Thank you for your interest in reading The Astorian. Here are a few stories that you might have missed this week:

•••

Seaside’s designated homeless camp may be relocating again.

At a work session in May, city councilors broached the idea of moving the homeless camp from Avenue S to the area behind the city’s public works building, which can be accessed off Avenue V.

Last November, the city moved the homeless camp to Avenue S from its initial location at Mill Ponds due to flooding that placed people at risk.

Over the past several months, neighbors living near the Avenue S encampment have repeatedly spoken out about the negative effects on the neighborhood.

See the story by Jasmine Lewin by clicking here.

•••

The Port of Astoria is looking to bring a byproduct recovery center — an innovative wastewater treatment facility aimed at meeting state limits on effluent discharged by seafood processors — to Pier 2.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s recently updated wastewater permit for seafood processing plants, known as a 900-J permit, has drawn criticism statewide from processors and industry advocates who argue the new limits are impossible to meet.

Processors around the state — including Da Yang Seafood and Bornstein Seafoods, located on Pier 2 — have faced a challenging and uncertain landscape for permitting, with Da Yang currently operating without a permit.

Now, the Port of Astoria is stepping in to try to ease the burden on processors by consolidating wastewater treatment into one shared facility managed by the Port. In May, the Port Commission voted to approve an application for a feasibility study through Business Oregon, the state’s economic development agency.

Will Isom, the Port’s executive director, described seafood processing as the “lifeblood” of the Port and explained the project is aimed at supporting the industry.

“The idea behind having the shared system really was born out of the fact that the processors — with ever-changing regulation in terms of compliance — were struggling to find solutions for how to meet those requirements,” Isom said.

Read the story by Rebecca Norden-Bright by clicking here.

•••

It’s official: Peace First Early Learning Center in Astoria, one of Clatsop County’s larger child care centers, will close this summer.

The early learning center, which operates out of buildings owned by Peace First Lutheran Church, looked for alternative locations after the church decided it would list the property for sale — without success. They announced in mid-May that they plan to close in August.

The closure will affect more than three dozen children and eight employees.

The church council, caught off guard by the announcement, told the early learning center’s board at a meeting on May 23 that they were interested in finding a way to keep the center open.

But, following a church council meeting this week, the council said they were going to “respect and accept” the decision to close. The child care center has been a mission of the church since 1988.

In a letter to the early learning center’s leaders, Judith Lampi, president of the church council, said the council was not able to “navigate to nor agree on solutions” to satisfy four conditions the center’s leaders had put forward at the May 23 meeting.

Take a look at the report by Katie Frankowicz, of our news partner KMUN, by clicking here.

•••

We invite you to help sustain local journalism on the North Coast. Please consider subscribing. We have several options available at: www.dailyastorian.com/subscribe-now/

— Derrick DePledge