and has served on the city’s Planning Commission for nine years. Hubbard also serves on the board of the Columbia River People’s Utility District (PUD). Following the discussion, Hubbard confirmed that he was interested in the nomination. Gundersen motioned to appoint Hubbard to the city council, and the motion passed unanimously. The other candidates considered were Carlson, Echternach, Nicholas Hellmich, Scott Jacobson, Brady Preheim, Jared Stram, Stephen Topaz, Steve Toschi, and Diana Wiener.

Swearing in Municipal Judge Amy Lindgren swore Hubbard in at the St. Helens Municipal Court a little after 11 a.m. Sept. 15. Hubbard’s wife, son, and daughter-in-law attended the occasion.

After the ceremony, Hubbard gave comment to The Chronicle about what the

appointment meant to him. One of the points of emphasis for Hubbard is that he is approaching the council position from a businessperson’s perspective and bringing his experience from his time on the Planning Commission.

“When this position became available, I thought, ‘Well, there’s a way to continue my effort from the Planning Commission into the council and bring a businessman’s standpoint,’” Hubbard said. “I’m a general contractor/developer, and there’s nobody like that on the council right now. I felt that it was good to have a voice there. It was unanimous, and I’m really pleased about that because consensus is quite nice to hear from your peers.”

Hubbard owns and operates his own construction company and is developing an apartment building on the property located across from Red Apple Market.

Focus

When asked what he views as the pressing issues for the city, Hubbard said he is not interested in rehashing decisions that have already been made. Hubbard wants to focus on the decisions that need to be made going forward. Hubbard said he will “take it as it comes.”

“I want to be coming from the businessperson’s aspect because that’s what I relate to being in business. The effects, from zoning to decisions of what the city’s doing, how’s that affecting the small businessman? Because we desperately need small business in here,” Hubbard said.

As a city councilor, Hubbard said his goal is the same as it is as a board member for the PUD: to deliver the best outcome for the customers and citizens that he serves.

“The PUD is all about customers; the citizens and the customers are the city. Is the city speaking for all the customers and society in general,” Hubbard said.

“I’ve been in Oregon for five generations, so I’m an

Oregonian. I moved out here 15 or so years ago, and I love this city.” In his new role, Hubbard will have more ability to be involved in decisions that he was unable to influence when he was on the Planning Commission. Hubbard is looking forward to learning the new role and serving the people of St. Helens.

The St. Helens City Council

The City of St. Helens operates as a Council-Mayor form of government consist-

ing of a mayor elected to a two-year term and four council members elected to four-year terms. At each biennial general election, the mayor and two councilors are elected.

The City Council is governed by the city charter and adopts ordinances known as the St. Helens Municipal Code. The council also adopts resolutions that set policy or regulation of matters within the city. City councilors also attend other meetings throughout the community and public hearings as needed.

Council members also have custodial responsibility for all city property, including buildings, equipment, and land. The City Council directs the financing, maintenance, and operation of all city departments and also represents the city on several outside committees involving topics such as economic development and others, per the city’s website. The City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays each month at 2 and 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at city hall 275 Strand Street.

Clatskanie Harvest Festival sees out summer

Originally published in

The Chief Vol. 132

September 22, 2023

WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.

Fall has officially arrived, and as the chilly autumn and winter months approach, the Saturday market season is coming to an end. The Clatskanie Farmers Market (CFM) will be holding a Harvest Festival Sept. 30 to close out a summer season of growth for the market.

In years past, the closing of the season is punctuated with the annual “Apple Press Fest,” an event where community members can bring apples down to Cope’s Park for pressing, and they walk away with their own apple juice.

This year, Clatskanie Farmers Market Executive Director Jasmine Lillich said that they are expanding the celebration to a full-on harvest festival.

“This year, we just added more activities to the docket and made it more of a celebration. I’m really excited because I feel like this was a perfect season to introduce a harvest festival because it has just been a season of full abundance,” Lillich said.

Lillich said this had been a really strong “apple year,” she and her husband, Brandon Schilling, the Farmers Market Board President, have been overwhelmed with the sheer number of apples they have harvested. Lillich and Schilling have already harvested 20 apple trees thus far and produced more than 90 gallons of cider. With all the other apple trees yet to be harvested, Schilling said the initial pressing was just the “first of many.”

The festival will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Cope’s Park, and during the event, there will be a host of activities for community members.

