Former Columbia River Fire & Rescue Chief passes away
Stuck in the mud no more! PAGE A2
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Chronicle & Chief THE COLUMBIA COUNTY
Wednesday, April 24, 2024 | Columbia County, Oregon
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County previews John Gumm renovations WILL LOHRE
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Manpreet Singh standing in his soon to be open store. The store is located at 115 N 18th St. in St. Helens.
American Market opening in St. Helens WILL LOHRE
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ptions for a late night snack or refreshment in St. Helens are pretty limited, but after years of development, a new market is opening soon that aims to serve the community at all hours. American Market, located at 115 N 18th St. in St. Helens, is slated to open April 24 and will aim to be open 24 hours a day. Once the home of an arcade, the space will now feature one of the only all-day operations in St. Helens. Manpreet Singh is the owner of American Market, and he was inspired to open the store when he visited St. Helens and felt there were no businesses offering late-night service. American Market is a convenience store that not only sells snacks and beverages but also non-over-thecounter medicines and some grocery items too. “We are open 24 hours. Going down the road, I didn’t see anything open at night time around here,” Singh said. “Maybe some kids need medicine, or something like that. If anybody needs something, where are they going to go? That’s why we think 24-hour is the best idea. We support the people by always being here.” The market has shelves laden with chips, beef jerky, candy, and coolers and refrigerators packed with drinks and beer. The market will also have a hot deli, milkshake machine, and Icee machine. It’s been a long journey to get here. Singh bought the building in 2020, and now, almost four years later, he has passed the final inspection from the City of St. Helens. “[It’s a] relief. Thank god, you know? We finally are there,” Singh said. “It’s been almost four years.” To convert the arcade to his new store, he needed to make many renovations. Singh said they needed to install new walls, update the roofing, install new lighting, and install the equipment for the store. Singh said he has invested “almost a couple million” into the development. Singh owns another American Market location in Hubbard, OR, but he is excited to get to work at his new store. To staff the store, he is hiring a “couple of employees” to help keep his new all-day venture fully manned. Singh will be up at the store every day as he gets it off the ground, but he said down the road he wants to make sure he has employees he can rely on. The half of the building that faces Columbia Boulevard is also under renovation, but Singh said he hasn’t decided what the new space will house yet. As American Market settles into its new location, Singh wants to make sure the community knows the market is there for them. “I want to be nice in the neighborhood, so I hope the neighborhood supports me too,” Singh said.
ubstantial progress has been made in the John Gumm Renovation and Improvement Project. In preparation for a fall move, Columbia County hosted a media briefing to provide an update. The event on April 17 was held at the John Gumm building, 251 St. Helens Street, in St. Helens. Featured speakers included Columbia County Commissioner Casey Garrett, St. Helens Mayor Rick Scholl, Paul Vogel, Executive Director of the Columbia Economic Team, and Brandon Sundeen, Vice President of the Columbia County Museum Association Board of Directors. The event was also attended by elected officials from around Columbia County, including Commissioners Margaret Magruder and Kellie Jo Smith, St. Helens City Councilors Mark Gundersen and Jessica Chilton, Scappoose Mayor Joe Backus, and Rainier Mayor Jerry Cole. Each featured speaker highlighted the importance of revitalizing the John Gumm School Building, a vital part of the downtown St. Helens National Historic District. “The John Gumm building will serve as a hub for civic engagement, economic development and cultural enrichment,” Garrett said. “Scheduled for substantial completion in late August, this facility will soon be home to a variety of county services and nonprofit organizations.” The building will serve as Columbia County’s civic offices and the new home to the county’s administrative personnel, the Columbia Economic Team, the Small Business Development Center, and the Columbia County Museum. “We’re very much looking forward to not only a new space to work in, but a new space where we’re all in one spot with Columbia Pacific Economic District. A onestop shop for small business, growing business, retaining business, and recruiting business,” Vogel said. Garrett said the project is being funded through “one-time funding opportunities” from both federal and state sources. Garrett said the county has secured “substantial” grants for
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The renovations in the auditorium at John Gumm.
the project and that they won’t need to ask taxpayers to fund the project with a bond. “This project is not just about fixing up an old building, but more importantly, it’s about revitalizing our community spirit, creating opportunities for growth, and engagement,” Garrett said. “Once John Gumm is complete, a whole lot of space will be freed up in our annex and our historic courthouse. This will all set the stage for a series of planned projects that will allow us to reconfigure and consolidate our state courts and operate spaces along with over-the-counter county services all in one spot.”
