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Serving Columbia County since 1881
City to expand Veterans Memorial Courtesy photo from the City of St. Helens
The current Memorial honors Columbia County veterans from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, and current conflicts in the Middle East.
he City of St. Helens has been awarded a $32,875 grant through the Oregon Parks and Recreation’s Veterans Memorial Grant Program.
flags and hardware from the local VFW Post 1440, labor and equipment use from the St. Helens Public Works Department, engineering and design donated by Lower Columbia Engineering, LLC, and in-kind labor from City staff to manage the grant.
The project
History
The grant will be used to expand the existing McCormick Park Veterans Memorial in St. Helens, funding an approximately 300-square-foot expansion to the Memorial, adding seven illuminated monuments with flags to honor the seven branches of the United States Armed Forces. The expansion will also include an ADA-accessible concrete walkway leading to the new monuments. Construction is anticipated to take approximately three months to complete and should be finished in time for the Memorial to host the 2023 Veterans Day ceremony. The project includes matching funds of $28,130 through in-kind labor and donations. The in-kind match includes the donation of
The McCormick Park Veterans Memorial Plaza was last expanded in 2018. The current Memorial honors Columbia County veterans from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, and current conflicts in the Middle East. It includes six engraved granite slabs and brick veneer footings. The granite slabs include a short description of each military branch of service with their corresponding service seal. The existing U.S. flagpole was installed during the 2018 expansion and will remain in its current location, becoming the center of the seven new monuments and flags that are being built for the current project.
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The Veterans Memorial is located in McCormick Park at 75 S 18th Street in St. Helens.
Courtesy photo from the City of St. Helens
St. Helens’ camping ordinance adopted WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
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he St. Helens City Council has finalized its ordinance to comply with House Bill 3115, which dictates where, how, and when people can rest in public spaces. The law, HB 3115, was passed in 2021 and provides “that local law regulating sitting, lying, sleeping or keeping warm and dry outdoors on public property that is open to public must be objectively reasonable as to time, place and manner with regards to persons experiencing homelessness.” Throughout the process, the issues of time, place, and manner of camping were the aspects that required particular attention to shelter the city from potential litigation. “The adopted rules regarding time, manner, and place were all revised numerous times over the City Council’s review of proposed ordinance language,” St. Helens Communications Officer Crystal King said. “During several
meetings, staff presented the City Council with a menu of options related to each aspect of the ordinance. The City Council began narrowing down preferred options over the course of those meetings.” While time, place, and manner restrictions are critical to providing structure for those who may camp, the ordinance is prefaced with recognition of “the social nature of the problem of homeless individuals camping on public property,” and the law will ensure “the most humane treatment for removal of homeless individuals from camping sites on public property.” Time The city ultimately settled on allowing “camping” to be defined as establishing a campsite either through occupation or storage of personal property on any location of city property for more than 24 consecutive hours. The St. Helens Planning Commission recommended 48 hours as the period after which camping would not be permitted. King explained the
council’s decision. “There is a state law that an individual has at least 72 hours from the time that a notice is posted to move from an area before enforcement can be taken,” King said. “Factoring in an allowed 24-hour sheltering time, law enforcement would then have the option to post a notice to vacate the location, and then the 72-hour period would take effect. This would ultimately give someone a minimum of four days to be in a location before enforcement action could be taken.” After 24 hours in one location, people will be required to move their camping materials to a different city property, following the other regulations within the ordinance. Place The ordinance sparked controversy in St. Helens, causing friction between the City Council and former Planning Commission Chair Steve Toschi. Toschi felt that by not defining places where people could camp,
the city could open itself up to an influx of houseless people from surrounding areas and leave the city vulnerable to legal action. Ultimately the city went in a different direction than Toschi had hoped. One of the main changes throughout the process of finalizing the ordinance was approaching the law by outlining where camping was not allowed, as opposed to having designated areas where people could camp. The ordinance restricts camping in all public parks, city property within 100 yards of schools or buildings that are residential or businesses, and all residential zoning districts and the Riverfront District zoning district, including sidewalks. The ordinance also restricts camping on “any public rights of way” except for “sidewalks not otherwise specifically regulated.” In the case of those sidewalks, the ordinance maintains that a campsite “that does not restrict the free movement of pedestrian travel, including those pedestrians that
require the use of a wheelchair” is permitted until it surpasses the 24hour limit imposed by the city. “An example of one of many adjustments made over the course of the Council’s decision making was related to the distance from a residence that camping would not be allowed,” King said. “One of the Planning Commission’s recommendations to the City Council was that no camping be allowed within 400 feet of a residence. The City Council ultimately decided on 100 yards (the length of a football field).”
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Chamber director seeking increase in memberships WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
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he South Columbia County Chamber of Commerce has named Jak Massey as Executive Director, the first time someone has taken on the role since 2020.
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Massey has been involved with the chamber since October 2021 and served as the member relationship manager. The South Columbia County Chamber of Commerce is a membership-based organization that represents Scappoose, St. Helens, Columbia City, and Vernonia. In her new role, Massey will largely continue the work she has been doing over the last 20 months. “The type of work that I was doing as the member relationships manager just slowly morphed as [the board] saw that I was able to take on new tasks,” Massey said. “I was probably doing more of the executive director role really for the last six months, but the chamber board wanted to make sure that I was wanting this and that it was the right fit still.” This slower transition ensured that Massey was ready to step in after there had been high turnover in the position with prior chamber directors. Massey acts as the face of the South Columbia County Chamber of Commerce, supporting chamber members, carrying out ribbon cuttings, and networking within the community to grow the chamber. When Massey first started at the chamber in 2021, numbers were low coming out of the pandemic,
and the chamber had about 98 members. Since Massey started, member numbers have increased; she said they have around 140 members. The benefits Massey said there are three main benefits for businesses to become a chamber of commerce member. The first is the networking opportunities that membership provides. Massey said it’s critical for businesses to make connections and come to chamber networking events, like Coffee and Commerce, so businesses can interact and cross promote each other. “I tell my members that they need to participate in that, it’s not that they join the chamber, and the promotion automatically comes to them. They need to put their face out there and talk to other people,” Massey said. The second draw is the chamber’s newsletter, which Massey said has just under 800 subscribers. When she started, she did two newsletters a month, now she does one at the beginning of each month to distribute all the new information being shared with her. The third benefit of being a member of the chamber is the use of the South Columbia County
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Jak Massey has worked with the South Columbia County Chamber of Commerce since 2021.
Chamber of Commerce building located at 2194 Columbia Boulevard. Massey said that there are members of the chamber who find the space very valuable. The space is used as a meeting space between chamber members and clients, members use it to teach classes, and holding gatherings and functions. The building also acts as a remote office for employees of chamber members who need a physical space to use when they are in town. For Massey, the appreciation of the businesses in the chamber is
one of the joys of the job. Massey also enjoys making the connections between businesses, in line with her tagline for this year, “Prosperity through promotion.” Challenges for the Chamber Some of the challenges for Massey stem from her being the only chamber employee, and driving growth, as well as, retaining
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