County moves forward with road and John Day Park regulations

Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The road to Costco can now leave U.S. Highway 101.

A year-and-a-half negotiation between Clatsop County and the Oregon Department of Transportation has culminated in the county meeting requirements to get a Grant of Access (GOA).

A GOA allows access to a highway where property doesn’t have the right of access.

Oregon and the county have agreed that Southeast Ensign Lane (a new road to be built by Atlin Investments from the highway to Southeast 19th Avenue) would provide required improvements for the GOA. Atlin, a Seattle firm, is purchasing part of the North Coast Business Park for a development that will include a new Costco store and other businesses, such as a hotel, restaurants and shops.

Clatsop County would continue construction of the road to Business 101 during a second phase of construction at an estimated cost of $2 million. The entire road is to be completed by Dec. 31, 2013.

The Board unanimously approved (with Commissioner Jeff Hazen, a Costco manager, excused) the cooperative agreement with the state of Oregon and authorized Chairwoman Patricia Roberts to sign it.

John Day County Park is being gentrified.

Well, a new law will prevent it from remaining a lawless free-for-all.

In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners approved an ordinance amending county rules, making it illegal to leave boats or trailers at the park for prolonged periods of time.

Steve Meshke, the Clatsop County natural resource manager, said the problem of people tying their boats up and leaving – sometimes for days – has been an ongoing problem for years.

He said people have even left their boats on trailers at the park for upwards of three months.

“Had a guy living on his boat out there,” Meshke said. He said the man was making repairs and changing oil.

New rules make it illegal to leave a trailer in the parking area more than eight hours, unless it needs emergency repairs. It is also now illegal to leave boats tied to the dock unattended for more than 30 minutes.

“If we run into an instance where somebody leaves their boat, we’ll contact the marine deputies. They’ll come out and issue citations,” Meshke said.

Commissioner Sam Patrick has spent his entire adult life as a public servant.

He decided not to run for re-election earlier this year.

He was recognized for his service to the community during his final Board meeting in the Judge Guy Boyington Building Wednesday.

Fellow Commissioner John Raichl presented him with a plaque and said his service was commendable and that it had been his pleasure to serve with Patrick.

“I talked to Sam earlier and asked him how it felt – did it go by fast?” said Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin, who also presented Patrick with a plaque. “He said it felt like 10 minutes … under water.”

Raichl later said he’d spoken to Jerry Ostermiller, the former Columbia River Maritime Museum director, who told him, “The road to senility is paved with plaques.”

The Board unanimously approved formal categorization of 62 county-owned parcels.

The county has 11 land categories. They are properties to be sold at public auction, held for county government use, held for other governments, sold through private sales, held for industrial development, held for right-of-way, held for future parks and recreation and held for timber harvest. And properties being used by the county, surplus property leased to a private party and properties on which the county holds the mineral rights only.

“The Sheriff’s Office lacks property for a firing range. Would it be possible to put in a category for that range?” Patrick asked the county’s property management specialist Sirpa Duoos. “We are in critical need. If we can, get it written into the land-use policy.”

Glen Ahrens, an Oregon State University extension forester, reported that the extension service received more funding than expected for fiscal year 2008-09, and there would be additional expenditures to match the added revenue.

Ahrens said funding for the Oregon Family Nutrition Program increased by $25,000. OSU is adding $20,000 to Community Horticulture programs, and upping revenue to the county by $23,300 to backfill a vacant faculty position in 4-H. The Board unanimously adjusted the county’s annual budget to receive the unexpected revenue and increase the amount delivered to OSU extension programs.