It's been a while since we got caught up on all the stories behind the news so let's do that, shall we? Okay. Settle back with your favorite breakfast sandwich and that perfectly brewed cup of coffee and let's get started.
On the energy front the county is starting to pay some attention to a proposal brought to the Port of Astoria by perennial candidate and frequent commentator on local government John Dunzer. Mr. Dunzer, in his typical straight to the point, no nonsense approach tells the Port Commission a few weeks ago that he has a new idea for the Bradwood landing site. He would like to see an energy farm developed there that is really rather ingenious. He would like to see someone contract with small LNG vessels working out of Alaska to bring their loads to Bradwood. He says that one of the opportunities that Northern Star Natural Gas completely missed comes with the energy that is produced in the process of warming up the super cooled liquefied gas. The gas is shipped as a liquid and then must be brought back up to a gaseous state. Under the Northern Star plan evaporator towers would have been built that would warm up the LNG. Dunzer would use the super cold to create a wide array of industrial gases such as argon and the like to be sold to manufacturers who use those gases to create numerous products.
Here's another one. When rubber is exposed to those super cold temperatures it turns to powder. That powder can be reused to do things like mix with aspalt for example. We bury a lot of tires in this country and sometimes they catch fire and seem to burn forever. This is a rather elegant solution. Dunzer has a detailed plan that he says contains even more ideas to make use of LNG in ways that would produce jobs and create a new industry for Clatsop County if not the entire state.
The Port has supplied a letter of support for Dunzer and the man who owns the Bradwood site who says as a contractor he is perfectly capable of building such a facility. Dunzer planned to take that letter to Business Oregon to gain further support. The plan would not require nearly as much LNG and would not require nearly as much river dredging. It seems to be more environmentally friendly. In his weekly update to the County Commissioners Manager Duane Cole writes that the proposed alternative energy farm would require multiple county permits and a public process.
County Board Vice Chair Peter Huhtala attended a July 1st town hall meeting with NOAA to hear the latest thinking on Federal ocean policy planning. In a Face book post Mr. Huhtala says it will be interesting to see how things play out in terms of Oregon's Territorial Sea area. He speculates that Clatsop County should have some control in this arena because he contends that the County
boundaries extend out to sea three miles. It's only right that the county has input but some are concerned about the nature of that input in view of some of the actions the county board has taken to date. Will the commissioners support the fishing industry? I guess we'll see.
The newly appointed County Planning Commission meets next Tuesday for the first time and will select new officers and determine which commissioner will serve in each available term. The terms vary in length and the County Board decided to let he Planning Commissioners work that out for themselves. The new commission has a number of important items on their public hearings docket for the meeting including some critical rezoning for the Westport area.
County staff has been working with the Westport community and Georgia Pacific to make some big improvements including a new park and boat launch and improvements to the roadways and the ferry dock. Planner Jennifer Bunch will be updating the planning Commission on issue surrounding Oregon Pipeline. Ed Wegner will talk with the commissioners about the Camp Rilea Joint Land Use Study. The JLUS is an attempt by the military to maintain the base as training facility while at the same time dealing with the issues of ever encroaching development in the Clatsop Plains area.
Contract planner Mark Barnes will update the commissioners on ocean planning issues.
There will also be some discussion in preparation for a work session with the County Board the next day. That should be an interesting discussion on a number of levels.
The City Of Astoria never seems to lack for large projects. In the next few weeks we should see the city staff moving out of city hall in preparation for the remodeling of the old facility into something more efficient for staff and more useful for the public.
At the same time the city is wrapping up the Tapiola ball field project. If you recall, Tapani Underground completed the installation of a huge holding tank for sewer run off under the new ball field. Unfortunately the new field was not ready when it was promised and Mayor Van Dusan was rather irritated with the situation when it was revealed that it would be another season before the turf would be established as a playable surface.
At the last city council meeting there was another update from the rather sheepish contractor and the city engineer with the council asking some pointed questions about every aspect of the project from the depth and quality of the fill dirt to the efficiency of the drainage system. The new Tapiola Field will be a big improvement over the old with amenities like dugouts and an electronic scoreboard. Councilor Peter Roscoe compared it to the Volcano Stadium in Salem. Well, it's not quite that grand..but it will be very nice for those who play or serve as loyal spectators. I can see it being a great place to spend a summer afternoon watching a ballgame
The 17th street dock has served the U.S. Coast Guard, passenger cruise ships, tall ships..etc and serves as the home for the Maritime Museum Lightship Columbia and a huge Columbia River Bar buoy. The dock is showing it's age and needed emergency repairs to keep it going just a bit longer as the city looked for a way to replace it. The opportunity came with the state transportation program grant Connect Oregon. The dock will be replaced this year with a modern concrete and steel structure. Not a small project. Staging is set for October.
