Astoria City Council holds first meeting of the year
Published 1:45 pm Wednesday, January 21, 2026
By JAY CORELLA
The Astorian
On Jan. 5, the Astoria City Council met for their first city council meeting of the year. Councilors readopted state statutes, heard presentations from a multi-county economic development program and more.
Columbia Pacific Economic Development District
Representatives of the Columbia Pacific Economic District made a presentation to the council. Col-Pac Programs Coordinator Jacquie Puett and executive director Sarah Lu Heath addressed the council to make their case, asking the city to remain engaged with the program.
Col-Pac serves as a federal economic development district across four counties including Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook and the western portion of Washington County.
The presentation was led by Heath.
“Our regional role is to facilitate partnerships and collaboration, maintain federal relationships and to provide tailored on-the-ground services,” said Heath.
Some of the services Col-Pac provides are grant writing and administration, and “a revolving loan fund for small businesses,” said Heath.
Puett highlighted their transit partnership program that ranges across counties.
“Ideally, car free travel is something that we want to promote,” said Heath.
Col-Pac has also worked with Astoria on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Redevelopment Program. The initiatives help to redevelop areas which have faced chemical contamination, she said.
“That could be anything from a three-story building on Marine Drive next to the old Chevron fuel plant to even things like orchards and farms, depending on if they had fuel, certain types of fertilizers, etc.,” said Heath. “Col-Pac is the guardian of the comprehensive economic development strategy for the region.”
School board appreciation month
Mayor Sean Fitzpatrick led the council in proclaiming January as School Board Appreciation Month.
“(I) encourage all citizens to join me in recognizing the dedication and hard work of local school board members, and preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s world,” said Fitzpatrick.
Heidi Wintermute, an Astoria School Board member, received the proclamation and Astoria School Board Member Tyler Lyngstad addressed the council.
“I really appreciate everybody doing this, the school board is a really important job in the community,” said Lyngstad. “We appreciate being recognized.”
Tribal Engagement Policy
The council adopted a formal Tribal Engagement and Consultation Policy for the city. The policy would apply to communications with the Chinook and Clatsop-Nehalem tribes.
The policy stipulates that the city will meet with tribes on an annual basis. Councilor Davis was selected to be the city’s representative in these meetings.
Spence said the next step would be to send out an initial letter to invite Tribal Elders to meet with Davis and other city representatives.
Action Items
City councilors passed a measure to readopt state statutes for the next year. The newly adopted statutes would reflect changes in the legislative session during the year.
“This is simply asking the council to essentially readopt all state laws that are referenced to the Astoria municipal code,” said Spence.
While Spence said there were no instances that would have affected Astoria last year, he explained that the decision should be a standard practice in order to ensure that “we don’t miss some nuance of state law.”
The council passed a motion to award a $61,000 pre-construction contract to Emery & Sons Construction Group for a sewage lift station’s reconstruction.
“These are critical (parts of our) infrastructure that serve our community,” said Spence, “They’re pushing 50 years old and they need to be replaced.”
Councilor Reports
Councilors gave their reports on their activities since the previous meeting.
Councilors Elisabeth Adams and Joshua Conklin announced a joint Town Hall for constituents in Wards 3 and 4 scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11 at Alderbrook Hall.
Fitzpatrick reported that he attended the Dismal Dip, put on by Astoria Downtown Historic District Association on Saturday. The dunk tank event served as a fundraiser that raised just under $2,000 for the association. He highlighted some of the community members who took the plunge including Chief Stacy Kelly and Wade Mathews.
Fitzpatrick also made a series of appointments.
Sean Davis and Colin Cummings were appointed to the Design Review Commission.
Tom Hardy was appointed to the Budget Committee.
All councilors in their reports welcomed Spence back to work after his absence which started on Nov. 14 and ended on Dec. 26. The meeting was his first meeting after his leave ended.
City Council President
Councilor Davis was appointed as City Council President. As such, he would fill in for the mayor.