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County Commissioner Casey Garrett addresses the gathering at the media event ahead of the tour.
Revitalization Instead of constructing new buildings, Columbia County acquired the John Gumm building in 2021 for $1.5 million. It first opened its doors in 1919, serving as a school until it closed in 1999. After years of disuse and decline, the building is undergoing significant exterior and interior improvements. These improvements aim to allow occupation, provide ADA accessibility, and offer an appropriate complement of
services, according to the county. Scholl noted that having the building back as a functioning piece of the downtown ecosystem will be significant for the community, especially members of the community who grew up in St. Helens and went to school there. One such case is that of Columbia County Museum Curator Les Watters, who once sat in class in one of the very rooms that
will house the new museum. Ameresco, Inc. was awarded an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) from Columbia County to perform some of the work for the project. Ameresco is a cleantech integrator and renewable energy asset developer out of Framingham, MA. Under the ESPC, Ameresco See COUNTY, Page A5
Clatskanie receives funding for aging sewer plant
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The city’s sewer plant is located at 100 NW 4th Street in Clatskanie. WILL LOHRE
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he City of Clatskanie is halfway to its funding goal for a new sewer plant after receiving $3 million in federal funding through the Congressional Directed Funding program. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden recently secured funding for 139 Oregon community-initiated projects in fiscal year 2024, including $3 million in funding for the Clatskanie Wastewater Treatment Plant. The funding request for the city started about a year ago when the federal government was seeking projects for possible funding under the Congressional Directed Funding program, according to Clatskanie City Manager Greg Hinkelman.
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“The city worked with Senator Wyden’s office to fill out the necessary paperwork, which then was vetted through various committees. I was informed a few weeks ago by the Senator’s office that our project made the “final mark-up” of the Federal Budget bill,” Hinkelman said. Once President Biden signed the bill, its provisions became law, and Clatskanie received the muchneeded $3 million toward its project. This follows Hinkelman’s successful work in gaining $10 million from the Oregon Legislature to build the wastewater treatment facility and a $720,000 community development block grant for the engineering and design of the new plant that will be built at the same location of the current facility at 100 NW 4th Street in Clatskanie. This project includes substantial
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site preparation at Clatskanie’s designated site for their new wastewater treatment plant. This is a critical step in building the city’s new plant and transitioning away from the current plant, which is over fifty years old and experiencing structural and mechanical failures, according to Senator Merkley’s website. “We now have $13 million in the coffers , and in order to do phase one (of two), we need an additional $13 million. So we are about halfway there,” Hinkelman said. The need for the new sewer plant is a result of the current plant coming to the end of its effective life span. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued a $2,800 fine to the City of Clatskanie in December of 2022, following repeated sewer plant failures. The violations
are of the DEQ’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NEPDES) permit that regulates the city’s wastewater treatment plant. The fines were a result of two incidents that happened within weeks of each other earlier in 2022. In a published interview with The Chief in December 2022, Hinkelman said the required geo-tec assessment needed for the plant construction revealed that the soils at the site are liquifiable. “If we build on the existing ground, the plant would likely not survive an earthquake, so we have to shore up the ground so that the new plant can meet seismic requirements,” Hinkelman said in 2022. Going forward, Hinkelman will continue to seek the remaining $13 million through grants so as not to incur debt to the city. “I will continue to seek grant funding. I have been in touch with Congresswoman Bonamici’s office to get our project into a house bill once they get going on their side.” Hinkelman said. “If all fails, we will fund the project through the State Revolving Fund and get a loan. My hope as I continue to seek money is to not have to finance any of the plant construction using loans. We need to have this funded through grants.” Follow this developing story at thechiefnews.com, thechronicleonline.com, and in the Wednesday print editions of the Columbia County Chronicle & Chief.
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