Back to the county.
Over the last few years (honestly, I've lost track) there have been some issues with county corrections. The state was running community corrections and built a fine facility in Warrenton as a headquarters for parole/probation and transition, the Sheriff was running the jail which is always threatened with over-population. I won't go into the history here. Just suffice it to say there was always an uneasy relationship involving the Sheriff and the Community Corrections Director. The Judges and the D.A. were not very happy either as they would gain a conviction or set a sentence only to have the bad guy get out of jail due to overcrowding, or skip court dates without serious sanction. The previous incarnation of the County Board decided that the problem was centered around who exactly has the authority to decide the disposition of a prisoner. They decided to create a new authority made up of a County Commissioner, the Sheriff and, the Community Corrections Director.
I'm sure that approach did not really solve anything but at least the situation quieted down. With the new County Board comes a new approach. The Sheriff runs it all. He also inherits animal control. The transition center closed but offices for the parole/probation staff stays in that building for the time being.
This makes perfect sense and puts things back where they belong. A county commissioner has no business being involved in who goes to jail and who doesn't and the Sheriff is the elected official who should have control over all areas of county law enforcement. New jail anybody?
Tom, this is a very nice analysis of things going on. Thanks very much. One question, though: what has been the result of the Sheriff taking over all the things you mentioned? I understand that the main effect is that fewer people can be punished for their crimes. This is partly because the Sheriff has closed off one sanction and partly because of jail mismanagement. You are right, he is elected to do these things, but it seems no one tracks what he is actually doing.
ReplyDeleteThanks again.
Thanks for the comment. You ask a good question. The arguement here is that the transition center was never full while at the same time the county jail has to release people who should be under supervision so why did we lose that option? The answer is that it wasn't an option. Holding someone prisoner costs dollars. The state would pick up the tab only under certain circumstances to keep someone at the transition center. Those circumstances do not include people who are ordered held for trial or are held until they see a judge. They make up the largest portion of the jail population. So if this is the "closed sanction" you refer to then I would say the transition center was a solution looking for a problem as far as the way in which the state set it up. That's not the Sheriff's doing.
ReplyDeleteI can't speak to how the jail should be managed therefore I am not the best judge in this case. I know that there were those tied to community corrections who were fond of leveling that charge.
I would say that the Sheriff is tracked by plenty of people. The Judges. The District Attorney. Parole and Probation officers and staff. His own deputies....He doesn't work in a complete vacuum. It's a small town and if things are not being done right he just doesn't get reelected.
Excellent Summary, Tom.
ReplyDeleteYou missed the fact that the Port is retiring its/your bond... Taxpayers are going to be payless now.... Now when doe4s that happen in Government today?
The Daily A refuses to print good news to Taxpayers, according to the reporter she reported it, paper didn't or refused to print it.
Sometimes its more about what you don't read that is much better than you can read.
I also find it interesting that the Port does not exercise its jurisdictional authorization as much as it did in the past, must have been a law change.. But I and others are concerned at the direction this County Political leadership is going. Jobs and good education for our families should be a priority.
Interesting, huh?
Floyd E. Holcom
Thank you Floyd. I find it very difficult to be critical of the Port since it seems to be the only governmental body around here (or anywhere for that matter)that takes an active interest in things that really matter to people. Paying off the debt is one of those things. Providing literally hundreds of local jobs in the last few years is another Port focus that gets right to the heart of what government should be doing and the Port is doing it right. The Port approach to economic developement is practical. I don't see the Port throwing money at problems as government usually does. If the problem is unemployment you don't start a program to teach people how to file paperwork to get a government hand out. No. You create an environment where you make jobs happen that are meaningful and pay well.
ReplyDeleteThe Port is elected county wide and is a much more accurate representation of "the people", that is likely why they are getting things done that are meaningful for this community. The current county commission, and planning commission selection is a big rabbit hole, no where to go but down. If anything significant is going to happen here, it will be through the port. It seems even county staff is against development of any kind, guess they don't know where their paychecks and pers comes from.