Activities include:

12 p.m. Rooster crowing contest

• Warm up those pipes & let us hear your best rooster crow on the CFM stage

• The winner will get a $25 gift card to the Clatskanie Food Hub.

12:30 p.m. Produce slaying by the Clatska-knight

• Bring a giant vegetable for the knight to slay

Apple pressing all-day

• Bring your own no-spray apples, and we’ll press them for you

• Bring your own containers (more than you think)

• We’ll have some containers for purchase

• Note from the organizers: They will not be doing fresh press sampling at this event; however, it’s still fun to come check out the process even if you don’t have your own apples.

Open mic competition all-day

• To sign up, email: brandon@clatskaniefarmersmarket.com

• The winner will get a $75 gift card to the Clatskanie Food Hub

Best zucchini bread competition

• Bring your zucchini bread for judging

• Judging will commence at 1:30 p.m.

• The winner will get a $25 gift card to the Clatskanie Food Hub Produce contest

• Bring your biggest, weirdest, and cutest vegetables

• Judging will commence at 1:30 p.m.

• Winners will get a $25 gift card to the Clatskanie Food Hub

Lillich said if people don’t have their own apples, there will be produce available at the market and in the Clatskanie

Food Hub for purchase. In addition to the extensive applepressing operation, Lillich said there will be around 30-40 vendors at the event. Lillich said visitors should come hungry if they want; there will be barbecue, wood-fired pizza, and other food vendors. There will also be a “libations” beer garden where people can buy beer and hard ciders.

Lillich and the Farmers Market are hoping that the Harvest Festival will become an annual event in the community. Lillich already has ideas about what the festival could add in the future and wants community input to better form festivals in the coming years.

Lillich credited the Farmers Market Board with helping develop the festival but also

noted that it would not be possible without the volunteers who help press the apples and keep the event running. While Lillich doesn’t expect the festival to draw as many people as the Garlic Festival does (it drew around 2,000 this year), Lillich said she expects between 500-700 visitors this year.

Festival growth

This summer, Lillich and the Farmers Market have been overjoyed at the growth and participation the market has seen from the community.

“I am just flabbergasted in a really positive way. I am humbled and just really excited to see where this momentum will lead us,” Lillich said. “It’s a really exciting time to be doing this work in local food system development.”

Lillich said she expects the Saturday Market alone will have experienced 50 percent growth this year. Lillich said when taking into account the development that the Clatskanie Food Hub has brought, the organization itself has “doubled in size.” Lillich noted that she has not crunched the numbers yet to give exact statistics. The 50 percent growth she referred to, however, is across many facets.

“That’s across all counts. So that’s customer numbers, vendor numbers, volunteer numbers, and vendor sales. Another category that will be probably be experiencing 50 percent growth, which hasn’t really taken off in years past, is our own organization revenue through merchandise

Will Lohre / Country Media, Inc.

Russell Hubbard being sworn as the new St. Helens City Councilor on Sept. 15.

Courtesy photo from Jasmine Lillich

Lillich said that she and her husband Brandon Schilling have already pressed around 90 gallons of apple cider this fall.

sales,” Lillich said. “We went through a big rebranding this year. There are all these kinds of branding merchandise lines that we’re planning on launching. But we’ve already done a lot of them, and we’re actually making some money for our organization to pay our employees and not be so grantdependent in the future.”

To continue to grow and build the market, Lillich and the Farmers Market Board are accepting feedback from the producers and community members through November. Looking toward the future, Lillich said someone has volunteered to help create a strategic plan for the organization to continue to grow in the coming years.

One of the season’s highlights this year was the Garlic Festival’s popularity. Lillich said that the festival saw nearly 2,000 visitors walking around the

market and garnered around $40,000 in sales during the six-hour event.

“It just feels like this Garlic Festival is becoming a regional event. It felt after that event like Caltskanie wasn’t going to be the same anymore. Something had shifted, and we’re on the map now, for garlic. Who would have thought,” Lillich said. “That was a really powerful moment.”

This summer has given Lillich and the Clatskanie Farmers Market a strong indication that there is a desire from the community to come together around its burgeoning local food scene.

“People want to source their food from local farms and local sources. They want to be in relationship with the people who grow their food; they want to get to know them. They want community gathering places,” Lillich said. “The community is really welcoming and accepting of what we are providing them, and they’re really supportive of it.”

Courtesy photo from Jasmine Lillich

The Clatska-Knight slays a watermelon.