ReplyDeleteTom, thanks for your comments about the Sheriff and the jail. Sorry, but I need to correct you. The reason the transition center had space where the jail did not was because the Sheriff refused to send many elgible people to the transition center, since he did not run it and was involved in the running battle with the center director. All that was reported in the media. Now that the Sheriff has total control, it should be expected that he use the options other than jail, which are will recognized in the criminal justice field. So far, it appears nothing has changed.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, most of the people you mentioned who "track" the Sheriff are elected or appointed government officials who would not say something bad unless there was a tremendous problem. There is not and they probably care little about what the Sheriff does.
The media provides little informaton about the elected Sheriff and, so, the public cannot track what he does very well.
Now, if you have him on the radio to explain the improvements he has made in his Office over the past seven years, that would be great.
"I also find it interesting that the Port does not exercise its jurisdictional authorization as much as it did in the past, must have been a law change.. But I and others are concerned at the direction this County Political leadership is going. Jobs and good education for our families should be a priority."
ReplyDeleteCurious Floyd as to exactly what "County Political Leadership" exactly you are referring to and would it not also be common sense to assume that as a sitting "Port Commissioner", you would know exactly what and where "Port Jurisdiction" extends?
Tom: You might want to chase this one down. Told by a source that "WALMART" has request a permit from the City of Warrenton. Change are the original site required too much fill so they are going to locate south of Cosco. This will require rebuilding of the access rode from business 101 ect, ect. Believe the cat is now out of the bag.
ReplyDeleteLarry
Warrenton
Yes, as Jim and Floyd said, great summary, especially for one who avoids the local paper where normally one would want to go to find out what has happened locally, but with this paper, even if read, not only do you not know about lots of important stuff, what IS printed is virtually all suspect, with few exceptions. What a shame we have a publisher and editor who is so biased that they short-change the area in order to promote their agendas.
ReplyDeleteBut I digress. Floyd's news about the bond retirement and in general, the knowledge that the Port is being run more like a business, is indeed positive and great news and should not only be noted, but presented as a blueprint for how government agencies can and should operate. And Floyd is quite likely the key person who helped turn the Port around, first, upon taking office, by becoming totally immersed in the Port history by reading all Port historic documents and minutes, and second, by applying the principles of running a business to government operations. I've been in both environments, although mostly privately-owned business, and I can tell you that the influence of a business-owning person (one who is responsible for a payroll especially) on a government board is highly important. But beyond that, Floyd is also somewhat persuasive, he had to be, in order to help bring a rather diverse board together to ward off the typical momentum of most government operations, which is spending every dime available and then some. No businessman could operate that way for long, and Floyd knows this well. So thanks to Floyd, as well as the Port Manager, the staff and the rest of the Port Board the last few years.
And Tom, this kind of summary above should be read on air once a week, if you would have the time to create it, a big if. You have great ability to efficiently inform KAST's listeners, given your historical memory coupled with your editing of what's important. Anyway, no complaints here, since I read this blog and listen whenever I can.
Art Hyland (way over here in Rosburg--"I can see Astoria from my house." And KAST comes in just fine.
Too bad assumed success still doesn't negate bigotry huh Art? And this is what "Tea Party" leadership will bring us?
ReplyDeleteKeep the beaches free for Mules - Art Hyland
I think we have seen what trying to run a government like a private business has done to us already and its end result haven't we?
The Dunzer plan does not pass scientific or economic muster . Some of Johns ideas are very creative , but the science just does not pencil out. These are unproven technologies with no working models.I wish them luck, but this plan will fail not because of County dilegence but due to lack of capital and expertise. These guys can not even afford to build the road to the site.The Port should know that and know where their jurisdiction lies so they can try to learn to stay out of trouble . John should lobby to build a biomass hydrothermal heating /cooling system for downtown Astoria and Seaside
ReplyDeletePatrick, in your case, bigotry is in the eyes of the reader. But then, anyone who notices your consistently unintelligible questions knows to ignore them. However, I will give you credit for signing your name to your posts. A one-time anonymous poster would would be embarrassed to write what you often do. Seek help, there's plenty around here given the victim mentality so prevalent in this liberal community.
ReplyDeleteThe words are there Art, you wrote them and the people that read this stuff can discern their import on their own, in my view while you sit over there in Rosberg and bushwhack the integrity of our community and its citizens.
ReplyDeleteClearly, as Mr. Hyland points out, McGee is comfy wearing the victim jacket.
ReplyDelete